Finally, a great print Ad

One thing I would never expect is for a traffic officer to be leaning inside my car with an expression of calm satisfaction all over his face. He is clearly savouring the aroma of the new Glade Sport; it’s as if he pulled over especially to get himself a hit of some sweet smelling perfume.

This Ad is so effective because it is the last thing you would ever expect a traffic cop to do and it allows me to use my imagination so beautifully. I can imaging the scene of events leading up to him being completely mesmerized by the aroma, perhaps he was about to actually write out a ticket and interrogate the driver, or maybe he pulled the driver over because he saw the Glade Air Freshener hanging in the car. The art direction is brilliant, I love the fact that he is wearing his aviator sunglasses which hide the expression in his eyes, if we saw that it would make it too obvious. We are also not sure if he is looking at the driver or to the side of him.

The message is so clear in this Ad: Glade Sport smells so good that you will want to linger around longer than necessary.

There is also a good insight into the life of a traffic cop: He spends a lot of time in his car and could do with some sweet smelling air freshener.  In films, traffic cops have always been depicted as having piles of half eaten donunts and old soggy MacDonald’s cartons and generally a whole lot of filth piled up on the dashboard.

One possible scenario that I find most amusing is that he was about to write out a ticket and stopped it in mid-sentence when the Glade Sport gently tickled his nostrils. This Ad takes an actual event and freezes it in time with a multitude of possble beginnings and endings, it makes me want to know what the traffic cop is going to say to the driver as he leaves.

The one sense that is the hardest to ignite in advertising must be smell. This Ad temporarily made me smell something, it might have been the diminished smell of my cologne, as I write this I feel myself accutely aware of the smells around me, some are not too good and as much as I hate air freshners some Glade Sport might actually be quite good right now.

I can imagine anyone who sees this Ad having a slightly different initial reaction. This Ad sparks the imagination. This Ad is refreshing, pun intended.

It is written and aimed at the Italian consumer, but it shows that when the insight is great it breaks through all cultural barriers and hits home with anybody. It definatley hit home with me.