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Nike McFly Effort Contunues With Petition Site

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It seems the very dedicated Al Cabino just might have his way after all. For years, the man has been behind a grassroots effort to get Nike to manufacture the sneakers Michael J. Fox wore in the 1989 movie Back to the Future 2 during the year 2015 scene. A petition site McFly 2015 has been launched to collect signatures and convince Nike there's a market for the shoes. Oh, naturally, there's a MySpace site too.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Brands, Consumer Created, Online, Social



Google Streams the 'Net Through Porcelain

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Google has a lot of fun with easter eggs, probably a big reason why, despite its soul-sucking bulk, it manages to keep the allegiance of Gen-Yers who prefer smoothie options to 401Ks.

While we panicked over a spotty internet connection a friend sent us here, which seemed like a joygasmic option until we read up on installment.

If you want to don the gloves, be our guest. Is this what Google employees spend the allotted 20 percent of their independent project time doing?

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Online, Spoofs



VW Auctions Off Hoods Without Car Attached

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We have no idea what anyone would want with a Volkswagen Touareg hood without the rest of the car attached to it but that's the premise of a promotion the automaker is doing as a benefit for Feed the Children. Volkswagen will auction off two Touareg hoods that were signed by 40 athletes, musicians and actors during a Las Vegas Volkswagen Important People promotion in Las Vegas February 16-18 and during the National Basketball Players' Association Gala February 17. The auction began yesterday with minimum bids set at $500. Sadly, neither of the bids (one, two) have seen any action yet which, again, begs the question...who wants a hood without the car even if it does have a bunch of celeb signatures. Despite that, we have no doubt the hoods will eventually be scooped up.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Events, Strange



MasterCard ... Phones ... Boooo

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Post-Priceless, MasterCard's marketing attempts fail to gather much interest or headway. Their new thing, called MasterCard Nearby, leverages the power of wireless provider go2 and a lot of early '90's creative to encourage people to interact more with the brand. The service enables you to do exciting and card-relevant things, like search for ATMs. We started to boo but were interrupted by a yawn and now lack the energy to keep booing. Oh well.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Mobile/Wireless



Floating Balloons With Puma Goodies Mezmerize

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We apologize for not highlighting earlier when it occurred in mid-March. We meant to. really, we did. Somehow it got lost in the pile of "publish me!" requests filling up our inbox. Usually, we just let these missed pieces dies a happy death but this work from ADK and 60 Layers of Cake for Puma's Travel Golf collection is too mesmerizingly beautiful to just toss in the trash can.

On March 17 in Antwerp, 2,000 golf ball shaped helium balloons attached to Puma golf items were sent aloft to float down Meir, a busy shopping street as well as near taxi stands, train and bus stations. People were free to take the items. Labels were attached to the balloons that described the collection and directed people who grabbed them to the Puma website. The effort aimed to convey the "packable, portable and playable" qualities of the line.

Several images of the work can be viewed here, here and here. You can also drink in the beauty of this "Travel Light" campaign in a video here.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Best, Guerilla, Outdoor



Cuss Cards Expand Everyday Vernacular to 6 Tongues

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The problem with cursing like sailors is when you're actually angry no words seem intense enough, so you just end up sputtering and needlessly flailing your hands. There is nothing worse than having righteous rage confused for epilepsy. For these situations, Cuss Cards come in handy.

Don't just say shit. Say merde. And if French ain't your cup of tea, raise verbal hell a la Madrid, Rome, Amsterdam, Berlin and Stockholm.

Diseases are a popular means of expressing distaste in Dutch, whereas the Italians are fond of blasphemies. Don't you feel smarter now? For more worldly ditties, check out the map.

And yes! There are games, and their names are fun to say.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 3-07    
Topic: Good, Online, Trends and Culture



Hank Lends Rhapsodic Comfort to Emo Adfolk

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We've all experienced the heart-crushing feeling of losing the perfect demo because it was too costly, the estate was too stingy or because some crappy local band promised your creative director they'd do a more contemporary cover. With this soul-searing emotion in mind, Taxi New York brings the concept of Hank to life.

In pseudo-disease style a promo video for the site showcases symptoms of demo-longing, performed with impressive desolation by some faces in the ad and marketing world. What does Hank do? Pair the afflicted with the fully-licensable tracks of their dreams, of course.

We considered shedding a tear for the suffering but decided to kick a kitten instead. They're always getting in the way of our feet.

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 2-07    
Topic: Online, Strange



Ad Council Lays Smack Down on Gen-Y Exhibitionists

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Here's a campaign that's too relevant for comfort. Merkley + Partners get cozy with the Ad Council -- which was recently in bed with the US Army for a grammatically icky and unconvincing get-edumakayted campaign -- to inflict fear upon teens for more conservative internet practices.

Part peer pressure, part plain creepiness and all mortification, the spots are entitled Bulletin Board and Everyone Knows Your Name. A typically over-informative PR tells us it's meant to raise awareness about online sexual exploitation but could just as easily be a cautionary wrist-slap over the ever-growing epidemic of Google-happy employers.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Apr- 2-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online, Radio, Social, Television



Sunsilk Advances Women's Cause With Hair Color Showdown

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Hmm. Let's think. How can we launch a campaign that celebrates the advancement of women and their transformation from refrigerator advertisement decoration to glass-ceiling breaking CEOs and Presidential hopefuls? Ooo. Ooo...we got it! A campaign that rests solely on hair color and pits blondes against brunettes in an intelligence challenge. Now that's sure to remove any doubt we'd be positioning women as objects of desire, right? Sunsilk thinks so.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 2-07    
Topic: Games, Online



FWA Wins, Runaway Bride Campaigns, WMA Calls, Goodby Scoops

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- Chicago Tribune writer Steve Johnson thinks the U.K.'s Favorite Website Awards is the best online awards site out there.

- The Runaway bride is now an ad campaign for the Albuquerque, New Mexico Police department.

- The Web Marketing Association has announced its call for entries for its 11th annual WebAward Competition which judges website development against peer sites within 96 industries. The deadline for entry is May 31, 2007 and the competition Website is www.webaward.org.

- MDC Partners is merging Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners with Margeotes Fertitta Powell.

- Cisco is sponsoring the redesign of Slate's forum, The Fray. Forum members will have the opportunity to make design and feature suggestions and vote of potential designs.

- Goodby gets goodies in the form of $1.2 billion dollars worth of Sprint Nextel business.

- Patron Tequila gets slapped for using sexual imagery and innuendo to sell its wares.

by Steve Hall    Apr- 2-07    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Industry Events, Strange



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