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Jeweler Says Intelligence Isn't Everything

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Now here's an ad that made Adrants reader Stacy initially go, "Huh?" The headline reads, "I found it's nice being noticed for something other than my intelligence," which caused Stacy to ask, "What the f#@??!!" While there was concern for a moment that advertising had returned to the classic days of woman-as-homemaker-in-front-of-the-refrigerator, a visit to the web address (screen shot) in the ad explained the woman was simply happy to be noticed for something other than her less-than-glamorous nursing scrubs look when she wore a Silpada necklace to work one day and then decided to sell the stuff, resulting in her quitting her job and making tons of money. The moral of the story? "Get noticed for your brains and your beauty." Oh, and sell lots of Silpada jewelry too.

by Steve Hall    Jan-25-07    
Topic: Good, Magazine



Campaign Says Exposure to Other's Work Yields Great Creativity

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Following its belief that exposing oneself to great ads from other advertising professionals will better one's own creativity, Ad of the World, with help from JWT Bangkok, has launched a promotional campaign that highlights how copying...uh...acknowledging others great creative will results in great creative of one's own.

To be fair, inspiration is a powerful motivator that fuels creativity. knowing what others have done and why helps align one's own creative thinking and, ideally, fosters new, original creativity along the way. The campaign visually illustrates how exposure to, and mashup of, great creative can produce interesting results. We're not sure about that twisted pig, though. See the entire campaign here.

by Steve Hall    Jan-25-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Magazine, Online



Julie Roehm Sues Wal-Mart For Pay, Office Items

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We are so sick of all this Julie Roehm crap. Oh wait. No we're not. Are you kidding? Of course we're not. This is great shit to write about. So now she's suing Wal-mart for breach of employment contract and demanding the return of certain files and items from her office such as paint and a step ladder she left in her office. Aside from all the boring legal crap, perhaps the best line in the entire Advertising Age article about this latest chapter in the saga is, "Among the changes Ms. Roehm effected during her 11-month tenure at Wal-Mart: She painted her office." Classic. Priceless. Hilarious.

While she has concerns over what she believes is money owed her according to her contract, when she appeared today at a panel on the worth of Super Bowl advertising, she said her Wal-Mart dismissal was a "blessing." Certainly a strange comment to make on the eve of issuing a lawsuit against the employer that delivered that "blessing." Oh whatever, so the saga continues, wasting bit and bytes off online press space and killing trees all to regurgitate the same old crap: she wasn't a fit for Wal-Mart and they canned her ass. Get over it. Move on.

by Steve Hall    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Brands, Policy, Strange



ad:tech Amps Up Annual Awards Show

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ad:tech has expanded its annual Awards show, moved it from New York to San Francisco and added a People's Choice Award. The awards, which honor online marketing work, will be held April 25 at 5:45 PM during the organization's San Francisco conference April 24-26 at the Moscone North Center. Additionally, ad:tech has added an Executive Panel of Judges (including yours truly) to, apparently, minimize any squabbles that might arise...uh...I mean to lend an air of importance to the event. Altogether, there will be 130 judges examining all the categories.

Also part of the Awards will be the addition of Industry Achievement Awards to honor three long-time industry contributors who have added greatly to the industry as a whole. While the show has a price tag to attend, there will be a full on event with open bar, hors d'oeuvres, entertainment and, of course the awards presentation.

by Steve Hall    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Industry Events, Online



Land O Lakes Indian Bares Breasts With Knee Cap Packaging Trickery

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For all you perverts out there. Oh wait. Sorry. That's just us. And maybe the dude over at Where's my Jetpack who had some fun playing with Land O Lakes butter. No, not the product you sickos. The packaging. Apparently way bakc in the 30's, the designer of the packaging, Jess Betlach thought he'd have some fun by adding the visual hint or female aureola/nipple to the Indian woman's knees. The knees, you ask? Well, according the Where's My Jetpack, thousands of boys would cut the knees off, cut a whole where the Indian woman is holding the product and insert the image of the knees thus creating the illusion of an Indian woman holding her bare breasts.

Remember, this was before Playboy. Before Juggs. Before the Internet. Before National Geographic, perhaps. Apparently, a guy had to so what he had to do to get his daily moment of satisfaction. Humorously, Where's My Jetpack promises to post Land O Lakes' cease and desist when it arrives.

by Steve Hall    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Brands, Packaging, Strange



Crocs Now Slipper of Choice for NFL and NHL

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Brentter recently let us know that Crocs just inked a deal with the NFL and NHL. The liaison includes team-branded shoes for all 32 NFL teams and all 30 NHL teams.

Crocs depends on word-of-mouth to get its initiatives out in the open. Somebody's got to be buying them because they're all over the place but all the culprits keep them well-hidden. We'll admit on a recent trip to the beach that we bought a pair after a recommendation and found them strangely soothing. But couldn't they go just a little out of their way to make them look more like these?

by Angela Natividad    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Brands, Good



Some Americans Still Appreciate A Good Dumb Blond Joke

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While America might have had its chauvinistic nuts cut off by politically correct extremist who can't take a joke when they see one, other countries are still, happily, appreciating a good 'ol dumb blond joke courtesy of Mercedes Benz who think there's nothing wrong with ordering a fast food meal from a librarian.

Though America might have undergone an unfortunate castration, humor is alive and well under the radar and vigorously appreciated as illustrated by this ad having been sent to us by the very blond and very smart wife of Adrants reader Roy Coffman.

by Steve Hall    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Singapore Condo Complex Rips Off Nicole Kidman Chanel No.5 Ad

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Since Chanel No.5 didn't get much ROI off the $15 million they paid Nicole Kidman to appear in one of their ads, someone else might as well get some mileage out if it. Singapore luxury condominium developer CDL replicated the Nicole Kidman imagery right down to the backward necklace to promote its One Shenton condo project. What's that saying? Imitation is the purest form of flattery? More like "We're a sleazy developer who has mo problem freeloading." For comparision, here's the original Nicole ad.

by Steve Hall    Jan-24-07    




Microsoft Does More Viral Kitsch Stuff for Vista

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You might be wondering who the odd man at left is. He's Dr. Woodrow I. Lovett, Director for the Institute of Advanced Personhood, or Microsoft's latest attempt to make good on neurotic left-of-center Woody Allen-esque humour. While their Clearification effort invents HANDTOSS, an overachiever disease, the IAP promises solace for such sufferers.

The success of the spoofy sites depend heavily on Demetri Martin, whose latest Comedy Central special was heavily sponsored by Microsoft. We thought Clearification was neat but are now over it. What's Vista got to offer us? We hear it's pretty lackluster. When they can invent a cure for underachieving maybe we'll start paying attention.

by Angela Natividad    Jan-24-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online, Packaging, Promotions



Marketers Keep Flailing Over Pigskin Price Tag, Bill Green Offers SOS

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Running on the momentum of his :30 Super Bowl Showstopper Guarantee, Bill at Make the Logo Bigger asks the question we all wonder as we write out the checks, but don't want to ask for fear of looking uncool:

With the hype around the Super Bowl, are the (very expensive) ads worth it to marketers? Find out at the Reuters panel on Wednesday the 24th at 11 AM, The Reuters Building, 3 Times Square.

more »



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