I can’t explain why I like the Steve McQueen Ford Puma ad and dislike this one with Audrey Hepburn, even though I think the world of both actors. In terms of tacky, I reckon this one takes the cake as a celebrity endorsement:
Come to think of it, this is worse. I believe the original was Japanese (I saw stills of this campaign many years ago), but this is in Mandarin:
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Yes, tacky, I agree.
Both ads above, I would describe more as unrelated to the products. What did Audrey’s presence add to theme? Confusion. Any pretty face could have been used in these ads. There is nothing about her and her personality that was brought into these ads that makes any sense. Very bizarre to watch, actually, especially when they are not in English. Interesting to see foreign commercials.
The tea one was just awful. I read about it in design magazines at the time and thought the idea was cool, but now I have seen the execution of it, I think it’s terrible. You are right, Colleen: her personality is irrelevant to it.
I can see a bit more of the connection in the first one for Lucky–Goldstar: they are saying their cell is about as fancy as jewellery displayed at Tiffany’s, but I still do not like the TVC.