« Last week 30-Sep-07 | This archive, pg:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  | Next week 14-Oct-07 »

GI Jonny Cums To The Rescue For HIV

hiv_gijoe.jpg

We've seen an endless parade of methods calling attention to HIV and what can be done to prevent it and fight it but we've never seen anything like this GI Joe-themed video from The Viral Factory and The 7th Chamber. Complete with bush, crotch cannon, fisting, brass eye, backdoor and more, this gem leaves no innuendo unturned.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Good, Video, Viral



John Cleese Offers Friendly Advice For Iron Mountain

cleese_iron_mountain.jpg

If there's anyone who can bring even the remotest bit of excitement to the mundane category of data security, it's John Cleese. As a follow up to Dr. Harold Trainwreck's The Institute for Backup Trauma, JDW Marketing has given us the equally humorous Friendly Advice Machine which aims to explain just how important data backup (with Iron Mountain, of course) can be. Written and directed by Captains of Industry and produced by Thunder Sky Pictures, a collection of videos feature Cleese answering data backup-related questions as only Cleese can.

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Online, Video



Online Game Gets Goofy With Fish, Pigs, Snails

maplestory_fish.jpg

Conjuring the weird and the WTF, Pasedena-based Ayzenberg has created three deliciously odd commercials for the hugely popular (out side the U.S.) game Maplestory, a free game, from Korean company Nexon, that makes it's money from in-game micro-transactions, a somewhat new trend in gaming. Called Fish, Pig and Snail, the commercials were directed by Erich Joiner along with Ocsar winning DP, Robert Richardson.

The campaign recently launched on MTV, MTV2, Comedy Central, G4, Cartoon Network' Adult Swin, Sci-Fi and Fuse.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Commercials, Games, Good, Strange



Greenpeace Spoofs Budweiser's 'Wassup,' Poorly, Really Poorly

greenpeace_wassup.jpg

This is really, really, REALLY bad. We'll say it again, REALLY bad. If you're going to go and spoof the Budweiser Wassup commercial, the least you could do is put a little effort into it. Apparently, Greenpeace, who claims Anheuser-Busch uses genetically altered rice to make Budweiser, thinks shitty dialog and bad actors can somehow call attention to the horror that is genetically enhanced rice. At least use phones made this century?? This critique is, of course, irrelevant because Greenpeace is getting the publicity they want anyway.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Cause, Video, Worst



Crush, Coupland Explain Why Seratonin Levels Drop Inside Office Supply Stores

douglas coupland roger.png

This is the first of a promotion by Crush, Toronto for Douglas Coupland's new novel The Gum Thief, "a story of love and looming apocalypse set in the aisles of an office supply store."

We're going to take a wild shot in the dark and say the innocuous office supply is Staples, because use of the word staples, the brand Staples and the object staples has hit us a few times. Of course, we could be totally wrong.

The spots cover three elements: protagonists Roger and Bethany, and The Glove Pond -- a novel inside the novel. Coupland narrates and each spot kind of makes us hate life, but in a funny way. We'd be receptive to reading the book, but mainly we feel compelled to sit around making staple animation. (See Bethany.)

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Promotions, Publishing



TyGirlz Leave Urban Turf to Bratz, Go Globetrotting

tygirlz.png

It's safe to say that the last time Ty swept us -- or kids, for that matter -- off our feet was during the peak of the Beanie Babies era. That time is over; the innocent BBs have been shelved away, alongside Mattel's ubiquitous Barbie, in favor of fat-lipped multi-ethnic Bratz.

And like Mattel, Ty is fighting back. Meet Ty Girlz. They not only sport gigantic lips and doe-eyes; they also have their own virtual world.

None of which really mattered until we saw this ad called TyGirlz Around the World, which tells us Ty also has an off-color sense of humor. We're creeped out ... and we love it.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Brands, Good, Spoofs, Video



Nothing Says 'Support My Cause' Like a Cupcake

cupcakes for cause.png

We hold a special place in our hearts for little girls carrying cupcakes because of an ad for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that we used to see all the time when we were kids.

To this day, it still makes us hungry for multiple halves of love-smattered confections.

Along the same altruistic vein (except without the whole changing-religions part), Merkle launched an interactive bakery called Cupcakes for a Cause to raise money for Cancercare. Every virtual cupcake sold means $1 toward research for a cure.

But talking of cupcakes would be lame if you couldn't actually eat one. The campaign also involves bake sales with sponsoring homes and bakeries. Oh heaven.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Cause, Good, Online



This Doctor's Office Makes You Hard

cialis_exam_table.jpg

Hey, there's ads on toilet paper. Why not on the tissue paper that covers the table in the doctor's exam room? After all, there's nothing to do in those rooms but read six month old issues of Good Housekeeping and Redbook. Why not take in a Cialis ad that just screams, "Dude, you ain't got dick!" Maybe Cialis should just install pill dispensers too. After all, the best advertisement for Cialis would be a guy walikng proudly through the waiting room sporting a pants-ripping hard on.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Point of Purchase



Newsflash! Two Big Breasted Cheerleaders Catfight in Locker Room

comebacks_cheerleaders.jpg

You know you've got a winning YouTube video campaign when you have guys leaving comments like, "I want to see her doing you from behind" and "I confess I just busted a nut." And so continues the travails of Amy, the big breasted cheerleader for The Comebacks who has recruited her near equally big breasted friend, Cindy, to help call attention to the movie by having...a locker room catfight. Maybe it's just us but we have a feeling this video promotion is going to be far more popular than the movie itself. Then again, who thought American Pie would amount to much?

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Racy, Video



They Don't Make Moonshine in Kentucky Anymore

moonshine_kentucky.jpg

According to recent research, it seems Kentucky has succeeded at convincing people it's not a backwater, hillbilly state where all they do is make moonshine. Following it's three year "Kentucky Unbridled Spirit" campaign, the state is now seen as "better place to visit" (90%), "more friendly" (81%), and "more modern" (81%)

Commenting on the study but smartly acknowledging that advertising can't do all the work, Kentucky Tourism Commissioner Randy Fiveash said, "A brand by itself will not get more visitors to Kentucky. However, 'Kentucky Unbridled Spirit' is an attention-getter that makes people feel good about Kentucky, and then leads them to look more closely at our attractions. Once they see what we have to offer, we have them hooked, and they want to keep coming back"

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Research



« Last week 30-Sep-07 | This archive, pg:  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  | Next week 14-Oct-07 »