Ad copy - too humourous?

[Anatol]

I've put an ad together for print today, and I can't decide if it's just right, or just over the line and too tongue in cheek to give a professional impression.

Feedback on this issue gratefully received...

http://bit.ly/4rer0S

Thanks in advance,

Tol

ETA - I think I've misspelt humorous in the thread title... doh.

Edited by Anatol on Saturday 17th October 16:46

[Anatol]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 20 October 2009 at 12:51

[Anatol]

That's a different ad in the campaign!

http://bit.ly/13xzRv

Tol

[Anatol]

grumbledoak said:

Much better! First word I read is your name, and the pictures are of cars! I'd also consider having your logo top right in all the adverts to give them some consistency- it's a bit lost down there on the second photo.

Preferable?

http://bit.ly/4b3xiV

Tol

[Anatol]

grumbledoak said:

If I was looking for bodywork I'd probably skip that- at first glance it looks like an advert for a tree surgeon! I'd change the layout so that top and left (where your eyes begin) is at least car related.

More like this:

http://bit.ly/4EJ6pt

?

Unfortunately that means the logo position is inconsistent across the ads...

Edited by Anatol on Saturday 17th October 18:23

[Anatol]

All very useful input.

Thanks everyone.

Tol

[Anatol]

All very useful input.

Thanks everyone.

Tol

ETA I may reserve the chainsaw ad for use in a poster in reception, or other places where readers aren't glancing through lots of ads and take a bit of time. Bus stop poster maybe.

Edited by Anatol on Saturday 17th October 18:28

[Anatol]

The ads are for newspaper rather than web content, but the insight is still welcome, and useful.

Thanks...

Tol

[Anatol]

Thank you mods for reinstating this thread

Tol

[Anatol]

They provide a "Style File" that includes logos, corporate colours and fonts specs, sample ads, and specs on things like the minimum weight of paper stock to be used on flyers.

There's also a fair amount of advertising at a national level done by the centre.

Franchisees are running their own business, though. If you have a particular message to put out, or a particular demographic you want to target, provided your advertising is with the formats prescribed, you're completely open to run individual campaigns.

Tol

[Anatol]

I started originally with just the outline showing the total refinish area. To get much visual impact in the first image though, the line needed to be enormously wide. It was ridiculous when I outlined the smaller repair area with the same thickness line, but looked like a con to reduce the line size for the smaller repair.

Hence why I opted for showing the paint as a colour-fade, to hit the eyes hard.

Maybe 'paint' and 'lacquer' would be better than 'colour' and 'clearcoat' though.

I'll have another play with just outlining the overall repairs, and see if I can make it work.

Thanks

Tol

[Anatol]

Thank you, that's great input.

Tol

[Anatol]

Obviously, humour is subjective. There are plenty of ads out there that are amusing but still convey a professional image. Where this concept was on that continuum was my concern, hence why I asked for the input.

Thank you for your comment.

[Anatol]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I have removed the linked files while more work is done...

Tol