bank of commerce print ad - battle between the soul vs audacity?

just thinking aloud - i wonder if the missed opportunity at greatness in that bank of commerce print ad was a battle between brand image, actually corporate image versus the audacity of being creative?

maybe bank of commerce likes to be the serious, conservative and buttoned up bank. that shows in the very symetrical layout, well placed text and muted and unassuming fonts.

having an ad that can be read both right side up and wrong side up is an audacious creative concept. they liked the spunk, but their corporate soul held them back. with that kind of a layout and concept, it calls for a headline with equal spunk. this was one ad where the headline needed to call attention to itself.

when it comes to the battle between the soul and audacity, for this bank, the soul won!

bank of commerce print ad : anybody notice?

i did not immediately notice it. this ad of bank of commerce had two layouts in one and used it to communicate what the bank did. it's clever, but i am not sure a lot of people noticed it.

the above layout is right side up as it appeared in the newspaper.

the above layout is when you turn the newspaper wrong side up.

they could have changed the layout to make the idea very obvious. and more importantly, a large headline that could have called attention to it. somethting smart and witty for the headline could have made the idea pop out.