The international ‘imaging’ company Canon operates in several different countries and has separate functioning divisions for their array of products and services, from digital cameras and camcorders to printers, scanners, projectors, monitors and commercial document reproduction machines (copiers). Bigger than Nikon or Olympus, it’s closest photography rivals. It is obvious from this recent copier print ad, though, that Canon does not have a company-wide brand manager. Or do they? At least they’d better not. If Canon does, that brand manager, and/or whoever is responsible for this pitiful ad campaign, should be put out to pasture.

Canon IS one of the leading professional photography equipment companies in the world right? Can DOES want their name to be synonymous with amazing, boldly colored, richly detailed, breathtaking photographs right? That last one’s a guess at this point. Especially when Canon’s logo is associated with absolutely terrible pictures like this. The other ads in this series are no better. Who picked the location for this shot? Who styled it (what style?)? To begin with, the photograph is a compositional nightmare. Where have you ever seen a huge copier at the top of the staircase in an atrium? You haven’t. Is it to guard against the office intern taking advantage of it being in a back room and printing their fanny? The half-wall and handrail is ridiculously ugly. The big drab grey floor tiles are set on a diagonal. Why? In relation to what? Not to the lines of the ceiling panels, running off into the perspective. Until they hit the curving line of the ceiling edge just behind a huge square skylight. And don’t forget to unevenly space those light fixtures! And kiss goodbye the opportunity to show an understanding of focal point, foreground/background, depth of field or anything like that. There’s tons of empty floor in the foreground and the only thing to clue the viewer in to the depth of the shot is the little handrail disappearing into the floor. O.K., O.K. You get the idea.

A final word about the ad itself. What’s up with the CIRCULAR FADE? Are we looking into a crystal ball and seeing the future? So stupid. Then below it is nothing but mounds of tiny type set with not one ounce of compositional understanding or graphic aptitude. We won’t even get into the content of said type because it’s only downhill from here.

Having said all this, let’s just make clear that we love Canon. A new Digital Rebel XT sits on the desk nearby. But that’s why it hurts to see Canon hurting itself. Like a teenager experimenting with drugs… or signing up for the army(joke). Now of course it’s a rough task to make an ad for an office copier exciting and visually stimulating -but- that’s no reason to give up without even trying. C’mon! Think of a wittier tag line than “Cool!” You can do it! Millions of people everyday are cracking jokes about their office copier that just leaked toner all over their pants. The Canon brand should be totally infused with brilliant photography taken with a professional’s eye. When a person sees an ad for a Canon copier, it should remind them of Canon’s killer line of cameras also. Make it look like freakin’ National Geographic!