At London's Heathrow Airport Virgin Atlantic terminal Bluetooth transmitters are sending text messages to nearby cell phone users asking them if they want to view a video ad on their cell phone for the new Range Rover Sport SUV. Billboard company Maiden Group and technology company Filter UK have teamed to place transmitters in the airport along with 30 UK train stations. Only cell phone users who have Bluetooth capable phones will receive the text message asking if they want to view the ad. The program seems to have worked. In a two week test, 13,000 out of 87,000 Bluetooth-enabled phone owners opted to view the ad. At 15 percent, that's a pretty good success rate. The Wall Street Journal has more.
Last year's cult horror fave, Saw will be followed by Saw II in October. This year's advertising, which features severed fingers, was released without approval of the Motion Picture Association of America which must approve all movie advertising. Saw II movie distributor Lion's Gate Film said, Friday, it would contact websites and request the offending trailer be removed as well as request exhibitors to return un-approved marketing materials. Unfortunately, there's no Undo button on the Internet. You can compare the original photo, easily found with a little help from Google, accompanying this story with the cleaned up version on the official movie website.
If Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has his way and takes over the Six Flags amusement park, he says the park's advertising and marketing need to be retooled and isn't sure he'd keep the famed dancing geriatric, Mr. Six on board in future ad campaigns. Doner Advertising Creative Director David Banta says Mr' Six scores well with moms and teens in consumer advertising awareness studies but Snyder thinks a more direct marketing type approach should be taken. Come on. Say it ain't so. We love the old guy.
Tipping the scale at four pounds, the September issue of Vogue contains 691 ad pages beating last years record of 651. While Vogue Publisher Thomas Florio is lovin' it, we have to wonder what it's like as an advertiser to have a one in 691 chance of your ad being seen. Can you say ego buy?
We received this last week and thought it was a joke (there was no tagline). Apparently, our viral radar was out of service. Turns out, it's an ad campaign in the UK for the Department of Transport bringing to light the fact traffic accidents are the biggest cause of accidental death for 12-16 year olds. The ad was created by Leo Burnett's Paul Hordan and Angus Macadam and shot by kids on cell phone cameras. After circulating last week online, it aired on television over the weekend. Dramatic stuff.
