The Economist was a 2006 Print Ad winner at the London International Awards for this sparing scratcher. The agency responsible is Ogilvy & Mather, Singapore which, judging by the Levi's Copper programming-throwback microsite they did, has a flair for the basics.
We dig a sparing and direct message and thought of tossing in an insinuation of nostalgia-laced laziness just for kicks, but decided we'd hate to be buzzkills for this method. Advertising could use more of it. Plus, the bold red block is growing increasingly synonymous with The Economist, which can't hurt them any.
Though if we were an ad firm working for The Communist, we'd be kind of pissed.
In case you don't experience enough anxiety, discomfort or outright panic in your life, check out these spiffy duds by the InsideOutside project. Depending on your settings the clothing "heats up or cools down uncomfortably" if you come within shooting range of something you'd rather avoid: pop concerts, alums of rival schools or CCTV farms, for example.
Because while the iPod has been a Godsend in terms of tuning out immediate environment, it doesn't help us avoid things we dislike that haven't quite hit our line of vision yet.
We should really just ensconce ourselves in bubbles. Made of steel.
The cool thing about True.com is that their campaigns are racy, generally consistent and immediately recognizable. Those three components are kind of a big deal when you're trying to brand build.
There once was a time when Match.com was cool, but they've since run in a thousand confusing directions. We were surfing around this afternoon when we came across their latest shot in the dark.
This guy invites you to stare. Then he turns around and starts talking to you. Like, out of the ad, to you. Then he goes, "What are you waiting for?"
We looked around. It wasn't 2 AM. We weren't between scenes in a Lifetime movie. There was no local-singles 800 number to dial. And we were confused.
For client Abe Books, the March Hares of Rethink, Vancouver literally rethink the notion of the stodgy rare-bookery. Tagline: "If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist." Imagery: highly unlikely works of fiction and non-fiction, including Everything You Wanted to Know About North Korea, But Were Afraid to Ask.
We dig Abe Books because we recently used the service to land first-eds of Don Marquis' impossible-to-find Archy and Mehitabel, a series of poems written by a sensitive cockroach who types at night (in low caps because he can't hit Shift and reach for another button at the same time!) and his moody feline friend Mehitabel, who believes she was once Cleopatra. Can you think of better lit? We didn't think so.
The fine Balendu has more images from the same campaign.
Once again, ridiculous over reaction has occurred, this time over a Publicis-created Toronto Blue Jays spot that shows two kids having a pillow fight which designated hitter frank Thomas then joins and whacks one of the kids off the bed with a pillow. The Television Bureau of Canada, a watchdog for Canada's private broadcasters would not approve the spot to air. Blue Jays VP of Marketing sums it all up saying, "I think we are taking ourselves a little too seriously if we're saying a pillow fight cannot air because it's viewed as too aggressive, or Frank's too big versus a small child."
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Tired of lies, bored with Nader and irritated by the '08 POTUS-race-cum-Myspace-popularity-contest?
Vote for 10-year-old Susie Flynn who, in the still-pure well of her heart, promises "every child in America will get the health insurance he or she deserves" if she wins.
Campaign videos and petition available on-site. Little Susie is taking war chest funding from the spin-docs at Fallon, Minneapolis on behalf of the Children's Defense Fund, who want to build awareness about the child health care crisis in the US.
In a small but recent victory for the Susie party, Congressman Bobby Scott introduced HR 1688, The All Healthy Children Act, to provide all children and moms-to-be with health care access, including the 9 million uninsured kids out yonder. Brava. Government dosh is better spent pushing swings than picking cat-fights in the East.
Chicago's Flow Creative has whipped up a fun campaign for what sounds like a seriously mundane business, Chicago Board Options Exchange which has fun with clown surgeons who don't know how to operate and boxers who think oven mitts will do the trick. This is one of those campaigns that only makes sense if your in the financial industry. Otherwise, when you hear the close of the clown spot which says "when it comes to options, there's no substitute for CBOE." you'll just respond by asking, "Huh?"
You've got to wonder about a person who would accept money to sleep on a desk...in public..all day long. On second thought, what's to wonder? It's a perfect gig. Get paid to sleep. That's what FedEx Kinko's did as part of its No More Allnighters promotion which promotes the company's Print Online service. There's also an "explore the cubicle" website and a video in which a guy consumes the necessary liquid to perform an allnighter. Good stuff.
The New York Times' Stuart Elliott reports The Week will publish an issue that focuses on environmental issues and in true tree hugger fashion, the issue will only be published online. On April 20, the issue will be available to all, not just subscribers to the magazine. Lexus is sponsoring it and will use the site to promote its hybrid vehicles.
In true fashion, Stuart goes on endlessly so if you're interested in how this will affect the magazine's readership, what other print publications have taken to online either by choice or out of sheer economics, how Lexus is challenging other media to change their game, the pop up stores Lexus created last fall in tandem with Conde Nast and Hearst, the previous promotion The Week did with Philips and this gem: "Single sponsorships, in print and on TV, are becoming popular among marketers as they seek to stand out from the commercial clutter," be sure to read the article in its entirety.
What started as an innocent Youtube lookalike contest has escalated to a hostage situation. Stephen Colbert of The Colbert Report has been taken - to wild and crazy Canada! Read hostage letter and blog, which lists various against-my-will! atrocities being committed against Colbert at this very moment. These include getting eaten by the Oshawa General and meeting the mayor. Those Canadians don't mess around - Stockholm Syndrome, here he comes.
Release can be arranged if somebody grants his captors the rights to produce a legit Stephen Colbert Action Figure. We are fervently pro-action figure and would love it if all our media friends could stare encouragingly down at us with frozen smiles (kind of like in real life) from a way-high-up shelf over our desk.
Thank the creeptacular toy-loving folk at Happy Worker, and now let us take hands and pray.
The Maryland EXILE program which aims to control gun use has launched a billboard campaign that features the names of actual convicted criminals. One board reads, "Solothal 'Itchy Man' Thomas got life in prison for carrying a gun. Wonder what his new nickname is?" and refers to Solothal Thomas who was convicted of shooting a man 15 times and is currently serving a life sentence. Want ad fame? Just go commit a crime. Oh wait, that's not what Maryland U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says the message should be. According to him, "The purpose of the billboards is deterrence.
To all you women who want a modeling job with Snorg Tees, one thing needs to be made clear. You must be at least a C, if not a D cup, and enjoy wearing tight t-shirts that stretch across your breasts and read, wittily, "I'm Kind of a Big Deal." OK, now that we've cleared that up, we can move on with our regularly scheduled news of the day. [Ed. Where the hell did this come from, dude?]
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