Adrants Forced to Accept Questionable 'Pherotones' Ad

Comments

LOL!

Hey, *I* want to be irresistable! Tell me more!

I agree that stealth marketing shouldn't go too far, but I think that the site is pretty amusing. No one would really think, unless they're not too swift, that the site is a joke of some kind - it's more of a humorous tease than an attempt to mislead... My 2 cents

viral advertising doesn't necessarily mean it's good advetising. and even though the A3 viral/branded entertainment/web game is being touted as the best of this year, to me it means it's just the only one out there that had as much exposure. it's not as breakthrough as subservient chicken nor beta7 or i love bees or even blair witch, for that matter. ease up mckinney. get some ideas up before that friggin gnome from your expedia commercials becomes your calling card.

Come on mckinney...this entire strategy is sooo 2 years ago....i bet it's either your creative group that can't get it up or that your account team is too scared for innovation...which one is it?

Side-splitting funny, Steve.

"Money talks. Bullshit walks."

Even before I clicked on the banner I was impressed by the 3d effect in the photo of the white smocked lab tech with open silk blouse and come hither eyes (my glasses just steamed up again)---the landing page is top drawer quality and the blog, FAQ, links and all page links are all best of class. The sound files are all subtle and professional- without question each one is a delight for the ears. I'm not sure which I will make my new RingTone but with the double-mint casting call set for next Tuesday here in the FlatIron I’m leaning toward the Pherotones designed for attracting double trouble. Kudos to your client. They just raised the bar for outstanding digital advertisers everywhere(imho). They just raised the bar for all interactive creative departments (imho).

http://pherotones.blogspot.com/2006/01/newton-apple-and-gravity.html

More stealth ridiculousness...

I smell conspiracy! Steve you KNOW your post was just part of this huge stealth effort to pull the wool over all our eyes! This is all too pat. Too convenient. You're part of the machine, Steve. Part of the machine.

Steve is totally a pawn in this. Why would he keep talking about it? Nice job, McKInney...get the critics to give you press. Brilliant.

of course I'm a pawn. Every time i write something I'm a pawn for someone. I've been around long enough to know that quite clearly. McKinney taking my bait and placing an ad on Adrants was, indeed, brilliant on their part as they knew I'd have to come up with some reason as to why I would accept an ad from something I had trashed.

There's not enough big-picture thinking in advertising these days. You could call this stealth marketing or guerilla marketing, or some other bullshit term, but the fact of the matter is that this trickster marketing has been going on for a long time in American culture (i.e. "War of the Worlds" radio performance of 1930s, Ovaltine decoder rings... Pearl Harbor). Is it a bad thing for the brand? Not if you believe 'no controversy is bad controversy'. Tricking the American people is bad business, yes. But, if it's limited to the silly world of advertising, laugh it off, scrubs.

How much extra did they pay you to make this mock-complaint? I mean, we all know that nobody looks at the ads anyway, we just check your posts, so....
;)

I guess Wikipedia will take an ad from Pherotones next, to stop all the bitching about that faked Wikipedia entry.

I also guess I'm now the only "curmudgeon" left, Steve ... thanks a lot. It's lonely out here.

Ah, Dabitch...if only. If only the conspiracy theories were true! I'd be rich, I could retire and someone else could win the Best Commercial Ad Blog category in your Battle of the Ad Blogs survey:-)