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
Wednesday, December 24, 2003
[
Peas on Hearth to All. ]
Want to know what was hot and what was not in 2003? Check out this big o'list at fimoculous.com.
Advertising reviews include:
BBC Ad Breakdown.
CNN Money's Over-the-top ad campaigns.
Fineman PR's 9th Annual PR Blunders.
American Brandstand tracks all the mentions of brands in the Billboard Top 20 singles chart and has a 2003 review.
Another interesting ad site I came across today- DavidReviews- focuses on UK TV adverts.
And some holiday amusement: Frisky reindeer knocks over reporter.
Monday, December 22, 2003
[ Happy Winter Solstice ]
Adage looks back at 2003 and so does ad-rag.com. ;)
Chevrolet is using "An American Revolution" as its tag line for a major new ad campaign that began Friday, Dec. 19. Chevrolet is trying a new tone with the ads: "acceptable rebellion," said Kim Kosak, Chevrolet's general director for advertising and sales promotion, at a press event here last week. She described the campaign's message as "confident without being arrogant and fun at the same time."
A survey by Trojan condoms show those in advertising and marketing are the most willing to have an office romance. The next jobs on the list are those in financial services, sales and people who work in call centres. Are you surprised?
US government sponsors ad campaign for breastfeeding. The overall goal of the campaign is to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period to 75% and those within 6 months postpartum to 50% by the year 2010. Ads have been created by the Ad Council in NYC. I had no idea there was a government group doing this. Odd.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
[ I'm copulatin' it ]
Someone please stop McDonalds from airing anymore of their horrible horrible commericals. If I have to listen to some woman attempt to rap about fruitcake I think I might loose my marbles. This whole "I'm lovin' it" campaign sucks monkey asses. Someone needs to set McDonalds straight. The only people who are "lovin' it" are the agency that created this abomination of a campaign/concept, and Mcdonalds who bought it. Stop the madness, I say!
Milkman ad found by Dab. Funny. Gotta love the sheep. :D
Do you hate the H2? Then this site is for you.
Chock full o'Nuts now full of NYC flavor- The article contains one of the ads. "Each ad carries an appropriate caption. The meatpacker, with a stern look and surrounded by carcasses, is labeled "Chock full o'Attitude." A harried waitress in the diner is labeled "Chock full o'Strength." Boxers at Gleason's, striking poses, are labeled "Chock full o'Character." And the packed roller-coaster is labeled - what else? - "Chock full o'Nuts." "
Brand Republic's International Top Ten International ads:
1. Ikea - 'lamp'
2. General Electric/Dako - "suckling pig"
3. Saturn - "sheet metal"
4. Peugeot 206 - "the sculptor"
5. Nike - "stickman"
6. Parque de la Costa - "bird"
7. Nike - "before"
8. ESPN - "shelfballs/kiss the double"
9. Bud Light - "greeting cards"
10. Nike - "angry chicken"
Funny that a number of these didn't run in 2003. Although they did win awards in 2003, so maybe that's part of their way to pick the "best". But, still it would have been a best of 2002. *shrug*
*Shameless plug alert* - Check out the comprehensive roundup of 2003 on ad-rag.com. :D
Thursday, December 18, 2003
[ Mother London Holiday film ]
Dab found this set of holiday films from Mother London. Check it out and let your jaw hit the floor.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
[ I'm dancing with myself ]
Watch the French 'the gimp' ad Rossignol. (Via Dab.)
Good gift suggestions from CreativePro (Via Tracy) and a nifty magazine/CD box set. (Via Steve.)
Legacy of the Bernbach curse? - "Rules are what the artist breaks; the memorable never emerged from a formula." For a man who so cautioned against prescription, Bill Bernbach turns out to have been responsible for one of the ad industry's most enshrined dictates: that of the art director/copywriter team. Some say it's become the Bernbach Curse.
The impotence of being Santa. Stupid PETA. But, CCF TV Ads Expose PETA. Serves um right.
Louis Vuitton dumps J-Lo as the face of its advertising.
Advanced Results Marketing, a direct response agency, will break a $4 million TV ad effort for itself in January and will run during early morning news programs on Bloomberg News, CNBC, CNN, Headline News and Fox News Channel in hopes to get at least five blue chip clients and $50 million in direct response advertising assignments.
Metronomy Desktop Marketing is signing up UK users who will receive a free IBM PC if they agree to watch three minutes of advertising for each hour they are online. Users are required to maintain an account with an Internet service provider and use the computer for at least 30 hours a month. Metronomy will send users a CD-ROM with new advertisements that must be uploaded each month or the PC will not work, the company said on its Web site. It will only monitor the number of advertisements that the user watches, not any other online activity unrelated to the ads, it said. Sounds like a bad idea. If this didn't work the first time, when PCs were even more expensive, I doubt it would work now. Plus it'd be another thing if they were giving away Macs or something. ;)
A brilliant rant on McDonalds ad campaign- "By now everyone is probably aware of McDonald's new ad campaign: "i'm lovin' it," which is really a contraction of the phrase "i am loving it,"
that happens to be an anagram for the phrase: "ailing vomit." Ah the irony." (Via Dab.)
Advertising watchdogs have banned a poster campaign in the UK for a popular energy drink after upholding complaints that it made "offensive" references to anal sex. The poster adverts, for Red Devil, carried the innuendo-laden slogans "He was going so fast he went for the wrong entrance" and "Once he'd found the right zone, she was raring to go". Soft drinks giant Britvic, which makes Red Devil, agreed the wording in the adverts was "suggestive" but argued they were "playful and cheeky". Although only two people complained, the Advertising Standards Authority said the wording on the posters "was not suitable for poster medium" and "likely to cause serious and widespread offence". It ordered the company to change the wording. Ads were up in the London Underground.
Via Boing Boing this morn, a link to an advertisement designed to curb the litter of human waste in Washington. Seems a lot of truckers relieve themselves in bottles and toss them out the window during long hauls (Nasty!!).
The newspaper ad works as a piece of shock advertising. (Via Brandon.)
Australia is Promoting "Reproductive Tourism"- "Wanted: sperm donors.
Salary: a two-week holiday to Australia. All expenses paid, including a medical.
An Australian fertility clinic is making waves in Calgary by advertising the holiday to men in exchange for their sperm. The unusual deal includes airfare, accommodation and expenses for healthy donors, who must be between 18 and 40. Alrighty then.
Food peers skewer Rick Bayless for endorsing BK sandwich- "New York restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, who has advised chefs on endorsement deals, is more tempered in his reaction. On one hand, he says, "it's good to focus on more healthful food, and the sandwich is better than most of the stuff at Burger King." But Bayless has created a credibility gap, Clark adds. "Emeril can endorse Crest toothpaste because Emeril never claims to know a lot about food. But Rick has been respected for many years as a food historian, a culinary anthropologist and a passionate purist. If he's going to shock us, it better be for a good reason and done well. And these commercials are cheesy. He's just being a shill."" A very interesting read, especially as a foodie.
Ad-rag has loads of new articles too. Check it out.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
[ Ad Shizzle ]
IPA Holiday Card/Flashy Snowball fight game. Here's another. And another. This last one is at least 3 years old, and the originial I think, although I'm not positive.
Best of the Best (BOB) Awards were awarded last night in the UK. The winners in the 6 categories were:
~Trevor Beattie (TBWA\London) for Best Creative Director.
~Trevor Beattie and Bill Bungay (TBWA\London) were awarded Best Creative Team for their work on Five and FCUK.
~Jonathan Glazer (Academy) was awarded Best Commercials Director for his work on Stella Artois and Barclays.
~Pete Mould (BMP DDB) was awarded Best Typographer for his work on Harvey Nichols, The Guardian, Heals, Oxfam and Knorr.
~Alison Jackson was awarded Best Use of Photography for her work on Coca-Cola.
~Matt Shepherd-Smith (TBWA\London) and Tanya Livesy (HHCL/Red Cell) were awarded for their contributions as Best Account Handler
The Wall Street Journal said that due to criticism of the event since its announcement last week, the Chrysler's executives are discussing changes in formats -- including possibly not having the players in the event, dubbed the Lingerie Bowl, wear lingerie. Instead they may wear sports bras and the type of shorts worn by beach volleyball players. Original plans call for the players to wear lace lingerie with the Dodge logo and numbers stitched on the apparel, while playing seven-on-seven tackle football.
Rewind- D&AD looks back- Revisit your favourite television commercials, press and poster advertising campaigns, graphics and packaging from the sixties to the present as well as study more recent award-winning examples of product, interactive and environmental design. From "Beanz Meanz Heinz" to the Apple iMac and the Guinness 'Surfer' commercial forty years on, D&AD opens its archive of award-winning work for a major public retrospective exhibition at the V&A, charting the rise of Britain's creative industries and their impact on everyday life. From top TV commercials, the wittiest press campaign and the most powerful posters, the D&AD Awards have been selecting the very best creative communication for 40 years. Over the course of these four decades, Britain's communication landscape has undergone several radical transformations. What was once a small, parochial cottage industry is today a global, brand driving business. Check out the work and vote on your favorites. Voting closes in Feb. Sadly they missed the boat on this one. You can only vote via text messaging to the UK, which leaves out a large group of ad professionals and adgrunts. You'd think that if you are on a web page, mouse at the ready, they'd allow you to vote online. Maybe they weren't thinking. Even though this exhibit is sponsored by O2, a mobile network, it doesn't mean that those who are texting are using that network. I understand the idea behind it but, really, it doesn't work. I'd love to go see the exhibit though. Check the site for the location in London.
Just a week after it signed a controversial sponsorship deal involving Top of the Pops, Coca-Cola is muscling in on record retailers by launching its own music download service in the UK. The drinks giant will offer music fans the chance to download everything from Britney Spears to Coldplay and cult glam-rock outfit The Darkness. Coca-Cola will become the first high-profile consumer brand to get involved directly in the music business, launching what it claims will be the largest collection of tracks yet available.
America Online is expected to announce Wednesday that it has signed on as official presenting sponsor of the "The AOL Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show," to be produced by MTV.
Dulles, Va.-based America Online, will unveil three new 30-second spots, which are still in development, for the occasion. BBDO Worldwide is AOL's agency of record, but an AOL spokesperson could not confirm what agency is handling the creative. In November, AOL put its interactive creative and media accounts in review. Interactive has been handled by atmosphereBBDO. AOL will milk the sponsorship -- and its NFL connection -- for all it's worth. For a week before the February 1 football game, it will host an interactive theme park in Houston offering entertainment and displays. Immediately after the game, AOL will post its annual Super Bowl Commercial Showcase, offering its members streams of the big-budget, high-concept ads the football extravaganza famously attracts. The showcase will include exclusive behind-the-scenes Super Bowl content.
Shocking images of babies breathing out cigarette smoke will appear on billboards and cinema screens in a bid to stop parents smoking near children.
The Department of Health has launched the hard-hitting advertising campaign in Greater Manchester after it emerged that almost half of children in the area live in a house where someone smokes. Follow the link to see ad. Shocking sure. But these are no where near as shocking as the Barnardo ads of last month. And there's something about these ads that I think I've seen this concept before somewhere. Anyone remember seeing a similar ad?
Peter Souter, executive CD at AMV BBDO London, chats about how he got in the ad biz and how it feels to have cabbies recognize his ads. He's a cool dude. When I was sending my book to the UK, he actually took the time to respond to my inquiry email about working at their agency. Very unusual, especially for such a large place. Rock on Mr. Souter.
More flies in the honey- After seeing Grey Aukland's Cannes award winning ad for No Bugs insect spray, I thought I had seen something very similar before, besides the Gary Larson cartoon. Combing through Luerzer's Archive, I found it. Check this out. You'd think that at least one of the Cannes judges would have caught this.
Monday, December 08, 2003
[ Monday Blues & Ad News ]
The following is a sample of the fads and trends Euro RSCG's global trendspotters have reported in their corners of the world. They're drawn from the agency's newly released white paper, "The Power of Pop Culture."
1. Urban Beaches: These surreal gathering places were all the rage in Europe this summer. In Paris they closed the main roads by the Seine, dumped some 3,000 tons of sand everywhere, placed a few hundred deck chairs and beach umbrellas, and created "Paris-Plage." Urban beaches have also been spotted in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Germany.
2. Child's Play: Enjoying a return to the simple innocence of youth is the new activity of choice for hip adults. In Finland, sing-alongs and sledding are favorites among the grownup set.
3. Flash Picnics: Picnics have become very fashionable and specially designed plastic dishes are selling like hotcakes. "Flash picnics" are also organized: A bunch of people text message each other via their mobiles about a meeting place and time, and gather for picnics anywhere. In France, it's not unusual for more than 50 or 60 people to gather at once.
4. Girls Kissing: Madonna and Britney may have enjoyed greater visibility, but girls (particularly young girls) kissing in public has been a big thing for a while now in Norway. The fad can be seen in music videos, ads, on the dance floor, and at parties.
5. Drum Circles: What used to be relegated to the hippie-anarchist crowd has suddenly become "family friendly." Drum circles are cropping up everywhere from urban clubs and coffee houses to parks and Fortune 500 companies. Beyond sheer fun, practitioners claim that drumming has the power to heal body and mind. Also on the rise, drum circles' second cousin: belly dancing.
6. Pop Culture Exhibits: More and more museums are taking a cue from the Guggenheim's "The Art of the Motorcycle" by creating exhibits that draw upon pop culture themes. Among the options available in the U.S. this past summer: "Monster Trucks: The Science of Extreme Machines" at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry and "Chocolate: The Exhibition" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
7. American 1980s: Retro-'80s style and culture is back and being adopted in countries that never experienced the Technicolor, asymmetrical fashions the first time. Miniskirts, heavy jewelry, and brightly colored shoes are all in right now. Any recent visitor to St.
Petersburg has noticed that leopard-spotted hotpants and high heels are all the rage. And retailers like Express, Bebe, Esprit, and Hennes & Mauritz are stacking shelves with such '80s style icons as off-the-shoulder, belted sweaters and leggings. Plenty of websites have sprung up around the trend, including www.80snostalgia.com and
www.nostalgiacentral.com.
8. Drug culture goes retro: Our trendspotters report that speed is the new old drug on the party scene. In mellower locales, drugs are going organic with the reemergence of mushrooms. And in the most retro move of all: Alcohol is the new black.
9. The natural: Perfect teeth? Perfect nails? Perfect is passe, natural is new. Everyone loves the Cuervo Gold Girl with the big gap in her teeth. Unkempt, disheveled, askew: a clear rebellion against the manicured look we've seen for so long.
10. Russians: Definitely "dirty hot," they are popping up more and more in trendy nightclubs and hot spots in the major capitals of the world, particularly London.
11. Provoke me: T-shirt companies with offensive taglines on the front ("Gettin' lucky in Kentucky" sold out at Urban Outfitters) and very short skirts have people talking. Lingerie boutique Agent Provocateur brings spice and excitement to cities like New York and London.
12. Premium liquors: Now that more people are drinking every night, it stands to reason that they want to be drinking the best. But trendiest is not necessarily priciest: Paris has been invaded by Mantequilla, a green-apple liquor that tastes dangerously good, made by Marie Brizard.
13. Apartment bars: A hot new trend, particularly in Spain, is the act of turning apartments into bars. It's also becoming more common in New York, particularly since the anti-smoking laws went into effect. Apartment bars are also appealing because they are exclusive-like the members-only Milk and Honey bar in New York.
14. Rugby: The sport is huge right now, particularly in countries where it has not had fans in the past (like the U.S. and France). The Six Nations and Tri-Nations are seriously popular events and are becoming more so in the U.S.
15. Total environments: 1, rue du Pont Neuf is the talk of the town in Paris. On the ground floor is Lo Sushi, hipper than thou; then the Kenzo flagship store; on the fourth floor there's Labullekenzo (a spa); and on top Kong, the latest Philippe Starck restaurant, complete with retro-chic Hello Kitty decor.
University researchers hope to debunk the pop-culture image of fathers as incompetent bumblers with the first major national study of male parenting. The $1.6-million study will look at everything from why so few fathers take paternity leave to the differences between straight and gay fathers in a five-year project involving eight universities, 25 community organizations and the federal government's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Nokia tv spot- Not safe for work- (BMN)
P&G enters superbowl for first time with Charmin. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the spot for Charmin will feature the slogan, "Softer and stronger for your end zone."
Killian Advertising, an ad shop in Chicago, lists some exerpts from cover letters they have received. (Found at here.)
Google Bombing! Google "miserable failure" and see what happens. Story at the BBC.
The Ad Age Salary Survey is out...time to break out the hard liquor and start drinking. *sigh*
Global New Products Database Trend Predictions for 2004.
Personalities as brands? "Sounds like a concept that could put Omnimedia out of business, but hardly a new idea. Celebrities were hocking cigars and patent medicines for local businesses as early as 1899. Today, about 20% of all television commercials feature a famous person from sports, TV, movies, or musical entertainment. Marketing people align their brands with celebrities because research has shown that customers are more likely to choose goods and services when they are endorsed by celebrities. Celebrities provide instant awareness and command immediate attention. Not a bad mix in this current world of sound bites, McNewspapers, and channel and web surfing.
The trouble with betting your brand equity on a personality is that they are too unpredictable. For every rock-solid Tiger Woods, there is a Rosie, a Michael, an O.J., or a Martha who can drive your brand into the ground. And there is no guarantee that Tiger won't pull a Kobe next Thursday. Who would have imagined that someone who regularly boffed Elizabeth Hurley and is sought after by 9 out of ten women in the world would get arrested for trying to buy, uh, oral services on the street? (Hugh Grant)"
WTF? "Getting sued was the best thing that could have happened," Lunardelli said in a telephone interview from his company's headquarters near Udine on Italy's border with Austria.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
[ This, that and the other ]
Trimmings for the Holidays - "Remington is reminding people about its new Bikini Trim & Shape product in the run-up to Christmas with a new festive print ad, building on the success of its racy launch advertising. The new ad, created by Grey London, shows a silhouette of a woman holding a piece of mistletoe, but where her pubic hair should be are the words "have a very merry Christmas". The ads will appear in the men's magazine FHM, targeting men who are shopping for their girlfriends and wives. It is the first time the product will be advertised in the men's press. As well as the new advertising, those who aren't fans of the au naturel look can check out the Remington Bikini site, for an advent calendar with a different example of festive pubic topiary for each day in the run-up to Christmas. There are also four e-postcards taking the concept further, with suggestions for interesting shapes that women could use the trimmer to create, and appropriate captions -- such as a shark fin and the caption "man eater". David Alberts, creative director of Grey London, said: "We are delighted to wrap up a very successful year for Grey and Remington with this stunning ad, which we hope will once again have set tongues wagging." The ad was written by Jimmy Blom and art direction was through J Marlow."
Hunting for the next cool in advertising.
Bustabutt for Virgin. (Via Dab.)
Helvetica vs. Arial- can you tell which is which? (Via Dab.)
Ikea "tidy up" ad (Via Dab.)
Is your site buzzword compliant? (Via Dab.)
The American Package Museum - fun. (Via Clay.)
It's Mr. Picasso Head (flashy fun)
[
Peas on Hearth to All. ]Want to know what was hot and what was not in 2003? Check out this big o'list at fimoculous.com.
Advertising reviews include:
BBC Ad Breakdown.
CNN Money's Over-the-top ad campaigns.
Fineman PR's 9th Annual PR Blunders.
American Brandstand tracks all the mentions of brands in the Billboard Top 20 singles chart and has a 2003 review.
Another interesting ad site I came across today- DavidReviews- focuses on UK TV adverts.
And some holiday amusement: Frisky reindeer knocks over reporter.
Monday, December 22, 2003
[
Happy Winter Solstice ]Adage looks back at 2003 and so does ad-rag.com. ;)
Chevrolet is using "An American Revolution" as its tag line for a major new ad campaign that began Friday, Dec. 19. Chevrolet is trying a new tone with the ads: "acceptable rebellion," said Kim Kosak, Chevrolet's general director for advertising and sales promotion, at a press event here last week. She described the campaign's message as "confident without being arrogant and fun at the same time."
A survey by Trojan condoms show those in advertising and marketing are the most willing to have an office romance. The next jobs on the list are those in financial services, sales and people who work in call centres. Are you surprised?
US government sponsors ad campaign for breastfeeding. The overall goal of the campaign is to increase the proportion of mothers who breastfeed their babies in the early postpartum period to 75% and those within 6 months postpartum to 50% by the year 2010. Ads have been created by the Ad Council in NYC. I had no idea there was a government group doing this. Odd.
Saturday, December 20, 2003
[
I'm copulatin' it ]Someone please stop McDonalds from airing anymore of their horrible horrible commericals. If I have to listen to some woman attempt to rap about fruitcake I think I might loose my marbles. This whole "I'm lovin' it" campaign sucks monkey asses. Someone needs to set McDonalds straight. The only people who are "lovin' it" are the agency that created this abomination of a campaign/concept, and Mcdonalds who bought it. Stop the madness, I say!
Milkman ad found by Dab. Funny. Gotta love the sheep. :D
Do you hate the H2? Then this site is for you.
Chock full o'Nuts now full of NYC flavor- The article contains one of the ads. "Each ad carries an appropriate caption. The meatpacker, with a stern look and surrounded by carcasses, is labeled "Chock full o'Attitude." A harried waitress in the diner is labeled "Chock full o'Strength." Boxers at Gleason's, striking poses, are labeled "Chock full o'Character." And the packed roller-coaster is labeled - what else? - "Chock full o'Nuts." "
Brand Republic's International Top Ten International ads:
1. Ikea - 'lamp'
2. General Electric/Dako - "suckling pig"
3. Saturn - "sheet metal"
4. Peugeot 206 - "the sculptor"
5. Nike - "stickman"
6. Parque de la Costa - "bird"
7. Nike - "before"
8. ESPN - "shelfballs/kiss the double"
9. Bud Light - "greeting cards"
10. Nike - "angry chicken"
Funny that a number of these didn't run in 2003. Although they did win awards in 2003, so maybe that's part of their way to pick the "best". But, still it would have been a best of 2002. *shrug*
*Shameless plug alert* - Check out the comprehensive roundup of 2003 on ad-rag.com. :D
Thursday, December 18, 2003
[ Mother London Holiday film ]
Dab found this set of holiday films from Mother London. Check it out and let your jaw hit the floor.
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
[
I'm dancing with myself ]Watch the French 'the gimp' ad Rossignol. (Via Dab.)
Good gift suggestions from CreativePro (Via Tracy) and a nifty magazine/CD box set. (Via Steve.)
Legacy of the Bernbach curse? - "Rules are what the artist breaks; the memorable never emerged from a formula." For a man who so cautioned against prescription, Bill Bernbach turns out to have been responsible for one of the ad industry's most enshrined dictates: that of the art director/copywriter team. Some say it's become the Bernbach Curse.
The impotence of being Santa. Stupid PETA. But, CCF TV Ads Expose PETA. Serves um right.
Louis Vuitton dumps J-Lo as the face of its advertising.
Advanced Results Marketing, a direct response agency, will break a $4 million TV ad effort for itself in January and will run during early morning news programs on Bloomberg News, CNBC, CNN, Headline News and Fox News Channel in hopes to get at least five blue chip clients and $50 million in direct response advertising assignments.
Metronomy Desktop Marketing is signing up UK users who will receive a free IBM PC if they agree to watch three minutes of advertising for each hour they are online. Users are required to maintain an account with an Internet service provider and use the computer for at least 30 hours a month. Metronomy will send users a CD-ROM with new advertisements that must be uploaded each month or the PC will not work, the company said on its Web site. It will only monitor the number of advertisements that the user watches, not any other online activity unrelated to the ads, it said. Sounds like a bad idea. If this didn't work the first time, when PCs were even more expensive, I doubt it would work now. Plus it'd be another thing if they were giving away Macs or something. ;)
A brilliant rant on McDonalds ad campaign- "By now everyone is probably aware of McDonald's new ad campaign: "i'm lovin' it," which is really a contraction of the phrase "i am loving it,"
that happens to be an anagram for the phrase: "ailing vomit." Ah the irony." (Via Dab.)
Advertising watchdogs have banned a poster campaign in the UK for a popular energy drink after upholding complaints that it made "offensive" references to anal sex. The poster adverts, for Red Devil, carried the innuendo-laden slogans "He was going so fast he went for the wrong entrance" and "Once he'd found the right zone, she was raring to go". Soft drinks giant Britvic, which makes Red Devil, agreed the wording in the adverts was "suggestive" but argued they were "playful and cheeky". Although only two people complained, the Advertising Standards Authority said the wording on the posters "was not suitable for poster medium" and "likely to cause serious and widespread offence". It ordered the company to change the wording. Ads were up in the London Underground.
Via Boing Boing this morn, a link to an advertisement designed to curb the litter of human waste in Washington. Seems a lot of truckers relieve themselves in bottles and toss them out the window during long hauls (Nasty!!).
The newspaper ad works as a piece of shock advertising. (Via Brandon.)
Australia is Promoting "Reproductive Tourism"- "Wanted: sperm donors.
Salary: a two-week holiday to Australia. All expenses paid, including a medical.
An Australian fertility clinic is making waves in Calgary by advertising the holiday to men in exchange for their sperm. The unusual deal includes airfare, accommodation and expenses for healthy donors, who must be between 18 and 40. Alrighty then.
Food peers skewer Rick Bayless for endorsing BK sandwich- "New York restaurant consultant Clark Wolf, who has advised chefs on endorsement deals, is more tempered in his reaction. On one hand, he says, "it's good to focus on more healthful food, and the sandwich is better than most of the stuff at Burger King." But Bayless has created a credibility gap, Clark adds. "Emeril can endorse Crest toothpaste because Emeril never claims to know a lot about food. But Rick has been respected for many years as a food historian, a culinary anthropologist and a passionate purist. If he's going to shock us, it better be for a good reason and done well. And these commercials are cheesy. He's just being a shill."" A very interesting read, especially as a foodie.
Ad-rag has loads of new articles too. Check it out.
Tuesday, December 09, 2003
[
Ad Shizzle ]IPA Holiday Card/Flashy Snowball fight game. Here's another. And another. This last one is at least 3 years old, and the originial I think, although I'm not positive.
Best of the Best (BOB) Awards were awarded last night in the UK. The winners in the 6 categories were:
~Trevor Beattie (TBWA\London) for Best Creative Director.
~Trevor Beattie and Bill Bungay (TBWA\London) were awarded Best Creative Team for their work on Five and FCUK.
~Jonathan Glazer (Academy) was awarded Best Commercials Director for his work on Stella Artois and Barclays.
~Pete Mould (BMP DDB) was awarded Best Typographer for his work on Harvey Nichols, The Guardian, Heals, Oxfam and Knorr.
~Alison Jackson was awarded Best Use of Photography for her work on Coca-Cola.
~Matt Shepherd-Smith (TBWA\London) and Tanya Livesy (HHCL/Red Cell) were awarded for their contributions as Best Account Handler
The Wall Street Journal said that due to criticism of the event since its announcement last week, the Chrysler's executives are discussing changes in formats -- including possibly not having the players in the event, dubbed the Lingerie Bowl, wear lingerie. Instead they may wear sports bras and the type of shorts worn by beach volleyball players. Original plans call for the players to wear lace lingerie with the Dodge logo and numbers stitched on the apparel, while playing seven-on-seven tackle football.
Rewind- D&AD looks back- Revisit your favourite television commercials, press and poster advertising campaigns, graphics and packaging from the sixties to the present as well as study more recent award-winning examples of product, interactive and environmental design. From "Beanz Meanz Heinz" to the Apple iMac and the Guinness 'Surfer' commercial forty years on, D&AD opens its archive of award-winning work for a major public retrospective exhibition at the V&A, charting the rise of Britain's creative industries and their impact on everyday life. From top TV commercials, the wittiest press campaign and the most powerful posters, the D&AD Awards have been selecting the very best creative communication for 40 years. Over the course of these four decades, Britain's communication landscape has undergone several radical transformations. What was once a small, parochial cottage industry is today a global, brand driving business. Check out the work and vote on your favorites. Voting closes in Feb. Sadly they missed the boat on this one. You can only vote via text messaging to the UK, which leaves out a large group of ad professionals and adgrunts. You'd think that if you are on a web page, mouse at the ready, they'd allow you to vote online. Maybe they weren't thinking. Even though this exhibit is sponsored by O2, a mobile network, it doesn't mean that those who are texting are using that network. I understand the idea behind it but, really, it doesn't work. I'd love to go see the exhibit though. Check the site for the location in London.
Just a week after it signed a controversial sponsorship deal involving Top of the Pops, Coca-Cola is muscling in on record retailers by launching its own music download service in the UK. The drinks giant will offer music fans the chance to download everything from Britney Spears to Coldplay and cult glam-rock outfit The Darkness. Coca-Cola will become the first high-profile consumer brand to get involved directly in the music business, launching what it claims will be the largest collection of tracks yet available.
America Online is expected to announce Wednesday that it has signed on as official presenting sponsor of the "The AOL Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show," to be produced by MTV.
Dulles, Va.-based America Online, will unveil three new 30-second spots, which are still in development, for the occasion. BBDO Worldwide is AOL's agency of record, but an AOL spokesperson could not confirm what agency is handling the creative. In November, AOL put its interactive creative and media accounts in review. Interactive has been handled by atmosphereBBDO. AOL will milk the sponsorship -- and its NFL connection -- for all it's worth. For a week before the February 1 football game, it will host an interactive theme park in Houston offering entertainment and displays. Immediately after the game, AOL will post its annual Super Bowl Commercial Showcase, offering its members streams of the big-budget, high-concept ads the football extravaganza famously attracts. The showcase will include exclusive behind-the-scenes Super Bowl content.
Shocking images of babies breathing out cigarette smoke will appear on billboards and cinema screens in a bid to stop parents smoking near children.
The Department of Health has launched the hard-hitting advertising campaign in Greater Manchester after it emerged that almost half of children in the area live in a house where someone smokes. Follow the link to see ad. Shocking sure. But these are no where near as shocking as the Barnardo ads of last month. And there's something about these ads that I think I've seen this concept before somewhere. Anyone remember seeing a similar ad?
Peter Souter, executive CD at AMV BBDO London, chats about how he got in the ad biz and how it feels to have cabbies recognize his ads. He's a cool dude. When I was sending my book to the UK, he actually took the time to respond to my inquiry email about working at their agency. Very unusual, especially for such a large place. Rock on Mr. Souter.
More flies in the honey- After seeing Grey Aukland's Cannes award winning ad for No Bugs insect spray, I thought I had seen something very similar before, besides the Gary Larson cartoon. Combing through Luerzer's Archive, I found it. Check this out. You'd think that at least one of the Cannes judges would have caught this.
Monday, December 08, 2003
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Monday Blues & Ad News ]The following is a sample of the fads and trends Euro RSCG's global trendspotters have reported in their corners of the world. They're drawn from the agency's newly released white paper, "The Power of Pop Culture."
1. Urban Beaches: These surreal gathering places were all the rage in Europe this summer. In Paris they closed the main roads by the Seine, dumped some 3,000 tons of sand everywhere, placed a few hundred deck chairs and beach umbrellas, and created "Paris-Plage." Urban beaches have also been spotted in Brussels, Amsterdam, and Germany.
2. Child's Play: Enjoying a return to the simple innocence of youth is the new activity of choice for hip adults. In Finland, sing-alongs and sledding are favorites among the grownup set.
3. Flash Picnics: Picnics have become very fashionable and specially designed plastic dishes are selling like hotcakes. "Flash picnics" are also organized: A bunch of people text message each other via their mobiles about a meeting place and time, and gather for picnics anywhere. In France, it's not unusual for more than 50 or 60 people to gather at once.
4. Girls Kissing: Madonna and Britney may have enjoyed greater visibility, but girls (particularly young girls) kissing in public has been a big thing for a while now in Norway. The fad can be seen in music videos, ads, on the dance floor, and at parties.
5. Drum Circles: What used to be relegated to the hippie-anarchist crowd has suddenly become "family friendly." Drum circles are cropping up everywhere from urban clubs and coffee houses to parks and Fortune 500 companies. Beyond sheer fun, practitioners claim that drumming has the power to heal body and mind. Also on the rise, drum circles' second cousin: belly dancing.
6. Pop Culture Exhibits: More and more museums are taking a cue from the Guggenheim's "The Art of the Motorcycle" by creating exhibits that draw upon pop culture themes. Among the options available in the U.S. this past summer: "Monster Trucks: The Science of Extreme Machines" at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry and "Chocolate: The Exhibition" at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.
7. American 1980s: Retro-'80s style and culture is back and being adopted in countries that never experienced the Technicolor, asymmetrical fashions the first time. Miniskirts, heavy jewelry, and brightly colored shoes are all in right now. Any recent visitor to St.
Petersburg has noticed that leopard-spotted hotpants and high heels are all the rage. And retailers like Express, Bebe, Esprit, and Hennes & Mauritz are stacking shelves with such '80s style icons as off-the-shoulder, belted sweaters and leggings. Plenty of websites have sprung up around the trend, including www.80snostalgia.com and
www.nostalgiacentral.com.
8. Drug culture goes retro: Our trendspotters report that speed is the new old drug on the party scene. In mellower locales, drugs are going organic with the reemergence of mushrooms. And in the most retro move of all: Alcohol is the new black.
9. The natural: Perfect teeth? Perfect nails? Perfect is passe, natural is new. Everyone loves the Cuervo Gold Girl with the big gap in her teeth. Unkempt, disheveled, askew: a clear rebellion against the manicured look we've seen for so long.
10. Russians: Definitely "dirty hot," they are popping up more and more in trendy nightclubs and hot spots in the major capitals of the world, particularly London.
11. Provoke me: T-shirt companies with offensive taglines on the front ("Gettin' lucky in Kentucky" sold out at Urban Outfitters) and very short skirts have people talking. Lingerie boutique Agent Provocateur brings spice and excitement to cities like New York and London.
12. Premium liquors: Now that more people are drinking every night, it stands to reason that they want to be drinking the best. But trendiest is not necessarily priciest: Paris has been invaded by Mantequilla, a green-apple liquor that tastes dangerously good, made by Marie Brizard.
13. Apartment bars: A hot new trend, particularly in Spain, is the act of turning apartments into bars. It's also becoming more common in New York, particularly since the anti-smoking laws went into effect. Apartment bars are also appealing because they are exclusive-like the members-only Milk and Honey bar in New York.
14. Rugby: The sport is huge right now, particularly in countries where it has not had fans in the past (like the U.S. and France). The Six Nations and Tri-Nations are seriously popular events and are becoming more so in the U.S.
15. Total environments: 1, rue du Pont Neuf is the talk of the town in Paris. On the ground floor is Lo Sushi, hipper than thou; then the Kenzo flagship store; on the fourth floor there's Labullekenzo (a spa); and on top Kong, the latest Philippe Starck restaurant, complete with retro-chic Hello Kitty decor.
University researchers hope to debunk the pop-culture image of fathers as incompetent bumblers with the first major national study of male parenting. The $1.6-million study will look at everything from why so few fathers take paternity leave to the differences between straight and gay fathers in a five-year project involving eight universities, 25 community organizations and the federal government's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
Nokia tv spot- Not safe for work- (BMN)
P&G enters superbowl for first time with Charmin. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the spot for Charmin will feature the slogan, "Softer and stronger for your end zone."
Killian Advertising, an ad shop in Chicago, lists some exerpts from cover letters they have received. (Found at here.)
Google Bombing! Google "miserable failure" and see what happens. Story at the BBC.
The Ad Age Salary Survey is out...time to break out the hard liquor and start drinking. *sigh*
Global New Products Database Trend Predictions for 2004.
Personalities as brands? "Sounds like a concept that could put Omnimedia out of business, but hardly a new idea. Celebrities were hocking cigars and patent medicines for local businesses as early as 1899. Today, about 20% of all television commercials feature a famous person from sports, TV, movies, or musical entertainment. Marketing people align their brands with celebrities because research has shown that customers are more likely to choose goods and services when they are endorsed by celebrities. Celebrities provide instant awareness and command immediate attention. Not a bad mix in this current world of sound bites, McNewspapers, and channel and web surfing.
The trouble with betting your brand equity on a personality is that they are too unpredictable. For every rock-solid Tiger Woods, there is a Rosie, a Michael, an O.J., or a Martha who can drive your brand into the ground. And there is no guarantee that Tiger won't pull a Kobe next Thursday. Who would have imagined that someone who regularly boffed Elizabeth Hurley and is sought after by 9 out of ten women in the world would get arrested for trying to buy, uh, oral services on the street? (Hugh Grant)"
WTF? "Getting sued was the best thing that could have happened," Lunardelli said in a telephone interview from his company's headquarters near Udine on Italy's border with Austria.
Wednesday, December 03, 2003
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This, that and the other ]Trimmings for the Holidays - "Remington is reminding people about its new Bikini Trim & Shape product in the run-up to Christmas with a new festive print ad, building on the success of its racy launch advertising. The new ad, created by Grey London, shows a silhouette of a woman holding a piece of mistletoe, but where her pubic hair should be are the words "have a very merry Christmas". The ads will appear in the men's magazine FHM, targeting men who are shopping for their girlfriends and wives. It is the first time the product will be advertised in the men's press. As well as the new advertising, those who aren't fans of the au naturel look can check out the Remington Bikini site, for an advent calendar with a different example of festive pubic topiary for each day in the run-up to Christmas. There are also four e-postcards taking the concept further, with suggestions for interesting shapes that women could use the trimmer to create, and appropriate captions -- such as a shark fin and the caption "man eater". David Alberts, creative director of Grey London, said: "We are delighted to wrap up a very successful year for Grey and Remington with this stunning ad, which we hope will once again have set tongues wagging." The ad was written by Jimmy Blom and art direction was through J Marlow."
Hunting for the next cool in advertising.
Bustabutt for Virgin. (Via Dab.)
Helvetica vs. Arial- can you tell which is which? (Via Dab.)
Ikea "tidy up" ad (Via Dab.)
Is your site buzzword compliant? (Via Dab.)
The American Package Museum - fun. (Via Clay.)
It's Mr. Picasso Head (flashy fun)
Cup of Java © 2002-2007
keep on using that brain.