What’s the Golden Rule of advertising that this ad breaks?

This Persil ad is in the latest issue of Luerzer’s Archive, a quarterly publication which brings together advertising design for print, television, product packaging, commercial illustration and more.

(Find out more and subscribe at www.luerzersarchive.com.)

Eager creatives from around the world submit work and hope for selection. Most of the stuff you see is great.

But not always.

This ad is a good example. It commits the cardinal sin of HEADLINE REPEATING VISUAL.

IT’S CALLED A MICKEY MOUSE

I learned this expression from an old creative director of mine who’d worked at JWT in the 70s.

He said it was because on old Disney cartoons, one of the other characters would always say, “It’s Mickey Mouse” whenever Mickey Mouse appeared.

Well guess what? The audience can see him and don’t need to be told.

Similarly, in this ad we can see it’s a prison inmate and don’t need to be told.

BETTER EXECUTION - IF YOU’LL PARDON THE PUN

Actually, this is a really strong idea which will engage parents instantly. But there’s a better way to make the idea work with better copywriting:

• Put the kid behind prison bars with an inmate’s clothes on and use the same headline: CHILDREN NOW SPEND LESS TIME OUTDOORS THAN PRISON INMATES

Don’t do all the work for the reader. Let them make the connection and get the idea.

It’s like when you get a joke. It makes people think, I get that, it’s interesting, I didn’t know that, it’s shocking.

The communication is much faster and more effective: It’s going to get the kids off their phones, laptops, tablets, PCs and get them outside in the fresh air.

Same idea. Better execution.