2013 – Advertiser of the year
If you had told us in January 
a co-op of northern Victoria dairy farmers would produce the most witty, insightful, engaging and diverse advertising campaign of 2013, we’d probably have snorted long-life milk out of our noses. That is especially true as Devondale ended 2012 on something of a sour note, after farmers took exception to the bogan portrayal of characters Dev and Dale in their last offering, leading to a social media backlash and bad PR for the brand.
But in March everything changed when they introduced the ‘Soy Aftertaste Face’. This clever ad played on the moment after drinking soy milk to great effect, one with a father looking at his daughter’s art, and the other ending with a boyfriend being described as a manchild.
These were the first in a series of comedic ads based on a very simple insight directed by Tim Bullock, with “hard butter, what a mess it makes”, next in the crosshairs. The spot shows a daughter presenting mangled toast to her mum, who assumes it is a protest about her new husband, awkwardly sitting just out of shot.
But with all good campaigns there needs to be light and shade, provided with the beautifully shot ‘Morning Strangers’ ad, showing what goes into producing their goods, and the people who do it.
And then there was a touch of controversy, with the ‘Glow Girl’ commercial showing a radioactive child who had drunk too many preservatives, censured by the Ad Standards Board, forcing them to change the strapline from “Preservatives have consequences” to “What are you feeding your kids?”.
But this didn’t stop the comedy, with a raft of new ads directed by Bullock hitting the screen later in the year, including a family with questionable jumper taste, cheese slice rage and the eponymous crazy cat lady.
And who can forget the immortal line uttered by a kid looking at a skate jump, turning to his friend and saying: “You’re never going to make it without a cape”.
(Ad courtesy of Ebiquity)
They’ve also made good use of social channels, giving away prizes on Twitter, and starting a campaign for it’s new All Rounder Cheese inviting people to submit their cheesy moves, this time spearheaded by agency Marmalade.
Top bombing Devondale.
This post comes from the Encore & mUmBRELLA Annual available on iPad and iPhone.
Download it from encore.com.au
topics
The Annual
Agree. I’ve loved every single ad they’ve done.
Well done.
User ID not verified.
Awesome – that was my pick. Nice chuckle on a Friday arvo.
User ID not verified.
Absolutely deserve every accolade there is to give them. Beautifully conceived, cast directed and performed. Not every example was brilliant, but the majority were, and that is exactly as it should be with true artistry.
Advertising should never be allowed to become obvious or boring or offensive, alas so many examples of just those negative qualities exist out there, and so eventually end up in our living space.
These Devondale ads are shining examples of top level artistic work.
User ID not verified.
I thought it was just ok until “You’re never going to make it without a cape”.
User ID not verified.
Thumbs up. Great campaign, memorable branding, funny as, nice media weights. Congrats and great pick.
User ID not verified.
top work devondale – definentley got my attention during the ad breaks.
User ID not verified.