Honda Choir Ad Gets Really, Really Bad Spoof Treatment

We wonder why we had to wait so long for a spoof of the Honda Choir ad to make it's debut and now we know. This spoof from 118 118, the same people that spoofed the Honda Cog spot, is so horrifically bad, they had to re-shoot it over and over and over to make it even worse so it good then be released as "so bad it's good." What a waste of time. View it, if you have to, over at Adland.

Keep My Ads Simple, Stupid

Over at MediaShift, Mark Glaser is asking what kind of advertising people would actually like to see. I've always thought a return to simplicity would work wonders. In other words, toss aside all the over-produced, poor-excuse-for-entertainment commercials we see today and just explain the product. Tell the viewer what's being sold, who it's for, why they'd benefit from it and where they can buy it. Sounds simple but rarely does a commercial accomplish those simple goals. I'd be happy if all the commercial consisted of was a spokesperson standing in front of a white background delivering the information.

Consumers don't need to be lured into viewing a commercial with brainless entertainment. They need to be presented the facts quickly so they can determine whether or not the advertised product is for them and then move on. Too many commercial and ads leave one scratching their head wondering, "What the hell was that?" Or, they try to force a message or product on someone who clearly has no interest or need for the product. I mean how many times can you say "keep it simple stupid" before someone actually heeds that advice?

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Men's Grooming brand Launches Barber Blog

Men's grooming brand Sharps has launch a blog called Barber Blog. Now if you think a blog about barbers would be weird, you would be right. But, that's the whole point with Barber Blog which likes to talk about the Chewbaca haircut, Puff Daddy's cologne and barber documentaries called Cutting Edge.

More Choices Would Improve ABC's Online Programming

Following up his not so positive opinion of ABC's move to offer shows online for free, Todd Copelvitz (yes, you will be hearing a lot more from him) offers ABC five suggestions on how they could have, and still can, make the offering better and more inline with people's media consumption habits. For Copelvitz, as it is for us, it's about choice. Provide people choices. Todd says ABC should offer their programming in multiple formats. Not just ad-supported online of pay-per-download from iTunes but provide a full gamut of choices from pay to free, from TV to cell phone. Let the consumer choose to pay for ad-free TV or ad-supported TV. Let them choose the sponsors they want to hear from as Weatherbug does. Adding to that, make the commercial specific to the medium through which it is delivered. TV gets bog bold production. Cell phone gets smaller, more interactive version.

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Assvertising Makes Return In Italy

Assvertising has been around for so long. We know who invented it and, even though it's bootie we're talking about, we're tired of it. Yea right. We'll take any opportunity to stick a hot ass up here so when we received a press release from Southern Italy's MTN telling us about their latest self promotional stunt, we got busy. The agency hired a few women to prance about in Italian cities and flash their asses for passersby to gawk at. Yawn. Oh wait. No. That's hot! The appropriately named Adverbox has a bunch of pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Creamers Get Milky Viral Treatment

As Adverblog ever so appropriately says, "To promote milk you can either say it's healthy and good for your bones, or you can go viral." Friesche Vlag creamers chose to go viral and you can just imagine where it ended up.

NASCAR Extends Brand With Bikinis, Clothing And Shoes

Acknowledging forty percent of NASCAR fans are women, Adrants reader John Brock tells us the organization is discussing a licensing agreement with a fashion label to created a line of NASCAR branded swimsuits. NASCAR already has is named slapped on women's shoes, coats, purses and clothing so bikinis certainly make sense. NASCAR hopes to boost sales of women's goods from $84 million five years ago to $250 million this year. Of the 40 percent of female NASCAR fans, 51 percent said they'd go to retailers who carried NASCAR clothing.

Clooney to Hawk Nestle Expresso

Can we just stop with the celebrity endorsements already? George Clooney. along with being seen in just about every movie made in the last six months will soon be seen in commercials for Nestle Expresso Nespresso, a drink that is sure to taste like some horrific combination of day old coffee and cheap hot chocolate mix. Oddly, Clooney's doing it because he belives it will be a classy endeavor. Explaining his decision, Clooney said, "It's really classy. You don't want to do ones that aren't classy. Thats the truth. Thats the secret to it. You want to have a product you are proud of and not embarrassed by." Good luck, George.

Maria Sharapova Climbs Aboard Land Rover

It seems to be celebrity week here in the ad business. not that that's anything new but in just the past few days, Mariah Carey signed with Elizabeth Arden and Kate Moss signed with both Calvin Klein and Nikon. Now Maria Sharapova has signed with Land Rover to front the SUV-maker's marketing. As part of the deal, Sharapova will get an land Rover for her own use and she'll participate in retail promotions and events. As ApeChild predicted 2.5 years ago, Sharapova would become one of The New babes of Tennis.

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Burger King to Introduce BK-Branded Xbox Games

Against the legal powers that be, Gawker gaming site Kotaku is reporting Burger King will offer its customers BK-branded Xbox games. It's a promotion that offers one of three games (action, fighter, racing) with the purchase of a Value Meal. The creepy King will be featured in all the games. Kotaku writes, "The action game is apparently similar to Halo, while the fighter combines Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat."

Greenfield Online, the company that did preliminary research for the creation of the games, is none too pleased and has sent a nasty legal letter to Gawker headquarters asking Kotaku to remove the story. They aren't going to. I mean it's all rather pointless anyway. Once the information's out. it's out. It's not like you can erase it so move on Greenfield and deal with it.