Straight out of advertising's Book of Awkward Moments comes this Thanksgiving-themed commercial for Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss who, after giving thanks and offering prayer for President Bush, President-Elect Obama and the troops, gives his granddaughter a very creepy chest grope.
Creepy as that move might be, it's made even creepier by the two grand kids who utter "...and vote for my big daddy." With the commercial just dripping with overtones of family value, the ending is a bit shocking. Even more shocking is the fact no one noticed Chambliss' awkward hand movement before the commercial hit the airwaves.
Come December, Santa begins to make appearances the world over and since some easily tire of tradition, others are there to shake things up. Actually, no one really tires of Santa and his traditions. Just ad agencies trying to get a nut...and a chance to do something new to something old.
Because smartphones like the Palm Centro are supposedly all the shizzle, Santa, who just got a new one, needs his life upgraded as well. So Seattle-based Creature gave Santa a new haircut, a new suit, a new attitude, a diet and a new name, Clause - pronounced Klouse, of course.
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See teaser visuals for the Whopper Virgin campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Burger King. Turn the volume down unless you dig the cacophonous din of high-pitched wind instruments.
According to AdFreak, Crispin -- our fearless leader! -- will scour the world in search of people that have never tried a Whopper, then publish a documentary about this deep spiritual journey alongside director Stacy Peralta.
The site boasts footage of unravaged remote villages as well as cultural wisdom, of which this is just one example: "If you want a real opinion about a burger, ask someone who doesn't even have a word for burger."
Ahhh. Today their stomachs, tomorrow their labour force. It's enough to make Hernan Cortes beam with childlike delight.
And it's like ... it's like ... a less funny Terrence and Phillip.
By Tierney Communications/Philly, which hopes to draw 18- to mid-twenty-year-olds choosing a bank for the first time. Two other spots, "Lincoln" and "Operator" -- use your imagination! -- are currently in production. Keep an eye out for those bad-boys at TD Bank Theater.
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Euro RSCG is out with a new commercial for Chivas Regal. The agency was asked to "strengthen Chivas Regal's premium positioning in mature and emerging markets by giving it a strong and distinctive point of view."
The spot opens on a man trudging his way to work on a cloudy day in a sea of lemming-like people. He's clearly questioning his purpose in life as as he voiceover intones, "Millions of people. Everyone out for themselves. Can this really be the only way? No." And with that, the man turns and goes his own way.
The spot then toasts life with words and phrases such as gallantry, doing the right thing, giving a damn, straight talk, freedom, true meaning of wealth, the brave and "a code of behavior that sets certain men apart from all others."
And, finally, "Here's to us." Live With Chivalry.
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"We're opening more lanes than ever ... to make Christmas shopping easier!"
Given what happened at its Long Island location, I think it's sorta weird that WalMart's still airing this ad. I saw it at least eight times this weekend -- and each time, without fail, it brought to mind the Black Friday Death Trample.
In it, lights from open aisles flicker to the tune of Carol of the Bells, which always struck me as a semi-creepy song anyway. (Don't make me explain why.) But now it also rings with the heavy panting of crazed, slightly overweight bargain hunters, indelible red splatters ... and the cracking of bones.
The spot first aired during the 2007 holiday season. Co-workers claim a woman was trampled then too, but that's cool because she was "a repeat stampede faker, from what I read," one dutifully disclosed.
WalMart, what good are extra checkouts without an orderly entering and exiting process? Stampedes don't organize themselves.
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Everyone loves a good house party, right? Especially one with lots of good music, dancing, (drug-induced?) finger painting, pixie dust, fireworks, gambling and celebrities. So if this all came together and Russell Simmons, DMC (nice guy), Ilie Nastase, David Beckham, Kevin Garnett, Young Jeezy, Katy Perry, Estelle, Ting Tings, Missy Elliott, Jeremy Scott, Kazuki, Dynamo, Ryukyudisko, Afra, Method Man, Redman, Mark Gonzales showed up, it'd be the perfect party, right?
Sadly, it's just an ego-fueled, self-indulgent, hipsteresque celebu-fest akin to, oh, say, the recent AgencySpy party (kidding, Matt. Seriously!) masquerading as an Adidas commercial. And if this weren't enough, there's a two minute version of the commercial coming out after the New Year.
"Branded widgets are the refrigerator magnets of the Brave New World," says Bob Garfield in a lengthy Advertising Age article in which he examines widgets, compares them to specialty advertising and dubs them "the magical connection between marketers and consumers."
Garfield notes the widget space will "amount to something like $100 million." Though not a small sum, he also adds, "it's a sum even an endangered species such as NBC Universal can shake out of the sofa cushions."
He spoke with Jackson Fish Market Founder Hillel Cooperman who laments marketer's malaise and his frustration with their lack of interest in widgets. While marketers seem to clearly understand the day's of the :30 spot are numbered, confoundedly, they act like a deer in headlights when it comes to moving ahead with alternative methods of marketing.
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Under its classic slogan "There is always a clever mind behind it," German paper The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is running a campaign depicting various "clever minds." At left is UN Chief Inspector Mohamed ElBaradei in a state of exceptional transparency.
Hmm. What he needs is a red nose. Then we'd really have a party.
See variants for Billy Wilder, Helmut Kohl and Vitali Klitschko. All smart stuff, comparable to some of the better work we've seen for The Economist and BusinessWeek.
Photos by Nick Veasey. Curiouser still? See making-of and interview with ElBaradei.
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