Caffeinated posts from a copywriter/adgrunt. I write about advertising, design, astronomy, cooking, and pretty much anything else that strikes my fancy, including random bits of reference info for work purposes. You may also know me as 'that other gal' who helps run Adland. | make contact | RSS Feed | ATOM
Thursday, October 30, 2003
[
Odds and Ends - a montage ]
Neato Color Picker widget. The pallette has colors in shades from light to dark, plus it's not just the same old web safe colors either. Sweet.
Pixbarn: Where Pictures Go To Die. Interesting images of packaging, ads, and other random things.
Via The Onion, Jimmy Dean is tying a contest into their campaign about people's bizarre hobbies and how the tasty sausages fuel them up for activities such as Squirrel Tag (via Tracy- thanks!)
Do you have your Halloween costume for tomorrow? If you don't, it's fine. Get one from Forbes. They are offering printable Billionarire Holloween Masks! Go as Oprah, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Donald Trump and more!
Flashy Fun: End of the World. Love the accent of the voice over. heheh.
Agency life spoofed, by Nail Communications.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
[ That time of year ]
The time of goblins, witches, and intrails is upon us. Among many of the seasonal activities, at the top of the list, for me anyway, is pumpkin carving.
Extreme Pumpkins has some interesting ideas, tips, and prefers the use of power tools to kitchen knives and those pumpkin carving kits you can get at the dollar store. They even have a pumpkin carving contest too. (via Very Big Blog)
Get the lowdown on everything pumpkin at pumpkin-patch.com.
Pumpkin carving 101 has tips for your pumpkin art.
Spookmaster has some funky printable stencils to use as a pattern for your carving.
Here are some links to the history of Halloween (Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year) and Dias de los Muertos (Days of the Dead):
History and Customs of Halloween
The history of Halloween
Halloween Myths, Monsters and Devils
Day of the Dead
Dia de los Muertos
History of Dias de los Muetros
The Great Pumpkin- the history of Jack O'Lanterns and pumpkin facts.
Pumpkin Carving history
Halloween History
And some other fun links:
Malloween Mixup Flash Game
Halloween fonts
How Glow Sticks work (found at milkandcookies.com.)
Got any great Halloween links? Click on "sip from the cup" and leave it in the comments. :)
[
Fried Chicken, Snuff & Beer ]
KFC ads on a health kick- A new campaign breaks today from Foote, Cone & Belding, who won the account last month. In one ad, a woman brings home dinner to her husband, saying, "Y'know how we've been talking about eating better? Well, it starts today!'' And then she slams down a bucket of KFC fried chicken. In another ad, one 30-something man brings the news to a friend who happens by. "Jack?'' asks the passer-by, "Is that you? Man, you look fantastic! What the heck you been doing?'' He replies, "Eatin' chicken.'' Then the voice-over explains: "The secret's out. One Original Recipe chicken breast has just 11 grams of carbs and packs 40 grams of protein. So if you're going low-carb, high-protein, go KFC.'' Sharp-eyed viewers will catch a glimpse of an on-screen disclaimer, however, that warns: "Not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food.'' The husband-and-wife spot even encourages KFC customers to "go skinless for just 3 grams of fat per piece.'' All the commercials end with the new theme, "You gotta KFC what's cookin'!'' Yes that's the tag. I know ad copy doesn't have to be grammatically correct, but come on. It doesn't even make sense. I'm shaking my head on this one.
Reintroducing snuff to the masses - From the article: "...tobacco giants have been donning their thinking caps to devise ingenious ways of reaching their market.
Although it hardly enjoys the most glamorous of images, the answer they have come up with is snuff. Tobacco giant the US Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) is busy trying to attract young professionals to its newly packaged product. Today, however, snuff is creeping back in, as a way to get a nicotine fix where smoking is either frowned upon or outright banned. Snuff sales in the US have risen steadily over the past ten years in spite of the dropping smoking rates, and, in the last two years, sales increased ten per cent, from £64.8 million in 2000 to £71.7m in 2002, according to the US Department of Agriculture."
"U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., the principal subsidiary of UST Inc., said it plans to run a new marketing test for its Revel Tobacco Packs, has added a Wintergreen flavor to its fresh mint line and has solicited the FTC for comments on its proposed campaign. The print ad, via Doe-Anderson, Louisville, Ky., shows a happy, embracing couple with the headlines, "I was a smoker but my wife hated the smoke. So why are we smiling?" and "No secondhand smoke: Another reason to switch to Revel." The Greenwich, Conn.-based company said it completed initial limited test marketing for Revel in Youngstown, Ohio and Topeka, Kansas in 2002 and plans a second test market introduction later this year at an unnamed location."
Creative job seekers are using more gimmicks in an attempt to get noticed in a bloated job hunting market.
Miller admits Dick and Babes didn't help - Excerpts from the article: "Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade on advertising featuring a host of ex-jocks, a quirky guy named Dick and a bevy of brawling babes, the Miller Brewing Co. has accepted that its name means little to the average beer drinker."
"It's a tough admission for the marketing brass at Miller's Milwaukee headquarters and for SAB Miller, the brewer's South African owner, but the company has realized that the humor and babes model on which it has relied has failed to differentiate it from Anheuser-Busch. The Miller name has become so generic that even when consumers have liked an ad, they've mistaken it for a Budweiser commercial, Miller executives confessed."
"We found ourselves more focused on form than substance," said Bob Mikulay, executive vice president for marketing at Miller, which spent $245 million in measured media on its brands last year, as compared to Anheuser-Busch's $411 million. "We were driven by creative as opposed to strategy." Mr. Mikulay, who once worked for Miller's prior owner, Philip Morris, said that when the cigarette company promoted Marlboro, it didn't do so without talking about its intrinsic brand values.The brewer is now trying to change its strategy, beginning with a package of three trademark spots designed to make consumers realize they have a choice, and that choosing Miller is a "good call." "
"We had forgotten why people drink our beer," said Mr. Mikulay, from his Milwaukee office. "We needed to remind ourselves that consumers need a compelling reason to try and use your product -- otherwise consumers go with the default choice, the market leader. It sounds very basic, but we had forgotten that."
The World Federation of Advertisers has just announced their hall of fame. Check it out here. (via Dab.)
Spank fashion ad withdrawn after complains. I'm not sure how these ads would make someone want to buy their product. Seems more like a PR stunt to me.
[
Watch out for solar flares! ]
A major solar flare unleashed Tuesday began to punish Earth's protective magnetic field early Wednesday. The storm, perhaps the third most powerful on record, could have more effect than one in 1989 that knocked out power to an entire Canadian province.
Depending on the storm's magnetic orientation, it could set off a dramatic display of colorful Northern Lights well into mid-latitudes of the United States and Europe into early Thursday.
Already early Wednesday, the NASA-run web site Spaceweather.com reported aurora had been spotted as far south as Bishop, in central California, signaling the storm's swift arrival.
There's more to read here too.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
[ A day in the ad world ]
Slate takes on the 32 million dollar campaign to promote the new US twenty dollar bill. As if there aren't better ways to be spending 32 million dollars. How about doing a cheaper PR campaign and leave it at that? (via Clay.)
Retch & Frequency- The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Cowherd has been irritated by commercials lately. Read the article. (via Clay.)
Pimp Juice! This new brand will be adding to the increasingly large energy drink category, inspired by a Nelly song. (via Alec.)
Friday, October 24, 2003
[ Small and finite or vast and unending? ]
The question of how large our universe is has plagued wo/mankind for ages. Scientists are now starting to close in on the answers. Perplexing observations beamed back by a NASA spacecraft are fuelling debates about a mystery of biblical proportions - is our Universe infinite? Scientists have announced tantalising hints that the Universe is actually relatively small, with a hall-of-mirrors illusion tricking us into thinking that space stretches on forever.
[ Let's get addy ]
Many consumers associate bottled water with purity and safety and are willing to pay high prices for the product. But recent class-action lawsuits in six states, including Illinois, have shown that consumers may not be getting what they expect. Truth-in-advertising was one of the issues raised last month when a major bottled water provider agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged its water is neither spring water nor pure. In the settlement, the company did not admit to the allegations, and the legal dispute over the purity and source of the water continues, Garrett said. It will be interesting to see what comes of this investigation, if anything.
Bye-Bye Brawny Man - "The Brawny man for the new millennium is dark-haired, dimpled and clean-shaven, although he still wears his familiar plaid shirt," said Georgia-Pacific, the maker of the paper towel. The Atlanta-based company today is expected to unveil the new Brawny man with an updated look. The company will launch a new advertising campaign early next year to introduce the new Brawny man to Brawny fans. Replacing the 1970s-era Brawny man who currently adorns the packages is part of Georgia-Pacific's plan to reposition Brawny as a top-tier towel. The company concedes that Brawny is perceived to be of lesser quality than Bounty, made by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble. He definitely has a metrosexual look to him. I prefer the older icon. Check out the poll on the page that is linked too. It's interesting but more seem to like the older one too.
Monster announced it is doubling its presence for Super Bowl XXXVIII. Just the first in a long list of Super Bowl news to come.
Belvedere Vodka is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign today that it hopes will separate it from a growing pack of premium vodka brands. The print ads, created by Wieden + Kennedy, use the Belvedere bottle in a sketch of a person or icon worth toasting with the tag line "Na zdrowie": Polish for "to your health."
The first ad, to run this week in Entertainment Weekly and Daily Variety, features Quentin Tarantino. Another ad to run in January in Playboy magazine includes a sketch of a Playboy bunny. See an example here. I'm glad to see Belvedere stop whinging about the whole Grey Goose thing and take some action instead of crying to the courts.
Apparently the idea of comparing the sugar content of Sunny D to that of spinach really wasn't a great idea. Ads have been banned and after other PR disasters (a a three-year-old girl turned orange after drinking 1.5 litres of Sunny Delight a day) P&G has decided to sell the brand.
The Army is experimenting with some bold new recruiting techniques these days. They include no traditional appeals to patriotism, no heroic war stories by wounded veterans home from Iraq or ruggedly handsome role models in combat fatigues.
Instead, an amateur rap contest and free subscriptions to the popular hip-hop magazine The Source were featured yesterday as the Army put on a "Campus Combat" tour aimed at finding minority recruits at the University of Maryland, College Park.
The Army expects the "Campus Combat" tour to attract thousands of ethnic minorities at five eastern campuses over the next week, and generate thousands of leads to help meet its goal of about 100,000 recruits a year.
"We're looking for the next Biggie Smalls, and the Army is looking to increase its popularity among people of ethnicity," said Ousmane Sam, the mobile promotional director and the event's host. "I think we'll both reap the benefits here."
There's something about this that is disturbing, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
A poster advertisement for the German lager, Holsten, featuring a supposedly “unattractive” woman and the tag line “It’s what’s inside that counts” has been heavily criticised in an article that appeared in The Times on October 15. See said poster at the link above. And there's more on the whole campaign here, on the Holsten site.
Mazda RX-8 in action versus the humble traffic warden in a viral campaign. View it here.
A traffic warden is sucked into a Mazda RX-8 and stripped almost naked before being spat back out again in a viral ad marking the start of the launch campaign for the new coupe sports car. The ad shows an over-eager traffic warden wandering down a street when he spots a shiny new RX8 on the other side of the road. Smacking his lips and clicking his pen ready for action he pulls out his pad and walks across the road to ticket the car. Before he has a chance to tuck his ticket under the windscreen wiper, the car -- like a venus flytrap -- sucks him in, taking advantage of the car's freestyle doors, and shakes him up before spitting him out with just his underpants remaining.
Sunday, October 19, 2003
[ Getting through the shiznit. ]
Been so busy lately...I haven't had time to even put in *one* entry for this. Sorry to those of you who check it regularly. But, life does have a way of interfering with fun online stuff. ;o)
Ministry of Anti-Bordom is a fun little thing. Check it out. (thanks dab.)
WK, also known as Wieden + Kennedy, has started a school for adgrunts. Click on 12.
An article from the WSJ discusses the fact that even though there is a decline in ad spending, ad folk are being laid off, and the general stability of jobs in the biz are at an all time low, the advertising schools are seeing record numbers in their applications/admissions. Crazy shit.
Girl Scouts keep it hip.
And as always, there's oodles of good stuff on ad rag. :D
Monday, October 13, 2003
[ ShoeCar or CarShoe ]
Puma and the Mini are teaming up to create a shoe inspired car and a car inspired shoe and other products to further life beind the wheel. Check it out here. Click on Buzz to see the car.
[
Q&A ]
Been a bit busy of late. There's been a lack of posting compared to before. This is a good thing really. But here's a bit of catch-up on some meme type things that I've not done in a while. :D
Unconscious Mutterings:: I say ... and you think ... ?
1. Timeshare:: Condo
2. Accounts:: Payable (to me!)
3. Temptation:: Naughty
4. Hack:: Computer
5. Shadow:: Box
6. Infection:: Puss
7. 800:: Free
8. Infidelity:: Bastard
9. Springfield:: Simpsons
10. Gardener:: Flowers
Saturday Scruples
1. At the local grocer, you see an elderly woman shoplift bacon. Do you tell the grocer? Yes.
2. Your century old church is an architectural treasure but the congregation is declining. Developers offer $20 million and a sanctuary in the office tower they want to build. Do you accept? Tough decision. I'd say no because of the architecture bit, although with the state of the Church, they'd probaby go ahead and accept since the need the dough to pay off the kids that were abused.
3. A co-worker needs to leave early and asks you to punch her time card when you leave. Do you do it? Only if she does it for me in the future.
Friday, October 10, 2003
[ Bits and tits from the adworld and beyond ]
Escher's Relativity in LEGO
See more genius here. Funky!
Women in workboots declared victory yesterday when a footwear company succumbed to public pressure and announced it would take down about 600 sexually suggestive billboards across Canada. "I'm glad that they've listened to consumers," said Sandra Dominato, chairperson of Canadian Auto Workers Local 444's women's committee. "This is a big victory for women in our workplaces."
Terra Footwear announced it would pull an adult video off its website and begin taking down the billboards, which feature women in lingerie and workboots in sexually suggestive poses with air hoses, hammers and tape measures as props."
See one of the billboards here. The company's ad gallery has gone missing, since they've pulled what they had there.
Playing with Loyalty Card Programs -You probably have a card of some sort for a supermarket, pharmacy or some such thing, where you get points towards something, clipless coupons, etc.
In an effort ot cause chaos in the information tracking that these coupon supply the company, a site was created to swap card numbers in an effort to create inaccurate data. The site also has some interesting articles on supermarket cards and the sort.
Turn your pictures in to ACSII Follow the ASCII-O-Matic link.
Need to identify a font? Try this place out. (Via Dab).
Apple launches new iPod ads with a funky clean look. But if you use hotmail or go to msn.com you might have seen a similar looking banner ad.
Santa's got a blog. I find this pretty funny.
Follow the history of alphabets through this animation. Pretty darn cool.
Friday, October 03, 2003
[ Political ranting and raving ]
Reading the newspaper I found two things that made me mad.
First off, the Metro reports that there are telemarketing executives who have registered on the Do-Not-Call list. And yet, they are having their lawyers push the case that they should be able to call whoever they want. Um, no. No NO NO. According to the article, one claimed he was testing the system. "Others admitted they signed up because they did not want to be called by telemarketers at home. Jasvant D. Mahadevia, a retired DMA senior vice president was quoted as saying, "There are so many calls I don't want. They are disturbing my routine." Shame on you. You are the same folk who are fighting to keep said list from being considered legal. Now of course I do sympathize with those who could lose their jobs because of such a list. And I don't think that is right. But neither is calling people who don't want to be disturbed. The article aslo stated that 11 of the top executives of the Direct Marketing Association appear on the list, according to the Hartford Courant.
Another thing that gets my knickers in a twist is the fact that the House approved a "partial birth" abortion ban. Damn twits. It's my fucking body and if you think you can tell me or any other woman what to do with it you're nutters. Honestly. On top of it, this new "ban" does not allow for medical reasons, at least not currently. Medical or not, I do not want some Republicans telling me what the heck to do. Women already have higher costs for things in the medical realm as it is. From menstration needs (like tampons, etc) to birth control pills, women bare the majority of expense when it comes to reproduction or the prevention of pregnancy. The governemnt makes women pay taxes on tampons, pads, and anything to do with menstration. It's bad enough we have to deal with the pain of menstration, child birth and more, but we are also expected to pay taxes on said items every month as well. Excuse me? No no. The government keeps giving out money to research issues like impotence and yet women are given a screw job by the government at the same time by passing laws such as this. The only reason for such things is that the Church is sticking its face where it doesn't belong. The reason the government considers things such as abortions murder is because the church says so. Well, isn't there supposed to be this thing called the separation of church and state? Which means that no matter what the Church views on issues, it is up to the state to make a decision, based on whether or not it is helpful to it's citizens, who, put those decision makers in their seats of power. The Church has too much involvement in politics as far as I am concerned. This nation is a one of many religions and cultures. It should be reflected in the goverment, which it is not. Why when people go to court do they have to swear on a bible? There's something wrong with that. There are many other religions in this world besides that of Christianity. And in regards to the abortion issue, if this does indeed get past the Senate, all it is going to do is cause more dangerous operations by people who will take matters into their own hands. Like it or not, people will perform abortions. It has been going on for centuries. Weither it be taking certain herbs or sticking a wire hanger inside the womb, women have found ways to abort unwanted pregnancies. And some ruling by a majority of Republicans will not stop that.
[Ad noise and other fun ]
Fun with Japanese ad characters and jingles. Seems like the public loves it. (via clay.)
15 steps to a profitable husband:
1. Marketing focus: make sure you really want to find a husband.
2. Marketing support: seek the help of a best friend.
3. Packaging: improve your appearance and always look your best.
4. Market expansion: hunt for a man in as many places as possible.
5. Branding: show what makes you stand out from the crowd.
6. Advertising: Ask anyone if they know of a possible date.
7. Online marketing: use an online dating service.
8. Guerrilla marketing: get out of the daily grind.
9. Niche marketing: ask your married friends if they know any suitable men.
10. Telemarketing: call everyone you know and ask about possible dates.
11. Mass marketing: think of everywhere you might meet men and try them all each week.
12. Event marketing: throw a party and invite single men and friends who
can bring some.
13. Product life cycle: if it's not working, take a break to recharge your
batteries.
14. Quarterly performance review: take a hard look at why you're still
single.
15. Exit strategy: how to decide if you are going to dump him or marry him.
(Via dab.)
Danish construction workers' union has pictured nude women and sexual comments in their newspaper ads to boost membership. (Via Clay.)
Brand consultancy Emergence conducted a survey on tag lines for 22 of the US's top marketers. Results were not very postive. Marketers like Kmart, Staples and Circuit City go a 0% recognition.
I think that some of this has less to do with tag lines not working and more to do with the tendency for some brands to have a new tag line every 8 months.
In the survey on Client-Agency Relations, to be released today, many measurements intended to assess the strength, effectiveness and amity of the relationships between agencies and clients are at or near record lows. The consequences are serious, according to the survey, because they contribute to a waning belief in the efficacy of advertising among marketers — an ominous trend for agencies, whether led by optimists or pessimists. In reviewing the results of the 2003 Salz Survey of Advertiser-Agency Relations, as the Salz study is formally titled, Ms. Salz said the principal difference was that "last year, agencies were feeling the effects of the economy more than advertisers, but now, the advertisers have caught up — or `caught down' — to the agencies."
Loving Apple Design I do too. I think that's one of the things that really sets Apple apart from all the PC clutter. They do care about things looking pretty. And so do most of the customers, considering a good percentage of the buyers are in the field of design in some way or another.
More layoffs in adland. Dammit. This is the problem when consolidation happens with agencies. They have a delicate enough economy of their own (winning accounts, losing accounts etc) that they don't need the financial troubles of parent groups fucking with it even more.
Four boobs protest GM milk Gadzoooks!! (Via Dab.)
"Sending yet another mixed signal for the ad spending outlook, the ad
industry equities research team at Merrill Lynch Wednesday issued a report
revising the firm's advertising forecasts down from earlier predictions. The
move follows a modest upward revision made recently by Zenith Optimedia
Group, as well as a MediaPost survey of media planners and buyers that
pointed to a markedly lower traditional ad spending outlook for 2004 than
those issued by major forecasters including Zenith and Universal McCann..."
Cramer-Krasselt prank dancing. Love it! (Via Dab.)
Paris-based Dolmen has begun selling thin cardboard boxes for smokers to cover cigarette packs which, under an EU rule that came into force on Tuesday, must carry warnings such as "Smoking Kills" on every side. "People don't like to go around with these ugly packs, they're a little bit ashamed," said Christophe Blanc, a Dolmen official behind the idea. The casings cost around 60 eurocents (70 U.S. cents) and are decorated with checkerboard and flower patterns or portraits of Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara."
Don't make us creative types angry. A beautiful little article on some research done by some scientists. Explains quite a bit I'm afraid. :-) (Via Clay.)
A London tailor is unpicking the reputation of the bespoke suit industry as being filled with stuffed shirts with a raunchy tongue-in-cheek viral advertising campaign by St. Luke's praising the power of the suit. See it here.
As I do my little turn on the catwalk...- The hilarious new push for Clarks totally parodies the fashion world by putting down to earth geezers on the catwalk, sporting their new Clarks shoes to the tagline "Life's One Long Catwalk". Done by St. Luke's, London. See it here. Great spot. Nice idea. Love it. St. Luke's oh won't you hire me!
Rushes is a post-production company in the UK. I liked the British Sea Power ad on there. Some nice ads to watch.
Volkswagen "bollocks" viral ad. Created by BMP DDB, London. Damn that's some nice stuff. :-) Maybe it's just me but it's cute when little kids swear.
Ikea Pony. Nicely done! Created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, FL, USA
[
Odds and Ends - a montage ]Neato Color Picker widget. The pallette has colors in shades from light to dark, plus it's not just the same old web safe colors either. Sweet.
Pixbarn: Where Pictures Go To Die. Interesting images of packaging, ads, and other random things.
Via The Onion, Jimmy Dean is tying a contest into their campaign about people's bizarre hobbies and how the tasty sausages fuel them up for activities such as Squirrel Tag (via Tracy- thanks!)
Do you have your Halloween costume for tomorrow? If you don't, it's fine. Get one from Forbes. They are offering printable Billionarire Holloween Masks! Go as Oprah, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Donald Trump and more!
Flashy Fun: End of the World. Love the accent of the voice over. heheh.
Agency life spoofed, by Nail Communications.
Wednesday, October 29, 2003
[
That time of year ]The time of goblins, witches, and intrails is upon us. Among many of the seasonal activities, at the top of the list, for me anyway, is pumpkin carving.
Extreme Pumpkins has some interesting ideas, tips, and prefers the use of power tools to kitchen knives and those pumpkin carving kits you can get at the dollar store. They even have a pumpkin carving contest too. (via Very Big Blog)
Get the lowdown on everything pumpkin at pumpkin-patch.com.
Pumpkin carving 101 has tips for your pumpkin art.
Spookmaster has some funky printable stencils to use as a pattern for your carving.
Here are some links to the history of Halloween (Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year) and Dias de los Muertos (Days of the Dead):
History and Customs of Halloween
The history of Halloween
Halloween Myths, Monsters and Devils
Day of the Dead
Dia de los Muertos
History of Dias de los Muetros
The Great Pumpkin- the history of Jack O'Lanterns and pumpkin facts.
Pumpkin Carving history
Halloween History
And some other fun links:
Malloween Mixup Flash Game
Halloween fonts
How Glow Sticks work (found at milkandcookies.com.)
Got any great Halloween links? Click on "sip from the cup" and leave it in the comments. :)
[
Fried Chicken, Snuff & Beer ]KFC ads on a health kick- A new campaign breaks today from Foote, Cone & Belding, who won the account last month. In one ad, a woman brings home dinner to her husband, saying, "Y'know how we've been talking about eating better? Well, it starts today!'' And then she slams down a bucket of KFC fried chicken. In another ad, one 30-something man brings the news to a friend who happens by. "Jack?'' asks the passer-by, "Is that you? Man, you look fantastic! What the heck you been doing?'' He replies, "Eatin' chicken.'' Then the voice-over explains: "The secret's out. One Original Recipe chicken breast has just 11 grams of carbs and packs 40 grams of protein. So if you're going low-carb, high-protein, go KFC.'' Sharp-eyed viewers will catch a glimpse of an on-screen disclaimer, however, that warns: "Not a low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol food.'' The husband-and-wife spot even encourages KFC customers to "go skinless for just 3 grams of fat per piece.'' All the commercials end with the new theme, "You gotta KFC what's cookin'!'' Yes that's the tag. I know ad copy doesn't have to be grammatically correct, but come on. It doesn't even make sense. I'm shaking my head on this one.
Reintroducing snuff to the masses - From the article: "...tobacco giants have been donning their thinking caps to devise ingenious ways of reaching their market.
Although it hardly enjoys the most glamorous of images, the answer they have come up with is snuff. Tobacco giant the US Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) is busy trying to attract young professionals to its newly packaged product. Today, however, snuff is creeping back in, as a way to get a nicotine fix where smoking is either frowned upon or outright banned. Snuff sales in the US have risen steadily over the past ten years in spite of the dropping smoking rates, and, in the last two years, sales increased ten per cent, from £64.8 million in 2000 to £71.7m in 2002, according to the US Department of Agriculture."
"U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., the principal subsidiary of UST Inc., said it plans to run a new marketing test for its Revel Tobacco Packs, has added a Wintergreen flavor to its fresh mint line and has solicited the FTC for comments on its proposed campaign. The print ad, via Doe-Anderson, Louisville, Ky., shows a happy, embracing couple with the headlines, "I was a smoker but my wife hated the smoke. So why are we smiling?" and "No secondhand smoke: Another reason to switch to Revel." The Greenwich, Conn.-based company said it completed initial limited test marketing for Revel in Youngstown, Ohio and Topeka, Kansas in 2002 and plans a second test market introduction later this year at an unnamed location."
Creative job seekers are using more gimmicks in an attempt to get noticed in a bloated job hunting market.
Miller admits Dick and Babes didn't help - Excerpts from the article: "Despite spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the last decade on advertising featuring a host of ex-jocks, a quirky guy named Dick and a bevy of brawling babes, the Miller Brewing Co. has accepted that its name means little to the average beer drinker."
"It's a tough admission for the marketing brass at Miller's Milwaukee headquarters and for SAB Miller, the brewer's South African owner, but the company has realized that the humor and babes model on which it has relied has failed to differentiate it from Anheuser-Busch. The Miller name has become so generic that even when consumers have liked an ad, they've mistaken it for a Budweiser commercial, Miller executives confessed."
"We found ourselves more focused on form than substance," said Bob Mikulay, executive vice president for marketing at Miller, which spent $245 million in measured media on its brands last year, as compared to Anheuser-Busch's $411 million. "We were driven by creative as opposed to strategy." Mr. Mikulay, who once worked for Miller's prior owner, Philip Morris, said that when the cigarette company promoted Marlboro, it didn't do so without talking about its intrinsic brand values.The brewer is now trying to change its strategy, beginning with a package of three trademark spots designed to make consumers realize they have a choice, and that choosing Miller is a "good call." "
"We had forgotten why people drink our beer," said Mr. Mikulay, from his Milwaukee office. "We needed to remind ourselves that consumers need a compelling reason to try and use your product -- otherwise consumers go with the default choice, the market leader. It sounds very basic, but we had forgotten that."
The World Federation of Advertisers has just announced their hall of fame. Check it out here. (via Dab.)
Spank fashion ad withdrawn after complains. I'm not sure how these ads would make someone want to buy their product. Seems more like a PR stunt to me.
[
Watch out for solar flares! ]A major solar flare unleashed Tuesday began to punish Earth's protective magnetic field early Wednesday. The storm, perhaps the third most powerful on record, could have more effect than one in 1989 that knocked out power to an entire Canadian province.
Depending on the storm's magnetic orientation, it could set off a dramatic display of colorful Northern Lights well into mid-latitudes of the United States and Europe into early Thursday.
Already early Wednesday, the NASA-run web site Spaceweather.com reported aurora had been spotted as far south as Bishop, in central California, signaling the storm's swift arrival.
There's more to read here too.
Tuesday, October 28, 2003
[
A day in the ad world ]Slate takes on the 32 million dollar campaign to promote the new US twenty dollar bill. As if there aren't better ways to be spending 32 million dollars. How about doing a cheaper PR campaign and leave it at that? (via Clay.)
Retch & Frequency- The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Cowherd has been irritated by commercials lately. Read the article. (via Clay.)
Pimp Juice! This new brand will be adding to the increasingly large energy drink category, inspired by a Nelly song. (via Alec.)
Friday, October 24, 2003
[
Small and finite or vast and unending? ]The question of how large our universe is has plagued wo/mankind for ages. Scientists are now starting to close in on the answers. Perplexing observations beamed back by a NASA spacecraft are fuelling debates about a mystery of biblical proportions - is our Universe infinite? Scientists have announced tantalising hints that the Universe is actually relatively small, with a hall-of-mirrors illusion tricking us into thinking that space stretches on forever.
[
Let's get addy ]Many consumers associate bottled water with purity and safety and are willing to pay high prices for the product. But recent class-action lawsuits in six states, including Illinois, have shown that consumers may not be getting what they expect. Truth-in-advertising was one of the issues raised last month when a major bottled water provider agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit that alleged its water is neither spring water nor pure. In the settlement, the company did not admit to the allegations, and the legal dispute over the purity and source of the water continues, Garrett said. It will be interesting to see what comes of this investigation, if anything.
Bye-Bye Brawny Man - "The Brawny man for the new millennium is dark-haired, dimpled and clean-shaven, although he still wears his familiar plaid shirt," said Georgia-Pacific, the maker of the paper towel. The Atlanta-based company today is expected to unveil the new Brawny man with an updated look. The company will launch a new advertising campaign early next year to introduce the new Brawny man to Brawny fans. Replacing the 1970s-era Brawny man who currently adorns the packages is part of Georgia-Pacific's plan to reposition Brawny as a top-tier towel. The company concedes that Brawny is perceived to be of lesser quality than Bounty, made by Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble. He definitely has a metrosexual look to him. I prefer the older icon. Check out the poll on the page that is linked too. It's interesting but more seem to like the older one too.
Monster announced it is doubling its presence for Super Bowl XXXVIII. Just the first in a long list of Super Bowl news to come.
Belvedere Vodka is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign today that it hopes will separate it from a growing pack of premium vodka brands. The print ads, created by Wieden + Kennedy, use the Belvedere bottle in a sketch of a person or icon worth toasting with the tag line "Na zdrowie": Polish for "to your health."
The first ad, to run this week in Entertainment Weekly and Daily Variety, features Quentin Tarantino. Another ad to run in January in Playboy magazine includes a sketch of a Playboy bunny. See an example here. I'm glad to see Belvedere stop whinging about the whole Grey Goose thing and take some action instead of crying to the courts.
Apparently the idea of comparing the sugar content of Sunny D to that of spinach really wasn't a great idea. Ads have been banned and after other PR disasters (a a three-year-old girl turned orange after drinking 1.5 litres of Sunny Delight a day) P&G has decided to sell the brand.
The Army is experimenting with some bold new recruiting techniques these days. They include no traditional appeals to patriotism, no heroic war stories by wounded veterans home from Iraq or ruggedly handsome role models in combat fatigues.
Instead, an amateur rap contest and free subscriptions to the popular hip-hop magazine The Source were featured yesterday as the Army put on a "Campus Combat" tour aimed at finding minority recruits at the University of Maryland, College Park.
The Army expects the "Campus Combat" tour to attract thousands of ethnic minorities at five eastern campuses over the next week, and generate thousands of leads to help meet its goal of about 100,000 recruits a year.
"We're looking for the next Biggie Smalls, and the Army is looking to increase its popularity among people of ethnicity," said Ousmane Sam, the mobile promotional director and the event's host. "I think we'll both reap the benefits here."
There's something about this that is disturbing, but I can't quite put my finger on it.
A poster advertisement for the German lager, Holsten, featuring a supposedly “unattractive” woman and the tag line “It’s what’s inside that counts” has been heavily criticised in an article that appeared in The Times on October 15. See said poster at the link above. And there's more on the whole campaign here, on the Holsten site.
Mazda RX-8 in action versus the humble traffic warden in a viral campaign. View it here.
A traffic warden is sucked into a Mazda RX-8 and stripped almost naked before being spat back out again in a viral ad marking the start of the launch campaign for the new coupe sports car. The ad shows an over-eager traffic warden wandering down a street when he spots a shiny new RX8 on the other side of the road. Smacking his lips and clicking his pen ready for action he pulls out his pad and walks across the road to ticket the car. Before he has a chance to tuck his ticket under the windscreen wiper, the car -- like a venus flytrap -- sucks him in, taking advantage of the car's freestyle doors, and shakes him up before spitting him out with just his underpants remaining.
Sunday, October 19, 2003
[ Getting through the shiznit. ]
Been so busy lately...I haven't had time to even put in *one* entry for this. Sorry to those of you who check it regularly. But, life does have a way of interfering with fun online stuff. ;o)
Ministry of Anti-Bordom is a fun little thing. Check it out. (thanks dab.)
WK, also known as Wieden + Kennedy, has started a school for adgrunts. Click on 12.
An article from the WSJ discusses the fact that even though there is a decline in ad spending, ad folk are being laid off, and the general stability of jobs in the biz are at an all time low, the advertising schools are seeing record numbers in their applications/admissions. Crazy shit.
Girl Scouts keep it hip.
And as always, there's oodles of good stuff on ad rag. :D
Monday, October 13, 2003
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ShoeCar or CarShoe ]Puma and the Mini are teaming up to create a shoe inspired car and a car inspired shoe and other products to further life beind the wheel. Check it out here. Click on Buzz to see the car.
[
Q&A ]Been a bit busy of late. There's been a lack of posting compared to before. This is a good thing really. But here's a bit of catch-up on some meme type things that I've not done in a while. :D
Unconscious Mutterings:: I say ... and you think ... ?
1. Timeshare:: Condo
2. Accounts:: Payable (to me!)
3. Temptation:: Naughty
4. Hack:: Computer
5. Shadow:: Box
6. Infection:: Puss
7. 800:: Free
8. Infidelity:: Bastard
9. Springfield:: Simpsons
10. Gardener:: Flowers
Saturday Scruples
1. At the local grocer, you see an elderly woman shoplift bacon. Do you tell the grocer? Yes.
2. Your century old church is an architectural treasure but the congregation is declining. Developers offer $20 million and a sanctuary in the office tower they want to build. Do you accept? Tough decision. I'd say no because of the architecture bit, although with the state of the Church, they'd probaby go ahead and accept since the need the dough to pay off the kids that were abused.
3. A co-worker needs to leave early and asks you to punch her time card when you leave. Do you do it? Only if she does it for me in the future.
Friday, October 10, 2003
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Bits and tits from the adworld and beyond ]Escher's Relativity in LEGO
See more genius here. Funky!
Women in workboots declared victory yesterday when a footwear company succumbed to public pressure and announced it would take down about 600 sexually suggestive billboards across Canada. "I'm glad that they've listened to consumers," said Sandra Dominato, chairperson of Canadian Auto Workers Local 444's women's committee. "This is a big victory for women in our workplaces."
Terra Footwear announced it would pull an adult video off its website and begin taking down the billboards, which feature women in lingerie and workboots in sexually suggestive poses with air hoses, hammers and tape measures as props."
See one of the billboards here. The company's ad gallery has gone missing, since they've pulled what they had there.
Playing with Loyalty Card Programs -You probably have a card of some sort for a supermarket, pharmacy or some such thing, where you get points towards something, clipless coupons, etc.
In an effort ot cause chaos in the information tracking that these coupon supply the company, a site was created to swap card numbers in an effort to create inaccurate data. The site also has some interesting articles on supermarket cards and the sort.
Turn your pictures in to ACSII Follow the ASCII-O-Matic link.
Need to identify a font? Try this place out. (Via Dab).
Apple launches new iPod ads with a funky clean look. But if you use hotmail or go to msn.com you might have seen a similar looking banner ad.
Santa's got a blog. I find this pretty funny.
Follow the history of alphabets through this animation. Pretty darn cool.
Friday, October 03, 2003
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Political ranting and raving ]Reading the newspaper I found two things that made me mad.
First off, the Metro reports that there are telemarketing executives who have registered on the Do-Not-Call list. And yet, they are having their lawyers push the case that they should be able to call whoever they want. Um, no. No NO NO. According to the article, one claimed he was testing the system. "Others admitted they signed up because they did not want to be called by telemarketers at home. Jasvant D. Mahadevia, a retired DMA senior vice president was quoted as saying, "There are so many calls I don't want. They are disturbing my routine." Shame on you. You are the same folk who are fighting to keep said list from being considered legal. Now of course I do sympathize with those who could lose their jobs because of such a list. And I don't think that is right. But neither is calling people who don't want to be disturbed. The article aslo stated that 11 of the top executives of the Direct Marketing Association appear on the list, according to the Hartford Courant.
Another thing that gets my knickers in a twist is the fact that the House approved a "partial birth" abortion ban. Damn twits. It's my fucking body and if you think you can tell me or any other woman what to do with it you're nutters. Honestly. On top of it, this new "ban" does not allow for medical reasons, at least not currently. Medical or not, I do not want some Republicans telling me what the heck to do. Women already have higher costs for things in the medical realm as it is. From menstration needs (like tampons, etc) to birth control pills, women bare the majority of expense when it comes to reproduction or the prevention of pregnancy. The governemnt makes women pay taxes on tampons, pads, and anything to do with menstration. It's bad enough we have to deal with the pain of menstration, child birth and more, but we are also expected to pay taxes on said items every month as well. Excuse me? No no. The government keeps giving out money to research issues like impotence and yet women are given a screw job by the government at the same time by passing laws such as this. The only reason for such things is that the Church is sticking its face where it doesn't belong. The reason the government considers things such as abortions murder is because the church says so. Well, isn't there supposed to be this thing called the separation of church and state? Which means that no matter what the Church views on issues, it is up to the state to make a decision, based on whether or not it is helpful to it's citizens, who, put those decision makers in their seats of power. The Church has too much involvement in politics as far as I am concerned. This nation is a one of many religions and cultures. It should be reflected in the goverment, which it is not. Why when people go to court do they have to swear on a bible? There's something wrong with that. There are many other religions in this world besides that of Christianity. And in regards to the abortion issue, if this does indeed get past the Senate, all it is going to do is cause more dangerous operations by people who will take matters into their own hands. Like it or not, people will perform abortions. It has been going on for centuries. Weither it be taking certain herbs or sticking a wire hanger inside the womb, women have found ways to abort unwanted pregnancies. And some ruling by a majority of Republicans will not stop that.
[
Ad noise and other fun ]Fun with Japanese ad characters and jingles. Seems like the public loves it. (via clay.)
15 steps to a profitable husband:
1. Marketing focus: make sure you really want to find a husband.
2. Marketing support: seek the help of a best friend.
3. Packaging: improve your appearance and always look your best.
4. Market expansion: hunt for a man in as many places as possible.
5. Branding: show what makes you stand out from the crowd.
6. Advertising: Ask anyone if they know of a possible date.
7. Online marketing: use an online dating service.
8. Guerrilla marketing: get out of the daily grind.
9. Niche marketing: ask your married friends if they know any suitable men.
10. Telemarketing: call everyone you know and ask about possible dates.
11. Mass marketing: think of everywhere you might meet men and try them all each week.
12. Event marketing: throw a party and invite single men and friends who
can bring some.
13. Product life cycle: if it's not working, take a break to recharge your
batteries.
14. Quarterly performance review: take a hard look at why you're still
single.
15. Exit strategy: how to decide if you are going to dump him or marry him.
(Via dab.)
Danish construction workers' union has pictured nude women and sexual comments in their newspaper ads to boost membership. (Via Clay.)
Brand consultancy Emergence conducted a survey on tag lines for 22 of the US's top marketers. Results were not very postive. Marketers like Kmart, Staples and Circuit City go a 0% recognition.
I think that some of this has less to do with tag lines not working and more to do with the tendency for some brands to have a new tag line every 8 months.
In the survey on Client-Agency Relations, to be released today, many measurements intended to assess the strength, effectiveness and amity of the relationships between agencies and clients are at or near record lows. The consequences are serious, according to the survey, because they contribute to a waning belief in the efficacy of advertising among marketers — an ominous trend for agencies, whether led by optimists or pessimists. In reviewing the results of the 2003 Salz Survey of Advertiser-Agency Relations, as the Salz study is formally titled, Ms. Salz said the principal difference was that "last year, agencies were feeling the effects of the economy more than advertisers, but now, the advertisers have caught up — or `caught down' — to the agencies."
Loving Apple Design I do too. I think that's one of the things that really sets Apple apart from all the PC clutter. They do care about things looking pretty. And so do most of the customers, considering a good percentage of the buyers are in the field of design in some way or another.
More layoffs in adland. Dammit. This is the problem when consolidation happens with agencies. They have a delicate enough economy of their own (winning accounts, losing accounts etc) that they don't need the financial troubles of parent groups fucking with it even more.
Four boobs protest GM milk Gadzoooks!! (Via Dab.)
"Sending yet another mixed signal for the ad spending outlook, the ad
industry equities research team at Merrill Lynch Wednesday issued a report
revising the firm's advertising forecasts down from earlier predictions. The
move follows a modest upward revision made recently by Zenith Optimedia
Group, as well as a MediaPost survey of media planners and buyers that
pointed to a markedly lower traditional ad spending outlook for 2004 than
those issued by major forecasters including Zenith and Universal McCann..."
Cramer-Krasselt prank dancing. Love it! (Via Dab.)
Paris-based Dolmen has begun selling thin cardboard boxes for smokers to cover cigarette packs which, under an EU rule that came into force on Tuesday, must carry warnings such as "Smoking Kills" on every side. "People don't like to go around with these ugly packs, they're a little bit ashamed," said Christophe Blanc, a Dolmen official behind the idea. The casings cost around 60 eurocents (70 U.S. cents) and are decorated with checkerboard and flower patterns or portraits of Cuban revolutionary hero Ernesto "Che" Guevara."
Don't make us creative types angry. A beautiful little article on some research done by some scientists. Explains quite a bit I'm afraid. :-) (Via Clay.)
A London tailor is unpicking the reputation of the bespoke suit industry as being filled with stuffed shirts with a raunchy tongue-in-cheek viral advertising campaign by St. Luke's praising the power of the suit. See it here.
As I do my little turn on the catwalk...- The hilarious new push for Clarks totally parodies the fashion world by putting down to earth geezers on the catwalk, sporting their new Clarks shoes to the tagline "Life's One Long Catwalk". Done by St. Luke's, London. See it here. Great spot. Nice idea. Love it. St. Luke's oh won't you hire me!
Rushes is a post-production company in the UK. I liked the British Sea Power ad on there. Some nice ads to watch.
Volkswagen "bollocks" viral ad. Created by BMP DDB, London. Damn that's some nice stuff. :-) Maybe it's just me but it's cute when little kids swear.
Ikea Pony. Nicely done! Created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, FL, USA
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