For most people working closely with the internet, it's almost laughable to think somebody out there is still falling for schemes where a company is updating its databases and "needs" your username and password.
But apparently people still do. It happened to a friend and Adrants reader, whose Gmail account is now being used to send urgent messages demanding financial aid via wire transfer for her dire-straights "husband" in Nigeria. We were like, "What, she got married? And the guy's trapped in Africa? And he uses Western Union?!"
Thankfully there's help - like that promised by this banner ad, which claims it will check if your credit card has been compromised if you'll just tap your card number and expiry date into the boxes.
We're sure a couple hundred people fell for that one, too.
We were on Discovery News reading an article when we were interrupted by the presence of a really ugly "scoop n' poop" advergame for Wild Hogs that expanded, didn't contract and opened the website when we pushed the "close" button.
We'd say that the type of ad a site chooses to populate its real estate is kind of a big deal. And while a film like Wild Hogs is probably within Discovery News' parameter of family-friendly fare, it would have been nice if somebody had tried it out beforehand or at least seriously considered its placement - in the middle of a story about King Nebuchadnezzar? Come on!
Selling underwear is usually a no-brainer for some companies. You make it sexy, you make it provocative, you dress it all up and get some pretty people to trounce around in it, or - worst comes to worst - you find really fruity mascots, like Fruit of the Loom.
We can't think of a major underwear brand that fails to be interesting in the same way that Hanes does.
And this isn't a recent thing. They've always kind of sucked.
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Bob, Bob, Bob. What are we to do? What will we have to write about come Super Bowl 2008 without GoDaddy drama? If we can't highlight your GoDaddy girls and the seemingly insurmountable obstacles over which you hurdle to get your spots on the air, what's a poor Adrants editor to do?
Oh sure, there will be some other dude who tries to propose to his girlfriend during the game. No doubt, there will be another slew of consumer-generated crap to slap around. And, of course, there will be another Snickers Kiss-like shocker to leave those without the humor gene aghast. Robert Goulet might even make another appearance. And let's not forget those skeevy direct to consumer commercials about old men who can't control their bladder. Or robots who commit suicide. Or scandal courtesy of CareerBuilder who will fire Weiden + Kennedy after their spots fail to place in the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Poll.
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In tangent with Don McNabb and "some weird old guy" (who looks a lot like Orville Redenbacher back from the grave), VitaminWater put together a campaign called The POWER and the GLORY.
The ad pokes fun at drama-ridden film trailers with heavy voices and against-all-odds themes prevalent in underdog action films. We think it's corny, actually, and have only this to say in response.
We haven't covered much on PETA lately but JWT Kuwait just sent us some work they did for the animal-lovers. A couple of variations are here and here.
The process of segmenting human flesh for the manufacturing of goods is all very Holocaust. But then again, this isn't the first time they've put people on the meat slab to make a point. Guess it's okay if you're vego.
As only George Parker, the ad industry's potty-mouthed longtimer, can, an internal DraftFCB memo released last Friday announcing the win of, as George puts it, "a fucking website" design job, has received George's trademark commentary. Cutting through the bullshit of most internal agency blatherings, George appropriately sums up the announcement writing, "Boy, these fuckers are on a roll. What's next... Cocktail napkins and book match covers?" Indeed.
Shake Well Before Use writer Ariel Waldman, living up to the technology, advertising and, most importantly, sex aspects of her site's tagline, brings us this QSOL server ad that's got everyone's panties and jockstraps in a twist. With the headline "Don't feel bad, our servers won't go down on you either" not so subtly placed next to an image of a woman's face with giant red lips (like we haven't seen that image anywhere before) who looks like she might actually be ready to, this ad conjures every bad stereotype out there regarding geeks, their technology and their seeming inability to get any.
It's even got feministas all a twitter ("The misogyny is obvious, since the ad treats women explicitly and entirely like sexual objects."). But the best thing about this tempest in a Donny Deutsch Speedo is the comment from Sarah MC who wrote, "Sometimes I really feel for men. They buy a product (women), expecting it to work like it's supposed to (sexual slave), and it malfunctions! There really is no justice." Indeed.
There's really no reason or us all to get turgidly heated over this becasue a simple re-write of the headline will make this all go away: "Don't feel bad, our ad won't sell any servers either."
Almost one year late, Coors and its agency, DraftFCB (we're sure George Parker will have comment on this), are attempting to create a Coors Light spot using last falls press conference outburst from then Arizona Head Coach Dennis Green. During the outburst, following a loss to the Chicago Bears after a 20-0 lead, Green screamed "If you want to crown them, crown their asses. They are what we thought they were and we let 'em off the hook!" After which, he walked away from the podium.
Apparently, Coors and DraftFCB are having a tough time coming up with something. Meanwhile, it's all over YouTube including endless spoofs, some of which are probably better than anything DraftFCB will come up with.
Say hello to Diet Coke Plus, an - in our opinion, misguided - attempt to keep snacky drinks relevant in the American health craze. In less than a year, we'll bet you $5 this vitamin- and mineral-enhanced beverage is off the shelves and lost in the shuffle of other badly-planned notions, like Vanilla Coke.
Here's a crazy idea: salad at some point in the day, and lots of water - not that flavored stuff hopped-up on still more vitamins.
Did we mention we hate the cyan-crazed '90s vibe of the Coke Plus packaging? Way to be dated, guys.
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