Truth In Advertising? "This Is A Generic Brand Video" Is Equally Parts Scary And Funny

Creative writer Kendra Eash wrote a painfully accurate article for Timothy McSweeney's Internet Tendencies that put into perspective what most brand and corporation videos look and sound like. Taking it to the next level, stock clip site Dissolve realized it was indeed generic, and pulled together their own stock clips cut to Kendra's writing, resulting in a hilarious edit.

Dissolve notes on their website in the caption of the video that, "we knew it was our moral imperative to make that generic brand video so. No surprise, we had all the footage."

It's hard to make an ad stand out when (un)creative directors and decision makers just want the same recycled look seen everywhere else. How do we break them from this mold of cramming smiling actors, stock clips, and useless marketing jargon down our viewers throats?

[Via Adweek]

Mike Wilkinson's picture

Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.

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3 Comments

I saw this the other day, thought it was hilarious. It reminded me of working with Ad agencies and that joke "we'd like a shot of some hip young people having non-descriptive types of fun" (I think that was the joke, or something like that, right? Feel free to correct me on that.)

Reminds me of the Better Off Ted ad breaks.