When I woke up this morning I had this little gem of an advertisement waiting in my inbox. I'm not sure if this is a new ad campaign by Ilford or an old one, but either way I kind of dig it. It's cute, it's simple, it's direct. It is also the kind of thing I've been saying film companies like Kodak, Ilford, and Fuji should have been doing for a long time.
It's no secret that film has largely been replaced by digital. That isn't shocking and the reasons behind this make total sense to me. What is shocking to me however is the number of people who believe film is no longer even being produced!! I run into it all the time. People on the street will approach me and say, "can you still buy film!!?" What boggles my mind is that the major film companies out there have done virtually nothing to combat this misconception. Instead they just sit around with their hands tied behind their back shaking their heads as if they were on board the Titanic, trying to squeeze out a few more dollars before the ship goes down for good. It both angers and frustrates me that quality film companies like Ilford, Kodak, Fuji, Adox, Rollei, Foma, and more have virtually no social media presence, mediocre websites, and no print marketing of any kind what-so-ever.
So seriously Ilford, keep doing things like this. It's smart and it sends out a message that may just convince a few people to pick up a roll of film and give it a try. Oh... and here is my little film contribution for the day. Photographed with Ilford HP5, thirty second long exposure on medium format film.