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, March 31, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Tampax gets interactive ]

+Tampax gets interactive over at Adland is amusing. Yeah, I posted it, but you really do need to see the pictures. I promise it will give you a laugh.
Monday, March 28, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: CP+B break new breakfast ads for BK ]

+ BK launches two new breakfast sandwiches, the Enormous Omelet Sandwich and the Western Omelet Croissan'wich. Seems that breakfast is the topic of the month for the fast food wars. McD's is shilling their breakfast sandwiches with a lot of frequency. Seems I can't turn on a radio without hearing one of their radio spots.

For the commercials to support the launches, Burger King has introduced two 15- and 30-second television spots, "Dog" and "Curtain." Created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Burger King's ad agency of record since January 2004, both spots make use of the chain's icon, The King.

In "Dog," a man wakes to the sound of the family dog scratching at the door. Upon opening the door, the sleepy-eyed man finds The King offering him a Western Omelet Croissan'wich.

"Curtain" takes viewers inside the home of a family beginning its day. As a man lifts the shades to let in the morning light, he finds The King standing at his window with the Enormous Omelet Sandwich in hand.

[ :: adgruntie :: Mention Big Mac in your Rap ]

+ McDonald's is looking to pay hip-hop artists and rappers to mention them in their songs.

Now, McDonald's reportedly hopes to lure hip-hop artists to drop references to Big Macs into their rhymes.

Though it's not offering money upfront, the fast-food giant is willing to pay rappers $1 to $5 each time songs with the plug hit the radio, according to today's Advertising Age. McDonald's hopes to have its signature sandwich in several songs by summer, the mag says.

Adage.com reports that Maven Strategies, an entertainment marketing firm, was hired by McD's for this task and is already reviewing some possible songs. McD's gets the final approval of the lyrics. This should be interesting. Especially since McD's has a track record of trying to be hip and cool but then watering it down to the point of lame. They also have the "family friendly" factor that they insert into every ad, and which isn't always present in a lot of rap and hip-hop tunes. It will be interesting to see how they balance this one out.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
[ :: adgruntie:: Lime in the Coke spot ]

+ For those of you who come to this page looking for the Coca Cola "Coke in the Lime You Nut" spot. You can view it here at AdLand. Of course you need to be a superadgrunt.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Wednesday Ad News Blurbs ]

+ A New Zealand woman is asking toilet paper maker Purex to change its advertising after her four-year-old was mauled by a shar pei dog. A shar pei also happens to be the type of dog used as the Purex Rolly mascot.

Jacob's mother, Racheal Stark, said yesterday her son had approached the dog to pat it because he had been lured into thinking shar peis were a safe breed through the Purex advertising.

"I've already phoned Purex and put in a complaint because the way I see it, it's almost false advertising," she said. "Jacob thought this dog was a cute, cuddly little thing and it attacked him."

[...snip...]

Purex spokesman Grant Freeman said last night the company sympathised with the Stark family but could not be held responsible for the behaviour of all shar pei dogs. "Any animal, if you approach it in the wrong way, will attack. And a lot of companies use animals in their advertising, and most of them can be vicious as well."

Purex would continue using the dog. "Our intention is not to promote the dog but purely to emphasise the softness of his rolls and his fur."

Oy! First off, what happened is bad. But, the advertising is to blame? Huh? I guess advertising is to blame of all bad things that happen. *smirk*

+ In the UK, O2 is threatening legal action against UK telco Liquid Telecom for using bubbles and the colour blue in its ads.

+ CreativeMatch reports that the The Financial Times Creative Business section has launched a new competition in association with OpenAd.net. Once a month a ad brief is published and readers have two weeks to submit their entries at OpenAd.net. The first brief was put up yesterday and is for the Make Poverty History Campaign. You can view the brief here. They seem to have a decent list of judges too, including Peter Souter - CD from AMV BBDO and Greg Delaney of Delaney, Lund, Knox Warren & Partners.

+ A rant on how the advertising industry shoots itself in the foot when it comes to budgets and touting award wins.
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: LKT and VW films ]

+The New Yorker compares Linda Kaplan Thaler to David Ogilvy.

Thaler could be seen as something of a bridge between the Madison Avenue of David Ogilvy and the new multinational order. She is the rare C.E.O. who doubles as creative director. Her corner office on the thirty-fourth floor of One Worldwide Plaza, a block-long building on Eighth Avenue between Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Streets, is her stage. The agency revolves around Thaler.

+ From the LA Times (free reg. req.): Arnold Worldwide creates BMW-a-like films for VW's push for the new Jetta.

Madison Avenue meets Hollywood in "The Check Up," a six-minute film that debuted at this year's Sundance Film Festival.
Shot in a day by music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the movie stars Kevin Connolly (HBO's "Entourage") as a fellow clinging desperately to his futon as he wades into his 30s, and Joe Pantoliano ("The Sopranos") as a federal agent prodding him, not so gently, toward adulthood. The vignette wasn't a competitor for best (very) short film, nor is it heading for local theaters. Instead, it's part of the "All Grown Up … Sort of" campaign promoting the Volkswagen Jetta, launched March 19 by VW's ad agency, Arnold Worldwide.
It's another example of the changing rules of engagement in the ad game — in which agencies entice customers by appropriating the trappings and technology of the entertainment industry.

+ Arby's ditches the oven mitt for hat.

"We just thought his time was up," Mager said of the oven mitt. "He was more about our method of cooking, and we wanted a broader message about our brand."

In the new campaign, dubbed "I'm thinking Arby's," the hat appears above the heads of various consumers who can't seem to concentrate on what they are doing because they have Arby's on their minds.

I'm so glad they are getting rid of that annoying mitt. Hated it. Now, hopefully, the hat won't talk.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Just do it and other commands ]

+ The Institute for Infinitely Small Things has started on a new project, The International Database of Corporate Commands.The Institute goes on to state:

It is the hypothesis of the Institute for Infinitely Small Things that these commands, largely and consciously ignored by a public over-saturated with advertisements, function at the scale of the infinitely small. Tiny events that do not disturb one's consciousness or disrupt one's identity as "free" agents, these commands seep under the surface of the individual and lay claim to the territory of the Deleuzian Virtual. Desire, memory, and future potentiality become territories for conquest and tactics for social and political control.

By compiling, tabulating, concretizing and enacting these commands in the International Database of Corporate Commands (IDCC), the Institute for Infinitely Small Things seeks to better understand the mechanisms behind this deployment of power and its larger cultural ramifications.

A writer from The Weekly Dig went on an outting with the group and writes about the adventure and the organization here.

[ :: adgruntie :: Pier 1 & UK alcohol ad rules ]

+ Pier 1 will start a new campaign on Monday, without celebrity help. Their past efforts included Kirstie Alley (successful) and Thom Filicia from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" (not so successful). This time around they are focusing on the products themselves. The new campaigns are created by Deutsch, NY and will include 15-sec spots and 30-sec spots that "incorporate animation, beginning with abstract images based on the colors and patterns of a Pier 1 product. Created by artists from Stockholm, Sweden, and London, the animated segments evolve to reveal the items that inspired them: an Indian rug in one, a Tibetan-themed nightstand in the other."

Competition has contributed to a year and a half of weak sales at Pier 1. The trouble worsened as the company, which changed ad agencies in late 2004, stayed off television while it reworked its approach.

"We have more media weight behind this new campaign than anything we've ever done," said Phil Schneider, Pier 1's executive vice president of marketing. "We have really high expectations and really believe it is going to help the turnaround of our business."

The new tagline "Life More Interesting" will aslo be used in radio, newspaper, and magazine ads.

+ The BBC reports that the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) has put together guidelines that would keep TV advertisers from portraying alcohol as an "aid to seduction" or showing it alongside themes strongly appealing to under 18s. The new rules which were put into effect January 1st and are currently under review will be enforced starting in October.

Advertisements should also avoid suggesting alcohol could enhance attractiveness, say the Ofcom rules. But showing "mild flirtation" and romance would be acceptable.

Alcohol could not be shown being used as an aid to seduction or enhancing a person's attractiveness," said the BCAP guidance. They should also refrain from making links to sexual motive or include sexual contact, and ads should not imply that sexual activity has taken place or is about to take place.

Any which contain themes likely to draw in the under 18s will also be forbidden. Themes include using personalities with strong youth appeal such as pop, TV or sports stars, teenage rebelliousness, and music and dance likely to appeal to that age group.

The second set of rules are designed to crack down on health and dietary claims being made by advertisers promoting alcohol. It should not be suggested that an alcoholic drink could be a source of nourishment or suitable as part of a fitness or weight control regime, said BCAP, which writes the industry codes of practice that are policed by the Advertising Standards Authority.

This applies to Michelob Ultra's marketing which positions the brand as a part of a healthy lifestyle. It will be interesting to see how this is enforced and whether the attempt to enforce these rules will take a toll on Ofcom.

[ :: adgruntie :: Marmite Blob Restricted & Strategy Stealing ]

+ Media Guardian reports that the Marmite "Love it or Hate it" Blob spot was pulled from kids' TV. The ad, created by DDB London, spoofs "the classic 1950s sci-fi horror film The Blob has been banned from kids' TV because it gave children nightmares. And it terrified two- and three-year-olds into refusing to watch television, the Advertising Standards Authority said."

The ad shows a large blob of Marmite squelching its way through the center of a busy main street, with some who try to out run it and others who happily run towards it and dive in head first.

Ad can be viewed here at Marmite's web site. It's a shame that the spot is going to not be able to be viewed during shows that small kids watch along with their families, like Pop Idol. I think the spot is rather good and the positioning that DDB has taken with the product is very spot on.

+ And now for the bad ad. Or actually, bad strategical move. Last Monday, adage.com reported that Gillette was launching their advertising for Tag body spray, which will be competing against Axe. The campaign, created by Arnold Worldwide, Boston, takes the exact same strategy as Unilever's Axe (and Lynx in the UK/Europe). I saw one ad last night (which if you are a SuperAdgrunt, you can view here), which creatively wasn't bad. The copy at the end which includes a warning list is amusing.

The problem lies in the fact that Arnold just ripped off the strategy that BBH created for the Axe/Lynx brand. Why? Heck, even the packaging looks similar. Seems their AEs must have slept through their Advertising 101 classes. How an agency like Arnold that has a rather decent record for producing good work, creatively and strategically, ends up creating something like this is beyond me.

I'm curious what BBH's response to this will be. Could be that they are just laughing because obviously Arnold thought that this was either the only way to go, or that because Axe/Lynx's strategy was working so well for them, they might as well jump on the bandwagon themselves. One also has to wonder if, internally at Arnold there was at least one person who said that this was a bad route to take. That it was just ripping off another strategy.

One other issue I have with the campaign that Adage mentions in their article is that online ads will lead to a website consideryourselfwarned.com," which has a "Hide the Hotties" game and a viral effort that invites guys to send stalker e-mails to their buddies from fake women." Um, there's something wrong with sending fake stalker emails. I know it's meant to be funny, but that sort of thing is seriously FUBAR. I'm curious how that got past the legal departments. It must have some massive disclaimer on the email that is sent.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Additional news bits ]

+ Metropolitan Police are running an ad campaign to target domesic violence. Part of the reason for the campaign is to create awareness that now even if wives or girlfriends drop charges, the men will still be prosecuted.

Speaking at the launch of a hard-hitting advertising campaign in London targeted at men, Sir Ian said he was delighted by the blunt message being put across.
“We have never, ever, aimed a campaign at the perpetrators of violence in quite this way,” he said.
“With the Crown Prosecution Service we have agreed a policy where we do not need the victim to support the prosecution.
“We would like them to, but it is not necessary. There is no hiding place for those who abuse their partners.
“If there is a domestic violence incident and the police are called, the perpetrator will be arrested and charged, whether or not the victim wishes to bring the case to court.”
[...snip...]
“I think we are going to see a considerable rise in prosecutions – this is probably the biggest Metropolitan Police campaign that has been run,” he said.
The £350,000 campaign is based on a simple message, which will appear on billboards around the capital.
One reads: “Bad day at the office? How will you unwind? Glass of wine? Nice meal? Break your wife’s jaw?”
Another asks: “When was the last time you told your girlfriend you loved her? Was it just after you nearly killed her?”
The white on black posters will appear in unusual and traditionally male dominated places such as in a pub or at football matches.
Sir Ian said: “This message is going to be sitting on the tables in the pubs and clubs, it is going to be on football programmes, it is going to be everywhere.”

+ Moxie lovers aim to make it the state drink of Maine. I'm not sure of this but it is possible that it could be the first branded state drink. Although it wouldn't surprise me if Georgia's state drink is Coca Cola (can't find any info on that- maybe they don't have one yet.) Just did some poking around and it looks like Nebraska made Kool-Aid its state drink in 1998. Suprisingly, or not so suprisingly, a lot of states have milk as their official state drink.

+ Jerry Flint writes for Forbes why the automobile industry should stay away from worrying about branding.

Unfortunately, the auto industry has also become afflicted with the "brand" sickness. Yet I have never heard any brand marketer at an auto company say, "We've got to improve the quality. We've got to get five-speed transmissions. We need better designs. We need higher mileage, better brakes, deeper paint and better interiors." All that means nothing to brand marketers.

Instead, we hear jargon like, "We've got to establish the brand." The truth is that they never can "establish the brand," because they can't spend enough on advertising. Auto markets don't work with the same favorable financial ratios that apply to selling cornflakes, cigarette or toothpaste.

Car models succeed because of what they do, how they look or how they stack up against the competition. We had great cars before the industry discovered the word "brand." We knew what a Mustang was without a bunch of M.B.A. types babbling about its brand virtues.

[ :: adgruntie :: Changes At Omnicom ]

+ Omnicom makes some changes to compete against the other big holding companies in a return to the multi-disciplinary agencies that once ruled New York's Madison Avenue.The idea is to transform its global advertising networks - BBDO Worldwide, DDB Worldwide and TBWA Worldwide - into what he calls "communications companies".

John Wren, chief executive of Omnicom, the world's largest advertising group by revenue, says a new era is fast approaching.

"What happened in the 1990s was the consolidation of this business," Mr Wren says, speaking in his modest, Madison Avenue office. "What's going to happen in the 21st century is the evolution of these assets into fully integrated advertising and marketing communications organisations which are no longer simply focused on television commercials."

[...snip...]

Mr Wren's conviction that Omnicom has had to move with the time is founded on a belief that the advertising agency of the future will have four key abilities: it will make advertisements; it will be able to help clients figure out where to place them for the maximum impact - a business known as media planning; it will practise customer relationship management - employing the internet, mail or other means to interact with consumers; and it will have specialist knowledge in how to use retail stores for advertising.

To some degree, Omnicom is turning back the clock in order to make these changes. When the company was formed in 1986 by the merger of BBDO, Doyle Dane Bern bach and Needham Harper Worldwide, it put all the marketing services operations into a division called Diversified Agency Services, or DAS.

At the time, the decision was taken to give marketing services - such as direct mail, design and branding consultancy - greater freedom. But now, in the new business climate, some of the marketing services companies are being reintegrated with the advertising agencies.

"The clients don't want to deal with 100 suppliers any more," says Mr Wren, who once led the DAS division. "They want to go to a place that can ensure that communication across all media is integrated and that the people working on their behalf speak to, and understand, the other guy's discipline."

[ :: adgruntie :: Another Rant On Importance of Creativity ]

+ Adage.com on Monday published an article from Rance Crain, the publication's editor-in-chief, titled "Why Established Methods of Advertising are the Answer".

Influential consumers seem to want to be wooed in traditional media, while marketers are gearing up to hit them and everybody else when and where they’re not expecting ad messages.

That’s a dangerous path to take.

Most consumers expect and tolerate ads on TV and in magazines and newspapers, but I contend that putting ads on virtually every blade of grass will build resentment for advertising everywhere -- even in traditional media.

And I couldn't agree more with that.

Then there's Scott Donaton's counter-point article to the same topic, "Why We Must Forge Ahead Into New Methods of Advertising" in which he states, "But unless marketers advance more creative solutions, this segment potentially moves forward with only limited ad involvement."

So Donaton is claiming that more creative solutions are the answer. But if you're putting out advertising that is at the same boring, uncreative level as the TV advertising which people are turning away from, then what's the point? All you are doing is creating more clutter- and eventually people will find a way to avoid that. Creativity is the answer. And I will continue to blather on about it until someone gets it. You cannot just expect to put out more advertising via new channels/media and still expect that people won't become as frustrated with it as they have with TV advertising. It's not so much about changing the media as it is about changing how we communicate the messages.

It's about quality over quanity. And reach through creativity vs. bombardment by frequency. No matter what media you are using, traditional or not.
Monday, March 14, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Yes, Words Are Important! ]

+ Hidden pointed out this article from the Guardian over at AdLand.

It seems obvious that words must be important to brands because words are needed to tell their stories. But it's surprising how they have neglected the power of language, channelling most of their energy and creativity into the logos and visuals that for many people still represent the totality of 'branding'.

Things are changing now, and brands are now paying more attention to their tone of voice. It's fundamental: brands need to differentiate, create engagement, send signals about what they are, just as people do. The words we use and the way we use them are fundamental to our identities as people, our 'brands'.

Simmons' bottom line is that "The clever brands are recognising this and realising that engaging words are relatively cheap. A little creative effort spent on distinctive language has a big impact on internal and external commitment." I couldn't agree more.

[ :: adgruntie :: Ad blips on Monday ]

+ Lewis Lazare reviews the new campaign for UPS by the Martin Agency and the new Pork campaign by the Richards Group in Dallas.

+ Ads in TV shows, a.k.a. product placement. The way I see it, most product placement is really just branding. Very few use it to demonstrate features of a product or to introduce something new. So there's still a need for communicating those kind of messages, whether they be through print or tv or whatever other media. The other question is how far can product placement go? It can create awareness but as we all know (or should) awareness only goes so far. Will "Nip/Tuck"'s viewers go running out to purchase XM Satellite Radio just because it was shown on the show? Will people rush to the stores to purchase flavored Crest toothpaste just because the Donald featured the brand as part of the competition?

+ Those MLB ads featuring fans which I mentioned back in January will be airing soon. Finalists were flown to Miami for the shoot in mid Feb. Peter Gilbert of Non-Fiction Spots, who directed the first series of "I Live For This" commercials and directed the documentary "Hoop Dreams," directed the commercials.The new commercials will run through April 30 on ESPN, FOX, TBS and MLB.com and feature fans selected for the commercials who told attention-getting stories about their endless devotion to Major League Baseball and their favorite teams. The 13 fans who were selected for the six commercials were: Red Sox fans Karen Fogerty and Cheryl DiRocco; Astros fans Josh Galla and Idrees Tily; Angels fans George, Jason, Jeff and Mike Abraham; Dodgers fan Luis Perez; Yankees fans Sean Mannion, Miguel Alvarez and Karlton Craig; and Cardinals fan Laura Janaske.
Sunday, March 13, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: More woes in advertising ]

+ The NY Post reports that the Interpublic Group "is reeling from one of its bleakest Fridays in memory, after getting hit with a credit downgrade, a new accounting scandal, a poaching lawsuit involving its newly hired super-star team — the so-called "Saatchi 17," and warnings it could lose $2.8 billion of business from General Motors." Yikes.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Gaffs ]

+ John Travolta has upset Heineken after he said he doesn't drink alcohol. This comes after the launch of an ad campaign for Heineken featuring Travolta as Chili Palmer from "Get Shorty" and "Be Cool".

+ So now that the Ogivly case is over, there's more legal "fun" happening in the world of Adland. Back in Feburary 17 Saatchi&Saatchi employees who worked on the General Mills account walked out after Mike Burns resigned. Then, during this week, the 17 got hired by Interpublic to work in their new unit that will market to youth and families with a focus on health and wellness. And now, Saatchi&Saatchi is suing Mike Burns. Adage.com has a PDF of the lawsuit for Saatchi & Saatchi which claims that Burns voilated his contract with the company, made "improper use of confidential and proprietary information", told employees they should consider leaving the company so that they could set up an agency to handle the General Mills account, approached senior members of General Mills about moving the account, and continued to encourage Saatchi staff under him to leave to work for him. They are seeking damages of $3million at a minimum in total for each Cause of Action (of which there are three). Now considering that Burns is was a vice chairman and worldwide account director for the General Mills account, you'd think he would have known better. Heck, I know better. Especially after he had signed contracts with the company which stated things like for one year after ending employment with the agency he would not attempt to take employees with him, he would not attempt to take clients away, etc...basically most of the things that the lawsuit states he did.
Friday, March 11, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Friday roundup ]

+ Pantone expands beyond fanbooks. Seems now they are selling bags, dinnerware, glassware, and office supplies. I read about it the April issue of HOW Design. "In addition to home goods, Pantone also plans to enter the fashion accessories and cosmetics markets." To purchase or check out the line go to www.fishseddy.com or go directly here.

+ Boymeetsgirl going bye-bye. And I found a bit of background here.

About a year ago, Andy Law, a well-known figure in London advertising circles, set up an agency with two partners, a husband-and-wife team.

The goal was to create a novel "creative business consultancy" with the novel name Boymeetsgirl - less a traditional ad agency than a team of experts to advise clients on marketing problems and suggest novel solutions.

Less novel was what happened next.

Before the end of the first year, the agency was struck with a common ad industry affliction - a dispute between the founders.

Law and the partners, Kate Stanners and David Pemsel, had a falling out, Stanners and Pemsel left, and Law orchestrated a management buyout from Interpublic Group, the New York-based holding company that had backed Boymeetsgirl through a subsidiary, Springer & Jacoby.

+ The other night while watching TV I saw an ad for the NYC 2012 Olympics- or rather an ad about the city trying to win the bid to hold the Olympics there. It seems strange to me that they would put together (and pay for the media) an ad on general TV as if the American public had a say in where the Olympics were going to be held. Makes me wonder if this is common. I knew that they had come up with a logo for the bid, but had no idea they were doing this kind of a campaign. Does every city do this when they are trying to bid? You can check out the ads here. Looks like they got some big names to shill for them too.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: TV as media, it's a changin' ]

+ Advertising in Australia is stepping up the war on ad clutter. Some of their largest advertisers signed up to a Network Ten trial running shorter ad breaks during prime time. The media agency behind the idea, MindShare, paired up wtih Ten and will reduce ad breaks from 3 minutes to 70 seconds, giving a single advertising a solo spot.

As part of the deal, Ten will promote "Seriously Short Breaks" to its viewers, with 10-second spots telling them a shorter break is on the way. The remaining 60 seconds will be filled by either one advertiser or station promos.

Steve Jones, manager of Ten's Sydney sales, said the move would add cachet to advertising on the network."We are taking something that already happens in sport into general programming," he said. "We've not seen anything like this anywhere else. Giving Seriously Short Break its own brand will also make viewers familiar with the concept, with them knowing there's very little time before their program returns." Shortened ads regularly appear in live sports coverage during lulls in play.

The number of minutes devoted to advertising during Ten's prime time viewing will not fall as remaining ad spots will be spread across the rest of the period. Kellogg's, Diageo, Ford, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark and other advertisers are expected to pay a premium to participate in the short breaks and will not necessarily be guaranteed a first-in-break spot.

An interesting idea. So it's not that there will be less ads overall, but more frequent, albeit shorter ad breaks. I'm have to say I'm curious about how that will go down. In some respects, as a viewer, it's nice to get all the advertising out of the way, rather than have an ad break every 5 minutes. It does sound like advertisiers are keen to give it a try.

+ It also looks as if the UK's 50-year ban on product placement in TV shows for commercial products might come to an end.

Such a change could cause controversy but open up new channels for advertisers, who find it increasingly difficult to get the attention of viewers in an age where personal video recorders and video on demand allow audiences to fast forward through commercial breaks.

Stephen Carter, the chief executive of Ofcom, told a meeting of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers yesterday that the media watchdog recognised that limits on TV sponsorship in Britain were restrictive and he was sympathetic to change. One area of change could be product placement which occurred in films throughout the entire 50-year TV ban, he said.

"Nobody, unless they are in the advertising industry, watches a Bond film and goes out and buys an Aston Martin," Mr Carter told an audience of advertisers and advertising industry executives.

Heh. That's funny. And true. Apparently the reason for the ban was on the grounds that it would compromise editorial independence.
Monday, March 07, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Modernista!, Suave & Flicka ]

+ Rockport has picked Modernista! as its new advertising agency of record. Previously advertising was handled by The Arnell Group in New York. It will be interesting to see how Modernista! handles the creative for this account.

+ DM News reports on Suave's new campaign.

The theme, "Can You Tell?" refers to Suave's challenge to women to see whether they can tell the difference between Suave and more expensive hair-care brands. In the campaign, women can compare Suave with other brands for themselves at temporary salons in several cities, and they can compare images of women whose hair has been washed and styled with several hair-care brands at a dedicated Web site.

The salon idea is neat. Apparently they do one side with Suave and the other side with more expensive brands so you can see there is no difference.

+ Dab at AdLand gives an update on Flicka's campaign to teach girls to question media. This time the campaign shows what models look like under their retouching. Interesting.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Banned Firefighter Advert ]

+ The MediaGuardian reports that the London Fire Brigade has withdrawn a recruitment advert aimed at lesbian women after complaints from female firefighters.

The advert, which ran in gay and lesbian publications and was to appear in the diversity section of the Independent, had the headline: "Fancy pulling an older woman?"

In smaller print it continued: "Out of a car, from a burning building or just out of danger?"

A spokesman said the brigade had scrapped the advert but would continue its recruitment campaign.

"A decision was taken to withdraw the advert after we became aware that some women firefighters were unhappy with it," a spokesman said.

[ :: adgruntie :: New Pork Ads ]

+ “Don’t Be Blah” was unveiled at the National Pork Industry Forum in Orlando as their new ad tagline. Why they've strayed from "The Other White Meat" is beyond me, especially since research showed it was recognized by 9 out of 10 consumers. Although they claim they aren't totally abandoning it...which seems smart. Perhaps this new "tagline" is really just the campaign line...which isn't really a tagline. Although that whole discussion of tagline, endline, slogan, etc can get confusing. Anyway, the link has some radio spots for the new campaign and during the Oscars, new TV spots were tested in six markets.
Friday, March 04, 2005
[ :: adgruntie:: Just another day ]

+ Guinness is hoping to sell 5 times the amount of beer on St. Patrick's Day compared with any other day by using the "craic", an Irish word that doesn't translate into English. Posters and an internet campaign will be used to try to get people into the pubs, along with a tv spot.

+ Even after Celine's horrible performance for them, Cadillac can't stay away from the stars. Seems they've been using celebrities to get feedback on their new designs. An interesting approach to market research.

+ The BBC goes behind the scenes of the making of DDB London's VW GTI "Singin' in the rain" spot. If you havne't seen the spot and are a superadgrunt at adland you can view it here.

+ Lee Daley, chairman and chief executive of Saatchi & Saatchi UK, thinks tv advertising is dead. Yet, he also says:

“Our business model is not dependent on TV,” he says. “There will still be a need to deliver brand messages. Young people love brands more than ever. It’s just that technology gives them the power to ignore them more easily than ever.”

So, um, if people love brands, and you make the advertising entertaining and interesting to them, why then should they be skipping the ads on tv? To create concepts that are interesting to the target doesn't necessarily mean one must rely on viral techniques or content advertising in programs. Or even as the article mentions, models like BzzAgents, who recruit "agents" to create a "buzz" about products in their inner circle of friends, co-workers, and family. If I found out a friend of mine was doing that, I'd doubt their sincerity about alot more than their opinion on what brand of Vodka tastes good. That buzz-bullshit may sound good to some but I can't imagine that it has the ability to last for a long time - because as soon as people realize their friends are pushing brands/products on them, there will be pushback from the consumers. Then again, it seems people like being lied to lately, so who knows.

Andy Barnes, director of sales at Channel 4, says: “People like television advertising. They want to buy products. Do I think PVRs are powerful? Yes. But will they have the effect of killing commercials? No. The advertisers don’t want it. The viewer doesn’t want it. The broadcaster doesn’t want it.”

Ok, so no one wants TV ads to disappear into the night. This means something needs to be done. And I think it all needs to start with stepping up to the challenge of creating pieces of communication that people want to watch. Why would anyone want to waste their money creating an ad that people don't want to watch? It seems rather stupid if you ask me. Not that anyone did.

+ A rant from Indiana State University's paper on degrading women in ads. She has some great points, although not new ones.

+ Creative Fuel: Believe in Your Unique Value Proposition has some sage words of advice. (hat tip Tracy)

I have learned over the years that clients who pay two contractors vastly different rates for the same kind of work think taking advantage of people is good business. This is not the kind of client you want to keep on the roster.

Also, I put a piece together the other day for AdLand which is related to this topic- Spec Sucks for Everyone which is filled with loads of links on the subject.

+ The other day I was pointed to FightTheBull.com, a site for a book "Why Busniess People Speak Like Idiots".

If you think you smell something at work, there's probably good reason -- Bull has become the official language of business. Every day, we get bombarded by an endless stream of filtered, antiseptic, jargon-filled corporate speak, all of which makes it harder to get heard, harder to be authentic, and definitely harder to have fun. But it doesn't have to be that way.

There's a blog and some films to check out there as well.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
[ :: adgruntie :: Coke & Drugs ]

+ Coke's press release states that they will have a new campaign to launch their Coke with Lime. Ugh. Their press release also states that "The launch of Coca-Cola with Lime follows the successful roll out one year ago of Diet Coke with Lime, which has become the #1 flavored diet cola in America." Yuck. That was one of the most foul things I have tasted. It's all chemically tasting. Personally I prefer the Diet Pepsi Lemon Twist or even much better is the Diet Pepsi Wild Cherry. Now that is fantastic.

Anyway, the line for their campaign is "We put the lime in the Coke, you nut!". *GROAN* Took me a minute to get the lime in the coconut reference I think they are attempting to make. The ads were created by Berlin Cameron, New York and will break March 7th during "American Idol". The campaign also has outdoor executions too.

+ From the Press Release:

Taking a page from the Internet bloggers' playbook, public policy advocates at Consumers Union this week are releasing an animated satire of the drug industry -- "The Drugs I Need" -- to get Americans' attention about the need for safer, more effective and affordable prescription drugs.

The satire song is being released through the Internet and radio stations as the U.S. Senate holds hearings on the safety of prescription drugs. After viewing the animation, consumers can send an email to Congress asking members to support a bipartisan bill introduced Monday requiring drug companies to make all their studies public so physicians and consumers know about potentially harmful side effects.

"Right now, drug companies can hide negative study results from the public, leaving doctors and patients in the dark about potentially harmful side effects," said Rob Schneider, director of Consumers Union's http://www.PrescriptionforChange.org campaign. "If consumers let their voices be heard through this effort, we can convince Congress to make that information public."

The animated song, created by the Texas bluegrass band the Austin Lounge Lizards, is a humorous take on drug companies' billion-dollar marketing budgets, the sometimes serious side effects associated with blockbuster drugs, and the high costs Americans pay.

To watch the film go here or go to www.PrescriptionforChange.org (Avaliable in windows, quicktime and real player.)

[ :: adgruntie :: JWT kills off J. Walter Thompson ]

+ Reuters reports that J.Walter Thompson is changing their name to JWT. Um, I thought plenty called them by that name already. They are also hoping to change the way they market to consumers by broadening their tactics beyond traditional media. Apparently there have been some big corproate events to celebrate the new JWT, including "a funeral pyre for the old company logo in Paris and a watery burial of an image of founder J. Walter Thompson outside of Tokyo." Rather than focusing so much on this coroporate mumbo-jumbo, perhaps they should more strongly focus on creating consistantly good creative for their clients.

"The world has changed dramatically -- the consumer is in control of brands," Bob Jeffrey, CEO of JWT Worldwide, told Reuters, referring to a proliferation of media outlets like the Internet, where consumers choose when and how they get information about products.

"(Advertising) is really about earning the right to buy people's time as opposed to imposing a message on them."

The new rules of the game for JWT include a commitment to "stop interrupting what people are interested in and BE what people are interested in," pushing a stronger foray into creative ideas and entertainment, as well as viewing consumers as the new client that needs to be pleased.

All this is great but it's also the way it's been for a long time. It's amazing how all this is now "new". Before TiVo type devices we've always had remote controls or people who flip the channel as soon as the ads start. For a long time the consumer has been in control, they just have more control now than before. This thinking is something that should have been the basis for good creative and good advertising plans for decades. Personally I find it bizarre that it took DVR's to bring people to this realization, especially when it's not really new.

Although this is the basis for the current "revolution" in the ad world right now. Everyone is running around stating the obvious and calling it "innovative" or whatever. From "consumers are in control" spewed by all the agency CEOs (no duh!) to "advertising needs to not be considered an intrusion" (no shit Sherlock!), we seem to be experiencing a period where people are remembering the basics all
of a sudden and calling them "new ideas". All of which I find sickening. These are basic principals that as ad folk, we should know and use every day.