Before the wonders of the Internet, we never had the pleasure of experiencing how open other countries are about the subject of sex. In America, we toss the subject into a box, throw away the key and hope no one ever finds it. Caffeine Marketing points us to a Belgium-based sex and AIDS awareness campaign by Sensoa. There are several versions of the ad that were developed for both the general public as well as specific audiences such as school children and homosexuals. Translated, one of the ads reads, "Oral, vaginal, anal. How about verbal? Say what you like, what you expect, how far you will go. And expect the same from your partner. Because good agreements makes good sex."
Less than one day after a set of Lego ads appeared out of Saatchi & Saatchi China which bluntly belittled major world catastrophes, a video entitled Advertising Crimes Against Humanity has appeared on YouTube that doesn't paint a pretty picture for Lego or Saatchi. The video shows each of the three ads in the series and zooms in on the Lego logo. At the end, Saatchi's China phone number is provided and viewers are urged to direct their concerns to the ad's creators whose name are provided. We've placed a call but it's the middle of the night over there and no one answered.
We're hoping these are fake ads. If not, Lego may find itself in a bit of a PR fiasco.
Copyranter wonders whether or not the recent new York City Health Board law to ban trans fats in all foods found in New York will lead to the banning of street food carts, deli salad carst or even farting. One cause group, Consumer Freedom thinks the law goes too far and asks in a USA Today ad if pizza, hot dogs, corned beef and coffee should be banned as well since, ya know, they're kinda bad for you too. Next: miniskirts and halter tops because, ya know, they're distracting.
Created by Deutsch LA, directed by Napoleon Dynamite's Jared Hess and visually effected by A52, this spot for the company that refuses to be referred to as a phone company, Helio, makes that point very clear. Not that large, underwater animals aren't dangerous all the time but, apparently, they're particularly dangerous when you call a Helio a phone.
Acknowledging it's "guilt" in such "crimes" as "convincing the EU to outlaw development of all genetically modified organisms" and "helping ban corporations from dumping radioactive waste into the ocean," Greenpeace has launched a newish Zig-created print campaign that aims to call attention to its work. Five print executions are here.
We have no idea who's behind this (cough, Animax) or what it's purpose is but we really don't care. It's always funny to hear Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonators poke fun at the man and this site is full of cartoonish videos that do just that.
With the appropriate acronym, S.H.I.T, Via's Santa Hunters Investigative Team is a collection of videos that documents the agency's search for the elusive Santa Clause. It's the agency's version of its holiday card for clients and friends. Our favorite is the downloadable "We are the S.H.I.T" buddy icon.
Best Buy has done a fantastic job making it easier for people to choose the right gift this holiday season. Called the Wow Factor Finder, this website offers gift ideas based on a short survey about the person the purchased gift will be for. There is also a large collection of videos that have been placed on YouTube that detail particular products and for whom they might make a good gift. It's well thought out. It's not fancy. It's just straight forward advice many people need at this time of year.
- And just for some holiday diversion, some guy recut the Mary Poppins Trailer into what he calls Scary Mary.
- Celebhead, a new series from VH1 Mobile created and directed by former Deutsch creatives Cheryl Van Ooyen and David Rosen, debuts online and on cell phones today. The first episode, of course, features "Paris Hilton."
- On December 5, Save the Children launched an outpost in Second Life called Yak Shack where residents can buy a virtual yak and donate to the charity.
Visa has launched Fan With A Plan, a community site where sports fans can make travel plans to their favorite large sporting events such as the Olympics and the World Cup.
- Sunday, January 7, VH1 is debuting The Surreal Life Fame Games, a collection of the show's audience favorites from the show's past six seasons.
- The AARP magazine has increased it readership seven percent to 29.9 million adults according the Fall 2006 MRI report.
While many might look at these ads(1, 2, 3), which have been out for a while we believe, and call them a horrific glorification of unfortunate word events. Other might say, "Hey, shit happens. Get over it. It's just an ad campaign." Of note, these ads were created in China by Saatchi & Saatchi according to Ads of the World and their world view is quite different than ours. Though, the fact they are Chinese ads written in English always causes one to wonder whether they are actually real or leaked fakes. If someone at Saatchi wants to confirm or deny their existence, we're all ears. If they are real, we think they step over the line just a wee bit.
Here's a fun little spoof of that McDonald's Inner Child commercial, out earlier this year, in which kids crawl out of grown up's stomachs and end up at a McDonald's restaurant. In the spoof commercial (you might have to download it to see it properly proportioned), called Eat Large, the true reality of eating at McDonald's is revealed and it's suggested that one might consider eating at Sumo Salad to avoid that unfortunate reality.
Today, Bluelithium tells us, "BlueLithium Labs released a new report analyzing online shopping data from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This report contradicts the many recent claims that online shopping trends are no different on Cyber Monday than any other day, in fact, this data shows 30 percent higher conversion rates than normal.
The impact of this data on the actual effectiveness of online advertising on both days is significant. Many retailers would be tempted to bump up their online advertising efforts for both Friday and Monday, which are both known to be high shopping days, but this report suggests that they may do better to pull back on Friday and focus their efforts and ad dollars on Monday."
There you have it. Act accordingly next year.
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