Seen+Noted: Unputdownable books

Brilliant insight!

Love the insight, the simple execution. Will definitely pick up something at cannes.

Funny how smugly the ECD on this was commenting on scam ads when he was judging D&AD;, and now he's involved in this. Come on man, we're not that dumb.

You are being very cynical 10.21.

I prefer to look at this ad more positively. Their last campaign was for a book reseller and this one is for the actual Penguin client. Maybe the client liked the last campaign so much they wanted to be involved with the new campaign? Penguin have obviously approved this work otherwise this would have been a Silver Fish campaign.

Who cares. This campaign is great and it should win many awards.

It looked good on the cover of Campaign Brief too.

10.21 At D&AD; the ECD commented that the D&AD; jury especially the Enlgish ones made a reference to Scrabble ads. I don't remember him mentioning anything about initiative work in general. And if he did, I think it was more in line with ads for unknown brands. Besides I think the above campaign is great.

Simple. Smart. Well executed. And a big brand. End of story.

Brilliant. Love the insight and am crazy about the line... What better word to sum up this idea than 'Unputdownable?

Definitely a winner.

Love the headline !
Simple yet so absolutely spot on

Yes 10.21, you do seem cynical

12:00, How do you know this is for the actual client?

Are you perhaps one of the names on the credits? I suspect so.

Or perhaps the CD who 10:21 points out fairly that is hypocritical?

Regardless, we have certainly seen enough scam on this client or sub-client, and it hardly beats last year's scam effort for Silverfish which was better.

Beautiful campaign. Simple. Intelligent.

The visuals don't even make sense. Whats so unputdownable in the visual? Book stays in your hand so long it becomes your hand? If thats it, its pretty ridiculous, typical scam strategy, no depth at all. No consumer is going to get it. Then again, is any consumer going to see it? Probably not. Its so easy to come on here and call anyone raising a valid point a cynic, a hater, a loser etc. I hope judges everywhere recognise this as scam and treat it accordingly.

1:00pm, you seem a tad bitter. Are you going to give us a debate now on scam. Boring! Fact is the ad wouldn't be here unless the Penguin client gave the go ahead. As for it not being better than last years, that's entirely your opinion. I happen to think it's far simpler and really well put together. If you think too many ads have been done for Penguin books, well a million ads have been done for scrabble/land rover/maglite/hotwheels/luxor highlighters... the list is endless. I'm not sure what point you're making? I guarantee you'll see some of these brands pop at cannes and win. A good ad is a good ad!

If it's good enough for the CB cover then it's good enough for me.

4.09: It seems to me you haven't won a single award in the last few years. And obviously hate the fact you didn't. So you come here and try to put down all the ads, whether scam or not. Lets accept the fact this is Asia, and clients are not as smart as those in the US or UK or Europe. So a creative agency here can't help resorting to initiative work, after a long day trying to convince the client to buy something decent (and real). From the above comments you clearly you don't get advertising. This campaign is pretty awesome.

4:09, you're definitely not a reader. As a bookworm, I got it immediately. It really shows what I feel when I'm so absorb in a book. Scam or not, I enjoyed looking at the ad. It made you stop and look anyway. I think that alone, is enough.

Nice work. Who cares if it's scam... I love ideas. What is scam anyway? Original idea that looks great it will have a good chance with all the other scams at Cannes. Love ya 10.21am x

Is it me or does anyone else here get the feeling that many of these positive comments seem suspiciously positive- as if they were from the agency involved?

This forum is rarely that enthusiastic!

And to whoever said it's for a big brand- ha! Silverfish is a big brand? Please.

It's obviously a winner as there is many comments here :)

Dear 1.00 - no I do not have my name on these ads. I wish i did.

I hate this 'this ad is a scam" discussion. It's boring. Look at all the adfest winners this year. I bet some of them came from the agencies all these finger pointers work in.

This campaign is one of the best of the year, maybe that's why we are all talking about it.

Is it as good at the previous campaign. In my eyes, not quite but I still like it and good luck to it in cannes.

yeah it's seldom this enthusiastic....Pretty entertaining too.
But why are we all being so suspicious. It's just an ad. A good one in my humble opinion, wish I thought of it earlier myslef. It is really a simple idea.

Glad to see Copping is leaving his name on work across the bridge too.

I think it will only win if someone from the agency network involved is on the jury. Thats how it works. BTW, rubbish ads. Scream scam from a mile away.

This is great work. The visual is so powerful it could almost work without the "Unputdownable" Intelligent, elegant and ever so simple. Its a winner!!

Is that how you win your awards 12.44am?

10 outa 10 Adrian!

Guys' save the time and do better ad's for asia.. for the Penguin, Saatchi & Saatchi Malaysia., GoodLuck to you all!

It would probably work if it was a 150 years of Penguin ad....we're a part of your life etc. but "unputdownable" just doesn't work (maybe if the guy was reading while shagging his dog or something i'd see how its unputdownable). I love the comment where someone said 'it made me stop and look...i think that alone is enough'. Well, I'd stop and look at roadkill too. Doesn't mean, much does it?

The words; eyed, green and monster come to mind when I read most of these comments.

Well done guys, beautiful work.

Clearly a case where the creators of these ads have flooded this thread with positive moonshine in the hope that all their optimism will carry this campaign over the finish line. Another hopeless example of making 3 ads when one will do. And the one isn't very clear as to its point either. I will bet on the good sense of the jurors at Cannes not to award anything but finalist to this poor effort, and even that is being overly generous.

In the words of Neil French or whoever it was..."If you're going to bother with doing a scam, at least make sure it's brilliant. Otherwise why bother."

Nope, 3:30. wrong you are. great campaign. best in the seen+noted section by a long way. very fucking far from a hopeless example. And no, I'm not from the agency!

Kim, how dare you put a simple well executed intelligent idea on the front cover of your biggest issue of the year. Just before Cannes. Disgraceful!

cmon, give the guys a break. this is a decent campaign.
and it's obviously quite talked about here, so it has to have something.
leave your criticism for your naggin' wives over a few beers, yeah? this is advertising. why take it so seriously.

Ive read all the comments for and against and have to say- these ads make no sense at all.

Neither does your comment 4:51.

Fuck me. I understand these ads perfectly. I must be stupid then.

Its a pity that some people dont realise that when you put up a campaign for public viewing youre going to get all kinds of comments, good and not so good. You gotta roll with em. The makers of these ads seem to only want to hear how great these ads are. Well, they Re NOT! Theyre trivial, insignificant uninsightful and boring. And by the logic of their creators, I of course must be from one of their rival agencies and havent won any awards and am soooo jealous. Why would I be jealous of crap? Im jealous of great work, not this nonsense.

is the book cover painted or is it DI?

Nice campaign. Not quite as nice as the first one, but nice enough. Cheers.