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If You've Got the Got, You've Got to Get An Agency

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It's not only the Got Milk campaign that's got the "got." Gathering together all the ads created by people who can't seem to come up with a headline better than "got...fill in the blank," Albuquerque agency 3, begs marketers to hire an agency. Any agency. Preferably theirs, of course but any will do. If you ever created a "got" ad, you might feel a bit uncreative after watching this video.

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Agencies, Good



Oil Covered Animals Encourage Travel to Alaska

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Adfreak's Tim Nudd points to a Kayak.com 13-spot campaign, one of which uses oil covered animals and the tagline "Explore Alaska. Before the big oil companies do" to promote travel to Alaska. The Brooklyn Brothers created the campaign which can be viewed here.

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Television



Three Teens And A Dude Explain Pen Top Computer

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Fly, a sort of Leap Pad for teens, has launched a site to promote the pen top computer which, when used with special paper, can do all sorts of cool things according to the three teens and one dude featured in several videos on the site. We're not sure if it was the cute Asian-ish girl or the very natural sounding video clips that kept us on the site for far longer than is normal for us but whatever it was, this site just seems to do a great job explaining the product in a very conversational tone that doesn't sound forced. Why we'd need a pen top computer, we're not sure but we seem to have the urge to go buy one now.

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Online



Kelly Monaco, Brooke Burke Rally For Gillette's NoScruf

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Dancing With the Stars' Kelly Monaco and former Burger King queen Brooke Burke are bringing Gillette's NoScruf campaign (previously) to New York's Herald Square today around noon with a rally to carry the movement's message: we aren't going to shave until you do. Boston's Digitas created the faux, Geocities looking site to launch the cause that encourages men to shave - with Gillette razors, of course - by threatening men with women who don't shave. At the event, there will, apparently, be an army of unshaven women freaking out the men of New York. It's the double standard kind of thing. Public relations firm Porter Novelli organized the event. If anyone attends, please send us pictures.

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Celebrity, Events, Good



Filthy Confessions Offers Place to Reveal Your Dirt

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If you're feeling dirty or you are feeling guilty and need to confess something, cleaning product Greased Lightning has given you a place to air your dirty thoughts on a site called Filthy Confessions. On the site you can write or phone in your confession and listen and read the confessions of others. Visitors who use Blogger can also publish their confession on their blog by entering their username and password. There's also a sweepstakes that offers the chance to win a vacation and the usual send to a friend feature. What? No MySpace page?

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Online



Sony Introduces Slingbox Competitor. Does Poor Job

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Slingbox, a device that allows you to watch anything from your home-based cable box or DVR while anywhere in the world through an Internet connection, has a new competitor. Sony is launching Location Free which pretty much does exactly what Slingbox does. Unfortunately, Sony's website for this product doesn't do a very good job explaining the product whereas Slingbox does. Sony's site is heavy on Flash and light on clear product description. Slingbox provides a simple site with a simple to understand (albeit a bit informercial-ish) product tour video that clearly explains exactly what the product does.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jul-11-06    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Creative Commentary



Strongly Worded Copy Required to Communicate With Idiots

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Strong words are sometimes required when writing copy or talking to lazy losers who insist upon parking in handicapped parking spots when their only handicap is being an idiot. Click here to see the strong words.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    




Crispin Porter + Bogusky Scripting Burger King-Themed Movie

It's well known we in the ad business are just a bunch of Hollywood wannabes stuck creating ads when we'd rather be making movies and hangin' with the celebs. One agency got tired of its wannabe status and is making a movie. The agency is Crispin Porter + Bogusky and the movie is being scripted to take place above a Burger King restaurant. Yes, CP+B is scripting a movie which may or may not star the King. What it will do, likely, is prominent feature Burger King and, if the movie is any good, open up a whole Pandora's box of imitators.

Ads promoting movies. Ads before movies. Ads in movies. An entire movie crafted to be an ad. Is anyone else pulling out their hair right now and screaming, "Stop! Stop! I wanna get off! Please! Is there life on Mars? I don't care, I volunteer to be the first!"? OK, we can't help it. We can't wait to see this movie. But CP+B really needs to come up with a Burger Queen (no the gay kind). The King just doesn't have the right eye candy qualities to attract all those 16 year old boys that frequent movie theaters.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Product Placement



Coke Copies Mentos, Launches Own Video Contest

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Now we know why Coke reacted in such a blase fashion when all those Diet Coke/Mentos videos made the rounds. They didn't want to hype something that might take away publicity from them doing the exact same thing Mentos did: create a contest/site where people can submit videos and win prizes. Now we can envision what it must have been like for Coke spokeswoman Susan McDermott, in reaction to freaked out Coke execs running into her office screaming, "Kill this Mentos thing! Squash it! Eradicate it! We're about to commoditize a grass roots effort and take all the spontaneity out of it! And those fuckers over at Mentos are gonna beat us!" All the poor woman could do was toss off the geyser videos like they were inconsequential when, in reality, they were the very same thing Coke had planned in the first place. Let Mentos steal Coke's thunder? No way. But too bad. They already did.

Anyway, Coke is encouraging people to submit videos that align with the company's new tagline, "The essence of you." The videos will be rated by visitors and then judged by a collection of professional filmmakers. AQKA created the new site.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Brands, Consumer Created



Everyone Lies When It Comes to Porn

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George Simpson, as only George Simpson can, in a piece called The Sun Sets On Naked Women, debunks a recent Nielsen//NetRatings study on the porn surfing habits of the British and calls everyone a liar. The study claims "only" four in ten British men look at porn and Britain's kids only look at porn by mistake "while looking for something else online."

Commenting on the unlikely honesty of teenagers, George writes, "Anyone who has a teenager under his or her roof already knows that teens are the most accomplished liars in the world - and that expecting them to say anything other than that they stumbled across ComeOnMyFace.com while looking up the capital of Botswana was idiotic to begin with." Classic. And very true.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Research



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