Uh Oh. Another PR faux paux. Well, at least according to Adrants reader Rich who wasn't too pleased with a recent press release from Ketchum for Cadbury Schweppes which exclaimed, "Dr. Pepper Supports Chinese Democracy." Predictably, Dr. Pepper was doing no such thing. It was just another publicity ploy.
Rich explains, writing, "Ketchum, Dr. Pepper's PR agency, issued this online press release with the headline 'Dr. Pepper Supports Chinese Democracy.' Reading the press release reveals that, no, Dr. Pepper is not supporting the Tibetans risking their lives and well-being for democracy; rather, they are running a publicity stunt surrounding the long-delayed Guns 'n' Roses record, 'Chinese Democracy."' Ha ha ha! Bet you thought we were talking about dying Tibetans!"
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That tangle of head and hair spilling out of a corset is Fergie posing for Mac's VIVA GLAM campaign, which sells lip gloss to fight AIDS.
Fergie remixed her Glamorous single for the VIVA GLAM VI Special Edition Lipglass, joining spokeswomen like Eve and Dita von Teese to combat AIDS with vanity (which, unlike the compulsion to love thy neighbor, is irresistible). Download the song, watch video footage or send safe sex e-cards from the Mac Cosmetics site.
Advertising Age says 100 percent of proceeds for the $14 lip veneer will go to the MAC AIDS Fund. Considering the thought of Fergie hashing out her (safe!!!) sex life makes us grimace in a way that scares small children, we'd hope for no less. Bravo, MAC.
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Isn't it fun to look back to the childhood days of your favorite baseball players? Sometimes but not when it involves 1970's-era shorts and tube socks. The Pretty in Pink-inspired 80's stuff we can deal with. Those nasty seventies, not so much.
It's all part of a campaign from Publicis Toronto for the Toronto Blue Jays. Director James Haworth comments on the work saying, "Set in the 70's and 80's and shot in Florida on Color Reversal film, a film stock that was prevalent back in the day, and it gives the viewer a feeling of how things were, visually, in that time - especially in the 70's."
Hmm. Sometimes we'd rather not remember. But if you really want to remember, you can see all three commercials here.
Yeah, that was kind of a stretch.
Here's what happened. Some tipster emailed us sounding off all offended about rape connotations in an ad on Wienerschnitzel's homepage. So we looked and saw this shit with the hungry Eskimos, and we were like, "Okay, whatever. We can kinda see the creepy rape angle."
The dude emailed us again today and said the spot on the site had been changed, which is why the whole Eskimo thing jived so badly with rape. Apparently the previous ad featured a wiener being harassed in an office setting, after which an HR woman says, "you asked for it."
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In what is clearly a joke or some sort of clandestine promotion for the next greatest social network or some other entity, ncludr.com (get it? includer?) has launched with snarky fanfare including claims it's "the most awesomest ultimate social network ever" with "international membership already in the billions."
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Check out this dope Hispanic pop culture mash-up for MTV, put together by PandaPanther. It's totally random, but maybe random is better than seeming too focused. Interstitials like this one will appear in the MTV Tr3s Top 20 countdown show. Each number will feature a different vignette.
MTV Tr3s launched in mid-2007. Its goal was to encourage marketers to start looking at Hispanic youth culture instead of always focusing on Spanish-speaking adults.
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Circus is this brilliant boomer lifestyle magazine that describes itself like this:
"Debate, discussion and controversy. Let's talk about the over 50s."
The third page of its February issue featured this gorgeous image of Sophia Loren perched just above the lower margin, drawing plenty of attention to the articles around her (mainly because we were scouring the text going "Who is that girl?!").
We also got to check out the magazine. It includes raunchy boomer poetry, sex and business talk, and spiffy little featurettes like The Ad that Never Ran. (Think Thatcher and Scottish oil. Feeling greasy?)
Anyway, it's refreshing to see a senior publication that's not splattered with AARP messages and bladder control ads. It also looks like an awesome resource for boomer culture.
Here's to hoping they're still around when we're pushing 50 and looking for saucy reading material.
Hrm. While colas try brewing competitive energy drinks, Red Bull -- arguably the best-known of them all -- has decided to launch its own soda. We give you Red Bull simply Cola.
No word on when it's appearing in the States, but it's au naturel, with 23 unmolested ingredients and slightly more caffeine than most sodas.
To promote simply Cola, Red Bull is distributing leaflets that serve two purposes:
- Highlighting the drink's ingredient list (none of which is the taurine that made them famous. Although there's mustard seeds and cardamom for kick)
- Justifying its entry into the market. Because this isn't just any cola. It's special cola: strong and natural (says them, not us)
Well, hell. We'd drink it.
Remember that van that looked like it was dipped into the dyeing vat of a private school uniform purveyor? Last year it motored through the East Coast converting heathens to Web 2.0; this year it's going West.
See tentative dates.
About four months from now, the Plaid van will stop at agencies and companies to preach the gospel of social media. Along with new ideas, they will come bearing Twinkies and shirts. (Email Darryl [at] thinkplaid [dot] com if you'd like them to pop by.)
The roadies need sponsors so if you can pitch in some cash, a hotel room or a new fashion tip for that chocolate ride, they'd be much obliged. (So would we.)
There's just something about follow ups to great work that, well, just fall flat. Not that this new Clemenger BBDO-created commercial for Carlton Draught is a bad ad but it's no Big Ad. Clearly, the ad, which brings back the crowd of yellow-dressed men, is trying to recapture that Big Ad feel and it gets some of it but never quite recaptures the originals. Of course, that's why originals are originals and sequels are sequels.
We admit to liking the guy at the end who, sitting on his couch with his wife, comments, "wouldn't make me buy it" after seeing a recap of the skydiving extravaganza on TV just before...well...just watch the commercial to find out.
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