While AdJab doesn't like it and we did it years ago for many clients, the magazine cover wrap is in the news again this week. Unisys, with help from StrawberryFrog and Omnicom's PHD, has created 20 custom Fortune magazine covers, each personally designed for execs at organizations sucj as DHL, Citogrpup, Subaru and Northwest. The cover wraps include a personalized letter and a web address that direct s the executive to a site where he/she can find fake videos that highlight them in the news - perfect for playing into most exec's ego-infested brains. Hmm. Targeted advertising. What a concept!
We're tickled by this ad for Reel Asian which plays on the stereotype about dog-eating Asians. Or is it dog-serving Asian restaurants? We can never get the two straight. You have to admit Leopold was cute enough to ... oh, forget it. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
In a short film called Respect The Architects: The Paris Air Max 1 Story (which takes FOREVER to load), designer Tinker Hatfield talks about how the Centre Pompidou in Paris inspired his version of the Nike Air Max, which features a visible air pouch. We like it. Check out a lo-res here. It loads faster than the hi-res but it's not nearly as good of a watch. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
It's common knowledge that everyone in advertising would rather be shooting a movie than making boring ads that appear on the small screen so it is without surprise Strawberry Frog is hyped about its new Heineken commercial which was shot on location during the filming of the the next James Bond film., Casino Royale. A YouTube video takes a behind the scenes look at the very normal and un-Agency.com-like approach Strawberry Frog took for the creation of the commercial. Actors are featured. Set designers and assistant directors are interviewed. Strawberry Frog Head Creative Dude Kevin McKeon waxes eloquently about th genesis of the project. Come on. Before you say anything, you know you wish you were in Kevin's shoes.
In what could be a masterful viral approach to growing a business that goes far beyond viral marketing, Microsoft is embedding viral expansion into its new iPod competitor, Zune. Users of the Zune MP3 player can send songs to friends over the devices Wifi who have three days to listen to them before they disable. If the recipient of the song decides to buy the song within the three day period, the sender of the song will receive a portion of the song's purchase price in the form of credits to be used towards purchasing music and other items from the Zune Marketplace.
Currently, it's a rumor and it would certainly be difficult to topple iPod from its reigning position but the approach is indicative of what many brands should be doing to grow their business beyond just traditional advertising tonnage. And yea, yea, yea, the whole referral thing has been done since cavemen traded rocks but this is high profile and it will be intresting to see if it works.
- On Tuesday, Toyota sponsored the showing of a 2-minute, 20-second trailer of the upcoming season of Fox TV's action-thriller 24 in New York's Times Square where viewers could hear the audio via one of 5,000 radios given away by street teams clad in CTU uniforms.
- More contextual idiocy. Actually, this one is just plain non-sensical.
- Here's an interesting ambient campaign for road safety which, by placing a wall hanging that stick out from university hallways, students where reminded of the dangers of speeding as they walk right into the thing on the way to class.
- Adidas has launched MLSmashups, a mash up of MLS soccer team players and the "hottest local underground musicians." Yea, we didn't get it either.
- Over in Sydney, they're all excited about the upcoming TV1 Stupid Stupid Man show.
- A new book, BOOM: Marketing to the Ultimate Power Consumer -- the Baby Boomer Woman, by brand strategists Mary Brown and Carol Orsborn, Ph.D., argues that marketers focused on the 18-34 age bracket may be missing the most lucrative demographic: Baby Boomer women who are now age 45-60.
- Former GE CEO Jack Welch and Hill Holliday ad agency founder Jack Connors are putting together a group of local business people to make a bid on the Boston Globe..
As part of its partnership with the Susan G Koman Breast Canver Foundation, Ford has teamed with the organization's Race For The Cure Virtual Quilt project which allows people to create their own message on the quilt. JWT Detroit along with interactive firm Firstborn created the project o coincide with this month's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
While we're not quite sure just how different CarMax is from other used car dealers with their claims of return policies and "buy without sell" but they sure are different in that they look much more like a Wal-Mart of a Best Buy than most cheesy, flag-flying used car lots. The company has just launched a two-part Boone/Oakley-created television campaign. The first part focuses on the brand with three very un-used car-like commercials set in Rome and the Old West. A second set of commercial focuses on the unique differences between CarMax and other used car dealers. We especially like the freaked out 16 year old who pitches a fit after realizing the nw car her fathr just bought her int eh wrong color. Cue "5 day return policy" voice over. For the most part, good stuff if not a bit off the wall. (Click more for links to spots.)
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Well no, not really, unless you think vacuous infamy exerts the same social influence as political diplomacy.
*long pause*
She's actually going to appear in an Indian campaign to introduce a new fashion line from Anand Jon, an American fashion designer of Indian descent. Moving on, AdJab points out Hilton's music video was recently banned from Indian airwaves but her sex tape is still widely available for under $2. AdJab adds "I'm not sure what's more embarrassing, having your sex video available to the public or the fact that it costs less than a king size Snicker's bar."
Provocative point. We're sure it won't hurt her modeling career. It might even help. Don't models do dumb shit all the time? - Contributed by Angela Natividad
This Frisky Dingo plug for Scion is so awesome, we're willing to look past the fact of the car's ugliness and appreciate their magnanimous capacity to feed their own minions to Killface. We just love that long pause that happens between the words "PPO" and death.
More Scion inclusions here and here. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
If we thought pet enthusiasts couldn't get more bizarre then we were wrong because Purina just broadened the landscape. On the Toronto-based Talking Pets mini-site, pet owners can further distance themselves from the rest of humankind by sending "purr/woof mail," posting pictures of their furry friends and even gauging their Pet IQ's.
"It's unique in that it approaches the world from a pet's perspective," explains Christina Yu, VP and Creative Director at Lowe Roche. To be honest we're not too sure the local siberian husky would be receptive to having his grin admired and emotions dissected over the internet, but whatever. Purina knows better than we do. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
For Joe's Garage in Minneapolis agency Colle & McVoy releases a campaign called "Fixing Food, Not Cars." Agency rep Jennifer Weismann says the restaurant gets calls from people looking for repair shops constantly so we figure they wanted to stir up still more confusion.
Good job. After seeing the creative we felt less "Fuck, what I'd do for a BLT right now" and more "Where can we get a Hummer decal that says Hummus? Do they sell those there? Does somebody want to give them a call and find out?" There are also BLT and Lamb Burger versions. The words "lamb burger" against a gigantic SUV grill struck us as funny on so many levels. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
CoolzOr has put together an in-depth review of the many brands who've stepped in Second Life and the tremendous growth the virtual reality world is experiencing. CoollzOr walks us through the Second Life presence of brands such as Adidas, Reebok, American Apparel, Sun Microsystems, Toyota, IBM, Starwood Hotels and Nissan. Each has created an interesting virtual representation of themselves and, predictably, not without some complaint from SL residents.
Ad agencies have jumped into the world as well including Leo Burnett, BBH and the new social media agency Crayon which will open tomorrow.
If you're interested in keeping with what's happening in Second Life, Reuters has set up shop and provides news about the world. Preceding Reuters' coverage of Second Life is The Second Life Herald which is filled with all sorts of SL activity. CNET is there too.
Second Life has been around since 1999 but has only recently caught on with marketers and, for that matter, the general public having just netted it's one millionth resident a few days ago. In an odd way, this feels like the old AOL when it passed its one million mark. If you missed out on that ride, now's your chance not to miss this one.
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