Y&R, Xerox Celebrate 75 Years in 75 Seconds

By Erik Oster 

Y & R New York has crafted a fun video for Xerox’s 75th anniversary tracing the evolution of the company (and their technology) over the course of 75 seconds.

I’m pretty fond of this “montage of technological innovation” approach, which seems to have become something of a trend. We saw 72 and Sunny try something similar with their montage of fictional high-tech wristwatches for Samsung Galaxy Gear, and of course there was the iPhone’s “Hello” spot. What’s interesting about the Xerox spot is we’re watching pieces of real history, given a glimpse of the birth and evolution of a truly important technological innovation. Xerox concludes the spot by saying “Let’s marvel at what could happen in the next 75.” I like that the focus of the spot is on the company’s history, with just a quick “What will the future hold?” type moment at the end. They could have lingered longer on this idea and it would have been to the spot’s detriment, since its strength lies in the nostalgic historic footage it provides. Y & R’s approach is hardly new or innovative, but it’s well executed and tasteful, a fitting tribute to Xerox’s history. I wouldn’t mind seeing more agencies mining this same approach in the future. It works.

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