The December SMART Report is out and it takes a look at the top mobile advertising verticals and what advertisers are doing to increase the likelihood consumers will respond to their calls to action. Here are some of the top-line finding.
- Telecommunications was the top vertical for mobile advertising. This was primarily driven by carriers and device manufacturers that doubled down their mobile buys doing the holiday season. Windows Phone 7 devices in particular relied heavily on mobile advertising.
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A new billboard campaign for The CW series Vampire Diaries is causing some concern for its reference to an older descriptor for sexually transmitted diseases, venereal disease. The CW, however, scoffs at the concern with a spokesperson saying, VD simply stands for Vampire Diaries, and anyone who thinks otherwise should probably get themselves checked out."
Harsh as those words are, it's refreshing to see a company stand up to complaints once in a while. That said, the phrase venereal disease hasn't completely vanished from the lexicon and is bound to cause curiosity among those with a few more birthdays under their belt than that of the typical Vampire Diaries viewer.
To combat the belief sex workers are not seen as real people with real lives and real issues, a new PSA from Halifax cause group Stepping Stones attempts to portray prostitutes as human beings who care about their loved ones and are responsible citizens.
One ad shows the images of a girl and the headline, "I'm glad my prostitute made me finish school" with body copy that reads, "Sex workers are mothers too."
Another ad depicts the image of a grandmother and carries the headline, "I'm proud of my tramp raising two kids on her own" with the body copy, "Sex workers are daughters too."
Creative Director of Extreme, the agency that created the campaign, said, "People have a bad habit of pigeonholing sex workers as not being people. It's easy not to care about a certain group within society if you actually don't see them as people."
In essence the campaign urges us to believe we're all one big happy family on this planet. No matter what sort of work we do.
High School Musical star and one-time nude internet celebrity, Vanessa Hudgens is the new face of Candies, a brand which simply can't get enough of pop culture's hot, young things. Following in the footsteps of Hayden Panettiere, Fergie, Hilary Duff, Kelly Clarkson, Ashlee Simpson, Jenny McCarthy, Britney Spears and the Dixie Chicks, Hudgens will make her debut when the campaign breaks in March.
Included in the buy are Seventeen, Teen Vogue, and Cosmopolitan. For the campaign, Hudgens, 22, was shot by fashion photographer Tony Duran at the Pink Motel in Sun Valley, California. A video posted on the brand's Facebook page offers a behind the scenes look at the shoot.
If Skechers President Leonard Armato said, "I had to take a cold shower" after seeing a sneak peak of his new Super Bowl ad featuring Kim Kardashian, we're going to assume the ad's pretty hot. That or Armato hasn't been out in a long time.
Following last year's last minute participation in the Super Bowl with :15's featuring Joe Montana, Kardashian will be front and center in the ad for the brand's Shape-Ups line of footwear.
Of his selection of Kardashian for spokeswoman, Armato told Advertising Age, "There was never any kind of an endorsement relationship between her and any other footwear company. She never put her name behind anyone's product. There's a difference between attending an event you're invited to and actually vouching for a product, which she does for us and I'm very comfortable with that."
OK, we get it now. GoDaddy is going to tantalize ud with increasingly revealing shots of its next GoDaddy Girl, promised to be a well known celebrity. Last week, we got a glimpse of her legs. Today, we get a glimpse of her ass. And a fine ass it is.
Anyone care to take a stab at whose ass this is?
And thank God the brand has retired the banned commercial approach to publicity.
So we've all heard Megan Fox is the latest celebrity to lend her body to Emporio Armani to call attention to the brand's Armani Jeans. She's teased us in her lingerie. She's driven a hotel bellman mad with desire by changing in front of him. And now she's showing off her tattoos clad only in a pair of Armani jeans painted on her curvaceous ass.
Of Fox's selection as spokesmodel, Giorgio Armani said, "Megan embodies the spirit of the women of today. Free, confident and seductive. Her beautiful features reveal femininity, sensuality and strength."
What he really meant to say was, "Holy shit, this woman is hot! She's got a great ass and I want it in my jeans!"
Oh and for those who prefer to ogle hot men, make sure you check out soccer star Rafael Nadal
who's also part of the campaign.
One really has to wonder what goes the mind of a creative when the result is a poster like this one for Sephora. And let's not forget the minds of the people who approve the work as well. Either they are oblivious to the "other" meaning of imagery such as this or they can't help but celebrate the dirty little thoughts which float about their mind and wallow in the sadistic pleasure of watching this work make its way through the approval process.
Six years ago, Vodafone ran an ad that, to some, carries the very same connotation as this Sephora poster. As we wrote back then, the the visual in the Vodafone ad was "an expression of joy following receipt of a certain climatically delivered thrust of Christmas excitement."
How would we describe this Sephora poster? We're not sure but it's clear to us this is definitely not a representation of how most women would apply lotion to their face. Especially a quart's worth of gooey white stuff while their mouth is wide open. That is unless they are in a certain line of work which lauds this sort of behavior with praise, fame and money.
Just like Debbie Gibson. Just like Britney Spears. Just like Christina Aguilera. Just like just like Miley Cyrus. And just like every other starlet who, at one point or another, decides she needs to "grow up," "become and adult," "shed her childhood" and show the world that she's no longer a little girl but a sexed-up super hottie who's ready to take on the world.
With her new single, What the Hell, Avril Levigne is now part of the "I'm not a child anymore" club. Of course, Levigne never really was of the child star ilk what with her so-called punk approach to music and decided avoidance of Disney.
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Japanese automotive brand Lexus has hooked up with Australian singer and model Kylie Minogue to promote the brand's new CT 200h hybrid vehicle in an ad campaign set to launch in February. As part of the deal, Lexus will sponsor Minogue's upcoming Aphrodite:Les Folies music tour.
Of Minogue's selection as brand ambassador, Lexus spokesperson Belinda Poole said, "Kylie is the perfect ambassador for Lexus and the new CT200h. Kylie has the energy, style and exceptionally popular public profile that will reach directly to customers new to the brand."
The campaign, created by Billington Cartmell and CHI & Partners, will include a series of online videos that will highlight behind the scenes footage of Minogue's tour.
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