Every once in a while I see an ad with an idea so big and thoughtful that I get genuinely excited. “This is what advertising is all about,” I’ll say to myself as I watch with anticipation, waiting for the product or brand to merge with the big idea unfolding before me. But then, as quickly as my excitement rises, it fades. The concept has nothing to do with the products benefits.
The LG BORDRELSS™ commercial is exactly this kind of ad. In reality the concept does have something to do with the product, and the connection becomes a little more clear (sort of) if you read the mini-novelization of the commercial on the LG Television’s facebook page:
“In the island afar, hundreds and thousands of flightless birds gaze at the BORDRELSS™ ocean and the BORDRELSS™ sky, extending far beyond the horizon. An invisible border is cast around the island, blowing fear and anxiety into the avian inhabitants. What if the barriers weve always thought were there, suddenly werent? Fully geared up with courage and muse, a single one takes big steps out of the flock – toward the cliff. Wings spread. Ready to take off. Drawing the peers eyes, its feet are off the land. Hearts pounding and breath held, all left behind wait for him to rise. That instance. The bird rises from the far below, sets its direction toward the far horizon and gently flies off to LIVE BORDRELSS™.”
As much as I enjoyed the concept, it overshadows the actual innovation it’s advertising. I found myself so distracted by the ad’s concept that when it got the part where it tries to sell the television, the benefit seemed almost laughable. And what’s worse, the television actually does have a border, it’s just not a raised border like most TVs. So LG want’s me to LIVE BORDRELSS™ by buying a television that still has (for all intents and purposes) a border. Don’t get me wrong, this television is sexy, but come on LG. If you’re going to take me to the “Isle of Flightless Birds” and show me a lone innovator daring to challenge the expectations of his peers by venturing forth to LIVE BORDRELSS™, at the very least the TV better not have a border.
What I’m wondering is, can an concept for an ad be so big or so meaningful that in comparison, the product it was created to sell looks like, well, a TV with a flat border instead of a raised one?
See the commercial “Fly For Freedom” here
