6 Pantene Ads

It is pretty rare these days to find an ad agency that consistently comes up with creative quality ads. With the really clever ideas having been used already, sometimes you gotta go for the stereotype and cheap way out. Take these six 2008 Pantene ads by MatosGrey, São Paulo, for example. We’ll start in a decreasing order of lameness.

One of the most effective advertising techniques is that when all else fails, sex-up the ads even when that doesn’t have anything to do with the product. Look at the first two ads which promote Pantene with Pro Vitamins. There’s the typical flowing beautiful hair. The choice of blonde and brunette models. And then there is the big pair of breasts on display that is sure to grab the most attention. It makes you wonder if the vitamins in the shampoo are supposed to give you vitalized shiny hair or bigger boobs.

The following two ads are a bit more creative, showing men with flowing female looking hair with a tagline of, “Behind a great man there is always a woman who uses a great shampoo.” Granted, the ‘behind a great man’ has been beaten to death in advertising, the ads still captured my interest without being offensive or cheap as the first ads.

Finally, the best ads came when MatosGrey went without any human models. The “Hair Power” ads simply show a big wave and a tornado made from hair, suggesting that it takes a quality shampoo such as Pantene to keep unruly hair at bay.