Mike's Hard Lemonade is hard up for some social and consumer generated media action having gone down the road of the personalized fake newscast which, like, everyone is doing to the point of absolute boredom. So it's very likely Mike is really really hard right now for Nashville Star contestant Ashlee Hewitt who, on her own we are assured, has written a song about Mike's Hard Lemonade and how a group of girls used to come into a bar she worked at and ordered Mike's Hard Lemonade.
Hmm. And here I thought only rap artists embedded brands in there music. Of course that could simply be because I never listen to country music. Anyway, here it is. Be happy for Mike and his Hard...Lemonade.
Get Your War On, the satirical anti-war comic series by David Rees, is turning into an online video series. See the preview at 236.com, where it will air exclusively.
The "video strip" will be put together by Flat Black Films, which did Waking Life and those Charles Schwab ads that I liked but everyone else hated.
On Sunday I moderated an ad agency panel for Shoot! the Day, a day-long photographer conference put together by PhotoShelter.
A few things I picked up amidst coleslaw mountains and sassy stock:
- ADs and art buyers depend pretty heavily on stock photography, but feel like they've seen everything the industry has to offer -- including its paltry selection of models. "It's become a running joke," said Molly Aaker of Unit7. "'There's that same girl, except with her hair up!'"
- Diversity is an issue, but it can't be solved just by changing the color of people's faces. Belinda Lopez of StrawberryFrog wants to see more "documentary-style" imagery -- people in natural poses, expressing real emotions, and doing things a person in that situation and/or of that ethnicity is likely to do.
- Everybody seems crazy about PhotoShelter -- which is probably why they attended the first annual Shoot! the Day in the first place.
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As a follow up to its original rugby film, Land Rover is out with another which debuted mid-July and has, again, tapped British royalty to appear in the video. In the new video, the goofy rugby lover puts his smarmy moves on Zara Phillips, the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II. Phillips, an equestrienne Eventing World Champion is seen taking her horse out of its trailer while the goofy dude tries to explain to Phillips, who, apparently, he doesn't know, how simple horse rising is. Philips just smiles but the horse doesn't take too kindly to the dude's smarm.
In late 2006, Phillips appeared in a print ad for Land Rover wearing a gown covered in mud with the headline, "Beautifuly Poised." The Queen wasn't all that happy about her appearing in the ad but perhaps she's had a chance to get used to Phillip's more "real world" endeavors.
Looks like CP+B's finally doing something with the $300 million in ad money Microsoft gave it. Oops, this isn't a CP+B campaign.
The divine task: reposition Vista.
"Vista is now actually better than its reputation. That's a marketing issue," observed Tim Anderson of the ailing OS -- which, to be fair, was getting panned even before it went live. (Warts and all.)
One of the new ads, at left, reads, "At one point, everyone thought the Earth was flat. Get the facts about Windows Vista." Clicking on that brings you to this page, which in part reads:
When Windows Vista debuted in January 2007, we declared it the best operating system we had ever made. "Windows Vista is beautiful," The New York Times raved. It's humbling that millions of you agree.
But we know a few of you were disappointed by your early encounter. Printers didn't work. Games felt sluggish. You told us--loudly at times--that the latest Windows wasn't always living up to your high expectations for a Microsoft product.
Well, we've been taking notes and addressing issues.
That's charming. Touching, even. But do they mean it? And what happens now?
Lately I can't turn the TV on without running into an ad for the Pickens Plan, T. Boone Pickens' $58 million attempt to liberate the US from its sordid addiction to foreign oil.
Interesting things about Pickens and this campaign:
o Pickens is an oil magnate. (Can you hear the crows going "OMG! OMG!"?) Soon, he'll be a wind magnate too.
o The ads are totally finance-focused. Pickens hardly says the e-word ("environmental") at all.
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OK, this is kind of cool. Using a glass elevator with a giant faux Oreo cookie attached to it that dunks into a faux glass of milk when the elevator hits the first floor, Oreo has done a nice job creating interest with the use of alternative media. Hmm. Anyone feel like Oreo cookies and milk now?
AMV BBDO, those apparently horrible people who Bob Garfield hates for making a Snicker's commercial that, OMFG, is homophobic, or so he says, have created two commercials for Wrigley's Extra gum.
In the spots, produced by Biscuit@Independent, couples in love do what couples in love do. They roll down grassy hills while embracing each other and they share a jacket while waiting for the bus. What's not to love? Bob? Bob?
From the look of these new Gossip Girl promotional posters, you'd think all they do on the show is have sex. Oddly (or not), that's not the case. The show is entertaining, witty and juicy. And who doesn't like to watch pretty people prance around the screen and whine about their difficult lives...even if they all come from multi-millionaire households? Besides, sex sells so the more we can show Blake Lively and Leighton Meester get it on with their boy toys, the better.
September 1, people.
Most sobering situations could use an inappropriate joke. Contributing to Stand Up to Cancer's "This is where the end of cancer begins" campaign, celebrities use donated airtime to make laughter, not bummer. See spots:
"Cancer patients and their chemo-induced baldness have stolen the sympathy that is rightfully mine." And that's why Larry David can't get laid.
Meanwhile, Henry Winkler plays cancer in the style of Epuron's infuriating Wind guy. "Did I bite you? ... I didn't mean to." Ahh. That Fonzie's still a riot after all these years.
More videos at the Stand Up to Cancer website, including one where the Daily Show says FU to cancer, and one where Katie Couric ... well, "Katie Couric" should be enough to make you laugh, actually.
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