Stranger things have happened and ER survived innumerable cast changes only to keep on going. A week ago, ABC gave the nod to Kelly that his television show, 'The Practice' would not be cancelled after all and will move back to it's original Sunday 10PM timeslot. But there had to be significant budget cuts. Intruigingly, Kelly decided to cut the cast to achieve that. Leaving the show are Dylan McDermott (Bobby Donnell), Lara Flynn Boyle (Helen Gamble), Kelli Williams (Lindsay Dole) and Lisa Gay Hamilton (Rebecca Washington), Marla Sokoloff (Lucy Hatcher) and Chyler Leigh (Clare Wyatt).
There's never a dull moment with a David E. Kelly production and this certainly qualifies as a not dull moment. Kelly was the one to make the decision to cut the cast. Some may return for limited story arcs and some new characters may be added but 'The Practice' as we now it has changed forever. [via MediaLife]
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Sad news locally for me. According to Ad Age, Mullen, the Wenham, MA based ad agency, could lay off up to 40% of it's staff following the loss of the Nextel account last month. No official word from the agency as is the norm in these situations.
After recently returning to the agency world after a very long period of unemployment, I can identify with the pending plight Mullen staffers are facing.
I wish I could say my agency is hiring but unfortunately, in this economy, we are not.
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Tiger Woods goes up against a Formula 1 race car in this spot for TAG Heuer. It's actually rather interesting and is the kind of advertising that should (barring the fact the none should in the first place) be shown in theaters before the movie. Also, this week, watch Sharon Stone become a stoke, Vern Troyer sing the low notes for a bank, a really bad spot for the Kansas City Chiefs, a swimsuit commercial for those who don't have a Britney-belly, and another weird eBay spot. Watch then all at Ad Age's TV Spots of the Week.
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In a Canadian version of the Milk, It Does Your Body Good campaign (or whetever the exact headline is) we have the most complelling reason to date for drinking milk.
Courtesy of Ad-Rag.
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For a magazine that is not actually for sale, the title has swarms of buyers interested in it. Everyone from Jan Wenner to David Pecker to Mort Zuckerman. And why? Who would want it with, according to the New York Times, it's measly $1-2 million profits or it's circulation of "only" 433,000 or the fact that it has almost no recognition outside of Manhattan?
Even potential buyers admit it's not so hot. "I have not seen the books, but it looks like it is running out of steam," said Jan Wenner, the chairman of Wenner Media. "But I would have to think about it if it were available because it occupies a very important position in a very important place. It is a magazine about ideas."
We base aquisition decisions on important stuff like that in the advertising business.
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One thing is a certainty in advertising. Beer and sexy women go hand in hand. What is there really to say about beer? It has bubbles? It makes you drunk? Of course not. It makes you (men) a sexually powerful, deleriously desireable hottie for the babes to drool over while they cater to your every sexual need. That's what beer does. So here's another beer commericial in this great tradition. This time, it's from Molson promoting the new "super-premium" A Marca Bavaria beer, an import from Brazil. Like the spots we have seen from Miller, this one featues a barely dressed female catering to the dreams and fantasies of grown men.
In this particular spot, we have two guys sitting on a beach. One pulls a beer out of a cooler and magically, a beer babe emerges from the sea wearing a very tiny string thong bikini, water dripping off her body in that beer commercial way. As the guy moves the bottle, he realizes that the beer babe moves with it. He spins the bottle around and she spins around giving him full view of her perfect ass in nothing but a thong. He tips the beer sideways and she gets down on all fours. And, now that he realizes he has total control over his fantasy babe, he begins to peel the label of the beer bottle off. And what do you think the beer babe starts to take of? You'll just have to watch the spot to find out.
Predictably, women are complaining. "I'm sure Molson will say they're attempting humour, because in the end the woman doesn't actually do it, but that final shot doesn't take away from all the stereotypical images we've already seen. The guys are actually pulling strings for her to take off her clothes for their enjoyment," said Melanie Cishecki, executive director of MediaWatch, a Canadian organization working to reduce sexism in the media.
Call it sexist for portraying women as mere sexual objects for men's fantasies. But it is also stereotypical of men making guys look dumb and stupid, thinking about women and sex all the time. Thinking about women and sex all the time? Wait, that's not a stereotype, is it? View the spot here. (Click the TV image on the lower left) [via Montreal Gazette via Ad-Rag]
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We saw a lot of this during Reagan's tenure. The staged event's. The produced appearances. It is happening all over again with Bush II with an even more staged approach. From the huge stadium lights brought in to illuminate the Statue of Liberty during ther President's September 11 anniversary speach to the highly staged "top gun" landing aboard the Abraham Lincoln for his Iraq "mission accomplished speech.
The White House now "produces" the President's appearances as if they were television shows and it is former television producers who are doing so. There's former ABC producer, Scott Sforza, There's former NBC cameraman, Bob DeServi. And there's former Fox News producer. Greg Jenkins. And so it seems, the president is just a TV show. When do they start selling sponsorships? [via New York Times]
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A new, all SARS cable channel is launching in Singapore to offer information on the desease. The channel will broadcast from Noon to Midnight. Any advertisers out there want to sponsor this?
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(c)2003 Hugh MacLeod
