The Curse of the Bluefin Tuna Industry. Cringe. See variants in The Economist (really?) and last week's European Voice. The people named on each poster are villainous Fisheries Ministers that failed to better regulate Mediterranean bluefin tuna. God help us.
Moved by a conviction stronger than yourself? Send angsty pro-tuna letters to Fisheries Ministers for Italy, France and Spain.
Tearing the chapter in irony out of theTruth.com's tattered playbook, Crowell Advertising brings us Fight the Ugly, home base to a lame-duck action figure named Smokerman.
Um, diggin' the 'stache.
See ads in which the action figure, stopping often to catch his breath, tries saving trains or disarming plastic bombs. The spots -- prepared for the Utah Department of Health -- will air during morning cartoons, where hopefully they stop kids from smoking as opposed to, oh, making the puff-puff seem fun.
Part Matrix, part classic Maxell ad, this DDB Mexico-created commercial for Gran Centenario Tequila unleashes all the visual stops and assaults your senses with a spectacle far unlike any liquor ad seen in recent memory. It's like a visual orgasm. In slow motion.
It's not entirely clear what it all means (ok, fine, it's all about vampires...oh wait...no...winged angels...it's, like, biblical? whatever) but it sure is fun to watch. If this came on TV during, say, well, any show, it's pretty clear it'd cause one to rewind it and watch it a few more times. If only to analyze all the effects and shots assaulting the senses.
A new campaign from BBDO and the Ad Council for the Irag and Afghanistan Veterans of America reminds people the one percent of Americans who put their life in harm's way for the other 99 percent should not be left alone when they finally come home.
The campaign includes television, print and a social networking site which offers returning veterans the chance to connect with fellow soldiers and work towards re-entering society.
Its time for New York Festivals again! And there's no boring call for entry email on this one. Nope. The organizers went all out this time, pulled out all stops, worked for months creating...wait for it...yes, a YouTube video!
In the video, you can watch various creative pontificate about the "process" and "words" and "recognition" and "creative excellence" and "effort" and "power" and 15 minutes of fame" and, and, and...well, just watch.
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- Burger King does the dropped wallet thing. Hey, it's a whole lot more fun that shoving coupons in people's faces.
- Even though you've already seen all the ads months ago for free, you can now pay for a DVD of the Cannes Lions Titanium and Integrated Lions. Go ahead. Open your wallet. Or try to. All we got was "not available yet" when we went to check the price.
- Gotta love nefarious Boards of Directors. The Commercial Closet Association, founded by former Ad Age staffer Mike Wilke will merge with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. It was a planned merge. What wasn't planned was the Board's outing (not the gay kind) of Wilke while he was away on vacation. Wilke was supposed to maintain his position after the merge. No he's suddenly out of work. Not nice, GLAAD.
- McGarry Bowen has sold its sole to Dentsu.
- And so it continues. In today's layoff news, Conde Nast has said goodbye to 36 staffers.
Probably because the bulls-eye has more brand cachet than she does, Christina Aguilera's paired up with Target to promote Keeps Gettin' Better, a premature greatest-hits album buttressed by a handful of mediocre new tracks.
The ad features Aguilera in superhero Target garb, breaking through comic book frames like a cross between Frank Miller's Sin City and a less saucy version of Britney Spears' Toxic. It's infectious, mostly because Target knows how to play with the colour red. But it took a coupla watches to positively ID the once-ultra-visible pop diva.
Keeps Gettin' Better is available exclusively at the big-box. Possessed of timeless classics like Genie in a Bottle, Dirrty and something called Genie 2.0, we (don't) highly recommend it.
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"I'm a PC ... and I love the slimming effect of a purple striped shirt."
That's the profound kick-off to "Real PC," one of the :30 TV spots being cobbled together with clips from Microsoft's Upload Your Own 'I'm a PC' Ad! campaign. I saw one last night and winced; what is it about this effort that rings so painfully desperate? See more here.
These user-generated variants manage to be just as quirky and random as the originals, with a little amateur-vid spice tossed in. One guy at ad:tech's Millennial panel said he finds these ads more "democratic" than Apple's snarky but irresistible "Mac vs. PC" spots. He's not wrong; they definitely reek of The People's OS. For whatever that's worth.
Let's just hope Crispin didn't produce them on a Mac this time.
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It seems the reported "probation" of Dell VP of Marketing Casey Jones has progressed to the expected outcome; he's been fired. Actually, he left last week but no on as Dell was all the interested in trumpeting his exit. The long and embattled path to the nirvana that was to be Enfatico continues to crumble underfoot.
A commenter on the Tribble Agency blog wrote, "Casey's grand illusion of creating his own agency, while being a client, proved to be another of his hare brained schemes. His own ego put him in the same planet as Sorell. I'm sure it will all start to unravel as other WPP units have engaged directly with Dell to save the day."
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- Swedish site Crime Medicine tells the tale of counterfeit prescription drugs using an online drug store front which then break through to the truth behind the lie.
- Google Street View gets some staged action from a group of people in Pittsburgh who wanted to dress up Sampsonia Way.
- Hmm. According to this video, Lowe Manila is an awesome place to work and really difficult to say goodbye to.
- OK. Obviously this a cultural thing but still. This T-mobile commercial is really, really weird.
- Need to waste some time? Check out the Facebook application Ad Battle created by Buddy Media and Atmosphere BBDO's Jason Culbertson. Compare to ads and vote on them. It's that simple.
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