Ogilvy & Mather’s Colorful Ad Campaign

Erica Gamet

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How do you spice up a humdrum product and get buyers’ attention? Well, if you’re Ogilvy & Mather Colombia and your mission is to sell something as mundane as toner cartridges, you take the humorous approach. The agency, under the creative direction of Juan Cárdenas and Andrés Astorquiza, created four separate ads for Ecofill cartridges to highlight the “perils” of running low on the ol’ CMYK.

With the simple, straightforward tagline, “Don’t let colors run out when you need them the most,” each ad depicts the progression of people losing their cyan, magenta, yellow, or black clothing—or all-important safety gear. In one ad, fully-outfitted SCUBA divers transition to the poor guy left holding his breath in nothing but his cyan swimsuit. In another, a line of beekeepers goes from safety-conscious to death-wish as the yellow protective gear fades away.


The clever campaign recently took home the Gold Campaign title at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in the outdoor category. The transition in the black toner ad reveals such a rich backstory and foreshadowing, that it’s easily my favorite out of the bunch. And as far as the magenta ad goes, it’s a toss-up as to which is more embarrassing: being nearly naked at a wedding, or having to wear some of the dresses bridesmaids are forced to wear.