Trends are mysterious things. When they appear it looks as though some kind of magic has taken place. Take trends in advertising, for example. Last week - as at this time every year - I was looking at the entries to the Epica Awards, where I play a minor supporting role. And I spotted some quite intriguing trends.
A disturbing number of spots featured pianos getting dropped, smashed or otherwise destroyed. A metaphor for the fragility of civilisation? I also noticed that old banknotes are being used as everything from business cards to direct mailings. Presumably that's because we don't use cash so much any more, so it has become rare and interesting. Or maybe we've just had money on our minds a lot lately.
Other trends were more obvious. In both Russia and Egypt, citizens were using smartphones to take photos of car registration plates, in order to name and shame bad drivers. Our phones have become Big Brother. Manipulating Google search results was another popular scam - the entire country of Romania used it to look smarter (type in "Romanians are" and you'll see the result). QR codes were everywhere, even though, as one case film admitted "they suck".
Finally, agency folk, I have some advice for you: just because you can make a cheap viral for You Tube, it doesn't mean you should. The standard of advertising is being pulled downwards. Think before you film.
