Hair brands opt to deliver eye and ear candy

Hair products have to be among the hardest to advertise, with well-established, glossy, hair-flipping tropes that are all too easy to fall into. So Ad Nut appreciates work that finds a different tack to take.

Here's two brands that have done so in China: Vidal Sassoon with an eye-popping visual approach, and Herbal Essences Botanics, with a focus on sound (wear headphones and turn the sound up to fully appreciate it).

Both pieces of work happen to come through production house Sweetshop: The Vidal Sassoon ad, via Saatchi & Saatchi Shanghai, is directed by Loic Simon Maes, while the Herbal Essences work is from an in-house team and directed by Christophe Chudy (full credits below).

Personally, ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response) audio, like that in the Herbal Essences ad, gives Ad Nut the heebie jeebies (see "Beer in the ear feels queer, I fear (oh, dear)"). But at least this one didn't feature any mouth sounds (see "Ritz Crackers ad gets entirely too intimate").

CREDITS: Herbal Essences

Client: P&G, Herbal Essences
Brand General Manager: Nitin Goel
Brand Director & Creative Director: Kris Duanmu
Head of Production: Dalbag Khaira
Senior Brand Manager: Eric Li
Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Christophe Chudy
Managing Director / Executive Producer: Laura Geagea
Producer: Ivy Low
DOP: Franck Georges Tymezuk
Art Director: Thor (Boontawee Taweepasas)
SFX: Eric Andre
Editor: Marshal Raj
Post Production Company: Fin Design + Effects Shanghai
Audio Post Company: Studio 31 dB, Paris
Music Composer: Pascal Bideau
Sound Engineer/Designer: Damien Perrolaz / Francesco Porcellana

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.