Salesgenie Pulls, Potatoes Porn, Pedophilia Bloodied

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- While Salesgenie has pulled its Panda ad, Salesgenie CEO Vin Gupta told The New York Times, "Pandas are Chinese. They don't speak German."

- A campaign for the UK's NSPCC gets bloody with ad to curtail pedophilia and child abuse.

- Freakishly long beard, nature video and tearful wife come together in support of Panasonic's beard and hair trimmer.

- The story of Adidas' Adi Dassler is told in an animated video.

- If you like cheesy porn video and potato chips, you'll love this NSFW ad for Aminkia Chips.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Commercials, Racy, Video



Silk-Clad Singers Bring Us Cerealbox of Love

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It's not Justin Timberlake's Dick in a Box, but Dawn's Early Knights have our more immediate interests at heart: honey-sweet lovin', coated in chocolate romance.

Visit I Made You Breakfast in Bed, a Valentine's Day effort by Honey Bunches of Oats with Real Chocolate Clusters. (Score a $2-off coupon on the site, and visit The Pantry to find out how to make artificial roses seem less ... artificial.)

Props out to Eddie, who gave us exceptionally fresh morning creepage when he personalized the song for us. With rose petals.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Online, Promotions



At Honda UK, Problems Are Just Bigger Playgrounds

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Check out this fun new Honda ad by Wieden + Kennedy. Also see LOL-worthy website Problem Playground. It will bring out your inner Alice.

The effort is for Honda UK. We like the collective "HURRAAAAAAY!" in the site intro and its straightforward nav: "Click on things to go there. Click 'Home' to come back here." Site includes puzzles, 360-degree vehicle features, download options for the commercial, and a making-of-the-ad video.

Whoever said assembly line work was dehumanizing clearly wasn't employed in the Hybrid department. Suddenly we're starving for a big fat zero-emissions jigsaw.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Incarcerated Chickens Get Tortured by KFC's Colonel

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Portraying KFC's Colonel as a sadistic prison warden, this new Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, in three videos, explores the supposed life of a chicken while under the control of KFC. There's kicking, beating, drugs, electrocution - all the necessary elements one might imagine in a Hostel or Saw movie.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Video



Sleepy Alesha Dixon Video Fails to Stimulate Focus

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Champion Alesha Dixon of Strictly Come Dancing stars in this valium-esque Ford Focus ad, which debuted February 1st on Ford.co.uk. Cake masterminded it, tapping Alesha for her number-one status among the Brits, and included nifty knick-knacks like instruments made of real car parts.

The latter sounded neat, but we didn't much notice. All told, the video lacks life and seems too smoked-out and tame to even be decadent. Nice icepick shoes, though. And okay, the personalized plate? Cheesy.

Maybe this is just another one of those clashing Brit vs. American sensibility things.

Psst, Ford and Alesha. Watch Beyonce and Armani do it.

Update: Oops. Look like we pushed an angry button. Brit fans are really sick of comparisons between Alesha and B (see YouTube comments).

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Online, Sponsorship, Television



Flanked by '72 Dolphins, Reebok Politely Seeks Super Bowl Buzz

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This ad for Reebok aired after the game ended on Super Bowl Sunday. It's called "Giants, Welcome to Perfectville."

The premise: the 1972 Miami Dolphins -- the only undefeated team in NFL history -- have long been living in a sleepy but sunny town called Perfectville. One of the members receives a gift from the NY Giants playfully marked, "Enjoy it for one more year."

Other tame leaps at humor include players reliving games, but slowly forgetting what positions they played.



Mullen Copywriter Releases Rap Album, Examines Agency Life

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For an ironic peep inside the world of agency life, a new album, Straight Out of Winston, from Mullen Winston-Salem Copywriter "StrataG" (aka Joe Beutel) and others from the agency peers inside the walls of agency life rapper-style. Whether exploring the obsession over awards, the pain of writer's block, the illogic of "creating a viral," the war of art direction or the stupidity of focus groups, the album pokes fun at life as an advertising professional.

If you work in an agency, you will identify completely with the sentiment of this album. If you are a client and work with an agency, you'll get a good look behind

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good



Senate Candidate Steve Novick Gets Things Done

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University of Oregon student Feff Farrell sent us this recent commercial for U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick that both highlights his accomplishment and viewpoints and asks whether or not we'd want to have a beer with him. Well, if the beer we were trying to consume was not a twist off, then yes, we'd definitely want to have a beer with him. It's a beautiful illustration of his tagline, "Steve Novick. He's always found a way to get things done."

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Political



The Letter 'H' Takes Up Residence on Lexus Hybrids

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It seems the letter "h" has found a new home and has deserted words, keyboards, landmarks, news stories, and offices opting instead for a better life on the back of the Lexus hybrids, the RX 400h, GS 450h, and LS 600h. Called The Power of H and created by Team One, the commercial shows us what life would look like without the letter H. Apparently, it's a better life and one which embraces change, looks forward and doesn't rely on the status quo.

We never new a car could make such a powerful, cultural statement. Hence forth, we will be proud to be known as Steve All.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Good



Boone Oakley Supports WGA With Solidarity Campaign

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While the strike may be nearing an end, Boone Oakley has come to the aid of the Writer's Guild of America with a solidarity campaign along the lines of so many other ribbon-style cause-related campaigns. The lead graphic element in the campaign is a pencil twisted into the shape of a ribbon. The campaign urges writers, directors, actors, crew and fans to wear the pin in support of the writers and to show "media moguls" the WGA is united and won't back down.

Checkout the campaign elements on the Bring Back the Dialogue site.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good