A few years ago Kentucky ended up with a poorly designed "smiley face" license plate which most of the state hates. The Louisville Advertising Federation has stepped in with its License Plate Design Project which has narrowed a field of 82 possible designs down to five. Kentucky residents, and apparently anyone with access the website, can vote for one of the five designs.
The winning design must then be submitted to the Kentucky State Legislature for approval and 900 residents must sign a petition and pay for the plate in advance if they want it. Anyone up for determining the fate of Kentucky license plate options?
Apparently, Yoplait's new Yop drink helps people's moring yap problems. This campaign is being seeded by Viral Chart.
This pit crew might be lazy and useless, but their Milwaukee drill sure isn't. Watch the ad.
With gaming a booming industry, colleges are know offering courses in video game design. Perhaps it will eventually dovetail with optometry when we are all walking around with video games embedded in our eyeglasses or contact lenses. As for the advertising aspect, imagine a lingerie-clad model writhing sexually across inside your eye as you walk through the mall causing you to make a beeline for the nearest Victoria's Secret.
All kinds of studies have come out saying young men aren't watching TV any more. But some studies say they are watching more and others say they are playing games instead. What's a media planner to do? Read this MediaPost article and find out.
The bottom line, though, is fragmentation is occurring at exponential rates. There's too much media to choose from. While some welcome it, others are overwhelmed by it. Television isn't going away. It's going to change with the times. It will chase the money just like any other good business.
In case you are wondering why you haven't received your Adrants Daily newsletter in a day or two, it's because the email program is taking some sort of unplanned vacation. When it gets it's ass back where it should be, you'll be sure to begin receiving what passes for advertising news again.
Here's a good one.
Seeking to pre-empt a potentially ugly Madison Ave. dust-up, Bernard Urban, President of Urban Advertising, today vehemently rejected speculation that his agency's Random Advertising Holding Company Name Generator (R.A.H.C.N.G.) is aimed solely at the Interpublic Group of Companies.
Denying the claim, Urban said, "We're merely celebrating our independence. If the people at IPG are concerned that we're trying to mock, humiliate or expose them in particular, their fears are completely unfounded."
The R.A.H.C.N.G., which is hosted at www.urbanadvertisng.com, randomly spits out potential holding companies using a proprietary algorithm. A few names it has generated include "Fat and Lazy Mega-Corp, International"? and "Expense Account Driven Holdings Universal."
As of this morning the agency, which handles projects for SIRIUS Satellite Radio, International Masters Publishing, Avidyne, Marriott and Conde Nast had not spoken directly with any holding companies or agencies concerning the R.A.H.C.N.G.
But Urban, who once worked for IPG agency McCann-Erickson said, "It's only a matter of time."? He then added "We in no way intended to hurt their feelings. Honest."
Funny.
Here's an interesting ad for the Cannes Festival that capitalizes on what Defamer calls the "American jailbait craze." Not far off the mark though with the latest explosion of Lindsay Lohan's overflowing boob and nipple shots and the Olsen Twins countdown clock.
A billboard teaser campaign running in South Bend IN has people wondering what it's all about. The teaser is placed on Adams Outdoor billboard but no one at Adams is talking. Adams Outdoor Manager Mike Cannon would only say, the billboard is meant to show the "power of outdoor" and demonstrate Adams' "creativity, impact and results." Uh Oh. Sounds like a house ad campaign to me. We'll find out soon enough.
This Summer, Coke will randomly place 120 GPS/cell phone equipped Coke cans throughout their North American distribution. Called the "Unexpected Summer," the sweepstakes hopes to build sales for the ailing Classic line.
Consumers who find one of the 120 cans can use the embedded phone to call and register for prizes such as a new Chevy Equinox SUV, a chance to win $1 million from Harrah's and Disney vacations. Once registered Coke "search teams" will use GPS to find the individual and surprise them on a random day within a specified three week period. Others can view the locations of the 120 cans on the promotional website. As one of the ads promotion the sweepstakes eludes to, you better have all your clothes on when the "street team" gps's your ass.
