Did anyone see Ryan Air’s full page advertisement mocking Gordon Blair’s aviation fuel tax in this week’s Times (Feb 28th edition)? Moreover, did you see within the same paper the advertisement by Virgin Media publicly chastising Sky? Both advertisements reflect a sea change in UK advertising.

I put it to you to you that ads that merely promote products may no longer work. Aspirational creative copy and Œhigh-life¹ art direction that serve to showcase the latest products are not achieving cut-through and more importantly not engaging consumers in any meaningful way. Aspirational advertising that focuses on wealth as a measurement of human value is being subsumed and overtaken by a groundswell movement towards social responsibility, environment and community.

The trigger…