The comforting thing about traditional media is that everyone knows the rules. TV ads are proscribed in length, no sweariness, no nudity, no poofters (not on the Superbowl at any rate); the space to be filled in the newspaper or magazine is fixed by the media buy and so on. And while we’re more than capable of filling those 60 seconds or quarter pages with drivel, the amount of drivel the benighted punter has to put up with is mercifully limited.

On the web in theory, there are no such constraints. So, Woot! as they say. Before you know it NSFW ads with tits, bums, willies, sweariness and LGBTs are the new normal in a kind of cathartic eruption of the pent up frustrations of generations of writers, art directors and filmmakers.

The potential for self-indulgence will inevitably be an issue in a medium where anything goes and nothing is proven. Of course what to me seems self-indulgent could well turn out to be the web’s version of the Marlboro Cowboy (which though rarely referenced these days must surely be the most effective ad campaign of all time, anywhere).

These two “films” for Pringle, the legendary Scottish sweater manufacturer, are an interesting case in point.

This animated piece makes great use of the freedom of the web in terms of content, duration, humour and so on. The voice over is a lovely piece of both writing and performance. It bears repeat viewing and it puts the brand in an interesting and unexpected new light, at least for me, Pringle hitherto being as personally relevant as Wayne Gretzky golf wear.

On the other hand, while Tilda Swinton is both gorgeous and a very capable actress, I can barely make it through this ‘film’. Turgid and clichéd as Celtic mythic imagery goes, you can almost hear the director in the long overdue final scene shouting, “All right dear, you’re running now, start running Tilda dahling.”

I’ve no doubt it was all very jolly for those involved in the production.

H.T. http://grahamcreative.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/pringle/