The ‘Backwards Brief’

Advertising Agency: Zoo Advertising, Shanghai, China
Creative Director:Alex Sean
Art Director:Stephen Zou
Copywriter:Sandy Sang
Photographer:Taurus
Published: June 2007


I chose this advertisement of Sisley because I want to point out my thoughts of presenting a negative ad with the aim to pass a positive message.
This ad campaign presents two young girls, (age: 18-24) who are snorting lines of cocaine. In fact there is no cocaine but a Sisley t-shirt. The two girls are addicted to the clothes of Sisley. The colours of this ad are very dark, the background as well as the table that the girls are lying on is black. The t-shirt is white so it makes it more obvious that is the centre of the attention.
The girls are wearing great party clothes but we see their faces that are in a very bad condition. They look strung out, with their eyes rolled to the back of their heads. I assume that they are going out or they just left from a party. They are wearing dresses in dark colours, purple and black.
Sisley by presenting this ad wants to shock and gain the attention of the target audience who are young girls. When I first saw this image I had a negative feeling until I got the point that there are no drugs in the image and that what Sisley wanted to achieve. Firstly to gain the attention and then pass the message that young girls don not need drugs but they need Sisley. The competition in fashion industry is huge so they want to make shocking ads to get the attention of the young girls.
The context for this piece of communication is to convince young girls that Sisley’s designs are the best for them, by wearing them they will look fashionable and that it’s good to be addicted in clothes.
The materials, techniques and processes used to create this piece of communication is to look at the life of the target audience and see what exactly are their habits in addition to find a message that will take their attention. Also I believe the most important thing is to present something different from other brands, which will affect the specific target audience.
If I was commissioned to design this work myself, firstly I would research the habits of the target audience, come closer to their needs, give questionnaires to understand what are their likes and dislikes. Then I would see how this product could be presented in addition to gain their attention. Also I will see how other brands advertise their work so I will be able to have different ideas, and try to think out of the box. The stages of the design process will be a lot because if you want firstly to sell an idea and then the actual product, you have to consider the social issues and how your design will work. The team who would work on this ad would have to see the ideas from different aspects.
These processes relate to my own research because as an Art Director I will have to consider the target audience and how can I present my ideas which will make the viewers to feel like I want, and take the messages that I want to pass.