Colenso to re-enact WWII Dogfight for TV ONE

The letters were also sent to households. I got one and it was refreshing to get a letter like that.

I love the way the photos have been taken even before the event has run. Thanks Photoshop!

It's been done.

Seriously, nice work.

Mission Bay was packed. The kids loved it.

gotta hand it to colenso. they can talk clients into spending cash on any ego-enhancing "idea".

Whoever sells clients in on this bollocks is the real genius at Colenso.

Should pick up a few awards!

An 83 year old woman also got the letter, 55 years after she got the first one, when her brother died after his plane had been shot by the Japanese over the Solomon Islands.

I hate to play devil's advocate on ideas, but this woman's plight made me wonder about the whole thing.

On another note, TV One is probably going to try recoup all this money by including even more advertising in the break, making the series absolutely unwatchable.

Also, not sure if spending money promoting something everyone's already keen to watch is such a brilliant thing to do.

nz herald - you're an idiot

I felt it was pretty shameless of TVNZ having a "news" item on this plus giving a run-down of NZ's involvement in the Pacific in WW2. It's amazing what passes for news these days. Same goes for the Team NZ coverage. I would watch TV3 but the reception is pretty terrible. The sooner we get decent free to air news, the better.

Great promo by Colenso though. That's hard to beat. I'm not sure about the bus shelter idea though. How many have got time to read hand written letters? I thought a good bus shelter ad was supposed to be read by passing motorists or is it just people waiting at the stop?

I took my Dad along and he thought it was fantastic and by the look of the crowds so did the general public - funnily enough, the very people we're advertising to.

Look at us, we have MONEY. Be Impressed!! Just like Telecom/Saatchis...

ambient. haha. what a ridiculous 'genre'

SCAM

I thought the letter was pretty good. Got me reading and thinking. Must have cost a bit though, was it national?

If I'm correct I'm pretty sure I saw the planes dropping metal. Gold Metal.

The_Hammer

These comments are ripe with jealousy.

Best ambient in 2010 so far. It was fun to watch.
The WWII letter and billboard worked well too.
I'll be watching The Pacific tonight. Over & out.

What a brilliantly creative campaign! From reading the numerous posts all across the internet and seeing the thousands of people in the crowd at Mission Bay this weekend obviously a lot of New Zealanders have been captured by this campaign with a difference. Well done to Colenso for a fully integrated and tasteful approach that has undoubted cut through.

Easily the best ambient idea this week. Well done.

It's no Kill Bill blood splatter photoshopped onto the street billboard one off for TVNZ, but it's still pretty sweet.

Quoting the NZ Herald: "Thousands of people flocked to Auckland's Mission Bay today to watch a number of mock explosions in a re-enactment of a World War 2 dogfight."

I think that earns more kudos than "4 people walked past a plywood chair poster" or (in the interests of balance) "a couple of hundred industry insiders watched a short film of Going West made from paper".

Oh...come on!
Everyone knows that the Kityhawk only had one successful offensive tactic against the superior Japanese A6M.
The tactic was learnt via a series of horrific losses, as well as the lucky capture of an almost intact Zero that was flown by Allied test pilots.
The idea behind the manoeuvre was to initially gain the height advantage, dive on the Zero for the kill. If you don't succeed head for the ground, level out, then climb to the nearest cloud and attempt a lucky escape.
Never engage a Zero in a turning fight was the mantra.
It wasn't until the Hellcat came onto the scene that the Zero pilots had a worthy adversary. By then, about 1943, most of the Japanese senior pilots were either dead or training the young fellas.
Now, to keep things in proper perspective, the Allied (American, mainly) island hopping missions didn't really get going until 1943 after the experiences learnt from Guadacanal (Solomon Islands) in 1942.
By then the Kittyhawk was being phased out, and the Hellcat and the F4U Corsair started kickin' serious ass. The Zero was now totally outclassed, and its light frame suffered under the heavier calibre guns.
So, I seem bewildered that the TVNZ initiative featured a Kittyhawk taking on two Harvard's dressed as Zero's. Any sane Allied pilot at the time would have got the hell outta there.
The tactic's employed seemed dubious. The pilot put the aircraft at risk.
I would have put him up on a charge, docked his pay, or put him on latrine duties for a week. It was a bad example that some of the younger Flying Officers might try to emulate.
One has to keep order and discipline when fighting the Imperial forces.
You can't have everybody going off willy-nilly like that. It's just not how things are done. That's why we're beating the Hun on the other side of the world.
Still, the Auckland example was fun. Good show. Should stand out at award shows.

The Hammer is an arse.

At this point, TVNZ is pretty much Gill from The Simpsons.

"Will you watch? Oh gosh, please say you'll watch - I'm sleepin' in my car."

But 9.43, surely if he were a well trained pilot familiar with the shape of the Zero, he would instantly have seen the attackers for what they were - two dungheap trainers with fake markings.

I really like this campaign. Well done.

Good point made about One News though, jesus, every second story just happens to relate to one of their shows. Piss off and start being proper journalists.

It's impressive. But it also seems excessive. Something niggles with that.

10:18 Years ago TVNZ shot themselves in the foot by removing live All Black tests and movies in peak viewing times. These are the major draw cards to a network. But they seem to be clawing it back with the movies and I think they'll be doing live rugby nexy year for the World Cup.

Who is the industry's biggest sycophant? Answers above.

Top job. Don't hate. Appreciate.

And welcome back Hammer. Thought you might have died. What a shame.

I agree, the hammer is an arse.

Didn't think the hammer would be back after his identity was given away.

The hammer seems to be the only real person on this blog.

As a follow up to all this:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Historic-battle-aired-on-web.htm

....and still nobody posts/asks/refers to how the show actually rated on the telly...i.e. the POINT of the whole exercise.

Or not >?

it rated really well - ratings have been reported in the Herald etc

of course it rated really well - it's the biggest television event of all time.

So Kim... Are you looking for a job with Colenso? Warehouse not working so well for you?

I'm glad i'm not the only one who thought TVNZ news lost credibility as a news service when they blatantly plugged the show during a "News bulletin" I had to turn off.