This print ad is part of the current American Express campaign. (Click on it and it’ll get bigger.) There’s a web component as well. Being in Advertising (copywriter/creative director) and a fan of Westerns, a couple things struck me about it.
• With the genre declared dead or dormant or whatever, it’s interesting that a Western image still symbolizes The Movies, much in the way stock footage of a cavalry charge — complete with audio of a bugle, gunfire and rampaging Indians — used to represent someone watching TV.
• The widescreen image in the theater illustration suffers when placed on the handheld device. Note that the sides are cropped off.
Don’t strain your eyes to read the copy in the ad. There’s no mention of Randolph Scott. (And I promise this is the closest this blog will get to including advertising — until I start plugging my book!)
I remember from watching reruns of “The Brady Bunch” – whenever they went to the drive-ins, the movie would be either an idyllic cattle drive scene or a big cowboy-and-indian battle.
Have you seen this Western-themed ESPN/Ipod commercial? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcHI-IrCu5s
I got a big kick out of that, especially since Jeff Van Gundy is my favorite sports commentator.
I am tempted to quote David Lynch on the subject of watching movies on your telephone.