Fancy a commercial break?

Some of you may remember a lavish 60-million-dollar (no less!) 2-minute ad for Chanel back in 2004. Directed by Baz Luhrmann (Moulin Rouge), it featured Aussie mega-star Nicole Kidman (who else!) alongside the terribly handsome (I mean, my wife says so! ) Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro, who had played a year earlier this secondary role in Hugh Grant's Love Actually that launched him into stardom.

The short film / commercial was considered by many experts a masterpiece of advertising: Debussy's "Clair de Lune" playing in the background, the amazing cinematography and the beautifully scripted story of the doomed lovers ... you don't remember? No worries, watch the famous ad:

Mesmerizing, isn't it?

Now, 8 years on, the French perfume giant strikes back, this time with a suitably minimalistic (for these times of crisis, you know) black-and-white 30-second commercial, which you may have already seen on TV as it premiered barely a couple of weeks ago. I have no idea how much exactly it's cost to produce, but surely it wasn't cheap as it stars the "inevitable" Mr Brad Pitt (another favourite of my wife's, ha ha!), who, you will hear further down below, has reportedly been paid 7 million bucks for the job, wow!

Anyway, the thing is there's been kind of a "controversy" surrounding Pitt's ad, since it's the first time a male celebrity has endorsed the classic signature # 5 fragrance. Watch this funny yet thought-provoking short clip:

So, as the blonde presenter asks her audience: "Are you liking the latest Channel commercial or is it just plain, odd, strange?" Moreover, I wonder if some of you might like to post your opinions here on this blog as to whether it is fair / ethical to pay a celebrity huge amounts of dough for endorsing products from luxury brands.

Finally, a little extra with something more, say, "mundane", but brilliant to my mind: open this Dutch website and just wait for a few seconds - with the speakers on but without clicking on any items. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see what unfolds before your very eyes.

You must admit there are excellent "unsung" professionals in the world of advertising ...

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More advertising. Today I was watching Sky One online when an ad for Rexona caught my attention (I'm sure you've heard of the brand before). The big deodorant manufacturer is currently sponsoring British F1 team Lotus, though I had not realised until I saw the commercial this morning.

The 2012 Lotus F1 car. See the brand on the top right corner?

"Rexona: It won't let you down" is the slogan they want us to remember, to get stuck in our memory. And sure thing they manage that through this fantastic TV commercial in which you can see the Lotus pit crew working painstakingly, in slow motion, striving to make no errors whatsoever, in the few seconds they have while they change the car's wheels at a pit stop during a F1 Grand Prix. The driver's success very often depends on their job, which must be synchronized to perfection.  And perfection is what the two-and-a-half-minute ad (watch below) oozes, every second of it. You cannot help admiring the mechanics' precise work. The sound and image editing are unbelievable, mixing slow mo frames with the interviews of the actual people "behind the scenes". Even Rexona's logo, a vector, which very much reminds me of Nike's legendary swoosh, looks perfect at the end of the clip, punctuated by the roaring, deafening noise of a F1 engine.

It's am awesome commercial which, for the sake of English (and, why not, advertising) I want to share with you all. Hope Rexona will send me a free batch of their products after they read this entry, ha ha! 

I wonder if you guys have a favourite ad on TV / the radio (whichever the language) that you would like to share with us too ...

Note: Needless to say, I don't root for Lotus or its drivers ... GO FERRARI, GO ALONSO!