Harry Potter 'Goblet of Fire' Poster Revealed

The Leaky Cauldron has the new Harry Potter Goblet of Fire promotional movie poster and, true to Harry Potter fan behavior, there are currently 180 comments analyzing its imagery and hidden meanings. Us? We're just going to wait until November to see the movie.

Paris Hilton Promotes FatBoy Slim Single

Drowing? That's Hot

British musician FatBoy Slim (Norman Cook) has released a new single, a new video and has grabbed Paris Hilton to promote it. Well, sort of. She appears in some footage, shot by Cook in LA, which which won't be seen in the final cut but is being used in a viral video, developed an seeded by ASABAILEY, to promote the release of the video which debuts on MTV this week.

The viral clip shows Hilton and two others, watching a man eat a chicken leg only to later drown to death in a swimming pool. She stands there like good old fashioned eye candy while poor guy drowns. Then, with her couldn't care less flair, she dials 911.

more »

Commercial Displays Best Use of Pixelation

This very simple yet powerful commercial for a cause revealed at the end of the it, makes, according to adland's Ask Wappling with whom we agree, the best used of digital pixelation seen in recent memory. To view the spot, you have to register and pay ($2-3 per month). Now, don't complain. Unlike Adrants where bills get paid by ad revenue, adland derives its revenue from subscriptions. We all have to make a living somehow. Once you do sign up, you will have access to something on the order of 20,000 television commercials. About 20 new commercials are added each week.

Dyson Vacuum Guy Says Agency Biz Stinks

Agencies Suck

Over at the Adrants Soflow Network group, Robert Loch posted a quote from vacuum man Richard Dyson in which he claims suits are useless and creatives stink. Dyson said, "The agency business just isn't working for me. I don't want to talk to account planners, and account managers and these other assorted suits. I need to talk to the 'creatives' directly, and explain to them what I am trying to achieve. But they won't come to meetings because they are 'creative.'

"And the fact is that they are not creative at all. They are doing the very worst thing you can do, which is to sit staring at a drawing board trying to come up with an idea out of nowhere. You need dialogue to create. Of all the creative jobs I have encountered it is advertising people who make the most song and dance about creativity. And, you know, they are not creative at all. When I think of the real creation that my designers are involved in, and compare it with these 'creatives' who are earning so much more to just sit around the Groucho Club and be generally useless, it makes me vomit. I can't go on supporting an industry like that, I'm afraid."

What do you think. Comment here or see what others have said in the forum (yes, I know it's a pain, you have to join).

Fuddruckers Promotes Beef Relief Patch

Why a company that makes its money selling, among other things, beef, would want to remotely associate itself with a concept that would, seemingly, reduce the desire to consume the company's primary product is a bit twisted. But, we're talking about a viral-like spoof here so all normal rules of logic don't apply. Fuddruckers, a hamburger restaurant chain, has launched a website promoting the Beef Relief Patch, a nicotine patch-like device that people who are addicted to beef can wear to reduce their cravings. The site, complete with official sounding medical language, testimonials and a link to fictitious biopharmaceutical firm Lancer-Bovina Laboratories, Inc. which "aligned itself" with Fuddruckers to market the Beef Relief Patch, also contains a funny commercial promoting the patch as well as Fuddruckers.

The work was done by Austin-based agency Fosforus, who, consciously or not, posted their creation not just to the URL www.beefrelief.com but to the revealing www.fosforus.com/beefrelief.

Funny Video Clips Promote Insurance Company

Nationwide Insurance has launched humorous website, Life Comes At You Fast, which challenges visitors to view 30 videos in 30 days, spot a hidden Nationwide frame, then be entered into a drawing for a Sony Handycam and G5 Mac. The videos, some of which you have, undoubtedly seen before, are amateur clips "America's Funniest Video" style such as the cheerleader who gets tossed too far, the fat woman who falls off the trampoline and the wedding attendees who collapse a dock. It's an intriguing tie in of life's unsuspected moments with an insurance company's ability to help you get back on your feet.

Provocative Imagery Promotes Holland Festival

Promoting it June 1 through 26 run, the Holland Festival, a collection of art from all over the world, is using outdoor posters featuring hot bodies holding weapons. We're sure there's some sort of tie in here but we're not artsy enough to know. flickr user mediafact caught these images.

Fickle Agency Execs Freak Over Comment

Speaking at the Fairmont Southampton resort in Bermuda at the AAAA management Conference, Volvo CEO and President Anne Belec openly asked the audience, ad agency managers, for new advertising ideas. Apparently, it was as if Vida Guerra, clad in a thong, bent over in front of a bunch of salivating drunks at a bachelor party. You could hear the drool hitting the floor as agency execs suddenly realized one of the biggest car accounts might be looking for a new agency.

Pulling a proverbial Burka over this tantalizing thought, Volvo agency Euro-RSCG CEO Ron Berger calmed the crowd saying, "Those of you who just think that account went into review, that's not what happened, just to be clear." Party pooper.

P & G Launches Character Blog, Purists Freak, Reality to Set In

Defending the recently launched Procter & Gamble character blog, Where the Sparkles Girls Get Real, a blog promoting Secret Sparkle Body Sprays, P & G blogger writes the blog "is meant to be just a fun little promotion where the characters on our bottles are played out. This isn't a blog that is meant to be a way for Secret to talk with our consumers about their likes/dislikes. Instead, it is meant to be a promotional tool where consumers (teens in particular) can learn about the Body Spray scents and interact with the characters. It's just meant to be fun. Why can't certain bloggers realize this?"

more »

Stuffed Animals Hump For Blaupunkt

In this brilliantly concepted commercial, Blaupunkt illustrates the body shaking thrust of its automotive sound systems by showing the effect it has on two stuffed animals sitting on the back shelf of a car. Of course, it could always be a brand hijack.

UPDATE: Apparently, and not surprisingly, this spot was not authorized by Blaupunkt for release. Also, downloads have killed bandwidth here so the link is dead. The commercial is available here, here and here.