Look, I’m not stupid. I know that advertising is sometimes a very hard game to do well in – especially if you’re faced with pretty indistinguishable clients. How do you find new ways to sell another ambulance chasing solicitor, for example?
There are so many on the market; the same macho posturing, the same reliance on abstract sums of money, the same references to even more abstract notions of justice… they’re as identikit as their cheap suits and to make one stand out from another you have to work really hard.
Harris Fowler and their advertising agency may have found a solution; focus on a style that is representational of the service they offer rather than the rather forgettable name. In theory this is a good move but, unfortunately, in their hurry to do something a bit clever they’ve overlooked the fact that this advert works against them by making their customers look like opportunistic gold diggers and the company themselves like some kind of malicious pranking extortioners.
What I like best about this advert, though, is the way the spokesman for the company that supposedly cares so much for your well being completely ignores the chaos going on around him and ignores anyone who needs his help.
It’s almost as if he’s saying that they’ll gladly help you out, but only after you’ve had your accident – after all, what would the point of doing it before there was someone else to blame?
Are you incapable of walking without injuring yourself? Do you deliberately throw yourself off ladders, or cause car crashes? Would you rather sue a public body because of your own idiocy than work properly? If so Harris Fowler Solicitors are the company for you…
Ad Nauseum 