IN MY LIFE I HAD FUN AND THIS TURNED OUT TO BE ADVERTISING ! A TIMELINE RESUME
I am Pepsi Generation 1985 I am a “Pepsi Generation” as I was born in 1985, which is the same year Pepsi launched the commercial featuring the star of all stars Michael Jackson, using celebrity endorsements as a weapon in a fight against Coca-Cola. Directed by BOB Giraldi with BBDO, the iconic commercial ‘Pepsi Generation’ has set the tone of my childhood as I was raised in a generation that idolized pop culture and pop stars and especially the king of pop music Michael Jackson.
“GETTING MY FACTS FROM A BENETTON AD.”
1995 David Bowie once wrote the lyric: “ Getting my facts from a Benetton Ad.” I still remember that day I encountered a Benetton Ad with a shocking imagery by the Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani in a “Parents” magazine. The cute baby on the cover was juxtaposed by a newborn full of blood. I took the ad, asked my mom and she explained that this is the umbilical cord and that was how I looked when I was born. Not only shocking Benetton ads were highly informative, they made me understand humanity and above all fall in love with advertising and shocking aesthetics in general.
“THE NEW ONE IS BETTER” 2002 In Spike Jones Ikea’s commercial “ Lamp”, an old lamp was rejected in favor of a brand-new Ikea model in a way that made us all sympathizes with the object. Questioning the viewer’s feeling, an actor appears at the end of the clip to tell us that we are crazy as the new one is better. In 2002, I finished school and started a new stage of my life enrolling in two different universities at a time: The American University of Cairo majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication and the Faculty of Fine Arts at Helwan University to study Art Direction. As I was j umping from one campus to another, I had a lot of questions about this new stage of life, but kept reminding myself that “the new one is better.
2006
Beauty Preceptive After being a victim of magazine beauty standards for years, Dove’s striking commercial “Evolution” appeared in 2006 to change our perspective of beauty. The TV ad showed a young woman’s transformation from an average girl into an outstandingly beautiful Billboard model. Directed by Yael Staav and Tim piper, the timelapse film takes us through the journey of transformation with digital retouching and ends with a message “no wonder our perception of beauty is distorted.” In the same year, I started writing art reviews in various magazines and started a career as an art critic to question other people’s perception on beauty and aesthetics.
Change in the Air Tonight 2007
In 2007, I graduated from The American University of Cairo with specialization in Integrated Marketing Communication and minoring in Art and Business. That year I felt like Cadbury’s Gorilla drumming to Phil Collins’s “In The Air Tonight” and especially the lyrics “I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord. And I’ve been waiting for this moment for all my life, oh Lord.” Fallon’s creative director Juan Cabral surprised us in his commercial for Cadbury in 2007, which fitted perfectly my state of mind.
Never Say No To Will 2010 “Never Say No to Panda!” wasn’t just a funny ad by the Egyptian director Ali Ali. A panda destroying anything around her each time someone refuses to buy or eat the Panda cheese plays on both fear and comedy. The campaign was viewed millions of times on YouTube, won a Silver in Film Lions at Cannes Advertising Festival in June 2010 and caused the factory to close because the supply didn’t meet the demand for the cheese. In the same manner, I finished a second Bachelor degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts with specialization in Art Direction for Theater and Cinema, even when many told me that I can’t and won’t be able to finish two degrees at the same time.
In 2011, “Droga5” turned every corner in the city into a canvas exhibiting pages from Jay-z’s autobiography “Decoded”, every single page of the book was exhibited into an appropriate media space related to the story such as burger wrappers or the bottom of a pool. In the same year, I published my first book “Thawret El Loool: Chats with Young Egyptian Artists”, in which several artists talk about their opinions in the idea of generation, the art institution, art history and pop culture. The book was among the best-selling list in a local bookstore and traveled to Germany in a cultural festival.
by mariam elias
2011
When Life gives you Wings 2012 “RedBull Gives You Wings” came to a perfect illustration with RedBull Stratos when skydriver and Base jumper Felix Baumgartner leaped to earth from the stratosphere jumping from an altitude of more than 24 miles and breaking the speed of sound. The new record was streamed live on YouTube and watched by eight million people in 2012. In the same year, I decided to take a leap jump in life, I graduated from the University of Turin in Italy with a Masters in Cultural Management and World Heritage at Work. I have also decided to open my own furniture design studio entitled “ Paradoxia”.
The Epic Split of Life
2013-2014
B-2-B marketing isn’t always appealing, especially if your target audience are truck drivers.This is why “Epic Split” by Volvo is more than just a viral masterwork. This live test drive with the old action star Van Dam and an out of date song took the internet by storm and swept all awards at the ad festivals. From my side,“ I have had my ups and downs and my fair share of dumpy roads and heavy winds”. Between 2013 to 2014, I published a first draft of my second book “The Net Hunter”, worked as a scriptwriter for TV program and a copywriter for an agency and was designing furniture. In order to master all that at the same time, you need “ a mindset to master the most epic of splits”.
Never Stop Riding 2015
To raise awareness about the ‘City Buenos Aires’ public bicycle eco-system that runs 24/7, “ The Community” ad agency created a print campaign that is both smart and beautifully crafted. After years of ups and downs, my documentary film “ Drawing on a Nude Body” won the best directing award at the National Film Festival in Cairo. That award came to be a reminder that one should “ Never Stop Riding” in life.
experience the picture 2016 When Van Gogh’s painting “The Bedroom” was coming to the Art Institute of Chicago, “Leo Burnett” created a real bedroom similar to the painting and listed it on Airbnb. Launched in 2016, “Van Gogh Bnb” became a perfect example of how an experiential activation can impact culture, the brand and the audience. Sometimes we can’t see the whole picture but we have to enjoy the experience. In 2016, I moved to Miami to earn a Master’s degree in Global Strategic Communication from Florida International University and a Diploma in Art Direction from Miami Ad School. I was also able to intern at J.W.T and worked on brands such as Sharpie, UNCEIF and Neaulasta on Pro.
Ok Google, What is Advertising ! 2017 In this life, sometimes you only need to stir the waters and leave nature do the rest. This is what “David” did when a T.V host asked Google Home to tell the audience the Whopper’s ingredients. In a very organic manner, the stunt became viral and many started editing Wikipedia and hacking Google Home to change the content in their own way. Invading homes and abusing technology, “Google Home for the Whopper” is outrageously creative but highly effective. Like a “Fearless Girl” in the advertising world, 2017 was the year when I started earning some awards like Clios, CA magazine and Graphis. I also started working as an Art Director at “ The Community”.
Advertising is pop culture, it educates, it shocks, it moves our emotions then questions our feelings, it changes our perception of beauty, it entertains, it sells, it is an intellectual encounter, it breaks records and rewrite history, it becomes viral, it is visually iconic, it hacks mediums, invades your privacy and makes you laugh. Advertising is life!