This commercial for Bavaria 0% featuring Mickey Rourke, took us a while to appreciate. It was probably because we had to get over the joke at the end – shocking alright, but not very tasteful. The film was created by Selmore and directed by Jonathan Herman. Conceptually it does make sense of course; thanks to Bavaria 0% Rourke only throws his minibar out of the window of the prestigious Waldorf Astoria…phew. Well (type) casted. And we don’t know what it costs these days to hire Rourke for an ‘European’ commercial, but asking him buys you a guaranteed amount of exposure. It makes even more sense if you know that Bavaria has a tradition of using Hollywood stars to sell its non-alcoholic beer. This one for example with Don Johnson – who at the time had just finished his successful Miami Vice career and drinking habit – made the brand instantly famous in the Netherlands. The big difference between Johnson at the time and Rourke today, is that Rourke has reached some sort of a cult status – for a big part thanks to his brilliant role in The Wrestler. Maybe that’s the reason why we like the commercial after all.

After having introduced our new columnists last week, this week we’re introducing a new item called ‘Inspiration’; Amsterdam creatives sharing their inspiration on a weekly basis. In order of future appearance we found the following posse willing to show us what they like, what fascinates them, or what they admire on a regular basis: Jennette Snape, art director at Dolly Rogers; Jarr Geerligs, art director at Selmore; Joep Beving, creative at Massive Music; Rick de Zwart, designer at Meneer de Zwart (and responsible for AAB’s visual identity); David Snellenberg, copywriter at Dawn; Johan Kramer, director at 328 Stories; Martin Pyper, designer at MeStudio; Reuben Alexander, creative at Buutvrij for Life; and Christian Borstlap, art director at Part of a Bigger Plan. Of course these people do more than just what their often somewhat rigitd title suggests (in art, music, photography, etc.) but you can read about that on their profile page, once they’ve posted their first contribution. Today Jennette Snape kicks off with an art piece she created herself. The title is “Inspiration lies in the eye of the beholder”; a nice kick off for this new genre, since it philosophies on what inspiration really is.

There’s a somewhat strange trend going on in the Netherlands. Ambulance personnel is being harrased quite regularly whilst trying to do their job. You wonder how ambulance personnel could possibly evoke any aggression. And when you see this SIRE commercial, with the pay-off “If we respect our medical care providers in wartime, why not in peacetime”, it becomes even weirder to think about it. You can sign the petition ‘Hands Off’ here. Strong one, by Selmore and director Rogier Hesp (Caviar).

To be honest, we find this concept for the KNGF (royal Dutch guide dog federation), KNGF Maps a little thin. The reason why we’re featuring it anyway is that we like the insight supporting it; a guide dog for the blind sheds light in the darkness. You fill out your directions in Google Maps and a layer on top of it ‘illuminates’ your route. We can imagine that the KNGF’s ad budget didn’t allow for a more elaborate concept. Created by Selmore.

When we started watching this commercial, we thought: why the hell did Selmore send us this soft Christmas crap? Fortunately we watched it till the end, cause then you get to see that this film carries a nice little twist. And what struck us in this twist – if we may get a little philosophical – is that it spoofs advertising and clearly shows that we work in a business of make believe. But instead of thinking ‘we are a bunch of crooks’ it actually made us realize that the truth is too ugly to show. Thank god there’s advertising!’ Directed by Ismael (Pink Rabbit).

O.k., o.k., it’s not the most creative ad ever made, but it does show what apt advertising looks like. And though it’s always easier to sell a product with real added value, the fact that we only need to translate the pay-off ‘The Bank Anno Now’ says enough. One thing that’s not so realistic of course are these grandparents camping with their iPad and actually using the ABN AMRO money transfer app to reward their grand daughter’s swimming certificate. Then again, it’s advertising so some exaggeration is allowed. Here’s a more realistic one: “My treat”, is what the girl texts her boyfriend after he insists on paying the check. The ads are simple and smart, just like ABN AMRO’s app. Created by Selmore and directed by Dana Nechushtan (Artcore).