Ben Affleck is No Match For Lynx When It Comes to the Ladies

Back in August 2005, Ben Affleck signed a $1,8 million deal with Lynx (Axe in the States) to appear in several commercials. Adland points to this spot which features Affleck clicking his way through the day counting each time a female checks him out. At the end of the day, he's quite pleased with his click total, that is, until he gets on the elevator.

Butter Isn't Just For Toast In This Ad

It's not like anyone in advertising is surprised at the selling qualities of sex but sex still seems to to do a lot more selling in countries outside the United States as indicated by this ad for some kind of butter. The butter is so creamy and so smooth it's useful for, well, other things than just spreading on your toast. This is one of those videos you should watch when your boss isn't looking.

Direct Marketing is A Science of Stupidities

Eric Weaver, writing on his blog Ad-Verse has crafted, hands down, the best article on why direct marketers are still stuck in the dark ages and why the practice is, as Weaver calls it, "A science of stupidities." While we've long known many marketers are, in fact, still holding signs up and grunting incessantly in front of cave men's doorways, never before have we read such a concise diatribe against the practice of direct marketing.

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Amazon to Launch Bill Maher-Hosted Online TV Show

Random Culture points us to the Amazon Fishbowl, an online show launching in June and hosted by Bill Mahr which will feature live musical performances, interviews with authors, directors and actors and a UPS-sponsored "special delivery" to an Amazon customer. According to the site, the show will be streamed beginning at 8PM on June 1 so that it "broadcasts" as does TV. Random Culture notes, and we agree, it might be nice if the show was available to download either as file or as podcast allowing the viewer to watch it on their own time rather than Amazon's time.

In the premier episode, Mahr interviews Stephen King, Paul Rieser makes a UPS delivery and Mahr speaks with screenwriter Armistead Maupin. It could be a nice tie-in for UPS if they hook up with the right celebu-deliverers.

Snowmen Carry Message For Bank's Environmental Car Loan

In a clever marketing effort and to encourage Swedish environmental awareness and to introduce a new loan option from financial institution SEB which promotes the purchase of environmental cars eight Scandinavian snowmen have been built in Stockholm to carry the message. The snowmen are the work of Lowe Brindfors which appears to be too busy doing client work to create their own website.

'The New York Times' And 'Jeopardy' Team For Promotion

The New York Times and "Jeopardy!" announced Monday an agreement between the paper and the quiz show under which the Times will offer a "Jeopardy!" Clue of the Day answered later on that day's "Jeopardy!" show or in the next day's issue of The New York Times. The Clue of the Day will appear adjacent to the "Tomorrow in The Times" box Monday through Friday and on Sunday near the "Information Directory," and will also be available online at nytimes.com/games.

As part of the agreement, The Times will be included periodically as a category on the television program. Also, the show's Brain Bus, staffed by the "Jeopardy!" Clue Crew, will appear Feb. 25 from 10a.m. until noon at the New York Times Travel Show, held at the Javits Center in New York City. A category called "All The News That's Fit to Print," about news articles and features of The New York Times, will be part of the simulated game played at the event. Clues in that category will come from various sections of the newspaper.

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H&R Block 'Deduct-A-Buck!' Game Show Tests Tax Deduction Skills

Lending a bit of humor to the daunting tax season and promoting its TaxCut while doing so, H&R Block has launched Deduct-a-Buck, a seventies-style game show-like game hosted by Max Refund. The game consists of five questions relating to the kinds of thing one can deduct when filing taxes. Prizes range from a Dell XPS Notebook, to a $100 GameStop gift certificate to free online tax preparation. Created by Mullen, the game is both humorous and comforting to what's on the mind of everyone as April 15 approaches and we all struggle to please Uncle Sam.

Controversy Surrounds New Zealand 'Big Day Out' Helicopter Stunt

Apparently, there's some controversy surrounding a promotion DDB New Zealand did on January 20 during a musical festival called Big Day Out, at which, according to information we can gather, the agency chartered a helicopter, flew around with a guy hanging off it until, well, he fell off. No one at DDB is talking and we've been informed the employees have been instructed not to speak with anyone about the event. We were forwarded what we were told is a taped phone conversation between, allegedly, someone at DDB and a representative of New Zealand's Civil Aviation Authority during which the CAA representative tells the person at DDB it is illegal not to report an aviation accident which, apparently, DDB failed to do.

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Burger King, Brooke Burke Courtship Reaches Engagement

By now, you've all seen those witty images and videos of the Burger King frolicking with the lovely Brooke Burke. Courtesy of The Superficial, we have a couple more images which further the story. It now seems the King and Burke are engaged, if not married in this odd but very cool web saga created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky. While the two did get frisky on the beach with Burke revealing tantalizing hints of her upper body curvaceousness, something tell us, or at least we hope, we won't be seeing the two getting it on in the honeymoon suite.

When 'Over 35' Really Means 'Over 50'

With baby boomers not really babies any longer and quickly becoming a predominant and "old" audience for marketers to reckon with, both agencies and marketers are wrestling with the notion that it ain't all about the 18-34 year old any more and have begun spouting misleading terms such as "over 35" when they really mean "over 50." But, "over 50" is so uncool and just doesn't gracefully roll off the tongue of the typical 20-something, 30-something agency/marketer type.

Companies have tried to re-brand their older-focused companies towards younger audiences and have alienated existing, older customers. Companies have re-branded upward but have focused to a 35 year old when their audience is really 55. And some say the whole age-focused thing is just the wrong way to target and it should be more about psycho graphics. There's a lively discussion in the Adrants discussion group right now. Are we marketers handling the age thing the right way or the wrong way?