Rethinking Print Advertising

One time we (not the royal we, there are actually several people here) at AdLab get really excited is when someone uses a traditional medium in a way that takes advantage of medium's different properties. I already posted a few examples of plastic bags, and then there's Billboardom that tracks untraditional approaches to outdoor advertising. At the very bottom, you'll find links to technological innovations knocking on the doors of magazines and newspapers - geeky stuff like sound inserts, pop-ups, 3D printing. This post, however, is about how clever creatives translate different aspects of print media into advertising metaphors. How do most people see a magazine? It has color, it comes in a certain size and it is flat. Not the people who have created the ads below.

A magazine has staples.

MINI. Source: archive.


A magazine (newspaper) usually has pages that come in a certain sequence.

Unknown. Source: Creative Criminal.


One of the pages can be cut to create a layered presentation...

Uknown. Source: Coloribus.

...in more ways than one.

Guinness. Source: Frederik Samuel.


Pages are usually flat...

Samsung plasma TV. Source: Creative Criminal.


... and look like slices of something else.

Wuesthof Knives. Source: Frederik Samuel.


A magazine can be turned upside down (try this with a TV).

Clark Hatch fitness center. Source: Frederik Samuel.


Pages are printed on paper, and paper can have different properties, too. It can be shiny or matte...

Nigrin car polish. Source: Frederik Samuel.


...or bumpy...

Veet razors. Source: Frederik Samuel.


...or transparent.

The Autoglass store. Source: Frederik Samuel.


Pages that are spread out look like what?

Ele Ela magazine. Source: Creative Criminal.

And what else?

Triumph. Source: Coloribus.


What if pages are half-closed and have volume?

Wonderbra. Source: archive.


Print publications have editorial content that has a consistent look that itself can be a metaphor...

Unknown. Source: Creative Criminal.

...for different things.

Nivea razor. Source: Frederik Samuel.

And yes, you can use pop-up effect to create three-dimensional presentations.

Uknown. Source: Coloribus.


You can use a page as a container for other physical objects that themselves use different properties of the medium.

MINI. Source: archive.


Other fun things you can do with print:

• SoundAds: Print and Sound
• Interactive Print Through Structural Graphics
• Sound Inserts in Print Ads
• Anaglyph Print Ads
• Advertising on Magnetic Paper
• Flavored Magazine Inserts
• Rolling Stone To Come Out With Lenticular Cover
• Advertising on Library Binders