Beautiful Piece of Film, Obscure Message

Advertiser: Sony Corp.

Agency: Young & Rubicam, New York

Challenge: Develop an image for Sony that unifies its electronics and entertainment businesses

The Ad: The 60-second TV spot follows an egg as it falls off a farm truck in the English countryside and rolls into a city. Rolling across a sidewalk chalk drawing, the egg turns purple. It picks up yellow stripes as it rolls across a freshly painted roadway. After rolling over flower petals, which stick to it, the egg rolls through city traffic and stops outside Christie’s auction house, where it is discovered by a young girl. The youngster offers the egg, which now is a Faberge look-alike, up for auction and reaps millions. The ad ends with the legend: “Do you dream in Sony?”

Comment: This is a beautifully done, well-told tale with an incredibly obscure message. The slogan seems to suggest that Sony brings color to our dreams--but how? TVs, CD players, Walkman tape players and other electronic gizmos aren’t objects we aspire to own, but everyday toys. Let’s face it--technology nowadays inspires more confusion than awe. Sony has created a lovely piece of film--a unit of Sony Pictures in Los Angeles did the special effects--but a weak commercial. $+