Snap, Crackle and Pop! How Advertising appropriated popular culture.( And vice versa)

Last week I went to a very interesting talk by Richard Alford, Managing Director of M&C Saatchi. It was the last (but not least) of a series connected with the exhibition of pop art at the Woking Lightbox. The exhibition title 'Snap, Crackle and Pop', came from a slogan used many years ago by the advertisers of 'Rice Krispies' - the idea being that, when you added milk to the cereal, it made that snap, crackle and pop noise - evidence that the stuff was really crispy and fresh. The old commercials were really good in their day, but the advertisers have updated the original idea and made a new version which is much more 'empathic' and, actually, conveys the original message to the modern audience even more clearly, I think. See it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS7X02Wa3GA&feature=player_embedded

As you can imagine, I had high expectations of the level of presentation, given the profile of the speaker. And  was not disappointed. Mr Alford gave a 'no nonsense' critique of what Advertising should be about, in his opinion, as a practitioner. He admitted first off that he was no expert on Pop Art, Post-Modernism; or any of the other art 'isms' which are bandied about.  He emphasised that the point of advertising is to sell; but sometimes, it's not surprising that potential customers don't 'get' the message, as often, the advertisers themselves are not clear about what they have to say.

The audience was treated to a few examples of successful and unsuccessful uses of Pop Art in advertising. Then, with the warm glow of a free glass of wine; and a balmy early autumn evening ahead of us, we left the gallery feeling a bit more positive about the world of advertising.