We're inclined to agree with Autoblog on this one. We're not sure we'd like large magnetic stickers that look like dents placed on our cars to somehow illustrate how tough the VW Polo is. Not to mention the questionable strategy behind the move as questioned by Autoblog which wrote, "Besides, what message does this bone-headed marketing campaign really send for the Polo? Is it: 'Polo: the steering is so bad, you'll have little control when you try to park.' Or could it be: 'Polo: the car everybody else will hate because it reminds them of the stupid magnet that got stuck on their car.'" Indeed. We don't really get it either.
We don't really know what to think about this banner ad for Portrait Professionals but every time we see it we're gripped with a sense of alarm. The girl at left doesn't look bad now, but you have to experience the ad by accident to achieve the full effect.
The before image flashes frenetically - maliciously, even - and is replaced by the after one, but not until after having destroyed an otherwise soothing browsing experience.
Plus, there's something unsettlingly Dorian Gray about taking a mildly menacing photo and replacing it with a timid, disarming one. Suddenly we distrust all our hard-earned social networking friends.
Adverblog tips us off to the weird new website for Trident courtesy of agency AKQA, whose revamp falls neatly in line with other navigational works of whimsy we've seen lately (1, 2, 3).
We initially explored the site to try hunting down the Teletubbie-looking guys from the Adverblog illustration, but after six wasted minutes clicking all over the place we called it quits in disgust and disdain.
It's a lot of bells and whistles wrapped around a PowerPoint presentation. Really, everything leads back to a dull, almost clinical pop-up or pull-down checklist of Trident benefits.
The ever-present chattering teeth bug us the most, though. They follow you everywhere.
- From May 8-11, The One Club will host its One Show Festival Week
- There are bad commercials that promote local Spring fairs...and then there's this one. But the agency, Big Bang Seattle, really, really wants you to know they created it.
- The Blogger's Choice Awards is now collecting nominations.
- And don't miss PostieCon, a conference in Orlando for bloggers to learn from the leaders in the space.
The cool thing about True.com is that their campaigns are racy, generally consistent and immediately recognizable. Those three components are kind of a big deal when you're trying to brand build.
There once was a time when Match.com was cool, but they've since run in a thousand confusing directions. We were surfing around this afternoon when we came across their latest shot in the dark.
This guy invites you to stare. Then he turns around and starts talking to you. Like, out of the ad, to you. Then he goes, "What are you waiting for?"
We looked around. It wasn't 2 AM. We weren't between scenes in a Lifetime movie. There was no local-singles 800 number to dial. And we were confused.
Because PETA gets a seratonin high from symbolic violence, they're using Adwords to push the crap out of these supposedly banned ads. We just finished watching an awesome one for their Fur is Dead campaign in which a woman in fur is clubbed unconscious and stripped of her coat.
There are a lot of people we'd like to club because of their clothes, but hey, we hold back. Why bunny-huggers who guiltlessly pillage living plantlife think they're special, we'll just never know.
We get the point, PETA, but why do you have to be bitchy about it? We'd even venture to say you'd look less mean if you left burning crosses on lawns, but somebody else has already got that gig.
Kenneth Cole is having fun again. This time with AIDS. He's making AIDS fashionable. Well, sort of. Nothing like showing a hot fashion chic to attract attention and then slapping the tagline "we're all potential carriers" to repel with plague-like force. Oh wait. AIDS is kind of like the plague and even hot models can get it so we'll just shut up now and let Ken do his thing.
UPDATE: Even more Kenneth Cole idiocy. This time with weapons of mass destruction.
Since Jurassic Park we are wary of anything involving labs, dinosaurs and the promise of sex. But for some odd reason Schick sees this as the perfect formula for their latest slew of homepage-worthy marketing schemes.
We're experiencing unpleasant early 90's nostalgia with this Dino Hunters thing they're doing. The promo page assures the uncertain that "Comedy, sex and nasty ol' lizards abound in this free game about hunting dinosaurs" - and we don't know how or why that sells razors (the thought of running one blade, much less four, over gigantor scaly skin makes our stomachs clench) but perhaps it does.
The sex component is a burden mainly carried by the token ditzy blonde Candy. In a perfect world hot cartoon characters would be smart and not vapid because the point of being able to create is to correct the shortcomings of reality, yeah? No.
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We never cease to be perplexed by this running Converse campaign for Chuck Taylors.
"Get Chucked." Isn't chucking slang for spewing the vom? Is this some sort of lame attempt at reappropriating the term? Maybe Converse should talk to the clever societal puppeteers who managed to alter the meanings of "nigga" and "queer."
Adding even more to the dumb dad/idiot man trend, these two (1, 2) new commercials for Holiday Inn and its position as Official Hotel of Major League Baseball pit four idiots against Cal Ripken so they can make asses of themselves. Is it really a good thing to portray your potential customer as an idiot and then expect them to hand over their hard-earned dollars to you? We think not. Oh sure, we're not the dumb one. It's that one idiot from left field we can all laugh at so that we can feel better our ourselves. Still, does every man in every commercial have to come off like an idiot? Oh wait, don't answer that. If we make all men smart in commercials, we'll have to stop treating women like eye candy in commercials and that would be a very bad thing. Bring on the dumb dads. Maybe we'll get more ads like this.
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