Marc Jacobs and Madonna Raunch Up an Old Scene

madonna-lv-chair.jpg

Two relics of the old guard try something new in these print ads for Marc Jacobs/Louis Vuitton, featuring Madonna. Variant.

There's a lot going on -- those stringy shoes, chunky witch doctor bangles and a hair skirt, of all bloody things -- but like we said to our friend Jeremy Dante (who passed the ads over), Madonna's career is a defiant chin-jut to an industry that swallows young divas, warps their minds and spits them out as lesser animals.

She's an edgy classic, imperfect, unbridled but timeless -- and that's a niche LV can do something with.

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Good, Magazine, Poster



Amsterdam Agencies Pay Audiovisual Tribute to MTV

for-love-of-m.jpg

Oh, MTV.

Over the years it's taught us how babies are made, why the Holocaust was not very nice and where those sassy red tennis shoes really come from. Most importantly, it helped bring Britney back and has kept Russell Brand knee-deep in pharma specifically for our viewing pleasure.

Given what we owe MTV for this elegant yet candid upbringing, it's only natural that someone try paying a little back. And who better than Amsterdam, baby?!

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Good, Online, Trends and Culture, Video



Coco Gets Quiet with Karl Lagerfeld

coco-chanel-yum.jpg

Tomorrow Chanel.com debuts Coco Avant Chanel, a 10-minute silent film celebrating the legend of Mademoiselle Coco -- pre-dating her existence as a brand demi-god.

The film was directed by Karl Lagerfeld, the only person alive who can make a safety vest look chic. Leaving us to salivate with nary but film stills and a trailer so pitch-perfect it makes smoking sexy again, Lagerfeld haughtily confided his distaste of movie extras.

"They don't know how to touch the clothes," he whispered coolly before toasting us* -- an action that made chills travel from glass to torso.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Good, Online, Video



Oh Look! Another Holiday-Themed Time Waster!

sprint_gingerbread.jpg

It really shouldn't be a surprise. After all, it's December and that's when the flood gates open for holiday-themed timewasters, agency Christmas cards, silly videos and Elf Yourself. Yes, it's December and this December brings us Sprint's The Gingerbread Man With Everything, a dress the gingerbread cookie make which OF COURSE you can, YES, send to your friend.

So stop screwing around on Twitter. Stop updating your Facebook page. Finish Digging stories. Stop tagging photos on flickr. And for the love of God, quit hanging out on AdGabber! OK, maybe not so much the last one.

Goodby Silverstein & Partners and Ted Perez created.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Games, Good



Dogs Get Pop Up 'Hotel For Dogs' Store to Promote Movie

hotel_for_dogs.jpg

Because foster parents are mean and don't let you keep your dog, kids sometimes have to take matters into their own hands and build a Hotel For Dogs. That's the premise and the name of a new Dreamworks/Nickelodeon movie starring Emma Roberts.

To help promote the movie, BigHeads created a pop up store - a converted Ann Taylor space at Westfield Century mall in Los Angeles - called Hotel For Dogs. Throughout the holidays, people can take their dogs to the "hotel" and have their furry ones doggy sat for free while they go shopping.

Check out some more shots of the hotel here.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 4-08    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Point of Purchase, Promotions



ATTENTION: ALL CANADIAN AGENCY EMPLOYEES

adweek-canada.jpg

If you don't attend Canada's first-ever Ad Week, you'll top off your creative career hustling gold watches. Or zazzing tourists over three-card monty. Or as one of those silver guys that move really, really slowly.

(Okay, probably not really, but think of the fun you could have snickering at the too-cool creative douchebags that all seem to get their retro glasses and sneakers at the same off-Broadway boutique.)

Positively charming guerrilla and print work by Bos/Toronto and Trevor//Peter Communications.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 3-08    
Topic: Events, Good, Guerilla, Industry Events



Franck Ribery is the New Pink Panther

pink-panther-wk.jpg

Wieden + Kennedy/Amsterdam reprise the intro to The Pink Panther with this catchy spot for Nike's Mercurial Vapor IV.

"He's a gentleman, a scholar, he's an -- acrobat!"

Cheeky. Wait for the tooth-gleam at :47. Makes me wanna watch soccer while cuddling a plush Ribery doll.

more »



Stella Basks Paper World in Warm Beery Glow

stella-paper-bird.jpg

Lowe Roche/Toronto and Psyop have put together a devastatingly charming holiday ad for Stella Artois.

In it, a Geppeto-esque craftsman builds an elaborate paper dove. When night falls, she flies off his desk and descends upon a sleepy paper town -- all to park a snowflake (or is it a star?) at the base of a Stella Artois goblet, glowing like the Christ child.

Make haste and see. Users on StellaArtois.com, where the video serves as an intro, can also send "paper" stars -- glorified beer invites -- to friends. Options for appropriate "tone" include Custom, Poetic, to the Point and Sincere.

I picked Poetic.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 2-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Bart Says Everything Steve Jobs Probably Only Says, Off the Record, to NYT Reporters.

simpsons-apple.jpg

Last Sunday The Simpsons took the piss out of Apple: the brand experience, the cult of the white earbuds and even Steve Jobs' sermons on the mount.

To incentivize the watch for hardcore ad-heads, wait 'til the end, when a dude with a mallet recreates Apple's "1984."

Magical. Experience Mapple -- "It's so sterile!" -- below the drop (courtesy of Hulu).

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 2-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Spoofs, Television, Trends and Culture



There's More Than One way to Skin a PSA

change_the_present.jpg

No sooner are we lauding the importance of honest, graphically intense PSAs, we get this from Strawberry Frog, "ChangingThePresent.org seeks to make the world a better place one gift at a time by connecting givers with 350 non-profit organizations offering 1,600 gifts and to a universe of 500,000 registered philanthropic organizations. The two :30 spots spoof traditional holiday commercials by poking fun of gifts like bow-topped cars by replacing it with a sheep adorned by a big red ribbon (supports the Heifer Project International), and a beautiful jewelry box containing a polio vaccine (UNICEF)."

Without belittling the very important objective this campiagn seeks to accomplish, it just feels like the wind has been removed from the sails. Or maybe it's just the sudden emotional shift from empathetic compassion to tongue in cheek humor. Both are good. Both can work. Let's just hope the two campaigns don't appear back top back which, of course, they won't becasue one is UK based and the other American. Just sayin'.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 2-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good, Opinion