The Guardian Advert

Three Little Piggys.

And a Big Bad Wolf.

Everybody knows the story. Everybody knows the end.

It’s a tale we hear at bedtime, one we’re told at school. Full of huffing and puffing and chinny chin chins. Of Wolves blowing down houses in an attempt to get in.

Instead of re-telling the tale the Guardian, in their new advertising campaign, has imagined how we might cover the story in print and online. Bringing it into a contemporary context the advert shows how –with the Guardian involved– a familiar story can lead to an unexpected conclusion…

In the Guardian’s advert the piggys are still present, as is the Wolf, but the events that unfold are drastically different. Roles are reversed, baddies and goodies muddled up.

The Big Bad Wolf becomes the hapless victim, the cute little pigs the perpetrators. And the story isn’t set in stone; it shifts with the views of the public. As people text, type and tweet new avenues open up; different points of view unravel and reverse.
Rather than be dictated to us, the story is shaped by us. 
Cleverly The Guardian positions itself as a newspaper that listens to its readers, and by doing so, discovers the truth. A truth that others have missed.

But the message doesn’t stop there. The Guardian goes one better. In possession of the facts its readers don’t simply sit back and relax, they act. Empowered, the Guardian readers campaign for change.

In the Guardian’s advert the paper proves itself to me a master story teller – finding the truth, sparking debate and stirring action.

This fairy story, with a twist, packs a powerful punch.