Ads of the World Research Competition

« The Joy of Dirt | Main | A Froth of Fleeting Joy »

I first mentioned the Ads of the World site earlier this year, suggesting that it was a great place to hang out to view a constant stream of fresh print, ambient and TV ads from around the globe. The billboard above is a typical example, promoting the services of a travel firm by illustrating its tagline "Holidays so affordable, you can stay for ages" with an image that changes through three weeks as the family members all grow beards.

Part of the fun of the AOTW site is that members can post comments, with this campaign eliciting everything from "cool" and "brilliant" to "so stupid that it's funny" and "poor and illogical" (you can see a larger version of the ad here). Clearly, as well as being highly creative, having a thick skin is an essential prerequisite to succeeding in the ad biz.

Think you have what it takes? One way to find out is to enter the Ads of the World Research Competition, which tasks you with the creation of a campaign for the launch of AOTW Research. This is a new service of the site that will provide subscribers with access to a growing database that currently includes 2,238,372 searchable ads, spanning five media types, 39 countries and 25 languages.

There's no charge for entry, with submission being as simple as uploading a creative concept in the form of a JPG file, with part of the judging to come in the form of (gulp) member comments on your posted entry. The deadline is November 30, 2008, so if you're up for a public flogging... er, I mean constructive criticism, time is short. Full information is available on the AOTW site.