Ads with bugs are bugging me

Remember the ORKIN campaign? Last year Rethink Communications put flypaper type sticky plaques up around Vancouver and a few buggy days later the Orkin logo appeared, made up entirely of bugs caught in the sticky stuff. *shudder* Gross as I might think that is when seeing it for real I must admit it's one helluva away to make me remember the pest control guys, and at the same time clearly demonstrating the need for calling them. Good ad.

Guess what, I found something similar, another ad making bugs deliver the message - see inside.

The task was to communicate that anything made with Sugar Free tastes the same. To dramatize this, we decided to use the most credible ambassadors for sweetness - Ants. We experiment with syrups made of Sugar Free and sweet lime, and found that even the ants couldn't tell the difference. We painted the shape of a muffin on a 14" x 19" poster using this syrup. And, left the rest up to the ants.

This ant ad is from Rediffusion DYR, Bangalore, India.

Below, the Orkin ad and the interview from Adcritic elerts:

"Bugs pretty much go everywhere we do," notes Rethink Communications creative Rob Sweetman.
"They even share the same upscale apartments." And there's nothing like flypaper-sticky plaques to prove the point, even in Vancouver in mid-October. "The objective was to show tenants just how many bugs are milling about outside their residence," says Sweetman, which, of course, will give them a big Orkin wakeup call. It was a matter of trial and error to make this work, however. "After several failed attempts and clogged silkscreens, the right dilution of scented adhesive was mixed and printed on the plaques, then they were placed in some willing and some not-so-willing locations — we were asked once to remove a plaque, and we of course obliged and posted it in another location." Then there was the unfortunate moment when "a small bird was actually caught after flying in for an easy snack, but he survived unscathed," recalls Sweetman. But above all, "it was fun to watch most people go in for a closer look and quickly back away when they realized what they were looking at." A bigger distribution is planned for next spring's bug season.

Full credits - Client: Orkin Pest Control
Agency: Rethink Communications, Vancouver
Creative: Rob Sweetman
Creative Director: Chris Staples, Ian Grais
Producer: Chris Raedcher
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TDD's picture

Do a bug sign with the word: Entomology. Have a description of what Entomology is, and the name of the University where one can study Entomology, on the sign in small enough print only those who get close enough to the bug sign will notice it.

Dabitch's picture

Ooooh, that is a good idea.

TDD's picture

Better than my idea of painting the Orkin logo on the backs of hundreds of cockroaches and letting them loose? Probably. It's all been done before.

Dabitch's picture

This is kinda cool, they filmed the ants climbing the posters.