37 Comments

The girl is called Ellie. Lovely !
Rosana
2010-07-16 20:22:27

So sweet!!!
Camila F.
2010-07-16 21:08:36

I love the Lions dismissive expression - very cool!
Phil
2010-07-18 15:43:29

Very well put together- love the over the shoulder shot onto the Lion- great how it looks away from her. Grant
Corporate photographer London
2010-07-19 09:49:42

Thank god she serviced from the lion. Phew!
Note
2010-07-19 10:04:09

Delightful...

Great idea, great execution, great psychology, effortless creativity.

A.
Andrew Sabatier
2010-07-19 10:07:00

Beautifully shot agreed and I understand the concept but I just don't see why anyone, who doesn't already use the Eurostar, would use their service rather than a plane after seeing the ad.

Like other Fallon ads it will grab attention but seeing the airport machinery in a drag race, however nice it might of looked, didn't make me want to go out and buy Cadbury's chocolate, (and I like Cadbury's chocolate).
MatthewNotMatt
2010-07-19 22:47:37

Are you sure it's not an ad for the Social Services ??

Alan Powdrill
alan powdrill
2010-07-20 12:26:48

I can't agree. Like the concept, well shot but the girl doesn't seem to work for me. Somewhat contrived. Sorry.
Javier Garcia
2010-07-20 12:42:51

It does not work for me either. Who is it communicating to? As an adult with no children I am not at all engaged with the ad and the little girl's attitude when she screams out the window. It looks cute and ok its about discovery..... but really I don't feel it reflects anything Eurostar needs to communicate about. again that's just my opinion without knowing the brief. I would be interested to see if the travellers increase with this ad.

Sometimes I think that a company like Eurostar should invest in nice, decent and appropriate customer service rather than ads. A good customer service can be the best advertising on earth with word of mouth effect and people wanting to come back. Eurostar truly lacks a good customer service and this is revealed frequently with their technical issues and their snobbish staff's attitude.
Sandra
2010-07-20 13:03:35

We put this film went up on Youtube and Virgin Media Shorts in May

http://vimeo.com/11499616

Coincidence? Paranoia? Comments please. Thanks
Jack Gardner
2010-07-20 14:18:50

It's very telling that the positive comments focus mainly on the execution, how cute the girl is, how well-shot it is, etc. Because in the end, this is a sweet little film, but irrelevant.

For a start, she's not exploring. She's trying to talk to animals, and finally a parakeet appears to speak to her. (Apparently a pretty, but slow-sitted child.) She learns nothing, and she teaches us nothing about Eurostar.

It's incredible too, in the literal sense. I'd be astonished if any little girl of her age and curiosity (a) would believe for a moment she might be able to speak to animals, or (b) if she did, would pursue this dull charade for long enough to chance upon the parakeet. (And by the way, who let her out of that apartment to wander a virtually deserted zoo all on her own?)

More damningly, just as Gorilla and Trucks became ads for Joy instead of chocolate, this becomes an ad for 'Exploring' (kind of) instead of Eurostar. The brand is secondary at best. In fact, it appears almost like a sponsor's endorsement: "Made with the generous support of Eurostar."

That old acid test - put your hand over the logo and tell me who it's for - reveals this sort of advertising for what it is. And that's not because they just haven't had a chance to build the recognition yet - this campaign will come and go too fast for that, and anyway why build that sort of mountain for yourself?

And for heaven's sake - Eurostar! You have a service that connects some of Europe's greatest cities; which shoots you like a bullet from central London to central Paris in a little over two hours. And you ignore all that for a bit of flimsy whimsy? Exploring seems an ideal proposition for the brand, but the ad squanders it.

This just feels like someone hijacking a brief to make their own little film, and getting away with it. In a way: fair play to them. In other: phooey.

Sorry. Rant over.
Mike Reed
2010-07-20 14:34:36

yes we did and and here it is on the virgin media shorts site

http://www.virginmediashorts.co.uk/films/entry/335518/the-way

uncanny?
rupert ward-lewis
2010-07-20 14:49:02

sorry, last link messed up..
rupert ward-lewis
2010-07-20 14:51:14

@Sandra and @MatthewnotMat

The girl is an english girl. Her parents have moved -for work- with her to Paris.
She is bored in the house cause she doesn't speak french so goes out and talks to animals who ignore her (cause they don't understand english? - cause they are animals?) till eventually the parrot says hello.
She is inquisitive as she is trying to familiarize herself with the new world she lives in, France.
And she finally feels better when the parrot talks.
Eurostar connects people from england to france and viceversa.
you either feel it emotionally or you are doomed to only think about whether this ad sells more seats or not.
Who cares? it's nice. and people remember it only if they connect emotionally to the idea of loneliness and travel. You don't need to have children to feel that.
jeepsee
2010-07-20 14:52:16

@jeepsee

Well thank you for trying to patronise me but I do believe I said that I understood the concept! I didn't need you to explain it to me thanks. To say you either 'feel it emotionally or you are doomed to only think about whether this ad sells more seats or not' is a very black and white statement and again quite patronising. I think it's sad if you believe people just fall into those two categories, can there not be happy medium?

Of course you need to feel it emotionally but the advert DOES NEED TO SELL SEATS, advertising has to have element of beauty and go beyond simple hard-faced selling, but to believe that adverts have nothing to do with selling is rubbish. Eurostar is a business and it gains money via selling tickets and is competing against ferries and planes for business. The advert represent 'connection' (as you were quick to point out to me, thanks for that) but it doesn't tell me why I can't do the same via plane or ferry.

I'm not bothered if you think that caring (not obsessing) about selling makes me cynical but the point of advertising IS to sell.


BTW: I don't see why you need to comment on my views to express your own. The intelligent and creative people of this site can make their own decisions on which comments they feel are right and wrong without the need of somebody else telling them.
MatthewNotMatt
2010-07-20 16:13:55

What is a Eurostar and how does it connect you to Provence and Colongne?
JupiterJack
2010-07-20 16:59:38

Excellent, always a fan of Fallon's work, especially their advert with the colour balls for the famous TV manufacturer. Thanks for showing this one! M.
Marketing Man
2010-07-20 17:34:00

This is a short and sweet advert and i like the tag line, but unless this ties into a theme or direction the brand is taking then it does seem detached and irrelevant, and although it create nice ideology it doesn't feel substantial.
Victoria Blount
2010-07-21 09:39:57

@MatthewNotMatt

I don't believe advertising is about selling anymore.
Advertising is about creating a perception of a brand that is much more disjointed than it used to be from the original objective of selling. I think this is what all ad agencies are doing now.
They sell you a feeling of an idea. Not the product.

So the bottom line is, I like the advert for what it was.
I felt irritated by reading comments that felt like coming from personal frustration.
Like a poop on someone else's work for the sake of the poop maybe.

Sorry to have upset you.
jeepsee
2010-07-21 10:32:44

Lovely production, it's geared towards someone who already knows what Eurostar is. Even if I didn't know, it explains that exploring is beautiful and that Eurostar can connect me to Provence, Cologne and more, so it has that covered and would encourage my curiosity enough to be bothered to type in 'Eurostar' in Google next time I'm thinking of travelling to these particular places.

Overall it's an advert that will command attention from people, whether they have kids or not. In the long run it will probably sell many seats, but by then it will be so difficult to prove statistically that it did, that the people who today believe this ad won't sell seats, well, won't believe it has. Argh!

guy@create24.com
G Silk
2010-07-21 10:44:39

@jeepsee

Agreed. But "creating a perception of a brand that is much more disjointed than it used to be from the original objective of selling" is still selling, it's just the current evolution of the process.
G Silk
2010-07-21 10:50:03

@jeepsee

Brand advertising is certainly a subtler business today than it's ever been. And it's often the icing on a layered cake of DM, online and all that. I understand. But if you think advertising is no longer about selling, you're in trouble.

Fallon's coloured balls ad, for example, was brilliant because it encapsulated a real quality of the TV in a startlingly new and delightful way. It told me colour would be fantastic on a Bravia: a straightforward product benefit, just like in the old days, but made completely fresh. Wonderful – and I bet it sold a lot of tellies. (See also: Old Spice.)

This ad seems to operate on a level so tenuously connected to the brand (for me at least) that it's almost meaningless. The message that I can get to Provence or Cologne was completely lost on me – I didn't even spot it the first time. (Too busy tutting, probably.)

Of course @G Silk is right, the effectiveness is virtually impossible to judge. It sounds like it worked for him much more than for me. I just think it's an opportunity missed. Sorry.
Mike Reed
2010-07-21 12:34:17

I also want to see the inevitable dénoument to this story: Girl says 'How are you?' A beat. Bird says 'Hello' again. Bird flies off. Girl looks crushed as she realises it wasn't really talking to her, and all her exploring has left her with nothing but disillusionment.

Perhaps not quite the feel that Eurostar were looking for.
Mike Reed
2010-07-21 12:37:10

@jeepsee

I don't want to turn this into a war of opinions of which one of us is right or wrong (you probably don't either), and that's the point there isn't a right or wrong response. My annoyance comes from the fact that you are saying that I am wrong and I am just having a go at Fallon.

There have been a number of responses to other pieces of work in the past which have just read something like "this advert is s**t", at that is all that has been left. Patrick and his team have said they are clamping down on this kind of comment and I believe if my comments had no real weight (that doesn't mean they agree or disagree with them), then they would have deleted it.

In fact, as I inferred I quite like the advert but I don't think it will have any beneficial effect for the company, in my opinion when people are choosing how to travel to France, this advert wont make them choose Eurostar over planes or ferries, (unless like I said before they already choose Eurostar).

My opinion doesn't come from 'personal frustration' just my personal feeling for the advert, and at the end of the day I can only speak from my 'personal' viewpoint. As I said before you can say why you think something works without saying why you think others are wrong. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.
MatthewNotMatt
2010-07-21 15:05:54

@MatthewNotMatt

I don't believe advertising is about selling anymore.
Advertising is about creating a perception of a brand that is much more disjointed than it used to be from the original objective of selling. I think this is what all ad agencies are doing now.
They sell you a feeling of an idea. Not the product.

So the bottom line is, I like the advert for what it was.
I felt irritated by reading comments that felt like coming from personal frustration.
Like a poop on someone else's work for the sake of the poop maybe.

Sorry to have upset you.
jeepsee
2010-07-21 16:10:36

If you've ever tried complaining to Eurostar, you'll know how she feels. . .
Johnny
2010-07-21 16:36:04

Am I the only one to find trains & planes ads showing some overpaid rent-a-face sleb reclining in their impossibly accommodating passenger seats ooh-ing and aah-ing about the luxury of their journey MASSIVELY boring?
Fair play to Fallon et al. This is refreshingly simple and and beautiful and, yes, there may be a distinct lack of thundering railways, delayed passengers and Delice de France sidestands but screw it, it's a well-made, well-meaning spot that shows the brand and the service in a new light. Nice one, I reckon.
Fran
2010-07-22 00:23:39

Very twee. I just did a sick burp.
Mike C
2010-07-22 15:26:42

Very enjoyable ad, but I don't think this works for eurostar, wrong voice, wrong angle. I don't see the connection of how being dismissed by animals relates to the tag line "exploring is beautiful"? A slightly vague and loose connection.
Scott
2010-07-22 15:39:02

I think some of the criticism of the ad not "selling" Eurostar is fair enough, but it seems to me a failure of strategy more than creativity.

For campaigns like this, you have the strategic planning role, which defines what needs to be said, and how this helps to deliver on client objectives. Once this strategy is defined and agreed/sold to the client, it forms the basis of a brief for the creatives.

In this case, the strategic line is "Exploring is Beautiful", which I think the creative execution delivers successfully. The problem is that "Exploring is Beautiful" is neither specific to the client, nor does it acknowledge any of the advantages unique to rail travel. The Cadbury work, although just as oblique, works because it is based on the "glass and a half full of joy" line, which is tied in to the product.

So I think criticism should be leveled at the planners (and client?) rather than the creatives (who've done a rather nice job).
POH
2010-07-23 16:26:33

It's a lovely ad - but it could just as easily be for London Zoo - or any zoo come to that!
susan moberly
2010-07-26 20:58:18

Can't see how this relates to "Eurostar"...
landrik
2010-07-29 16:50:02

OK, so the ad doesn't relate to Eurostar... that's their problem and their money!! Just savour the simplistic, artistic beauty of the film. The little girl is stunning and without doubt has a commercial future if she so desires.
Simon Lidstone
2010-07-30 21:05:06

I love the advert, mainly because I am obsessed with the little girl, she is mesmerising as she is so beautiful! I believe she may be the same girl that sat on the back of the haycart from one of the yoghurt adverts for something like Muller - again, I agree with Simon Lidstone, it is simplistic and it is beautifully shot but a service such as Eurostar could have pushed their money towards somethingk a little more telling for their offerings.
Keara
Keara Riley
2010-08-06 12:01:04

@Mike Reed
I don't know about your dénouement - the girl seems to have gotten what she was looking for, perhaps a fun days work in the end for a girl who doesn't have a friend to speak to.


I don't think this is necessarily an unsuccessful ad for Eurostar - this would be difficult to measure, but they've put out a beautiful ad and they may be associated with this in peoples minds, thus strengthening the brand.
Declan Naughton
2010-08-15 18:38:26

Dunno - but maybe the fact so many have commented means it's working at some level. What endearing child though.
mick tift
2010-08-30 18:56:00

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