Human Locator is a camera-based technology that tracks the motions of humans in ways that can them be used to control advertising signage as they pass by. As described on their website, "The Human Locator analyses a camera feed in real time, sending detailed information about people's location, size, and movements. This data is then used as input to control projections, video, graphic animations, and sound. The Human Locator offers a complex analysis procedure and precise controls for accurate tracking in a variety of conditions. The variables it outputs can be used in an infinite variety of ways." In essence, it's another step towards the advertising world depicted in the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report.
ESPN has rounded up the best 25 sports commercials in the last 25 years.
Topping the list of commercials selected by an ESPN panel is the Mean Joe Greene commercial in which he throws a jersey for Coke. Topping the list of commercials selected by ESPN SportsNation users is Jordan and Bird for McDonald's.
Fearing miniature I Robots had taken over Manhattan, Gothamist obtained pictorial proof that the robots are only 14 inches tall and simply walking the street in self promotion. The robots, called Robosapiens, are manufactured by Wow Wee and sell for $99 and have 67 functions and "throw, kick, dance, kung-fu, fart, belch, rap and more." Please don't make them any bigger.
Copywriter gets fired for voicing his anti-Bush opinions at a event to which a client supplied tickets.
Olympic organizers angry over a special Greek edition of Playboy in which female atheletes, voluntarily, no less, appear semi nude along with healines such as "2004 seconds of ecstasy" and "Go for a Sexathon gold"
The IOC is barring athletes from reporting their own Olympic experiences online - unless they already have a non-Olympics specific website. Even then, they must wait until the games end. Thanks to Charley Brough.
Diamond Morgan Northend Alber, a Palo Alto based ad agency for Comcast is using one of its copywriters to both write and appear in an upcoming Comcast ad campaign that will chronicle the copywriter's exploration of cable versus satellite. Jamie McGinly is the copywriter who currently has DirecTV satellite but will try Comcast and write about his experiences. Ultimately, the campaign will conclude with his final choice. Will McGinly be able to be impartial when his agency is being paid by Comcast for the campaign? That's what David Lazarus wonders.
We wonder too. If McGinley chooses satellite over cable, will the conclusion to the campaign even make it to media? Will McGinley keep his job? Will Comcast keep Diamond as their agency? If, in fact, McGinley does choose satellite over Comcast's cable, we'd love to see Comcast allow the campaign to conclude, eat some crow, and use that conclusion to spin a new campaign that would point by point address the differences and alter their service offering accordingly. If Comcast kills the campaign, it will come out anyway that they had something to hide. The only real way for Comcast to win here is to suck it up, cross their fingers, see it through to the end and react in an honest fashion.
Ad Age rounds up this weeks TV Spots of the Week beginning with an over the top take off on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy for Hartz in which a dog and a cat get the full gay boy treatment.
Then there's this freaky girl freaking this guy out at a gas station for both Volkswagen and IFC. Weird. Just weird. Moving along, we have a bunch of Olympic hurdlers avoiding traps in a spot against the illegal wildlife trade with the requisite solemn voiceover.
Shop 'n Save promotes its Saturday circulars giving its shopper a "cart-up" on the competition. IAG's most remember spot is for Pizza Hut with grandma promoting the new Twisted Pizza Hut pizza in the way most grandmothers do - eat, eat more. The Navy preys on the minds of young, video game enthralled boys explaining the Navy is more fun because it has real rockets. Finally, an Olympic weightlifter successfully lifts with load but them drops it a few floors too far on top on an unsuspecting couple who has just parked their car wondering if their car insurance s good enough. Allstate says it could handle the mess.
"It's not about showing the 50 raincoats," says Zee. "It's about showing the best three." That's how new Vitals Editor in Chief is setting Vitals apart from Cargo.
The magazine promises to be more about upscale lifestyle as it relates to shopping and products rather than a comprehensive list of all 350 products available in a particular month.
Even in the face of Cargo's successful launch, advertisers are buying into the Vitals conpect. The debut issue, which features Matt Damon on the cover, will contain 80 ad pages.
"It's not about showing the 50 raincoats," says Zee. "It's about showing the best three." That's how new Vitals Editor in Chief is setting Vitals apart from Cargo. The magazine promises to be more about upscale lifestyle as it relates to shopping and products rather than a comprehensive list of all 350 products available in a particular month.
Even in the face of Cargo's successful launch, advertisers are buying into the Vitals conpect. The debut issue, which features Matt Damon on the cover, will contain 80 ad pages.
Trying to insure it's savior from obliteration as a medium, new research commissioned by the Radio Advertising Bureau and conducted by Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab has found a new way to set the medium apart from television and newspaper. The research found the medium to be more emotional and more individual in its relation to the listener.
"Maybe the biggest difference between television and radio is that when [consumers] think of television, they say it tunes them into the world. When they think of radio, it tunes them into their world," said RAEL consultant Jim Peacock. Peacock. Funny. The old TV peacock cheerleading for radio.
As much fun as it would be, you can't really disagree with this research. Just think of all those fantasies (no, not the sexual ones) you have driving alone - or even with friends who don't talk - in your car while listening to your favorite song or an NPR baritone eloquently deliver the state of the world. It is more personal. Admit it. You can love Howard Stern alone in your car but if you were listening to him with your mother/father/wife/husband/daughter/girlfriend/boyfriend, it would be it bit different and even make you squirm.
Following his Twelve Tips on Being Creative, Hugh MacLeod now offers us Ten Tips on How to Be A Copywritergapingvoid: how to be a copywriter. Number one is hilarious but true: Be Good. As much as we like to sing the death tune for TV, Hugh says TV is still where the money's at. He's right too - at least for a few more years.
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