Copyranter points out an Alstate ad that appeared in tuesday's Wall Street Journal that showed a snow globe version of San Fransico with a $400 billion price tag attached to it. Apparently, while that seems low, that's the price to rebuild San Francisco after an earthquake of 1906 proportions. The headline reads, "If San Francisco had the same size quake as in 1906, it could cost $400 billion to rebuild." Whille Allstate may want San Francisco residents to feel as though they are in good hands, that's not exactly the most comforting method to do so. Although it certainly gets one thinking about just how much insurance one should have when living on a fault line.
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We all know those mythical days of corporately untainted music are over and have given way to overly commercialized, manufactured pop groups. Noting that trend, Saatchi & Saatchi UK figures they nor their clients should be left out of the fun and have created a band for hire. Saatchi has brought together four twenty-something girls (not shown in the photo) who will completely give themselves over to the whim of the advertiser who chooses to cough up the dough to sponsor them. Everything from the name of the band, musical style, lyrics, clothing, the food they eat and the liquid they drink will be under control of the advertiser.
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Up against big boys Monster and CarreerBuilder, communications industry employment site Talent Zoo is in the running for a Webby Award. Sort of a People's Choice Award for the web but with judges, the Webby's honors sites in multiple categories for excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality. Check it all out here. Register to vote here.
Wanting to tout the four door version of the 2007 Jeep Wrangler, BBDO Detroit figured they'd turn the Jeep into a bug. No, not a VW bug. CP+B is having plenty of fun on its own turning the Jetta into a battering ram. To introduce and unveil the vehicle at the New York Auto Show, BBDO outfitted the wrangler with outdoor gear converting it into what they term four-dooricus rockcrawlerus. I suppose a four door Jeep is a good thing. After all, there's a four door Mini on the way too. See all four versions here.
We've all been interviewed by brainless buffoons. We've all had to divulge hidden secrets during interviews. We've never, though, watched such a great combination of the two in the name of promoting Microsoft's Office Certification program. This, courtesy of the agency with the wacky name: Wexley School for Girls.
The biggest problem with contextual advertising is that it relies on a computer to decide which content the ad should appear beside. That alone has provided for gaff after gaff after gaff. While not always the case, contextual advertising is usually site-specific and the site, versus the content, is what is purchased. The ad, then, appears in a contextually relevant position within that site. A new company, Mochila, is changing this model dramatically. The company just announced a content exchange where publishers sell the content they create and buy the content others have created. Unlike wire services that provide content with an annual subscription, Mochila will offer content for individual purchase.
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Shot atop a 54 story building in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil, Dieste Harmel & Partners has created a CGI-filled spot for Gatorade that has a football team doing its thing while the voiceover intones, "When you give everything to win, you give life to the field." And, indeed, life is given. View the spot here.
OK. We diligently filed our taxes on time yesterday postponing it to the last possible moment only to find out that...damn...we had another day! Taking advantage of that extra day, today, Thomas Pharmaceuticals has hired a seersucker-suited, brochure-wielding, product sampling team to hand out the company's Acid + All heartburn medication to those filing their tax returns at the James Farley Post Office in Manhattan. While this is certainly a great way to reached the stressed out American, hasn't everyone converted to filing taxes electronically negating the need to visit the Post Office? Anyway, we might stop by and pick up some Acid + All ourselves just for fun.
Adrants reader Sanj points to this Joystiq commentary about an ad that appeared in the April 2006 issue of PC Gamer promoting the game Hitman. Joystiq wonders if the ad is too edgy and makes note one of the gaming site's readers suggested the ad goes down the "rape/murder fantasy" road. Perhaps we're just way too jaded and desensitized to take issue with any advertiser that spreads a women across the page as if she were anything other than a fantasy born out of the minds of agency creatives and high fashion photographers in love with their own assumed creative brilliance. And besides, it's fantasy game so of course the ad should connote fantasy. People read way too much into this stuff.
To accompany the new "America Runs on Dunkin'" re-branding campaign Dunkin' Donuts has launched the D Stop, a customer loyalty/entertainment type micro-site. Created by Captains of Industry in Watertown, MA, the D Stop features a various content, including a live action film, an animated short, video e-cards, a "Dunkin' Diagnosis" quiz, and a downloadable order form to somehow make getting your morning fix easier. The D Stop also gives Dunkin' customers a place to go to find out more about the Rechargeable Dunkin' Donuts Card, as well as a chance to win a $100 Dunkin' Donuts Card everyday until 5/11/06. OK, then.
In what would appear to be a serious clash of brand personalities, Adrants reader Ryan tells us seemingly low brow beer Pabst Blue Ribbon is sponsoring seemingly high brow NPR on its show All Things Considered. One might assume this is just a dumb media buy. But if you think on it a bit, you'll realize a brand's personality is nothing more than what it's creators strive to make it. PBR is a beer that's lived in all corners of culture from blue collar to white collar, from hip to square. It would seem the folks behind PBR would like to take the brand in the direction NPR connotes and we think that's just fine.
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