So on lazy Friday afternoon after a long and crazy (did we say crazy?) post-SXSW week, it's nice when a reader sends in a note doing our job for us. In reaction to the new Chevrolet site launching the new Camaro, a reader had this to say:
"Great idea having a soft launch. Only problem is the launching site is spectacularly lame! It actually looks like a bad version of Saab site circa 2002. I can't help wishing they took a more interesting route, like Attik did for Scion. Camaro has such a vibrant storied history and personality, to have this bland, poorly achieved minimal mushy mush is such a ridiculously horrible business decision."
Want to rain down some destruction on a friend? Or an enemy? Head over to the Trail of Destruction, a promotional site for the DVD release of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
It's pretty basic. A send to a friend thing where use the movie's trailer footage to create a customized trailer that shows your friend's stuff being destroyed. Well, that's a pleasant though, huh?
But sometimes you feel angry and you need this sort of thing to work it all out. So if you're bummed, sad or having a bad week, this is for you.
Killed Ideas are a very sad thing. Prior to their untimely death, they spring to life and are the best thing that ever could have happened. Then, bothersome external elements begin to interfere and that perfection is challenged with a sometimes insurmountable challenge to survive.
In life, second chances are few and far between. When we get them, we should grab tightly and hang on for the bumpy ride ahead. Life, rightly or wrongly, is not always an easily traveled road.
Ray Ban's promoting a technicolor melange of plastic Aviators with a Cutwater-orchestrated ad called "Drill," where a big plastic drill with crayons strapped to the front of it wreaks havoc on a sedate canvas.
It's a fun watch. We wouldn't mind seeing it again and again, all over network TV. (Not nearly as engaging as "Super Chameleon" though.) Kinda reminds us of the Nano Chromatic campaign.
See it all on bustedmoms.com, which is pretty much just a frame wrapped around a Facebook page, slathered in Twitter media for good measure. Work by IZEA.
POLL TIME!
When last we covered Sears, it was getting all cozy and whatnot with Vanessa Hudgens and the rest of the tween-tastic High School Musical crowd. Gag us, man.
Swiss Skydive, a skydiving school in Switzerland, commissioned Wirz/BBDO to outfit high-traffic elevators with a vertigo view.
Using branded shots of the city from a dizzying perspective, the objective is to give elevator-riders the sense they're going into freefall. The effort resulted in some free TV and print news coverage, which is always nice.
In an economic climate like this one, we're vaguely sure the average 9-to-5er -- even Swiss ones -- don't need help getting that plummeting-from-great-heights feeling. Their employers probably accomplish that just fine.
Vaguely Russian kitsch and vaudevillian melodrama infuse this new spot for Amnesty International/Portugal. It's the usual global atrocities, all in-your-face and extra-extra, but tempered by a comic-book feel. The tagline seals the deal: "EVERYBODY IS AGAINST EVERYBODY BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO BE FOR THEM."
It's a big message, delivered in a heightened reality, given appropriate weight without vibing like overbearing charity bullshit. We likes.
By Leo Burnett/Lisbon and Lobo, a Brazilian production co.
It'd be tough to find anything better to say about it than "redefines food porn."
It's a modern update on that voyeuristic Cindy Crawford ad from the late '90s, where homegirl's indulging in a burger while geeky office cogs watch her with lust-saturated expressions. Except in this case, it's you playing voyeur, and Padma's making a lot more naughty with that big messy patty.
Heh. The Cleveland Indians invite local natives to "join the tribe" with a series of Brokaw-brokered bus wraps that people can autograph. Neat idea; don't know if it'll generate more loyalty to the Indians, but maybe it'll hike up sales for Sharpie.
Cheers to Loren Brichter of Atebits.com for returning an email requesting information on the early results of the ads that began running on Twitter this week.
With regard to the unpaid ads Twitter has featured on behalf of iPhone app Tweetie, Brichter wasn't able to divulge specific metrics or conversion rates but he did share, "I will say that Tweetie had its best-ever day of sales on Tuesday (the day after the text links went live)."
Considering the sheer volume of traffic Twitter is capable of directing, and considering that firehose was aimed at just three third-party sites, this is hardly surprising.
However, Brichter continued, "It's also jumped up to the #11 paid app on the [Apple iPhone] App Store."
