Mazda and Conde Nast have partnered to create an on and offline contest whereby contestants can submit photos representative if their "interpretation" of Mazda's "Zoom-Zoom" slogan. Granted, we gleefully enjoy making fun of brands who turn to consumers to do their advertising (OK, so Mazda isn't exactly looking for a campaign) but we think these efforts, similar to Mercedes asking owners to send in photos of their cars, are worthy of drawing the consumer closer to the brand. After all, this contest's specific focus is to ask consumers how they'd visually represent the brand with an image.
To promote the contest, a 12 page insert will appear in Conde Nast titles such as Wired, GQ, Details and others pointing readers to a microsite where photos can be submitted. "The Conde Nast Media Group is thrilled to be working with Mazda for the first time on an integrated marketing program of this size and scope," gushed Conde Nast Media Group President Richard Beckman. "This is a great example of our ability to create innovative programs that connect consumers with a company's brand philosophy."
What he really wanted to say was, "Conde Nast is thrilled to milk Mazda for all it's got. We sold them this 12 page insert when, really, the job could have been done with one page but, you know, we needed the revenue."
Survivor's Jenna Morasca and Ethan Zohn have "gone Hatch" in a new anti-fur PETA ad that was unveiled, as part of Advertising Week, at New York City's Museum of Sex on September 22. Ethan and Jenna appear as Adam and Eve, wearing nothing but well-placed fig leaves and holding a red apple.
"I wouldnt wear real fur not even for a million dollars, says Jenna.
"Fur-wearers look just plain silly, walking around in coats that belong in a natural-history museum." And we suppose that's why the ad found it's way into the museum.
MarketingVOX reports on a bet Business 2.0 Editor Josh Quittner made with publisher Lisa Bentley which called for him to shave his head if the magazine reached 100 ad pages in an issue published in 2004. Well, 107 pages were reached and Quittner is now bald. Bentley is most likely laughing her head off at the moment.
If you're sick of hearing from PETA about how cruel food producers are to animals, there's a cheeky new commercial from New Zealand's 42 BELOW vodka which promises the company has never harpooned whales, bludgeoned baby seals with bats, hunted Pandas, cut horns off rhinos, shot elephants with grenades or eaten brains out of a monkey. So, for balance, drink lots of 42 BELOW vodka when you cut into that juicy filet that came from a bull who was hung by one leg and gutted while still alive.
- Omnicom's DDB Worldwide has snatched the $10 million Unilever Lipton tea account from WPP Group's J. Walter Thompson. JWT retains non-U.S. business.
- The Dallas Morning Herald says their circulation manager was "overzealous" with circulation figures.
- According to TiVo, we're a horny bunch. Eight months after Janet flashed her boob for all to see, it remains the highest replayed moment in TiVo history.
- The New York Times is finally covering Wizmark's introduction of the talking urinal insert we covered back in July.
While NBC's Apprentice has devolved into a hyped-up bitchfest akin to a highschool catfight, ABC's Lost is destined to become a hit. It's intruiging. It's suspenseful. It reveals enough to keep interest and it features 40 people whose back stories are sure to provide pleanty of fodder for storylines.We figure it will finish the season in the top ten easily.
Seeking to "buy media smarter and cheaper," AdWeek reports Volkswagen is evaluating its global $1.4 billion media business. Of course, no sources are talking except to say that current agencies Havas Media Planning Group and Grey Global Group MediaCom have been invited to participate in the review.
William Shatner, who was in Riverside, Iowa shooting scenes for what he said claimed to be part of a new sci-fi movie called Invasion Iowa, revealed to the town Tuesday night the whole thing was a hoax.
Shatner and a Glacier Point Productions crew had been in Riverside shooting a reality series, set to air on Spike TV, about small town playing host to a Hollywood shoot.
"Everything in front of and behind the cameras was faked," Shatner said. "The only thing that was real is the love we have for Riverside."
Just so the townfolk didn't revolt, turning the whole thing into a horror flick, Spike TV producers donated $100,000 to the town and the cast a crew passed the hat to collect an additional $12,000 for the Riverside Elementary School Book Fund. Do kids still read? We don't know when the series will air but we do know Shatner can be seen on ABC's The Practice spin off Boston Legal with James Spader Sundays at 10 PM.
This week, Amy Coor's MediaPost Out to Launch column brings us new campaigns from Sears featuring ABC Extreme Makeover host Ty Pennington, Liz Claiborne featuring Sex and the City star Kim Catrall, Traditional Home magazine, Cottage Living, AccuWeather.com which partnered with AstraZeneca sponsoring WeatherHost, and Reebok Sweets.
Further confirming the lengths to which marketers will go to obtain awareness, and proving nothing in the news is unbiased anymore, an email leaked to Gawker reveals a New York FOX 5 fashion reporter's negotiation for payment from a fashion brand in return for favorably mentioning the brand in a segment to appear on Good Day New York next week. Sylist Susan Redstone told Mavi Jeans she'd feature the brand's jeans in a 3-4 minute segment in return for $750. We know there's "pay for play" stuff going on all the time but it would be nice to know that news is news and marketing is marketing, wouldn't it? Wait, we're marketers. Or course we wouldn't.
UPDATE: We contacted Mavi to get to the bottom of this and, while they admit being asked by Redstone, they assured us they did not, in fact, pay for any placement. Mavi's Michael Williams said, "We didn't or wouldn't pay for placement. We make a great product and don't need to pay for our placement."
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