In a world saturated by advertising content, how do we make ourselves stand out? We’ve seen surrealism and strangeness in some of the most memorable TV adds in history. We’ve been asking ourselves at OK YEAH, can we make this work for copywriting?

Three Mobile have been doing it for decades, and they’re still at it (CAMPAIGN). Remember the eeriness of the Ford KA ads (“Get into the Ka…”)? Or the esoteric Orange adverts of the past? What about Old Spice? Can copywriting compete with these visual adds that embedded themselves in our brains?

In order to find out, we set ourselves the ultimate challenge. Could we take something with mass appeal, and reframe it in a way that was well… pretty messed up, and still make it captivating? We wanted to take a regular concept and fight with it, so that it might still please its regular demographic in a new way, and scoop up a few more outliers. Well,  what’s bigger and more mainstream than the football World Cup? Could we take this beacon of popular culture, and wave it in a new direction…

Please check out our examples below, and do let us know how we got on. Remember, a unique writing style, memorable images, feelings and associations will stand out in audiences’ minds. We believe copywriting gets a dull rep in advertising; why should it be stayed and bland, when it can be vibrant, strange and inspiring?

Lukaku Rides In On A Dragon.

England Are About to Play Belgium in the Group stages*.

(*For the football crowd; this one helps to have a little football knowledge.)

Lukaku rides in on a dragon. The sky is ablaze with the colours of the Belgian flag. Standing in the centre circle, you peer down the tunnel where David Beckham stares lugubriously at you through a waterfall. King David to slay the dragon. He is instantly nutmegged by Eden Hazard, and falls down a well. Danny Welbeck flies through the air and hits the crossbar, with his own head. Jamie Vardy is having a party but no-one is invited except Roberto Martinez, and they make passionate love, which VAR replays again and again. How many yellow cards have there been? Yellow, red and black cards forming a river to the open goalmouth where Harry Kane sits astride a donkey with the face of Vertonghen. It’s coming home. Disappointment or glory? One much more familiar than the other. Much… safer, even. Gareth Southgate pushes Marcus Rashford into the fray and you are not afraid.

World Cup Copywriting

For the Less Than Impressed

Football. Ubiquitous, unavoidable. It has bonded with the very air around you. What’s that in the fridge? Football. Your lover’s face… now a football. Your own name: Footballs. Geoffrey Footballs. That’s your name now. Where will you go? It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s onside, between the lines – a smart run to meet the pass. Footballs kicked by footballs. In your ears and follicles. Your hair itself is now a football. Football… footba….

Part 2

England Are About to Play Panama

“England! England! England!”

The word has lost all meaning. Your voice is hoarse. You’ve been screaming it now for four hours, red-faced, pride-filled, at the wall.

You are the fourth lion, prowling the Panamanian land, startling farmers and pushing over bins. For queen and country, for Kane and the boys. “ENGLAND!! ENGLAND!!” You can’t stop now. You don’t know what will happen if you do. Duo-syllabic yelps of adrenalised patriotism, raw and pure – soothed only by the promise of imminent glory. ENGLAND. ENGLAND.

A sharp intake of breath.

Who Are Ya

Away Fans

20kgs overweight, covered in protective blubber from all the years of hurt, you burned that effigy of Beckham in ‘98, just as you burned your sad, fat hands on a consolatory kebab. You were found asleep on the bathroom floor in ‘96, eyes puffy as the pastry with which you nursed your pain. In 2014, your stress hormones almost as high as your cholesterol, you all but choked on pork pie crumbs and sadness. You don’t eat Nando’s after Ronaldo’s wink in 2006. As if Louis Figo hadn’t done enough in 2000. His once handsome face now a gruesome reminder of what happens when you DON’T CLOSE DOWN. WHAT ARE THEY STANDING OFF FOR. A flashback. The taste of cheesy chips and bile.

You’ve been on a diet this week. You’ve started to hope again. You want to look good when she finally comes home. Slimline tonic please mate. A hiccough echoes with the semblance of “ROONEY”s past. Could this be a new era? Your new waistcoat says so.

#ItsComingHome

At OK Yeah, we pride ourselves on versatility and professionalism. We set challenges like this to practice the art of copywriting, and to show you – our valued customers – why it is important to consider a professional copywriter for some jobs. This is the world we inhabit, and no matter the subject or style we showcase adaptability, flair and knowledge. Hey, why not check out our SERVICES by clicking HERE?