GUINNESS | Not everything in black and white makes sense (Bicycle) | 1997
A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle / GUINNESS "Bicycle"
A fish hops on a bicycle and pedals smoothly off the edge of the screen. In that one moment, every bit of logic built up before it gets turned upside down.
The problem
In the 1990s, Guinness was fighting the perception that it was heavy, slow to pour, and fattening. The brand was running under the banner "Not everything in black and white makes sense," but it still lacked real momentum.
The insight
Rather than hand viewers a clear answer, Ogilvy chose to show them something impossible and let them work it out for themselves. The black-and-white footage also works as a quiet metaphor for Guinness's own black and white.
The idea
Women drink beer, arm-wrestle, and play pool. The scene cuts to an empty maternity ward, where Gloria Steinem's words appear on screen: "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle." Then, at the very end, a fish on a bicycle appears and rides away. The feminist saying is illustrated exactly as written, and it's only that final image that undercuts it. The director was Tony Kaye, and the idea was originally conceived as a poster and magazine ad.
What happened
It won an Epica d'Or in 1996 and a Gold Lion at Cannes in 1997.
Afterthought
"Not everything in black and white makes sense" even sounds like a wink at advertising itself. It hands you no answer, just a nagging little hook that stays with you. The fact that someone pulled this off in 1997 still gives me chills.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 1997
