OTICA ERNESTO | A BOY AND A GIRL | 1983
A 1983 Ad for a Brazilian Eyeglass Shop / OTICA ERNESTO "A BOY AND A GIRL"
An ad for a Brazilian eyeglass store, from 1983. The title is "A BOY AND A GIRL." A boy and a girl. Simple, but a title that makes you feel like something's about to happen.
The problem
Otica Ernesto was a regional eyeglass chain in Bahia, in northeastern Brazil. The agency behind this ad, DM9, was also still small back then—just a little shop that Duda Mendonça had founded in Salvador in 1975. In 1983, DM9 was still a local agency based in Bahia, and this single piece suddenly thrust it onto the world stage.
The idea
The original Portuguese title was "Menino, Menina" (Boy, Girl). The content is a love story between two teenagers. Even though it's an ad for an eyeglass shop, it barely touches on the product at all—it's entirely devoted to depicting emotion. This is said to be the first and only time, throughout the entire 20th century, that a piece of retail work won a Gold Lion at Cannes.
What happened
It won GOLD.
Afterthought
Brazil, 1983. What kind of town, what kind of people, and with what feelings they watched this ad—I can only imagine. But I'm sure that in this simple setup of a boy and a girl, something universal must have been captured. Take a look at the video and see if you can feel that atmosphere for yourself.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 1983
