Mini Cooper Ad Campaign: Opting for Edginess

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On January 17, 2010, in advertising, by Brett Duncan

Have you seen the Christmas ad campaign that Mini Cooper did in Amsterdam? Paul Williams captures it well on Marketing Profs’ Daily Fix.

I’m sure there are plenty of bloggers breaking down the greatness of this campaign. What I wonder is how close this campaign came from getting nixed.

Think about it. Some genius brought the idea to the table, and then I’m sure there were some people with influence who’s first instinct was to break it down, play it safe or dilute its strength.

Couldn’t we put a little more copy on the box?
How is this going to do more for us than a great commercial?
Why would we want to associate our product with garbage?

You’ve experienced this, from either one side of the tracks or the other. We love to castrate creative greatness; it seems instinctive. We simply can’t help but move things from the edge to the center.

But people don’t stop and look at things in the center. The center demands absolutely no attention. Only edginess works.

Kudos to everyone at Mini Cooper for not letting your instinct to be centered keep a great idea from the world. Be sure to watch the video on Paul’s post. Notice how many people stop and look at the box over a two-minute span. That’s penetration, my friend.