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
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
[ :: designy :: Keep calm and carry on ]
+ This poster needs to be up on the wall in my office. It's great! Love the sentiment (even though it's origins are WWII blitz/not nice).
+ A city made of biscuits/cookies at Selfridges in Oxford Street!
(Both links via I like.)
[ :: adgruntie :: How co's got their names ]
+ HOw some companies got their names. Pretty interesting. Found via swissmiss.
[ :: adgruntie :: Maine tater growers puzzled at Simpsons ]
+ Sunday's episode of The Simpsons had Homer rip his trademark blue pants. He finds out that the company that made them has discontinued the line, Homer tried head-vertising (that's a tattoo on his head) for Blue Pants. Later on he and Marge are in bed and she discovers that he's covered his body in tattoo ads. Apparently one was for Maine Potatoes. And according to this article it wasn't a paid placement.
[ :: coj :: Redesigning ]
+ Futzing around with the design here. Felt like I wanted a cleaner, fresher look for a bit. Like it? Hate it? Suggestions are always welcome...especially if something like font size is an issue. ;)
Monday, February 27, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Too real to be funny ]
+ Packaging parody that will be all too familiar to any creative. (hat tip the other CG)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
[ :: designy :: Some cool things ]
+ The Business of Graphic Design
Livesurface is a set of high res images for designers who might need to create a design for books, bags, etc. Except that you won't have to spend time on paths and more of the tedious stuff. Sounds cool.
[ :: designy :: Get some color(s) ]
+ Color Scheme Combinations has everything you need for color. Great! (via BrandFlakesForBreakfast).
[ :: sidetracks :: BT rocks ]
+ Who'd a thunk BT would have a myspace blog but two of them? Odd. Kinda cool though. There hasn't been a CD of his I haven't liked so far. And he does a great show.
Monday, February 20, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Hasselhoff and Pepsi ]
+ So very disturbing. Pepsi's Hasselhoff ad campaign stuff. I just don't get the obsession of him in Austria and Germany. It's what I'd like to call "super cheese". (hat tip Beer Girls Blog.)
Sunday, February 19, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Some things to see ]
+ Surfing around and came across these spots yesterday:
Paris Hilton slumming it in a German Yellow Pages commercial.
Bizarre Japanese pizza commercial
Massively long Nissan Trophy Model spot by TBWA
[ :: adgruntie :: Ad networks ]
+ Casting net across the globe takes a look at ad networks.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Random fun stuff ]
+ Too busy today to do a real post. But here are a couple fun links for ya.
Ozzy and Ozzy in a I Can't Believe It's Not Butter advert
Old skool mac stuff!
Virtual Mac SE - click on "Test Drive a Macintosh"
Ye Olde Mac games
Color Wheel- Another online color palate gizmo
3D poster in the UK
Monday, February 13, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Battle of the Ad Blog winners ]
+ AdLand has announced its winners of the 2006 Battle of the Ad Blogs.
I didn't win, but hey I (barely) walked away with the bronze. Not too shabby. Cheers to those who gave a vote in my direction. :)
It's rather funny how "hard core" some were about this battle. Are ad folk so insecure that they need the adulation of their peers? Or is it that we like competition (would explain the vast amounts of ad award shows, well so would the first reason)?
[ :: superbowl :: I've had enough ]
+ I know last week I said I'd do a more indepth review of the Super Bowl spots. But quite honestly, I'm so sick to death of the whole thing, after following who would be in for weeks leading up to the darn thing, and chatting about it on the radio and doing a review on AdLand. I think I'm just going to let the sleeping dogs lie. If you want, you can read my reviews over at AdLand, along with the other admins. I'll leave it at that. :)
[ :: adgruntie :: Hershey, Arnold and WOM ]
+ Wow. I guess I totally missed that Arnold Worldwide won the Hershey account back in October. Looks like they are going to be partnering with BzzAgents to create a word of mouth campaign for Hershey. This is the first wom campaign by an ad agency using BzzAgents. According to the article, "Arnold will assemble the creative for the guides and product samples that each BzzAgent receives."
Friday, February 10, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Last chance to pimp myself ]
+ Today is the last day to vote for AdLand's Battle of the Ad Blogs, so I figure what the hell. Head here and toss a vote my way, if you so desire.
It's amusing how serious some of the sites nominated have taken this. One was going to give out cupcakes if you voted for him (how exactly, I dunno.) I did think for a second that it'd be funny to tell all 10 of my readers I'd post a boobie flash for ya if I won, but I'm really not that hungup on winning. Plus the girls don't need that kind of exposure. ;)
I have to say I'm impressed that I've kept up with AdScam, and am not horribly behind Ernie or Adpulp (well a decent amount, but hey I'll call it respectable!) It's funny how I'm the only female ad blogger in that category. In fact, it's sorta interesting that there aren't more female bloggers in any of the categories. But really that's neither here nor there. It's all about the blogging. Screw gender. :D
Thursday, February 09, 2006
[ :: superbowl :: Whaaa? ]
+ Are you shitting me? Adage.com's poll on what's your favorite Super Bowl ad has Cadillac's 'Chrome Couture' in the lead with 33%. Me thinks someone is screwing the data. Shit it just went to 34%. That ain't right. That spot was pure crap. Yeah it looked pretty but talk about a "self-love" spot. Although I do think Mercedes did outdo Caddy on that front. I'm just really not even sure why this spot is on the top 5 list.
[ :: copy :: Why, yes I'll read your crappy copy ]
+ Why is it that there are people who work in online advertising that want a freaking novel in a banner or something? Especially when the topic is not something that any will have that high of an interest to read that deeply?
Yes I'm a copywriter, and yes, words are important. But any good copywriter worth their salt will be the first to stand up and say that unnecessary text/copy/etc just scares people off and results in the whole thing not being read.
People don't think about how they read through ads or look at information. They just expect the consumer to have nothing better to do or have a deep interest in their own product that they figure they'll read it, even if they wouldn't.
This is dangerous territory. Everyone involved needs to work at self-checking and group-checking for this. It's so very easy to get caught up in talking to ourselves...and yet, so dangerous. (you know someone works in marketing when they ask how if there are "best practices" to write some ad copy.)
[ :: adgruntie :: Job placement idiots ]
+ Le Sigh. A couple weeks ago I ranted about stupid job placement type companies. I got a new one related for today. Actually this is old. I had been getting emails about art director/designer jobs sent to me from this "job placement" type company. Now, their job is to find employees for their clients as well as find work for their freelance clients/fulltime searchmonkeys. Why the fuck do they need to be sending out mass emails to people who are signed up with them, for jobs that aren't a fit, so that the people they "work with" will find them a person to get them the money they make for finding a new hire or freelancer?? Why the hell should I be doing their job?
To top it off, I asked to be taken off this list that they use. And for a while I wasn't recieving anything.
If you can't recruit...you should be in the business. Don't you dare ask me to do your job for you. Talk about lazy fucks.
Perhaps I'd be less irked about it if this place actually ever called me with a gig. Oh wait, maybe they did once. Thing is I went and interviewed, after reading about a job opening they had. Yet, after I went though the dance of filing out paper work and whatnot, they never told me about the job, nor told me they were sending my information over for the job or anything. So maybe they should only ask people they've actually found work for to help them find candidates.
I'm very tempted to tell them to fuck off and remove my information from their data center. I mean, really, besides these annoying and STUPID emails, what's the point of being affiliated with them in any way? I've been warned against using them. I was told how horridly they pay and their "service" sucked.
Idiots.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
[ :: adgrunt :: Shatner in local lawyer spot ]
+I realized in all the madness of the Super Bowl I didn't comment on this here. Probably Friday or Saturday evening/night it was, I saw an ad I had trouble believing. Now no matter where you are, you most likely have your own special local lawyer tv spots that you have to endure. Well, I experienced the most shocking on of those I think I've ever seen. Looked exactly like those cheesy/crappy ads, except this time, instead of it being the lawyer, it was William Shatner! W-T-F? It took my brain at least 5 seconds to proccess the fact that the man on the television was not a lawyer (although he plays one on tv, or did) but Shatenr. Why, you might ask, does Shatner need to be doing local attorney commercials? I haven't a clue. It's a good question though. I've tried looking on the web a bit and found nothing on this.
But this is proof of using a celebrity as a bad thing, because I remember it was Shatner, but I couldn't tell you who it was for if my life depended on it.
[ :: superbowl :: The hangover after the commericals ]
+ Well, it's over. After weeks of digging up info for AdLand and a crazy weekend, it's over. How did it turn out? Well, let's say there have been better years, although among the ho-hum and average stuff I saw a few things I liked and that stood out:
FedEd "Stick"
Dove "Self-Esteem" (although that arm-raise "yes" thing was total cheese)
Budweiser "Card Tricks"
Degree "Stunt City"
BK "Whopperettes"
Diet Pepsi spots were above average
Bud Light good, and typical
People who should be tarred and feathered (well, not really) for airing ads:
Blockbuster
Overstock.com
Taco Smell
Slim Fast
Mercedes Benz
Westin Hotels & Resorts - "Breathe"
Outback SteakHouse
CareerBuilder.com
Cadillac
Interesting to note that all these were last minute buys (I believe, if not all most of them)so I guess they just threw on whatever creative they had...as there wasn't time for them to create anything for the Super Bowl.
AdLand admins reviewed the spots (yes, I'm one of them) and you should start there. I'm going to attempt to do a indepth critque thing here too (if i have time) of at least some spots.
[ :: designy :: Keep calm and carry on ]
+ This poster needs to be up on the wall in my office. It's great! Love the sentiment (even though it's origins are WWII blitz/not nice).
+ A city made of biscuits/cookies at Selfridges in Oxford Street!
(Both links via I like.)
[ :: adgruntie :: How co's got their names ]
+ HOw some companies got their names. Pretty interesting. Found via swissmiss.
[ :: adgruntie :: Maine tater growers puzzled at Simpsons ]
+ Sunday's episode of The Simpsons had Homer rip his trademark blue pants. He finds out that the company that made them has discontinued the line, Homer tried head-vertising (that's a tattoo on his head) for Blue Pants. Later on he and Marge are in bed and she discovers that he's covered his body in tattoo ads. Apparently one was for Maine Potatoes. And according to this article it wasn't a paid placement.
The gag, which lasted 4 seconds or so, showed various tattoo advertisements on Homer's ample body, including a message on one arm that read "Eat Maine Potatoes." Homer, who was in bed, told his wife Marge that it was a reminder. He then reached into a bag of "Maine Potatoes" and started munching on one.
When asked by the Portland Press Herald about why "The Simpsons" featured the plug for Maine potatoes, Fox spokeswoman Jill Hudson provided a quote from Executive Producer Al Jean: "All of the Simpsons writers are huge fans of Maine potatoes."
Despite the increasing use of product placements in TV and movies, Maine Potato Board Executive Director Donald Flannery insisted that his promotional group had nothing to do with the animated plug.
"No, no, nope. No _ it's nothing we paid for," Flannery said. "We never had anything to do with that. I guess I'm going to have to get a copy of it."
[ :: coj :: Redesigning ]
+ Futzing around with the design here. Felt like I wanted a cleaner, fresher look for a bit. Like it? Hate it? Suggestions are always welcome...especially if something like font size is an issue. ;)
Monday, February 27, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Too real to be funny ]
+ Packaging parody that will be all too familiar to any creative. (hat tip the other CG)
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
[ :: designy :: Some cool things ]
+ The Business of Graphic Design
Livesurface is a set of high res images for designers who might need to create a design for books, bags, etc. Except that you won't have to spend time on paths and more of the tedious stuff. Sounds cool.
[ :: designy :: Get some color(s) ]
+ Color Scheme Combinations has everything you need for color. Great! (via BrandFlakesForBreakfast).
[ :: sidetracks :: BT rocks ]
+ Who'd a thunk BT would have a myspace blog but two of them? Odd. Kinda cool though. There hasn't been a CD of his I haven't liked so far. And he does a great show.
Monday, February 20, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Hasselhoff and Pepsi ]
+ So very disturbing. Pepsi's Hasselhoff ad campaign stuff. I just don't get the obsession of him in Austria and Germany. It's what I'd like to call "super cheese". (hat tip Beer Girls Blog.)
Sunday, February 19, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Some things to see ]
+ Surfing around and came across these spots yesterday:
Paris Hilton slumming it in a German Yellow Pages commercial.
Bizarre Japanese pizza commercial
Massively long Nissan Trophy Model spot by TBWA
[ :: adgruntie :: Ad networks ]
+ Casting net across the globe takes a look at ad networks.
Some people in advertising, however, say the basic concept of the network is outdated. In most networks, only a few big offices are actually profitable, and many of the rest simply exist to adapt campaigns created elsewhere for local use. Ad agencies like BBH, which has won a number of big accounts lately from its London base, say they can serve global clients through a handful of offices, using new technology and relationships with partner agencies to operate more efficiently than the big networks.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Random fun stuff ]
+ Too busy today to do a real post. But here are a couple fun links for ya.
Ozzy and Ozzy in a I Can't Believe It's Not Butter advert
Old skool mac stuff!
Virtual Mac SE - click on "Test Drive a Macintosh"
Ye Olde Mac games
Color Wheel- Another online color palate gizmo
3D poster in the UK
Monday, February 13, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Battle of the Ad Blog winners ]
+ AdLand has announced its winners of the 2006 Battle of the Ad Blogs.
I didn't win, but hey I (barely) walked away with the bronze. Not too shabby. Cheers to those who gave a vote in my direction. :)
It's rather funny how "hard core" some were about this battle. Are ad folk so insecure that they need the adulation of their peers? Or is it that we like competition (would explain the vast amounts of ad award shows, well so would the first reason)?
[ :: superbowl :: I've had enough ]
+ I know last week I said I'd do a more indepth review of the Super Bowl spots. But quite honestly, I'm so sick to death of the whole thing, after following who would be in for weeks leading up to the darn thing, and chatting about it on the radio and doing a review on AdLand. I think I'm just going to let the sleeping dogs lie. If you want, you can read my reviews over at AdLand, along with the other admins. I'll leave it at that. :)
[ :: adgruntie :: Hershey, Arnold and WOM ]
+ Wow. I guess I totally missed that Arnold Worldwide won the Hershey account back in October. Looks like they are going to be partnering with BzzAgents to create a word of mouth campaign for Hershey. This is the first wom campaign by an ad agency using BzzAgents. According to the article, "Arnold will assemble the creative for the guides and product samples that each BzzAgent receives."
Friday, February 10, 2006
[ :: adgruntie :: Last chance to pimp myself ]
+ Today is the last day to vote for AdLand's Battle of the Ad Blogs, so I figure what the hell. Head here and toss a vote my way, if you so desire.
It's amusing how serious some of the sites nominated have taken this. One was going to give out cupcakes if you voted for him (how exactly, I dunno.) I did think for a second that it'd be funny to tell all 10 of my readers I'd post a boobie flash for ya if I won, but I'm really not that hungup on winning. Plus the girls don't need that kind of exposure. ;)
I have to say I'm impressed that I've kept up with AdScam, and am not horribly behind Ernie or Adpulp (well a decent amount, but hey I'll call it respectable!) It's funny how I'm the only female ad blogger in that category. In fact, it's sorta interesting that there aren't more female bloggers in any of the categories. But really that's neither here nor there. It's all about the blogging. Screw gender. :D
Thursday, February 09, 2006
[ :: superbowl :: Whaaa? ]
+ Are you shitting me? Adage.com's poll on what's your favorite Super Bowl ad has Cadillac's 'Chrome Couture' in the lead with 33%. Me thinks someone is screwing the data. Shit it just went to 34%. That ain't right. That spot was pure crap. Yeah it looked pretty but talk about a "self-love" spot. Although I do think Mercedes did outdo Caddy on that front. I'm just really not even sure why this spot is on the top 5 list.
[ :: copy :: Why, yes I'll read your crappy copy ]
+ Why is it that there are people who work in online advertising that want a freaking novel in a banner or something? Especially when the topic is not something that any will have that high of an interest to read that deeply?
Yes I'm a copywriter, and yes, words are important. But any good copywriter worth their salt will be the first to stand up and say that unnecessary text/copy/etc just scares people off and results in the whole thing not being read.
People don't think about how they read through ads or look at information. They just expect the consumer to have nothing better to do or have a deep interest in their own product that they figure they'll read it, even if they wouldn't.
This is dangerous territory. Everyone involved needs to work at self-checking and group-checking for this. It's so very easy to get caught up in talking to ourselves...and yet, so dangerous. (you know someone works in marketing when they ask how if there are "best practices" to write some ad copy.)
[ :: adgruntie :: Job placement idiots ]
+ Le Sigh. A couple weeks ago I ranted about stupid job placement type companies. I got a new one related for today. Actually this is old. I had been getting emails about art director/designer jobs sent to me from this "job placement" type company. Now, their job is to find employees for their clients as well as find work for their freelance clients/fulltime searchmonkeys. Why the fuck do they need to be sending out mass emails to people who are signed up with them, for jobs that aren't a fit, so that the people they "work with" will find them a person to get them the money they make for finding a new hire or freelancer?? Why the hell should I be doing their job?
To top it off, I asked to be taken off this list that they use. And for a while I wasn't recieving anything.
If you can't recruit...you should be in the business. Don't you dare ask me to do your job for you. Talk about lazy fucks.
Perhaps I'd be less irked about it if this place actually ever called me with a gig. Oh wait, maybe they did once. Thing is I went and interviewed, after reading about a job opening they had. Yet, after I went though the dance of filing out paper work and whatnot, they never told me about the job, nor told me they were sending my information over for the job or anything. So maybe they should only ask people they've actually found work for to help them find candidates.
I'm very tempted to tell them to fuck off and remove my information from their data center. I mean, really, besides these annoying and STUPID emails, what's the point of being affiliated with them in any way? I've been warned against using them. I was told how horridly they pay and their "service" sucked.
Idiots.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
[ :: adgrunt :: Shatner in local lawyer spot ]
+I realized in all the madness of the Super Bowl I didn't comment on this here. Probably Friday or Saturday evening/night it was, I saw an ad I had trouble believing. Now no matter where you are, you most likely have your own special local lawyer tv spots that you have to endure. Well, I experienced the most shocking on of those I think I've ever seen. Looked exactly like those cheesy/crappy ads, except this time, instead of it being the lawyer, it was William Shatner! W-T-F? It took my brain at least 5 seconds to proccess the fact that the man on the television was not a lawyer (although he plays one on tv, or did) but Shatenr. Why, you might ask, does Shatner need to be doing local attorney commercials? I haven't a clue. It's a good question though. I've tried looking on the web a bit and found nothing on this.
But this is proof of using a celebrity as a bad thing, because I remember it was Shatner, but I couldn't tell you who it was for if my life depended on it.
[ :: superbowl :: The hangover after the commericals ]
+ Well, it's over. After weeks of digging up info for AdLand and a crazy weekend, it's over. How did it turn out? Well, let's say there have been better years, although among the ho-hum and average stuff I saw a few things I liked and that stood out:
FedEd "Stick"
Dove "Self-Esteem" (although that arm-raise "yes" thing was total cheese)
Budweiser "Card Tricks"
Degree "Stunt City"
BK "Whopperettes"
Diet Pepsi spots were above average
Bud Light good, and typical
People who should be tarred and feathered (well, not really) for airing ads:
Blockbuster
Overstock.com
Taco Smell
Slim Fast
Mercedes Benz
Westin Hotels & Resorts - "Breathe"
Outback SteakHouse
CareerBuilder.com
Cadillac
Interesting to note that all these were last minute buys (I believe, if not all most of them)so I guess they just threw on whatever creative they had...as there wasn't time for them to create anything for the Super Bowl.
AdLand admins reviewed the spots (yes, I'm one of them) and you should start there. I'm going to attempt to do a indepth critque thing here too (if i have time) of at least some spots.
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keep on using that brain.