Inspired by greatness

Many people have tried to visualise the difficulty of getting upstairs with arthritis or angina but, in my opinion, none has pulled it off quite as well as this recent ad. The image is arresting. You want to spend longer on the page. The art director has even made a good job of making the prescribing information look neat and tidy.

On the subject of prescribing information, at an ABPI Code of Practice training day I asked Heather Simmonds what the point was of cluttering up our ads with prescribing information when nobody was ever going to read it. "It's the law," she retorted. That put me in my place and I didn't ask her any more questions.

The heady heights of success

I've seen this kind of little and large image before, usually as a cat with a shadow of a lion or tiger. But I love the lilac background colours, which seem soothing and very relevant to an emollient. The headline is nice and simple and the body copy is easy to read. The double page spread helps cut the prescribing information down to size so that it doesn't impinge on the branding. I wish more clients would opt for double page spreads. If you want to big up your brand, big up your ads.

Smooth

This is part of a series of ads that denote pure brand leadership. You don't see many ads in black and white, but it really works well here. The people depicted in this series look real, and the picture and copy exude confidence. Who could ask for anything more?

On the crest of the wave

When you're flicking through a dermatology magazine you expect to see a lot of unsightly images. Then you come across this little gem of an ad. It makes you want to laugh. Surely that's not a bad thing. It reminds me of those birthday cards you choose because they have an unexpected element to them. Imagine trying to sell this, first to an account handler and then to the client whose first response might be: "Are you having a laugh?"

Fortunately, the creative and account handling team stood their ground and ended up running a cracking ad.

The cream of the crop

I have to confess that I go fishing so I'm somewhat drawn to images that focus on this subject. But there's more to this ad than the elegant illustration. The headline suggests expanding the airways to help patients get more out of life — not a bad promise.

Angling for victory