If you've done time in advertising, you know advertising award shows are nothing more than ego boosters for our fragile personas and a chance for us to get a group hug from our fellow industry mates. The Phoeniz Addys aren't trying to hide this truth with their call for entries promotion called Ego Stroke 5,000, a device that sends ego boosting thoughts into the brain. Of course it's just a cheesecake pan with a bunch or wires attached but it does the job. The promotion was created by Riester~Robb.
Oh, it had to happen sooner or later. It's not as though we haven't made errors before but today we made a big one when we poked fun at MWW Group for launching a blogging practice called Blog 360 and chastised the agency for announcing the service but not listing it on their website. We were wrong on both counts. First, MWW Group didn't launch a blogging practice today; they launched it 11 months ago in January. Apparently, our press release and RSS feed funnel dates were a bit out of whack today. Secondly, the practice, which was later re-branded DialogueMedia is, in fact listed on the MWW Group site as plain as day.
Had we done our research properly, this never would have happened. We apologize profusely to the fine folks at MWW Group for unnecessarily bothering them with our stupidity. Had our head been on straight today, we would have told you MWW Group gets the whole blogging thing and practices what they preach. We would have pointed out MWW Group President and CEO Michael Kempner publishes a company blog called Straight Talk. Also, had we been concentrating on more serious news rather than condoms covering buildings, pole dancers in elevators and Lynx Deodorant's attempt to launch an airline, we would have told you MWW Group New Media Strategies Director and head of DialogueMedia Tom Biro also blogs for the company insightfully and informatively at Open The Dialogue.
Once again, we apologize to MWW Group for unnecessarily dragging them through our drawers. We understand if you, and the rest of our readers, place our credibility in the toilet for a few days.
Working for The Weinstein Company - the Hollywood production company formed by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, founders of Miramax and Dimension Films - online marketing firm Deep Focus and creative services firm Big Spaceship have created YouAreNowInfected, a promotional site for the upcoming Dimension Films feature Pulse, starring Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell. The site resembles an online FTP directory devoid of fancy Flash graphics usually associated with online promotions for Hollywood films and contains simple links to images, character video diaries and, of course, the film's trailer.
While the success of the film which takes yet another stab at "Internet as host for really bad things" could go either way and won't be known until March 3 when the film opens, we can say, this promotional site is refreshingly welcome. Without all the Flash n' Crap, the site, which is blissfully easy to navigate, we're told, will build over the four month run up to the opening with more video diaries and film related trivia, clues, and imagery.
Here's a billboard for former client and much maligned company Tyco which, with this billboard, is promoting the company's security division. The board is located in Zurich Oerlikon near Hallenstadium. While the whole condom thing, while overused, connotes the ability of Tyco to keep what needs to stay in in and what needs to stay out out, the thing looks more like a baby bottle than a condom and baby bottle are far from leak proof. Too bad Tyco's own security products couldn't have prevented former CEO Dennnis Koslowski from bilking the company for millions.
Apparently, Iowa has the same underage pregnancy problem that Virginia does and, like Virginia, has launched a billboard campaign to raise awareness of the issue. While Virginia's effort spoke to guys asking, on its billboard, "Isn't she a little young?", Iowa's effort speaks to girls telling them to "Wait for the Bling." Yes, you read that right. Iowa, land of the potato corn, is speaking street. The Iowa billboard popped up a month or so ago and looks much like any billboard you'd see if you ventured 100 miles outside a major city. There's a certain cultural cuteness to these boards as they try to latch onto what they perceive to be big city speak while, at the same time, callling attention to a burning local issue.
Two guys. An elevator. A pole. A dancer. It's an ad for Peekaboo Pole Dancing, of course. Yawn. Oh wait, it is kinda hot.
A Netherlands agency, Achtung, has created an online game called PakMan, which mimics the old video game PacMan and is a promotional element for Netherlands suit maker SuitSupply. In the game, Pakman, the player, is running in his underwear. His mission is to save Angel from Fatman. When eating the magic pills, Pakman gets superpower from his suit and is able to kick Fatman's ass. Rescuing Angel in each level gives the player a voucher for a tie, a shirt or a complete free suit. It's fun and it gets bodies into the store.
Lynx Deodorant (Axe in the States), with the launch of LynxJet, is perpetuating its use of sexy women to raise the body temperature, among other things, of young men foolish enough to think deodorant has something to do with their ability to increase their dipstick quotient. It's JetBlue for the deodorant deprived. It's Hooters Airlines but without all the cleavage induced sweating. But mostly, it's diversionary advertising that is just fun enough to create a little fantasy in a guy's mind when he's strolling down the deodorant aisle in the drug store. A fantasy, perhaps, powerful enough to make him actually buy the stuff.
But, as is always the case, some people didn't quite get the joke.
Seems this has been out and about for a month or so but don't you ever wonder what goes on inside the bowels of Verizon Wireless as they continually upgrade their network so their ad campaign is honest? Watch this video and you'll see how.
To help move DVDs of its series and to make it easier to select a Holiday gift for that special someone, HBO has launched The Good Gift Seeker. Created by Atmosphere BBDO, the microsite asks people to select who they need a gift for, the personality type of that person and that person's hobby. Once that info is provided, the Good GiftSeeker selects the HBO series DVD that best matches the intended recipient. It's fairly straight forward. After all, there's only so many ways to move DVDs.
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