nu-kitchen's Wordplay Sets Stage for Its Dishes

MLRNuKPrntDevourRVSD72.jpg

These ads for nu-kitchen were pitched to us as eye candy for ex-English majors. Each has a tagline served up on a white plate -- innocuous at first, then you read the copy and your head starts bobbing subconsciously with the iambic meter.

See:

o You click, we cook, we deliver, you devour. (At left.)
o Knock knock. Who's there? Orange-chile tilapia with black forbidden rice.
o Gourmet delivery. Comfort food price.
o Click once. Eat happily ever after.

Each plate is furnished with a dish description in smaller text ("biscotti with dark chocolate dipping sauce," "espresso glazed pork with peruvian purple potatoes"). Outside the entree, there's a prominent promo: try three meals free.

more »



Sean Penn Rolls Out the Money For Hungry Children

world_hunger_un_sean_penn.jpg

With a supremely effective visual, this PSA for the United Nations World Food Program in which Sean Penn illustrates how, comparatively speaking, cheap it would be to feed every hungry school child for a year makes a powerful statement.

With the Wall Street plan costing $700 billing, the Iraq war costing $600 billion and the European stimulus plan costing $200 billion euros, the $3 billion dollars needed to feed hungry children for a year seems quite affordable.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-09    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Commercials, Good



Western Union Delivers World Peace With Floating Yellow Blobs

western_union_yes.jpg

Don't you love those commercials that paint the world as a place in perfect harmony? Where everyone is happy? Where children play together happily? Where everyone is optimistic?

While it always seems to be asking too much, that didn't stop Publicis Hong Kong from creating this feel-good Western Union commercial in which floating blobs of yellow form the word "yes" reaffirming that, yes, life does move forward and people are saying yes to a brighter future.

Oh, and Western Union is there to help that happiness happen.

more »



Oh Look! It's Another Advertising Parody

barats_bareta.jpg

No, not that kind. This kind comes from Barats & Bareta, an online comedy team who've decided to take on advertising and, once again, confirm the notion the industry is a very, very strange place.

People, we must "adapt and embrace."

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-09    
Topic: Good, Spoofs, Video



Barclay Turns Water Slide Commercial Into Contest

barclaycard_waterslide_challenge.jpg

So there was the Barclaycard slide commercial, remember? It's the one where a guy the office strips down to his underwear andhttp://www.youtube.com/user/Barclaycardcreate commutes home in a giant water slide. And, because it's a commercial hyping Barclay's slideless card, the dude buys a lot of stuff on the way home just buy holding his card near the scanner.

And, yes, it would have been funnier it it had been Donny Deutsch going down the slide in that Speedo. OK, maybe not but it would have fun to watch. OK, maybe not. It would have been repulsive and made us vomit so thank you, Barclay for using some anonymous dude.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb- 3-09    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good, Promotions



The French Want Their Whoppers Back.

back-in-france-thumb.jpg

And that's cool, because Grease called and wants its moves back. (Better give up the leather jackets, too.) Hostage swap, anybody?

Helpful cultural sidenote: that guy with the big white stuff around his head is not an angry mashed potato. It is God.

"Back in France," produced by Clipit and directed by Cedric Dubourg, is a sugary protest against Burger King's mid-'90s departure from French soil -- a tribute to how we've managed to enrich the developed world (and are working on the pending one) with our seductive meat patties. Also, it was short-listed at last year's Festival de Meribel. (BK, what do you really need Crispin for?)

more »

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-09    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good, Online, Trends and Culture, Video



SoBe Unleashes Its 3D Lizard Lake Commercial

SLW_SB_3_stars_lizards.jpg

SoBe has released the 3D version of it's Lizard Lake Super Bowl commercial. If you have your 3D glasses, check the commercial out here.

by Steve Hall    Jan-30-09    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2009



Anheiser-Busch Will Do OK During Super Bowl

ab_clydesdales_circus.jpg

Budweiser has released previews of the five commercial it will debut during the Super Bowl tomorrow. In a departure from the past, most (three) of the commercials feature the Clydesdales which, in my opinion, rarely disappoint. In fact, one of the spots, Clydesdales Circus is likely to bring a tear to the eye. Perhaps not the downpour the post-9/11 Clysdesdales commercial did but this one looks like it will be sweet.

Other spots will feature Conan O'Brien doing that Japander thing where he gets convinced he shouldn't worry about anyone seeing his ad becasue it will only air in Sweden and a brainstorming session which involves a radical solution to cutting the budget: don't serve Bud Light at every meeting.

They all show promise. Anheuser-Busch usually does fairly well during the game in terms of commercial likability and this year will likely be the same.

by Steve Hall    Jan-30-09    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2009



Erotic Threesome Turns Us On to Calvin Klein Jeans

valvin_klein_jeans_commercial.jpg

Not since the eighties when Brooke Shields cooed seductively into the camera have we seen a television commercial (partial nudity) for Calvin Klein Jeans. With the release of a new menage-a-trois themed commercial featuring models Natasha Poly, Anna Selezneva andAnna Jagodzinska, the once racy Shields commercial will now be filed under "tame and innocent."

The commercial, shot by Steven Meisel, will air in Europe while an edited version will air in the U.S. The unedited version run on the Calvin Klein Jeans website.

Along with the television spot, the campaign will be supported by magazine, billboards and LED boards.

by Steve Hall    Jan-30-09    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Racy



Sky Arts, ENO Court Opera-Goers of Tomorrow

barber-seville-thumb.jpg

Hoping to win new ears for high culture, the English National Opera and Sky Arts enlisted three well-known directors to jazz up some arias.

See all three clips. Kinda sucks that Baz Lurmann wasn't invited, given that he's tried interpreting La Boheme before, but everybody's probably still pissed at him over Australia.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jan-30-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Good, Online, Promotions, Television