Monday, November 10, 2008

Come Home to Advertisement




Here's the announcement I made for the Thanksgiving promo booklet, the "Pilgrimager Flyer." The theme as I conceived it for this ad campaign is "Home for the Holidays," with the white carved wood porch railings and ornaments as the visual identification. There are now signs with these logos up all over the store indicating "flyer items." 

The white porch and the autumn leaves are part of my attempt to market comfort food to the already eager customers of Trader Joe's. Affluent or not, they have seen their finances go "splat" in the last half of this year, and even with the election madness over, their lives are uncertain. They can't buy any luxuries, but they can at least buy good food.

The "Home for the Holidays" ad campaign once again illustrates my belief that much of what we see and think is made-up. Not "fake," but mythic and story-like. Even though those small towns where everyone helps each other do exist, it is the idea and the story which really move us. Very few of us urban folk really venture into the country for rugged outdoor adventures, and yet we wear clothes and carry gear originally created for mountaineers and explorers. When I look outdoors at a beautiful autumn gold tree against dark clouds, I see a calendar scene, in which a country road leads to the porch of the home where an imaginary unreal family - who are NOT orcs - waits to welcome me.                   

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