Creative thinkers often come up with the most abstract ways to express their art. JG Ballard, an English dystopian fiction author in the 1950s, created extremely cryptic and seemingly nonsensical billboards that did just that.

Ballard was an unusual character. He was one of the first New Wave science fiction writers; his writing style is so distinctive that “Ballardian” is an actual word used to describe novels. His novels, The Atrocity Exhibition and Crash (the former of which was banned in the US), drew sharp criticisms from a wide range of communities.

Before his career as a novelist began, Ballard put together a series of billboards which made no sense to viewers — until now. Appearing to be random words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs plastered on a billboard, they drew attention simply for being odd. The billboard series left even those who closely studied Ballard’s work scratching their heads. Recently, those scholars have discerned that the series may have been encrypted replicas of Salvador Dali paintings.

Ballard was a surrealism enthusiast, and Dali was his favorite artist. The placement of the words on the billboards, as well as the choice of words themselves, appear to match up with some of Dali’s paintings, including Geopoliticus Child Watching the Birth of a New Man and one of his most famous Persistence of Memory. In the billboard matching Persistence, there is a repetition of the word “time,” and a large “T-12” in the center of the board seems to reflect the clocks in the painting which point to 12. Additionally, the placement of the text matches up with various subjects in the painting, including the words “total bureau” being placed where a shape in sand looks like a desk.

Was this truly Ballard’s message with the billboards? We may never really know. His mind seemed to work in strange ways. One critic even said he was “beyond psychiatric help,” a statement of which Ballard was proud. Artists always find new mediums in which to create their art, and Ballard simply chose a way that we are still struggling to decipher.

Over the next few months we’ll be running a series on billboards that managed to catch our attention in striking ways. Whether they trick our eyes, have fun interactive capabilities, or simply make our jaws drop, the marketing departments of these companies knocked it out of the park.

Image Source: Ads of the World, Ads of the World

1- Anando: Milk Building

Getting kids to drink their milk can be a difficult task for parents. With all of the sugary, brightly-colored drinks and juices being advertised, plain ol’ milk can seem “boring.” Anando’s answer was to channel their inner-child and come up with this creative billboard. It shows the child pushing out part of the skyscraper. The ad channels the imagination of younger kids and hints at every kids’ dream of being a superhero. In this particular image, it blends so well with the sky that the illusion is almost perfect, definitely catching the attention of passersby.

2- Berger: Sky

This billboard, by the paint company Berger, is another great example of optical illusions in advertising. They made the corner of the billboard look like roller brush strokes, when in reality that corner of the billboard is simply missing. The matching hue of the roller is the finishing flourish to this interesting ad. We’re not quite sure how it would appear if it was cloudy or a different time of day, but it’ll definitely draw the eyes on a sunny day.

3- McDonald’s: Sundial

Putting an extremely creative spin on an ancient tool, McDonald’s promoted their breakfast menu with this sundial billboard. With the electric pole acting like a hand on a clock, it makes it way through choices like coffee, a cinnamon roll, and pancakes, not to mention McDonald’s classics. The simple but effective wordless design shows how you can kickstart your day with McDonald’s at any point.

Wrapping up our holiday advertisement series is the recently created, but exceptionally popular commercial from Amazon featuring a priest and an imam. Though not directly a holiday commercial, the gift giving and loving spirit is in tune with the holidays, and the commercial premiered around the holiday season, landing it a deserving spot here in our series.

Amazon definitely went for the heartstrings in their most recent commercial, aiming for a message of unity and love. The commercial focuses on two old, and some may say unlikely, friends; a Christian priest and a Muslim imam. We get to see the two have a nice chat, while making it very obvious that they both have bad knees. The two buy each other a gift. It turns out that they happened to order each other the same knee braces from Amazon.

Amazon speaks out on a controversial subject in this advertisement, since religious tensions have been increasing in many parts of the world. However, the sentiment of love and friendship can easily be agreed upon, especially in the spirit of the holidays. Pointedly showing the similarities between the two obviously different men, Amazon makes the point that we all share the same human struggles.

Though longer than all of the previous commercials, the storyline behind the ad keeps the viewer interested. The amusing, heartfelt resolution is enough to bring tears to the eyes of some. The commercial went viral soon after its release. It has over 1 million views on Facebook and over a million and a half on YouTube. It even got media attention as several outlets reported on the ad, including CNN, Fortune and Huff Post.

Coca-Cola & Santa Claus – Top Holiday Ads

M&Ms “Faint” – Top Holiday Ads

Hershey Kiss Bells – Top Holiday Ads

https://blog.domedia.com/2016/12/19/campbells-soup-snowman-top-holiday-ads/ ‎

We’re moving from sweets to soups in our top holiday ads series. The Campbell’s Soup Snowman commercial has warmed hearts as much as the soup has warmed stomachs during the Christmas season.

Since it started running in 1995, the Campbell’s Snowman commercial has portrayed how soup helps to fight off the cold and warm everyone through the frigid holiday season. It focuses more on the comfort and feeling created by a warm bowl of soup rather than the product of Campbell’s soup itself.The special effects are also pretty spectacular for a commercial of the mid 90s, as the snowman melts into a little boy. The transformation is also a cute surprise for those watching, and it suddenly makes sense why the snowman is drinking very hot, very salty soup. This irony adds humor to the commercial on top of the cuteness, giving everyone a reason to smile.

You can watch the adorably creative commercial below, as well as find the links to the previous posts of this series.

Coca-Cola & Santa Claus – Top Holiday Ads

M&Ms “Faint” – Top Holiday Ads

Hershey Kiss Bells – Top Holiday Ads

Our holiday ad series continues with another simple, sweet chocolate commercial. The Hershey’s Kiss Bells commercial is a long running Christmas ad icon.

This famous commercial features red and green wrapped candies delivering their rendition of “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” It is the longest running commercial in Hershey history, having aired every year since 1989. A 27 year run is pretty impressive. The combination of brevity and character make this Hershey commercial memorable and lighthearted. The little “whew” from the one red Kiss at the end is just the cute cherry on top. Surprisingly, the commercial wasn’t even meant to be created. The brand manager at the time was ahead of schedule on a project and decided to use the extra time to create this little gem.

This timeless advertisement has almost become a Christmas tradition in its own right, and you can experience the nostalgia with the rest of us by watching it below. Don’t forget to check out our previous posts on Coca-Cola and M&Ms!

Coca-Cola & Santa Claus – Top Holiday Ads

M&Ms “Faint” – Top Holiday Ads