Earth Too Screwed Up For Aliens
Starring Jim Broadbent, Eddie Izzard and Joseph McFadden, a viral video launched by Greenpeace uses humor rather than scare tactics to illustrate the plight of planet Earth. In the video, a group of aliens discusses the pros and cons of taking over the planet and the habits of the human race such as emailing which is descibed to a curious alien as "a means to effectively distribute porn."
Created by HHCL/Red Cell on the United Kingdom, the video hopes to sway "armchair activists" by providing them with information that could help them take that first step towards saving the environment.
Finally, Honesty in Airline Advertising
A sanctioned spoof of Alaska Airlines, SkyHigh Airlines pokes fun at the sometimes maddening experience of airline travel. With taglines such as "The Relentless Pursuit of Adequacy" and "Flying is Expensive. Let us Cheapen the Experience", SkyHigh Airlines highlights its signature feature "Challenge Seating" whereby customers fight each other for first class seating. A very comical "Letter from the Chairman" is written the way any Chairman would write if they where actually able to speak the truth about their business.
Deep within the reservation section, Alaska Airlines is revealed with this disclaimer: "Some of you people out there don't appreciate SkyHigh's extra stopovers a long the way - a perk we like to call "talking the scenic route." If you're one of those types, head to alaskaair.com. They offer a lot of non-stops there. (Bo-ring.)"
The site also features a reservation section where seating choices are "Bench" or Cargo" and an Employee of the Month section honoring an employee "who really gives that requisite effort to keep our passengers happy. Or at least less mad." There are vacation packages to Waco, Fargo and the "Chain Gang Fantasy Camp" and a Global Baggage Tracker that, upon entering your name, attempts to locate your luggage with returning this reassuring results page header, "Your luggage has been has been located in exotic Siple Island, Antarctica (Sorry, our mapping system does not include Antarctica. But trust us.). Check back tomorrow to see where those pesky bags of yours have run off to next." And finally, a very humorous Suggestions section that forces positive comments into the suggestion box just as you are about to enter your own.
In this campaign, Alaska Airlines has the admirable honesty to acknowledge the frustration and madness that goes along with airline travel.
This years report includes 22 profiles of media stars in its annual report. The report measures the number of times a media professional is mentioned in editorial articles. It's an interesting metric since the number of press mentions really has nothing to do with the ability to craft a great media program but rather the ability to shout the loudest and hound the press most effectively. Top spot this year goes to Wendy's Michelle Fedurek.
Connect Me Now?
In this week's Ad Age TV Spots of the Week, Verizon continues its attack on Nextel's Direct Connect with its own new Push to Talk feature. In the spot, a construction worker is trying to get a signal before his building permit gets pulled. While walking around to find a signal, he encounters some unexpected feet.
Also this week are spots from Canon showing what digital cameras are really for, a Dad in a minivan full of kids fretting over dental costs for Valvoline, the Amica man popping out of a supermarket fridge to fix a squeaky shopping cart wheel, two boring car commercials from BMW and Cadillac, Celine Dion smirking for her new perfume, a game of office frisbee for T-Mobile, and old time cartoon characters for American Express.
In this MediaLife article the winner and losers of the new television season are revealed. Winners include ABC's "Hope and Faith," CBS's "Joan of Arcadia," "The Handler" and "Two and a Half Men'", NBC's "Las Vegas" and UPN's "All of Us". Losers include the WB's "One Tree Hill," UPN's "The Mullets" and Jake 2.0," ABC's "Threat Matrix" and CBS's "Brotherhood of Poland, N.H."
