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Economist Ads

A serious brand with a sense of humor.


I’m more a Newsweek person. Although I’ve tried to read the Economist before, even tried subscribing for a few months, but being a visual person it was tough slugging through all those unbroken columns of texts. The general impression I got from the magazine was no-nonsense facts and useful information without the fluff.

Their advertising, however, shows a level of wit and humor that I wish their publication had. These examples prove to me that it’s possible to be advertise a serious brand without losing your sense of humor.

Check out this post on the mental floss blog and tell me what you think.

Andrew Davies

Drew's degrees in Illustration, 2D animation and Broadcast Design, and his volleyball skillz mean he can get your design done and play well with others at the same time. He’s the Creative Director at Paragon and will call you out if you start hanging out with shady-looking fonts and messing around with whacked-out color palettes.

Comments

4 thoughts on “Economist Ads

  1. David Airey says:

    I think that some of the ads could do with an explanation, as the text is probably too hard to read for a lot of people. The first one however is excellent. I like it a lot.

  2. True,
    the one’s in particular that I like are but might be a bit tough to read are:
    “Look before you leap” written on the top of an all red bus. I wonder if the bus was already red or if they splurged for the whole thing.

    “I never read the Economist” – Management trainee age 42
    That one’s particularly cheeky and of the same vein as some WSJ TV spots aired a few years back. Basically saying, you’re smart if you read us, dumb if you don’t.

  3. finn mckenty says:

    you should give the economist another chance. they actually use a lot of very, VERY dry humor in their editorial as well.

    it’s my favorite news magazine by a long shot, largely because they don’t pretend to be objective. they have a very clear point of view (100% diehard free marketers) that i happen to agree with, and they make no bones about it. i also think they’re a lot more critical than newsweek, time, etc, usually looking another layer deeper and asking the tough questions where the other magazines don’t (for example, their article on “ethical food” a few months back).

    just my $.02, though.

  4. Hey Finn,
    thanks for the recommendation. You’ve successfully convinced me to give it a second try. Did you immediately fall in love with the Economist or was it an acquired taste?

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