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Photographer Claims BBDO Athens Copied Work For Dexim Ad

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Old friend The Reverse Cowgirl points to yet another example of an ad agency's use of an artist's work without obtaining permission or providing credit. Writing on Constant Siege, Clayton Cubitt claims BBDO Athens created a direct rip off of photographer Jamie Nelson's work for an ad they did for Dexim. The photo used in the BBDO-created Dexim ad bears a striking resemblance to a photo Nelson took in 2006 and had published on the cover of July/August 2007 issue of Blink.

When contacted, Nelson provided Adrants with an armful of information supporting the notion BBDO Athens did, in fact, closely copy her work. BBDO Athens has been contacted but they have not yet responded. Likely BBDO Athens fully intended to mirror Nelson's work but somehow the permission process was mistakenly overlooked. I'll reserve final judgment until I've made contact with BBDO Athens to hear their side of the story.

UPDATE: We mis-reported (bad source information) the agency in question was BBDO Atlanta. It is actually BBDO Athens. Thanks to Atlanta-based Brent Terrazas for pointing out the error.

by Steve Hall    Aug-29-08    
Topic: Agencies, Bad, Policy



Samsung Gets Weird With Beauty Queen, Penguin, Crownfish

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What do a penguin, a beauty queen and a crownfish have to do with each other? Nothing unless they are the main characters in a Samsung commercial in which a Penguin rescues the beauty queen who has just caught herself a Crownfish.

It's all very weird. Very noir. And it all points to Samsung's See the Whole Story website.

by Steve Hall    Aug-29-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Strange



TNT Raises Toll Booth Bar on Labor Day

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So Labor Day weekend is upon us here in the States. It's the time when we're supposed to remember, uh ... what was it? Oh yeah, laborers.

Labor Day originated in 1882, when the Central Labor Union of New York City aimed to create a day off for working citizens. It became an federal holiday in 1894.

Today, we mostly treat the holiday as another excuse to get in our cars, sit in traffic and scream at fellow citizens in an attempt to make our way to islands, beaches or mountainous regions to squeeze out that last ounce of summer before autumn slaps us in the face with colder weather, back to school insanity and, usually, a heavier workload.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-29-08    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Promotions



Ad Idea? Shimmy into HEYA and Pitch Toyota

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Toyota wants to be your friend. It wants to lavish you with gifts, invite you into its inner circle, suckle from your ideas. From now until September 10, members of its social network HEYA can pitch the company their :30 ad ideas.

And no, the HEYA thing has nothing to do with Andre3000's frequently mashed-up hit. "Heya" is Japanese for "room," and Toyota thought it would be a good name for an intimate, join-the-round-table! kinda social network.

Sign up here. (Damn, that's a lot of questions. Toyota's not fuckin' around!) Once IN!, you're free to submit write-ups or storyboards for a :30 ad concept. The top five will be chosen, and members vote for the best one.

Finalists are announced September 16; the winner is named September 22. In addition to airtime, the grand prize includes a Flickr Pro account membership. (Diggin' how it knows what people want.) Runners-up get a 1GB iPod shuffle.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Online



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Some Signatures Open Doors Where None Exist

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Still others can be used as weapons for the defenseless. That's the impression we got from this ad by Amnesty International, which is admittedly about a year old and maybe 1:30 too long. The animation and the idea are good though, and I like the sound of the scribble over the music.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Video



Timberlake Uses William Rast to Explore Throbbing Redneck Fantasy

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Walking in the footsteps of Jay-Z and Nelly, Justin Timberlake is backing a line of expensive but delightfully ass-perking denim wear: William Rast, launched in partnership with Trace Ayala. (The brand is a combination of their grandfathers' first names.)

I haven't seen any TV ads, but the site's hosting trailers about the life of fictional character William Rast, played by Justin Timberlake. Mostly he's seizing the opportunity to forget shaving, play with make-up and explore self-fellating videocam angles. Oddly (or not so much), they made me think of Tila Tequila's video blog.

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by Angela Natividad    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Online



More Women on Big Screen, Aptly Called 'The Women'

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It's always a little irksome when a film boasts an "all-star cast," because if THAT'S the card it's playing, there's probably not much else going on.

The Women, a remake of a movie from 1939, has just such a cast. Think Candace Bergen! Annette Benning! Jada Pinkett-Smith! Meg Ryan! Bette Midler! Eva Mendes! It's a walking, talking line-up for the cover of next month's Vanity Fair.

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by Angela Natividad    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Television



Hot Blogger Calendar, 90210 Strip-Searched, Buffy Increases Church Abandonment

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- Because what the world needs now is a hot blogger calendar.

- The CW's decided to let advertisers see snippets of 90210's content after all. I guess this means the PTC will be throwing itself a self-congratulatory cocktail party.

- OMG, OMG, a Facebook movie? ...by the co-creator of West Wing? Does that mean there's a parity of significance between Mark Zuckerberg and the ruler of the free world?

- MySpace was the top display ad publisher in June; Microsoft the top display advertiser. Most of its ads were for Live Search.

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Marc Jacobs to Make Suburban Dads Squirm

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For some, imagery of schoolgirls (or any female for that matter) in pleated, plaid miniskirts presents an irresistible urge to let fantasy fun rampant and to, well, just be really, really bad. While that imagery may not be what Marc Jacobs, who signed Russian duo t.A.T.u. (Lena Katina and Yulia Volkova) to front his fall fashion campaign, intends to foist on the public, one does wonder just how he will present the fun-loving couple in upcoming campaigns.

The pair have been out of the limelight for a while but that won't really matter. Marc Jacobs will doll them up (or down) and present them in a deliciously delectable manner easily obsessed over by all. Lesbians. Rocks stars. What's not to love?

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by Steve Hall    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Trends and Culture



Greenpeace Raids Scrapbooks for Guilt Trips

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Never mind petitions, Greenpeace wants PICTURES. The organization's asking community members to submit photos of dearly-loved things being threatened by global warming. Users are also invited to write a tear-jerking message explaining the photo. All photos and notes will be sent to the Representative for your district.

There were only a couple of submitted photos when I clicked on the link above, and at the time it seemed like it would be hilarious if a bunch of people got together and deluged the site with shots of their ice trays. Then I choked on some tea, and I'm over it now.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-28-08    
Topic: Consumer Created, Online, Political



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