IKEA Wants the White House.

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More specifically, it wants its couches and desks and bedroom sets and carpets and oblong dishware inside the White House. (See concept design for the Oval Office, which doesn't so much say "President" as it does "patriotic single mom with puppy and kindergartener.")

And by adopting the "Change" message that worked so well for Obama, it hopes you'll help achieve its goal. Witness and wince while it slathers Washington, DC's Union Station with bright yellow propaganda:

o "The time for domestic reform is NOW!" (At left.)
o "Fiscally responsible home furnishings FOR ALL!"
o "Change Begins AT HOME!"

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by Angela Natividad    Jan-12-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Guerilla, Online, Outdoor, Political



Pepsi Promotion Plasters Times Square With New Logo

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In an all out effort to accost, uh, make the public aware of its new logo and celebrate the "next generation's" apparent positive outlook for the coming year, Pepsi has unleashed itself upon Times Square with a week-long promotional extravaganza.

This past weekend, Pepsi, with street teams and a Times Square billboard takeover, featured its new Refresh Everything message of hope, optimism and a world made perfect through the rose colored glasses of advertising. A new television commercial, Wordplay, also made its debut.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-29-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Events, Guerilla, Outdoor



Mortar's Recession Solution: A Spork, Some Booze and Pocket-Sized Luck

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Instead of sending over a typical holiday card, Mortar went the extra mile and sent us a Holiday Recession Kit.

It is amazingly practical.

Tools for survival include Top Ramen ("It got you through college, it'll get you through this"), a Magic 8-Ball, a Spork ("Perfect for Top Ramen, or digging your way out of prison. Or defending yourself in prison"), matches, edible packing material, and a wee bottle of VooDoo Spiced Rum, which is pretty self-explanatory.

All it's missing is a single cigarette and some rope.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-22-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Guerilla



2008 Guerrilla Marketing in Less Than Five Minutes

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One Adrants reader loves Guerrilla marketing so much, he made a four and a half minute video highlighting the year's best stunt marketing. From 13th street to that animated porn thing to Samsung's optical illusions to Nike basketball stunts to empty baby strollers to the Madrid City Council save energy stunts to Wassup to the iPhone blendertec thing to many others.

by Steve Hall    Dec-18-08    
Topic: Guerilla



FirstBank's Cop-Out Gifts Help Stingies Save Scrilla

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To prove how far it's willing to go to help you save, FirstBank encourages holiday spendthrifts to snap digital photos of its ads -- and repurpose them as presents.

The idea's a lot funnier than it sounds. At left is an outdoor ad with a generic piece of art, which you can photograph, frame and pass on to unwitting (or undeserving) family members.

Other cheapskate gifts include a star adoption certificate (which we're actually thinking of using) and a homemade jam label.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec-15-08    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Outdoor



Puma Cages Fearsomely Trendy Fashion Beasts!

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If serendipity brought you to Croatia's Zagreb Zoo last week, you could've seen lions! and tigers! and bears! ... and hipsters!

Agency Bruketa & Zinic parked "fashion beasts" in a cage to showcase Puma Sport's 2009 collection. And they didn't just stand around, either; sometimes they sang. These efforts, so different from the usual dolphins-catching-fish or monkeys-throwing-poo, were rewarded with heavy gawkage.

We've seen people trapped in cages or store windows before, typically for more sobering reasons: to combat human trafficking, or fight for pigs' rights, or promote the objectively unloveable Dodge Magnum. In any case, we thought the fashion beast thing was a neat way to captivate both parents and kids -- which aren't typically receptive to noisy marketing messages during family time.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-12-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Events, Good, Guerilla, Promotions



Pepsi's Super Bowl Coup, Grills Gone Wild, Evil Dead Musical

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- Pepsi blocks other non-alcoholic beverages from entire first half (!!!) of next year's Super Bowl. And Halftime! Now that's just gluttonous.

- To promote its Scott Shop Towels ("like paper towels but way tougher," the PR folk explained), Kimberly Clark goes on safari for grills gone wild!.

- Bill Green lends valuable insight on how to gain a near-instant boost in Twitter followers.

- Evil Dead -- the Musical.

- If the Peanuts crew were an ad agency, Lucy would be the obnoxiously bitchy, but refreshingly honest, Christmas party organizer. And Linus would be an AD. (The security blanket should've been the tip-off.)

- Powder Blue trailer strips Jessica Biel down to her bare minerals. Eat your heart out, Natalie Portman! (Neither link is SFW.)

- Burger King's King loses wallet.



If You Can't Get into W+K, You Can At Least Get on the Window.

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London-based? Swing by 16 Hanbury St. and walk by the offices of Wieden + Kennedy, where a giant Christmas card is fusing the faces of passersby to various holiday characters. Stand there long enough, and you might see your own face appear on Santa, an elf, or some kind of creepy egg-shaped bird.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Guerilla, Online



Snapple's in the Music Business Now

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Earlier this year, Snapple ran an ad to promote its new antioxidant-enriched water. It featured a guy leaping around in a bubblewrap world to the semi-infectious Cat's Meow by The Bad Eliots.

The commercial didn't exactly fare swimmingly, but Snapple's seed firm M80 claims it drummed up plenty of interest for The Bad Eliots in the blogosphere and elsewhere. So, partly to help them out and partly to make itself look more creatively robust, Snapple helped The Bad Eliots produce and release a snazzy new music video.

It's quirky and low-def, making it obvious blogger bait.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Brands, Guerilla, Online, Promotions, Video



Stove Top Stuffing Keeps Bus Patrons Toasty

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There are few things more soothing than warm stuffing out of the gutted sternum of a turkey. And with help from JCDecaux, this soothingest of comfort food is warming bus patrons at 10 bus shelters in Chicago.

The Stove Top ads -- radiant with warmth -- feature a heaping bowl of stuffing, tossed and tasty looking and beckoning hungry passengers home.

"Cold, provided by winter," the ad reads. "Warmth, provided by us. It's a good night for Stove Top."

Find stuffing-hot bus shelters in the Chi through December. Reps will also be handing out (steaming?) samples. Work by DraftFCB.

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Guerilla, Outdoor, Poster