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Concept in the Air, No More 'Skip Ad' Button, Fuel Moustaches

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- Screw the creative conference room. Hold your next concepting session at an elegant dining table suspended in the sky.

- Tacoda's Dave Morgan thinks online ads will become so good and so relevant that the ubiquitous "skip this ad" button will no longer be necessary. Excuse us while we pick ourselves up off the floor after ripping open an ab while laughing at this thought.

- For no reason at all, Fuel Industries celebrated Moustache Day last Friday and thinks every agency should do the same next year. Whatever.

- Here's a United Colors of Benetton ad that compares a bit more than just skin color. Definitely something not to look at at work or at least when no co-workers are around.

- Here's a useless factoid. Mundane Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil has the highest brand equity according to a recent Harris Interactive study.

- Mazda's new Mazda3 commercial from JXT Dussendorf. Eh. We've seen better.

- PointRoll has partnered with Fandango and will now embed ticket sales into their expand-o-banners.

Leave it to Sisley to combine a udder full of milk and a beautiful model with white stuff all over her face.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    




Cuervo Black Campaign Unsells Target Audience

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Adrants reader John Eppstein doesn't like the new Cuervo Black campaign which promotes it as an ingredient for a Cuervo Black and Cola. He thinks the ads are a bit pretentious and a turn off to the very audience the campaign is trying to reach. We'll let him explain:

"Have the people in charge of the current Cuervo Black ad campaign secretly been paid off by the competition? Or are they simply too stupid to understand that, while an obnoxious, oversaturated ad blitz may get a product to stick in the audience's collective memory, it is not always a desirable result? The current Cuervo Black ads inspire a strong aversion response in a large segment of the market. The smug, insincere voice reading lines obviously written by some flack who thinks everybody is even more stupid and vacuous than himself are an immediate turnoff..... and when this advertising is scheduled in heavy saturation the result is people swearing that they will never, ever partake of the product that this noxious advertising is attempting, oh so clumsily, to shove (or pour, in this case) down their throats."

more »

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Commercials



Publishers Clearing House Acquires Search Site Blingo

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Extending its foothold in the area of sweepstakes, Publishers Clearing House, that company with those people who show up at everyone's door except your own, has acquired Blingo, a search site that randomly hands out awards to people who visit the site. Blingo was launched in 2004 and has handed out 22,000 prizes since that date.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Brands, Online, Promotions



Nude Trampolinist Promotes Wedding Contest Movie

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When Adrants reader John Brock sent us a link to something about nudes bouncing on a trampoline, our interest was piqued. Unfortunately, that piqued interest was short lived. Rather than the expected trampolining woman with big breasts bouncing uncontrollably, we get a guy'sbig bouncing belly. It's all to promote a movie called Confetti which is about UK comedians and three couples who somehow compete to win a bridal magazine contest for "Most Original Wedding of the Year."

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Good, Online, Strange



Adrants Goes to ad:tech. So Should You

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Not that you haven't noticed but ad:tech is advertising all over Adrants. ad:tech is a show I go to three times a year and no, they are not paying me to say this. They pay for ad banners, not my personal opinion of the show which is this: in all seriousness, if you are even remotely involved in any aspect on online/interactive marketing, you really should go to this show. It's not only that there are tons of exhibitor companies that you can work with to better your online marketing but it's also all the personal and business networking that goes on during the show.

Excluding the proliferation of creative award shows, there aren't many times each year the country's ad industry gets together to simply learn what's new and to watch booth babes hand out...oh sorry, they don't have those any more except for the few who slip in undetected. Anyway, enough about that. Seriously, it a great conference, I always have a great time there, learn a lot and meet new people. Then again, I don't get out much but, again, that's besides the point. This is about you, not me. So go. Learn, Have fun. and be sure to find me and say hello. Get info here. Register here. If you use discount code ATCHAB, I think you can save 20 percent. And don't worry about that talking head at the bottom right on the screen. You can shut her up with a click of the mouse.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Industry Events



Mentos to Launch Geyser Video Contest

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After Mentos caught wind of all this video that displayed explosive geysers when Mentos and Diet Coke are combined, Mentos said, "Cool. This is great." Coke, apparently suffering from some sort of refusal to believe the way advertising message are conveyed have changed dramatically said, "It's an entertaining phenomenon. We would hope people want to drink more than try experiments with it." Right. Anyway, Mentos is leveraging (oh, I hate that word) the trendlet and will launch the Mentos Geyser Video Contest in mid-July. As B.L. Ochman reports, the contest will encourage people to send in their best videos of the mixture and, presumably, win prizes for their efforts. Coke, on the other hand, will likely sit this one out but, at the same time, thanks Mentos for encouraging people to buy Diet Coke. Yup, it's a win-win.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good, Online, Trends and Culture



Boards Magazine Hosts Advertising Women of Excellence Contest

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For a second, we thought this Advertising Women of Excellence contest from Boards Magazine was some sort of new bikini contest for the advertising industry but then we kicked ourselves in the head and said "Quit being a sexist Neanderthal, you insensitive idiot." After that, we were all better and realized it's no bikini contest at all. It's an appreciation of women who have "made significant creative and business contributions in the international advertising and commercial production communities." Far more important than some mindless bikini contest.

The competition accepts nominations in four categories: Creativity in Advertising/Creative Risk Taking, Business Leaders, Contribution to the Advertising Industry and Contribution to the Production Community.

by Steve Hall    Jul- 9-06    
Topic: Industry Events



Friends Don't Let Friends Play Soccer Drunk

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It's always funny to watch a fat drunk guy try to make his limbs obey his head and that's exactly what Mullen and the Ad Council have given us in this Hispanic-focused Buzzed Driving campaign. The campaign, which focuses on driving while not quite drunk but buzzed, broke just prior to the July 4th weekend. Apparently, according to the NHTSA, lots of Hispanics drive drunk and motor vehicle addcidents are the leading cause of death for Hispanics ages one through 44.

by Steve Hall    Jul- 9-06    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Vodafone Mobile Office Stretches Concept of Mobile Office

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We're not quite sure a vehicle tricked out to look like an office with Vodafone branding all over it does a very good job promoting 3G wireless services. After all, if all those 3G features are so great, why would anyone need an office in the first place? Yea, yea, yea...we get the whole "Gee, look...it's a mobile office" thing but all it does is...oh screw it...it's kinda cool. Don't listen to us.

by Steve Hall    Jul- 9-06    
Topic: Guerilla



MySpace Profile Redirects to Porn Site

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Take a trip over to Lindsey's MySpace page and you'll be surprised at what you find. An Adrants readers woke up Saturday morning with 27 new friend requests, on of which was Lindsey so he decided to check her out. When he did, as soon as her page loaded, he was redirected to newxvidz.com, a porn video site. It seems some enterprising porn vendor has found a way to redirect MySpace pages tto sites selling porn videos. Yup, just one more thing for marketers eager to tap the MySpace audience to worry about.

by Steve Hall    Jul- 8-06    
Topic: Bad, Online



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