Sell! Sell! Salutes: That New Act FAST Stroke Ad

It's not often I feel able to highly praise a bit of current advertising - it's a murky sea of self-indulgent, meaningless twaddle out there. This new ad tells us how to spot if someone is having a stoke, and what to do. And it makes it clear that speed is of the essence. It's a tough brief, and it's well met.

Two weeks ago I didn't know how to spot a stroke, or what to do, or that speed is so crucial, and now I do.

I'm not sure who wrote/made this. But I'm impressed that whoever did got out of the way of the communication. In the modern advertising world, creatives - and agencies like to show off how 'creative' they are, often ending up making confusing and overcomplicated communication. They try to be clever. But sometimes the clever thing is to just get of the way of the message.

But, as Lord Bill of Bernbach himself said: "Our job is to sell our clients' merchandise... not ourselves. Our job is to kill the cleverness that makes us shine instead of the product. Our is to simplify, to tear away the unrelated, to pluck out the weeds that are smothering the product message."

The makers of this ad have concentrated on making it as simple and clear as possible. Looking at The Stroke Association website, the FAST test is something that they have desperate to make public, and now this is the most talked about ad amongst people I know.

So, people who made that new Act FAST Stroke ad - we salute thee!

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