Cyber Week Sale:

Save 50% on a 3-month Digiday+ membership. Ends Dec 5.

SUBSCRIBE

Google Takes Retro Ads Digital

What’s old is new again is the idea behind Google’s new interactive homage to advertising.

In celebration of digital advertising’s 18th birthday, Google is working with Avis, Alka Seltzer, Coca Cola and Volvo to bring the madmen who worked on these brands’ campaigns in the sixties and seventies out of retirement. The creatives will be challenged to use today’s technology to give new life to their earlier work, which was considered innovative and groundbreaking for the times. The creatives involved in the project are Amil Gargano, Paula Green, Harvey Gabor, Howie Cohen and Bob Pasqualina.

As Google explains in the blog post about the project, the purpose of Project Re:Brief is “to link advertising’s digital future to its storied past.” Perhaps Google is trying to capitalize on the popularity of AMC’s “Madmen” and its revival of a glossy, romanticized version of early advertising culture in today’s pop culture. Whatever Google has in mind, it’s a fun look back at a cool era.

For those in attendance at SXSW, Google will be showing demos of the campaigns at the Discovery House at the Google Village.

Watch the project introduction video and previews of the Coca-Cola and Volvo ads re-imagined below.

Coca-Cola
Original Art Director: Harvey Gabor

Volvo
Original Art Director: Amil Gargano

More in Marketing

Ulta, Best Buy and Adidas dominate AI holiday shopping mentions

The brands that are seeing the biggest boost from this shift in consumer behavior are some of the biggest retailers. 

U.K. retailer Boots leads brand efforts to invest in ad creative’s data layer

For media dollars to make an impact, brands need ad creative that actually hits. More CMOs are investing in pre- and post-flight measurement.

‘AI is permeating everything we do’: How Guitar Center developed 2 AI tools this year

This summer, the company launched a chatbot called Rig Advisor to help customers find the right instruments and products.