Best Viral Work of 2004 Discussed

There's a discussion going on in the Adrants Network on the best viral work done in 2004. Members are noting the beheaded Cat, Honda's Cog, Burger King's Subservient Chicken, The Grey Album, iPod's Dirty Secret, Pontiac's Oprah car giveaway and many more. You are invited to join the Network and discuss your thoughts on this year's best viral advertising.

JWT's Ty Montague Profiled

having recently moved from Weiden + Kennedy over to J. Walter Thompson as Chief Creative Officer, Ty Montague gets a full on profile treatment from the New York Observer's Gabriel Sherman. Entitled, "The End of the 30-Second Spot," the article explores Montague's views of the industry in general as well as his plans for the future.

Out Of Work Creatives Launch Self-Promotional PSA

Copywriter Marc Guttesman and creative/art director Tom Millar teamed with director Joe Leih to launch marcandtom, a website spoofing public service announcements that showcases their skills as well as their need for employment.

The PSA features actors portraying Guttesman and Millar trying to succeed in a series of non-advertising jobs but failing miserably because their advertising skills are too ingrained. In one scene, Millar, as an elementary school teacher, criticizes a 5-year-old student's drawing and marks it up with a red sharpie. In another, Guttesman, as a court stenographer, rewrites a prostitute's testimony to give it more punch. The PSA ends with a voice over asking the viewer to please hire them because they can't do anything else.

Check these guys out. If they can create something as good as this, they ought to be able to do some great work for you.

Publicis CEO Maurice Levy Inserts Foot In Mouth

Apparently, agency CEOs have a short memory. While poking fun at Nike's recent LeBron James Chinese ad debacle and claiming his agency's superior understanding local culture, Publicis CEO Maurice Levy seems to have forgotten Leo Burnett subsidiary's Nippon Paint screw up and Saatchi & Saatchi subsidiaries December 2003 ad depicting a Toyota pulling a Chinese-made Dongfeng truck - apparently another cultural no-no.

Branded M&M's: Great Gift, Not So Great Stealth Marketing Tool

John Keehler of Random Culture points to M&M's entry into the realm of brand customization. Visiting M&M's online store, one can select custom M&M colors, add text and have them bagged up for delivery. Of course, there are rules. No objectionable words and phrases. No obscenities and no commercial use. I guess that eliminates Hershey launching a stealth marketing campaign to rebrand all M&M's as Reese's Pieces.

Dolce & Gabbana Let's It Rip

We suppose there's always a time when an advertisers wants to poke fun at their stuffy selves and who better to do it than high styling Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana. In this romantic interlude, a couple passes more than just gifts between each other. Oh, and it being all funny and stuff, the site, called "For Real Lovers," encourages you to pass it around to your friends virally.

Bacardi Promotes Planet Party With Viral Cleavage Vacuum

Designed around informing aliens as to the odd party behaviour of humans and the rules aliens should follow when in contact, Bacardi has put together Planet Party, a compendium of human party behavior. Visiting aliens can swoop in on the party scene and observe human nightclub behavior and conversation.

One humorous video illustrates how alien females might mis-interpret leering I-could-eat-you looks from earth-bound men as an invitation to snack.

Starbucks Brings Holiday Cheer to Times Square

An Adrants reader admired this Starbucks placement in Time Square and sent it in to us this morning. If you can wade through the onslaught of Times Square's commercialism to see it, this little structure reminds one of those water-filled wintery landscape things in which snow would fall if you shook it. Full size image is here.

ESPN Scares Crap Out of Athletes in New Campaign

To promote its Winter X Games, ESPN has launched a Fear Factor-style ad campaign capturing normally fearless X Game athletes with hidden cameras in situations inducing fear such as being stuck in a locked closet with roaches. Created by Los Angeles-based Ground Zero, the campaign, apparently, attempts to make athletes appear more real.

ESPN EVP Lee Ann Daly summarizes the campaign. "This project was incredibly fun--it might be the first time ever that a series of carefully planned practical jokes were captured on film and used to make a TV campaign. This time we kind of turned the notion of X athletes' fearlessness on its ear and instead of focusing on their admirable, fearless, athletic talents, we captured X athletes scared out of their wits in the midst of some really fun practical jokes. The spots capture the sense of humor a lot of young folks enjoy nowadays."

Advertising Predictions For 2005

It's the time of year when the prognosticators begin to spill forth their insight into the following year's activities. The first worthy set of predictions comes from Pete Blackshaw writing on ClickZ. He puts forth six intriguing predictions ranging from weblog backlash followed quickly by mass adoption of the format to reimbursed-per-view advertising to continued mis-integration of Super Bowl spots with marketer websites.

The most intriguing, however, is his prediction that wireless access with move to a model akin to television. That is, it will be free in exchange for viewing an advertiser-sponsored log on page of sorts. This model will, thankfully, kill the price gouging currently foisted upon consumers by the likes of T-Mobile, Hilton Hotels and others who force people to pay obscene sums of money to access the Internet.