Real Shoplifters Star in Ad for Harvey Nichols, Where There's a Better Way to Get Freebies

Shoplifters get their comeuppance in adam&eveDDB’s latest work for Harvey Nichols, which promotes the chain’s Rewards App with the tagline, “Love freebies? Get them legally.”

The 90-second spot uses “100% genuine actual real honest footage” from security cameras in the retailer’s flagship Knightsbridge, London, store, agency executive creative director Ben Tollett tells AdFreak. “We got to sit in the Harvey Nichols CCTV control suite with all the store detectives, toggling the cameras around,” he says. “It did feel pretty cool.”

The perps are particularly brazen, pinching clothes, jewelry, perfume and more, often with patrons and staff standing close by. (The department store shouldn’t be surprised by such behavior. Its best-known campaign urges folks to drop by and selfishly pick up stuff for themselves—though payment was strongly suggested.)

For the new commercial, the crooks’ faces are obscured by emoji-like “robber” animations, complete with black masks and, in one case, a knitted ski-cap with slits for the eyes and mouth. Created by the Layzell Brothers at Blink, these effects give the spot an oddly memorable creepy/cheeky vibe.

Ultimately, it doesn’t end well for the baddies. “Don’t bother shoplifting in Harvey Nichols,” warns Tollett. “The only free thing you’ll get is a day trip to the local police station.”

True enough. Knocking over a Reserva store in the dead of night is a better bet.

Here's Harvey Nichols' Follow-Up to One of the World's Most-Awarded Ad Campaigns

Luxury retailer Harvey Nichols practically swept the 2014 Cannes Lions with its last holiday campaign, which won a staggering four Grand Prix. Now the brand has returned with its highly anticipated follow-up.

Last year’s effort, “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself,” celebrated Christmas as a time to focus on the most important person in your life—yourself—while giving your loved ones some absolute rubbish gifts like gravel or office supplies. The campaign definitely had its critics, including the audience at the Cannes awards show, where it was the only ad booed by attendees.

So in the year since, has the retailer, like Ebenezer Scrooge before it, learned the true lessons of Christmas?

The new spot “Could I Be Any Clearer?”, again from agency Adam&eveDDB, features a doting niece signing a Christmas card for her dear Auntie Val, a woman who obviously loves her but unfortunately misses the mark when it comes to gift giving. (The camera pans to a puppy throw pillow, an iron and a djembe.)

She delivers the card to Auntie Val, who is thrilled by the visit and the gesture. But, of course, there’s more to it than that.

If for some reason you can’t watch the clip above and don’t mind some spoilers, here’s how it goes down: She opens the envelope to discover a Harvey Nichols greeting card, letting her know in no uncertain terms what her niece wants for Christmas (Charlotte Olympia silver Octavia sandals with a 6-inch heel, size 4 1/2—or 5, if that’s all they’ve got).

As with last year’s “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself” cheap gift collection, the brand’s self-centered holiday cards are real and available in store or customizable online. You can browse the site to find an item you want, design your card, and share it.

It’s the absolutely perfect way of letting your loved ones know just how horrible you are. But chances are, they probably already know.



Harvey Nichols Won a Grand Prix in Film at Cannes. Here Are 7 Ads That Are Better

CANNES, France—All this past week, Cannes Lions judges and presenters talked endlessly about how the best ads are those that inspire and even improve the world.

So, why was the festival’s most awarded campaign an unapologetic (if tongue-in-cheek) homage to selfishness and greed? One whose centerpiece video has a relatively meager 500,000 views on YouTube—and was, in fact, the only ad jeered by attendees at Saturday’s award show here?

The Harvey Nichols holiday campaign “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself” from agency adam&eveDDB took home no less than four Grand Prix, making it the second most awarded campaign in the festival’s history. (McCann Melbourne set the record last year with five Grand Prix for “Dumb Ways to Die.”)

The campaign centered on the creation of cheap products, such as gravel or rubber bands, sold in Harvey Nichols stores with the label “Sorry, I Spent It on Myself.” The video showed customers giving these crap gifts to relatives and loved ones at Christmas while enjoying expensive clothing and handbags for themselves.

It’s a good campaign, and may well have deserved the Integrated Grand Prix. It also won the Press Grand Prix, the Promo & Activation Grand Prix and a Film Grand Prix—one of two awarded in that category, along with Volvo Trucks’ “Epic Split.” And it’s that Grand Prix in Film—where it bested some truly powerful and popular pieces of cinematography—that’s the real head-scratcher.

At a press conference Saturday afternoon, the Film Lions judges gushed about the spot’s “boldness” but struggled to explain how it merited such lofty accolades. I asked them how it could possibly have been a unanimous selection as one of the two best pieces of advertising film in the past year.

“To take greed and make people laugh and smile about it is, I think, incredibly difficult,” said jury member Pete Favat, chief creative officer  of Deutsch L.A. “And as a film, it’s a perfect piece of film.”

I disagree, and it was clear I wasn’t alone when, during a screening of the ad at Saturday’s big award ceremony, some derisive whistling could be heard.

To illustrate why its Grand Prix selection was so baffling, we’ve decided to highlight some of the work it beat for the top spot. You might not agree that any one of them was Grand Prix material, but you’d be hard pressed to argue that they’re lesser films. 

Below are our picks for seven ads that could have, and should have, ranked higher than Harvey Nichols:

 
• Lacoste: “The Big Leap” by BETC Paris

Somehow this stellar piece of cinematography only won a silver Lion in Film. French journalists told me they felt the video was largely snubbed at Cannes, where it was shortlisted in Film Craft but awarded no Lion in that category.

 
• Wren: “First Kiss” by Durable Goods L.A.

While this viral juggernaut with nearly 85 million views has its share of critics, it’s hard to deny it was one of the most compelling, talked-about and just plain interesting videos of the year. Judges clearly liked it quite a bit, awarding it bronze and gold Lions in Film and a bronze in Film Craft.

 
• Coca-Cola: “Parents” by Santo Buenos Aires

Surprising, funny, perfectly crafted. It’s just so damn good. Judges liked it enough to give it a gold Lion in Film.

 
• Guinness: “Sapeurs” by AMV BBDO

A real story, told really well. This piece starring a super-stylish group of Congolese gentlemen won a silver Lion in Film and a bronze Lion in Film Craft. 

 
• Lurpak: “Adventure Awaits” by Wieden + Kennedy London

Anyone who’s ever made a food ad (or, hell, watched a food ad) will realize what a masterpiece of innovative visuals this is. It won gold in Film Craft.

 
• Skype: “The Born Friends Family Portrait” by Pereira & O’Dell

It’ll make you smile. It’ll make you cry. It’s a touching piece of documentary that’s as stylish as it is emotional. But oddly, it didn’t win any Lions in Film. (It did win two silver Lions and two bronze Lions in Cyber and a bronze in Branded Content & Entertainment.) Read the story behind the story in our interview with creator PJ Pereira.

 
• Volvo Trucks: “The Epic Split” by Forsman & Bodenfors

The other Grand Prix winner in Film, and deservedly so. Let’s revisit it to remind ourselves how different these supposedly equal spots are.

 
What do you think? Did the Film judges overreach, or was the Harvey Nichols spot really that good? And what would you have selected?



Harvey Nichols incentiva consumidores a gastarem com eles mesmos no Natal

Enquanto algumas das principais redes de lojas do Reino Unido adotaram um tom mais emocional – caso da John Lewis e Tesco – e até mesmo mágico – como a Marks & Spencer – em suas campanhas natalinas, a Harvey Nichols optou por tomar uma direção completamente oposta. Com criação da adam&eveDDB, Sorry, I Spent It On Myself incentiva os consumidores a serem um pouco mais egoístas e, em vez de comprarem presentes caros para os familiares e amigos, gastarem com eles mesmos no Natal.

A loja levou tão a sério essa história que, inclusive, está lançando uma linha de presentes baratinhos – afinal, há algumas pessoas que é preciso presentear. A lista inclui tampas para pia, elásticos e palitos de dente, para citar alguns exemplos.

O filme da campanha, dirigido por James Rouse, mostra os presentinhos (uh, da Harvey Nichols) sendo entregues aos destinatários, enquanto a câmera revela como as pessoas gastaram com elas mesmas. Só por aí, já é possível ter uma ideia de como será o Natal de quem realmente embarcar nesta ideia…

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Advertising Agency: Y&R Dubai Via [mediaME.com]

Harvey Nichols’ Reaction Collection

Click images to enlarge Advertising Agency: Y&R, Dubai Creative Directors: Shahir Zag, Kalpesh Patankar Art Director: Kalpesh Patankar Copywriter: Shahir Zag Planner: Nadine Ghossoub Agency Producer: Amin Soltani Photographer: James Day Via [AdsOfTheWorld]          

A Harvey Nichols Christmas 2011 – Ever faced the Walk of Shame?


TVC: The pick-up lines

Advertising Agency: Y&R DUBAI, UAE
Executive Creative Director: Shahir Ahmed
Creative Director: Komal Bedi Sohal
Copywriter: Shahir Ahmed, Amit Kapoor
Art Director: Shahir Ahmed, Komal Bedi Sohal
Account Supervisor: Nadine Ghossoub

Harvey Nichols: Jacket

Harvey Nichols: Jacket

Advertising Agency: DDB London, UK
Executive Creative Director: Jeremy Craigen
Creative Director: Adam Tucker
Copywriters / Art Directors: Ben Tollett, Emer Stamp
Photographer: Dimitri Daniloff
Account Supervisor: Philip Heimann
Advertiser’s Supervisors: Julia Bowe, Shona Campbell

Harvey Nichols: High heels

Harvey Nichols: High heels

Advertising Agency: DDB London, UK
Executive Creative Director: Jeremy Craigen
Creative Director: Adam Tucker
Copywriters / Art Directors: Ben Tollett, Emer Stamp
Photographer: Dimitri Daniloff
Account Supervisor: Philip Heimann
Advertiser’s Supervisors: Julia Bowe, Shona Campbell

Harvey Nichols: Bag

Harvey Nichols: Bag

Advertising Agency: DDB London, UK
Executive Creative Director: Jeremy Craigen
Creative Director: Adam Tucker
Copywriters / Art Directors: Ben Tollett, Emer Stamp
Photographer: Dimitri Daniloff
Account Supervisor: Philip Heimann
Advertiser’s Supervisors: Julia Bowe, Shona Campbell