Jockey Guys Sits Up For Ladies

In response to our equal opportunity post about the Bench Body billboard which we felt would be of interest to our female readers, New Zealand reader, Jacqui suggests another. Jacqui says Jockey is running a campaign, part of which is a giant billboard showing a six-packed guy doing sit ups just as he does on this website here. Enjoy.

VW Dumps Arnold, Hands Account to CP+B

In the Wow category, VW has taken its $345 million creative business away from Arnold, the car makers agency for ten years, and handed it to golden boy agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. In a statement, VW EVP Len Hunt said, "Volkswagen needs to take bold steps to turn this business around in the U.S. and Canada. "We're reviewing all aspects of our operations, and with the addition of CP+B on our team we'll now be equipped to maximize our marketing efforts. U.S. and Canadian consumers have always had a special relationship with this brand and today they want more from it—more interesting products which we now have and more captivating communications which CP+B will help develop."

Weblog Aids Ad Industry Katrina Victims

A weblog, called Displaced Designers, has been launched to aid creative industry individuals in the New Orleans area who have been displaced by hurricane Katrine and are in need of assistance. The blog appeals to those individuals and companies that can provide office space, living space, computers, other business resources and jobs to those who have been affected by Katrina. A valiant effort, indeed.

Boing Boing Boosts Dutch Viral Campaign

After watching this viral promotion for a Dutch newspaper, we are confident in saying this is proof positive there's no rhyme nor reason for the success of viral campaigns. Several versions of this viral show a man so engrossed in reading his newspaper, he is oblivious to causing pedestrian havoc on the sidewalk and forcing garbage trucks to stop in their tracks. That's all he does. Oh wait. Now we get it. Just create something so weird that even Boing Boing doesn't know what it is, but will, of course, link to it, causing the necessary proliferation required of all successful viral endeavors.

Hitachi Gets Funky With Hard Drive Promo

Following its video explaining how, someday, it will make hard drives with bits that stand up versus laying down that can enable a typical 6GB MP3 player hard drive to hold 30,000 songs, Hitachi has launched another video, called "The Hard Drive is the New Bling." which announces it has accomplished the task. The video, which is done up in a kooky, beatnick, hip-hop, spoof style, explains why its tiny hard dives will bring life to cell phones and MP3 players. The companies new hard drives are smaller than a domino in physical size and up to 60GB in capacity. No doubt, 30,000 song MP3 players won't be far behind.

Demi Moore Launches Yet Another Celebu-Beauty Line

Born Demetria which is the name of a 1960's cosmetics line, actress Demi Moore has decided to launch a beauty line along with make-up artist Jo Strettell and skin care specialist Terri Lawton. On her mother naming her Demetria, Moore said, "My name came from a make-up - that's where she saw it. She was always a little wild, but she never went a day without washing her face and using a little moisturizer."

From General Hospital to Hollywood to cosmetics. Nice life.

Model Jordan to Launch Kids Clothing Line

On May 27, 2002, model Jordan (Katie Price) gave birth to a son, Harvey, who was born with condition called septo-optic dysplasia which results in blindness and, apparently, makes kids grow larger than normal. Because of this, she plans to launch a line of kids clothing for larger kids. Of Harvey, who is now three, Jordan says,
"Harvey is really hard to buy for because he needs stuff for 12-year-olds. The problem is, a lot of it isn't suitable for him. So I have to do a lot of hunting around. We're not the only family with this problem, which is why I'd like to have a go at designing some clothes. I think it's something that could really take off."

Marketing Podcast Launched

Marketing consultant and author of Life After the 30 Second Spot Joe Jaffe along with CooperKatz & Company VP Client Services Steve Rubel have launched Across the Sound, a weekly podcast on marketing, new media and public relations. The two are already very vocal in marketing circles with Jaffe publishing the Jaffe Juice weblog and Rubel publishing the Micropersuasion weblog.

The first podcast discussed the FedEx furniture guy, agencies hiring bloggers and marketing winners and losers of the week. The second podcast will cover product placement.

Beer Fights: Not Just For Humans

LAVA Communications, the company that recently created the Ban the Tongue Mocumentary, has seeded a humorous beer ad, created by Australia's BMF Advertising, for beer brewer Tooheys which eschews the traditional fights between humans over the great taste of beer and places the fight squarely where the action is: the refrigerator. And the vacuum cleaner. And the washing machine - which gets really pissed. And, the pool cleaner. Go figure. Watch it. It's different...which, in advertising, is a very good thing.

Gossip Blog Launches Queer Blog

Celebrity blog Jossip publisher David Hauslaib has launched Queerty, a blog about all things queer. It's written by blog superstar Bradford Shellhammer of pre-blogging blog fame and published by Hauslaib.

Hauslaib, who, writing in the launch announcement says he'd "feel luckier than Michael Phelps' Speedo if he could snag a mention in your magazine, newspaper, blog, dinner conversation or mental dialogue," promises the blog will focus on fashion and style, entertainment and celebrity, news and politics, relationships and sex -- and "any other really, really gay topic we (or you, our readers) can come up with." Lest Adrants be accused of changing teams, there's an advertising angle here as well. Hauslaib says, "Queerty puts advertisers in touch with this affluent demographic, which has long been abandoned by mainstream blog publishers."

With the launch of Queerty, Hauslaib can now officially hang with the big boys of blog publishing, Denton and Calacanis.

Coke Relents, Spec Spot OK...With Disclaimer

Following a post to the WhereSpot discussion group and a story here on Adrants, Coke has called off its lawyers, who had threatened photographer Paul Papanek with legal action over a couple of spec spots he had created, and said it's fine the spots remain in existence as long as Papanek disclaims them as unaffiliated with Coke. It all seems very logical. A creative is allowed to express himself. A brand gets additional exposure without spending a cent. Everyone's happy. Except the lawyers. After three threatening letters, Coke's legal army was, apparently, called off and sent back to the dungeon to dream up other methods of charging Coke a fortune just to type up a few simple letter.

Writing in the WheresSpot discussion group, Papanek gleefully reports Coke representative Ms. Perlstein told him "everyone at Coke is talking about it" and even the brand managers are checking the spots out. Oh, and the lawyers? They're not all bad. They contacted Papanek directly and had amicable conversations.

Next time, perhaps, Coke will realize the value of consumer created media and leave well enough alone. Or, at least, approach the situation with less legal stiffness. Unless of course the work harms the brand which, clearly, Papanek's work did not.

Summer's Over, Advertising Hasn't Changed

On this first day following the U.S. Labor Day holiday and to remind us all advertising hasn't changed one bit, we bring you this commercial from GameStop, featured in this week's Ad Age TV Spots of the Week, in which video game hotties come to life and battle the fantasizing psyche of male gamers. Creative strategy: brain-dead, video game-addled men. Hot, ass-kicking women. Done, shoot it. Let's do lunch.

In other new spots this week, HP brings back its Frame Up ads. Catholic Charities rivets with a simple but brilliantly well-executed call for donations. The Chinese government goes to elaborate lengths to get citizens to floss their teeth. Cadbury does its false teeth thing that we've seen before. Wendy's uses a tooth to sell a ranch burger. Kia trys to make its cars seem as important is winning some sort of important sporting event. And, yes, America Express helps Andy get his Mojo back.