This morning we got a press release announcing the launch of a riotously ironic! ad agency called WTF & Associates, spearheaded by president/CEO John Bristol.
Bristol says the objective is "to revolutionize art and culture." His team is purportedly also "putting the finishing touches on an ingenious multi-platform campaign" for a high-profile client.
Natch, we made a noise along the lines of "WTF...?", then visited the site, aptly hosted at wtfass.tv.
Click on the doors to watch some dementedly-cheery talking heads (in the style of this TD Bank Theatre campaign) make bullshit agency talk. And if you're patient enough, you may hear the actual pitch for said "high-profile client."
Clueless as to who? Find out below the drop.
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You may have heard Hal Riney resigned the Pinnacle Foods account last Friday. There was no official statement as to why, but Agency Spy assumed it was because they need to make room for a new client.
Nice guess. Below, an internal Riney memo that hit our email this morning (author removed):
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Sensing a recession isn't exactly an enabler for Jimmy Choos and Prada handbags, Saks Fifth Avenue takes on the marketing style of Communism ... and Stolichnaya.
The high-end department store tapped Shepard Fairey, architect of the familiar Obama Hope poster, to infuse worker's morale into its Spring 2009 "Want It!" campaign.
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No, not three-prong vibrators and gag balls. Actual toys. Like, to show off to your friends and/or prop up on the mantlepiece beside your as-yet-unwrapped collection of first edition Star Wars action figures.
Because being a toy-loving adult doesn't mean you've got sex on the brain 24/7. Some grownies are just gung-ho, copiously-tatted dorks that enjoy stylish mythological creatures. And flannel.
By BooneOakley/Charlotte for Niche, whose online store we visited out of curiosity.
Half its product categories (including TOYS!) have nothing in them. Bad e-tailer, bad!
More specifically, it wants its couches and desks and bedroom sets and carpets and oblong dishware inside the White House. (See concept design for the Oval Office, which doesn't so much say "President" as it does "patriotic single mom with puppy and kindergartener.")
And by adopting the "Change" message that worked so well for Obama, it hopes you'll help achieve its goal. Witness and wince while it slathers Washington, DC's Union Station with bright yellow propaganda:
o "The time for domestic reform is NOW!" (At left.)
o "Fiscally responsible home furnishings FOR ALL!"
o "Change Begins AT HOME!"
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As demonstrated in Marie Antoinette, Sofia Coppola is really good at making pretty productions, unfettered by complicated narratives. It's this quality that makes her such a fetching fashion advertiser.
We give you the Coppola director's cut of Miss Dior Cherie, an ad for Christian Dior's bopper-honing fragrance.
Fortified by Brigitte Bardot's beachy Moi Je Joue -- and by model Maryna Linchuk's Lolita-like coquettishness -- it's sublime, frothy and fun: the perfect cocktail for girls that haven't yet graduated to Chanel No. 5.
See prints here.
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Ever on the lookout for sensory violations, Brentter's brought us Angry Whopper ads for the UK and Germany.
In case you need refreshing, Burger King recently announced the availability of its Angry Whopper in the US with this bizarre ad, where a farmer physically abuses an onion during its crucial growing stage.
As a result, the onion leaves the earth hotter than Satan's feet. Added to a jalapeno-infused Whopper, it spanks the mouth of any office cog who dares order it.
It turns out the Angry Whopper's been on the market in Europe since May, with ads obviously tailored to each culture. The UK spot is pretty tame -- an anger management teacher, who thinks she can "handle" her rage, doesn't handle it very well after taking a bite.
As for the German one? Well, it's Germany. Add a fetish, slip it in leather and give it a whip.
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The United Kingdom's got this really anal government body called the Advertising Standards Authority. Based on citizen complaints and its own yardstick for appropriateness, it's banned everything from nightmare-inducing Marmite ads to blasphemous haircare messages to mundane (but deceptive!) mascara spots.
But agency envelope pushers, take heart: the UK's FIVER network is working with Celador Productions to launch The Sexy Ad Show, a six-part send-up of some of the "raciest, most politically incorrect and barely-broadcastable adverts to [emerge] from ad-land."
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Ontario College of Art & Design puts Masterminds on the pedestal in this complex formula composed of the Executive Masters of Design in Advertising.
"Learn what it takes to be one of the greats."
Look closely and see if you can find Bogusky, Gondry and Mary Wells. There's also the Google guys, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, and ... wait a sec ... is that Herbert Krabel of Guerrilla Comm?
Fame, manifested in the subtlest of ways.
Ready to rock the school house? Check out Ontario College of Art & Design's ad man grad school curriculum.
@tim_nolan introduced us to The Fist of Oblivion, a bizarre web series directed by Roman Coppola for Scion Broadband.
Scion Broadband, a lifestyle content network targeted to young, thrifty and image-conscious drivers, launched in 2006. We didn't realize it was still kicking.
And while it's hard to go wrong with muppets, kung-fu and mobsters, we're glad there's a place where Scion's ad folk can potentially still express its creativity.
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