The Ivory Baby is Back

After 30 years, Ivory is bringing back the baby. That baby, for those old enough to recall, was the featured element of the Ivory soap campaign. Those ads last appeared 30 years ago. So, in preparation for this launch, Ivory is having a sweepstakes to find the next new Ivory Baby.
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Some Advertisers Can't Say 'Superbowl'

You may have heard ads this week that tried to say 'Superbowl' but really didn't. That's because they are not allowed to unless they are a paying sponsor. But, many companies have tie ins and promotions that go hand in hand with the 'big game' as the NFL lawyers would prefer us to call it.

Come on. That's like a certain company forcing us to say, "May I have a facial tissue to blow my nose?" Or another company getting angry when people say, "Let's go rollerblading".

Oh, I'm sure there's all sorts of laws about this but let's be realistic. The game is called the Superbowl. So let's call it the Superbowl. So with that, I am officially making Adrants a non-paying sponsor of the:

Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl Superbowl

Seeyou there.

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TV Executives Should Take Risks

According to a new study by Miller Williams, Inc. television executives are losing in the long run by concentrating so heavily on programming to the latest trend versus listening to what their audiences really want. Ad revenue is up short term but networks are losing viewers. The cycle can't continue forever.

�By examining behavioral patters of viewers and determining what drives them to watch certain programs, television networks are better able to keep viewers loyal and gain new viewers. This in turn provides them with valuable information to share with corporate advertisers so they can more effectively target their messages,� the report states.

Kind of goes along with what I have said before on this. Even though television executives are doing their jobs by programming to the fad of the moment, viewers will tire of this long before execs and producers can get the next new thing lined up. It would pay to perhaps do some audience research that might identify what audiences would like to see rather then just programming as a knee jerk reaction to ratings.
[via MediaDailyNews]

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Great Ads That Never Ran

"Print & Postcard Campaign, 2000. One of five ads. Client: Butch Pet Foods. Interestingly enough, the client had no problem with these ads. Intended as a direct mail postcard campaign, this ad and its four brothers were banned for obscenity in New Zealand. Rather than lick their wounds and call it a day, the marketers at Butch Pet Foods managed to place print versions of the ads in the Australian editions of Penthouse and Playboy." [Via The Ad Graveyard]

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AOL Will Run Superbowl Ad to Promote Superbowl Ads

Just mentioned in AdWeek, AOL will run a :15 commercial along with pre-game and in-game promotional announcements promoting its broadband service. The spot and announcements will let viewers know that AOL will have almost all Superbowl Ads on its service (AOL and AOL.com) for users to view beginning in the 4th quarter of the game.

So if you miss a spot, you can catch it on AOL. Nifty.
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Dayparting News Websites in the Morning

A recent study done for the Newspaper Association of America by Minnesota Opinion Research Inc. found that news websites are viewed more than TV and radio between 8A and 11A. In fact, the study states that the Internet is five times more effective then TV in reaching consumers in the AM.

"With online connectivity rapidly approaching a state of plateau -- 67 percent of all U.S. adults are online -- growth in frequency and in new dayparts will play the biggest role in future online growth in general and especially for online news sites," said Rusty Coats, MORI's director of new media.

The study goes on to detail the types of activities and corresponding sites users visit throughout the day based on the time of day. For example:

• By morning, users are almost as interested in news -- breaking, local, national, business and sports -- as they are in e-mail.


• By afternoon, with the importance of news waning, entertainment-category features such as movie times, maps and directions, and offbeat news are on the rise.


• In the evening, our ability to connect users with jobs, cars and homes becomes central, along with our ability to facilitate their online-shopping needs -- from researching products to actually purchasing products.

Dayparting is becoming a serious consideration when buying online media just as it has been for years with TV and radio. In essence, daytime (8A-5P) is the Internet's Prime Time.

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'American Idol' Ratings Winner in the Trash TV Category

As mentioned in Entertainment Weekly, 'American Idol' beat 'The Bachelorette' hands down. 'American Idol' garnered 24.91 million viewers compared to 'The Bachelorette's' 13.91 million.

Seems as though we like schedenfruede (sp?) that comes with watching bad singers over the guilty pleasures of watching hunks say anything to get into bed with a chic.

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More on the Interpublic Law Suit

"There existed within Interpublic a corporate culture and leadership that permitted and required lower-level executives to cook the Company's books. These former Interpublic employees claim that the announced $181.3 million restatement represents only a fraction of the Company's historical overstatement of its financial results."

"The net result of these accounting manipulations was that in certain years during the period 1997 through 2001 operating profit of the Colombia operations was overstated by as much as 500%"

"Beginning in 1997, McCann's Latin American regional and area CEOs and CFOs came under increased pressure from Interpublic and McCann's leadership to meet � budgeted operating profit numbers at all costs, even if that required overstating reported revenues and understating reported expenses."

Those are statements from the case invlolving the Interpublic suit. Seems we have a few Dennis Kozlowski's in our advertising business.
[via Ad Age]
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Puffery in Advertising

Did you know that there is an actual law that says puffery (or more accurately, lying) is quite legal in advertising? Well, there is. According to law, puffery is legal if the company that is doing the puffing simply claims to be boasting. But some one is trying to change that law.

Professor Ivan Preston of the University of Wisconsin thinks puffery, or lying as he calls it, should be illegal. But the law assumes that people with common sense knows the difference between puff and the truth so therefore, it is not a big deal to consumers

"Advertising people are smart. If puffery means nothing to consumers, why do they bother with it? If advertisers had the facts, they might use the facts and forget the puffs," says 71 year old Ivan Preston, proffesor of advertising at the University of Wisconsin.

Maybe advertising people are just lazy. Interestingly, the bigger the claim, the more legal it is.

"If Papa John's says it has better dough, you can attack it," Prof. Preston said. "But if Papa John's says it's better overall, OK. The bigger the lie, the bigger the protection. That's amazing. Isn't that amazing?"

Well, who said advertising was true anyway?

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Adidas Launches New Retro Campaign

Adidas launches a retro campaign to bring back some of its old shoes.

Ad Age: ADIDAS RUNS BACK TO THE FUTURE WITH RETRO CAMPAIGN

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