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Maybe We Need More Chest Hair.

steinlager-rugby-bones.jpg

"Crack One Open" is a Cenergy Communications-developed campaign for Steinlager. It involves rugby and broken bones. We don't really get it.

To help us get it, the PR guy was all, "If fart jokes say 'beer,' why not bandages, rx pads, x-rays?"

And then we were like, "Fart jokes say beer? Oh right. If Budweiser says so, it must be true."

by Angela Natividad    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Magazine, Online



Barney-Like Characters Shill Bottled Water for Kids

bot_water.jpg

Conjuring the oddity of Barney, this new campaign for kids fortified water, bot Beverages, might be the final nail in tap water's coffin. After all, tap water? That's just gross! No one drinks tap water anymore. Why would we when we have thousands of bottled water choices along with an equal amount of flavored chemicals in a bottle? Who needs the real thing when you can pay money for fake water?

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Strange



Toronto's Fake Drug Campaign Revealed to Be College Advocacy Ad

obay_collegesontario.jpg

The Torontoist has been following a a local teaser campiagn which, for a couple of weeks, appeared to be a campaign from a pharmaceutical company for a fake drug called Obay. After much sleuthing, the campiagn turned out to be for Colleges Ontario, a pre-college group representing area colleges in Ontario.

A teaser campaign using a fake drug is a daring move but it appears no one got lawsuit happy. The campiagn itself is funny. It promotes a drug that makes kids think more like their parents, sort of like mind control in a bottle.

The ad copy is great. It reads, "My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks, Obay!"

by Steve Hall    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Poster, Strange



Geeks Get Game on With Intel's 'Robo Brawl'

intel_robo_brawl.jpg

Even IT (information technology) geeks need their advergames. So Godfrey Q and Partners were kind enough to create Robo Brawl. Oh yes. A smack down in which robot parts fight against each other in the ring. to gain Xeon points. Xeon being Intel's kick ass chip for workstations.

As it's explained to us, "You have to weigh the pros and cons of various robot parts (transportation, armor & weapon) to get the best performance possible in the ring. You're also able to use "Xeon points" to boost your robot in ways that are related to energy efficiency, virtualization and performance - the Xeon attributes Intel wanted to promote. Through-out the game, the players see signs and video that reinforce our Xeon message. So the longer you play, the more the message sinks in."

those who place in the top three slots will win Xeon-powered workstations.

by Steve Hall    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Games



'Jesse Fewer Watts' Rounds Up 'Incan Derek' For Vermont Efficiency

jesse_watts.jpg

We're assuming these three Kelliher Samets Volk-created commercials for Efficiency Vermont, an organization which encourages people to use compact fluorescent bulbs, were purposefully created to be bad. If not, we have no other explanation for why the they are so goofy. See one of the spots here. The other two are nearly identical.

Along with the three spots, the campaign includes local newspapers, online ads and a website on which "Jesse Fewer Watts" (get it?) and his Western buddies ride into town to collect "Incan Derek" (that's stretching it) for his crimes against light bulb efficiency.

OK, OK. It's for a good cause. We'll stop complaining.

by Steve Hall    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Newspaper, Online



Kraft Preys on Office Angst to Promote TASSIMO Hot Beverage System

whohiredbob.jpg

Say hello to Who Hired Bob, a go-to hub for contrived office-centric web drama, created by Ogilvy Entertainment for Kraft's TASSIMO.

It's not funny. But Who Hired Bob does two interesting things:

1) It offers a $20 rebate on a TASSIMO hot beverage machine in exchange for your email address, and
2) It does that "choose your own adventure" thing at the end of each webisode, which we've already professed to like a lot.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Feb-21-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Online



Sound of Color Habitat Fails to Work Up a Crowd

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We mentioned recently that we thought Gap's Sound of Color effort was really cool. In response to our call for news and pictures of how Gap is promoting Sound of Color at stores, Adrants reader Chris sent us the following email:

"I walked passed the GAP store on 5th Avenue in NYC this evening and it appears they have set up a Pop Up Store of some sort to promote the Sound of Color promotion. However, when I walked by it was completely empty except for a DJ and a lone employee."

more »

by Angela Natividad    Feb-20-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Outdoor, Promotions



What Ho, It's an STA Travel Campaign

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Remember those Choose Your Own Adventure books that served as the gateway to your Lord of the Rings and/or Star Wars fixation?

STA Travel hopes to harness that escapist magnetism to promote the relaunch of STA Travelers, which is jam-packed with friendly thimble-shaped profile placeholders.

Play with Choose Your World Adventure. Don't worry; the website does so little that you'll still be forced to use your imagination. On the cheery up, you'll get lots of crap in your mailbox.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-20-08    
Topic: Online, Promotions



MD Lotto Goes Pearl Diving in Barrel of Stale Jokes

md-lotto.jpg

Courtesy of Anonymous Content, for the Maryland Lotto's Big Bucks Party Pack:

- "Pull my finger."

- "I call it Joga." (Or, Why your friends shouldn't tag along on job interviews.)

Funny but forgettable. What, did Bovine United just not work out?

by Angela Natividad    Feb-20-08    
Topic: Commercials, Television



We Missed it But Bud Light Cut the Cheese

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We missed this one. Perhaps you've all seen it already but at a count of just 20,473 on YouTube since February 5, we're guessing not everyone has. This Bud Light video called "Cut the Cheese" was released just after the Super Bowl. If you ask us, it should have run in the game. It's far better (better meaning funny, not necessarily having anything to do with selling beer) than some of the other spots we saw during the game. Give it a watch. And yes, it's a very, very tired old joke but it works for us.

by Steve Hall    Feb-20-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Strange, Super Bowl 2008



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