Pen Company Hopes For Viral Spread of Message

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Staedtler writing implement company has launched a campaign in Australia to increase use of its products. The only domestic manufacturer of pens and pencils in the country, Staedtler faces competition from the all mighty keyboard, those pesky imports and the death of the handwritten letter. Acknowledging this, Staedtler, with help from Host, have created a campaign that leverages dependence on the keyboard for correspondence. The campaign consists of a site on which visitors can craft a handwritten message and have it mailed to a friend (in Australia) but the return address will be that of the website from which the note originated. Host hopes this spirals and causes recipients to visit the site, create their own notes and spread the campaign exponentially.

The site will also be promoted with print ads and handwritten notes placed in public places throughout Melbourne and Sydney. We're not quite sure how continually driving people to a website to create digital notes will increase sales of physical pens and pencils but, like, whatever. It'll be fun to watch the whole country pen-pal'ing itself.

by Steve Hall    Feb-28-06    
Topic: Online, Viral



Legitimized Software-Install Ad Channel Introduced

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Hoping to stand up as a model against software-install spyware, Santa-Barbara-based onCommercials has introduced a formalize revenue share model with aims to "official-ize" software-install advertising. Software developers can use onCommercials code to display commercials during the loading process of their software. Each time the application is started a commercial will be shown, dynamically chosen by onCommercials serving technology.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb-28-06    
Topic: Desktop, Good, Online, Tools



Nike Partners With Run London, Google Maps, Launches RunLondon

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Nike, in conjunction with AKQA, has launched RouteFinder, a Google Maps-powered tool that helps runners plan a route around London. RouteFinder let's runners create, measure, save and share their running routes along with other runners in London. AKQA combined the Run London and Google Maps interfaces to provide a range of functions and features that have more in common with a standalone application than a web page.

Using Run London graphical elements, users can search the city by postcode, distance, or type of run for routes other runners have created. Or they can begin creating a run of their own simply by clicking points on the map. They can even save a list of favorite routes, send them on to friends and browse the top-five routes of the season. Ducky.

by Steve Hall    Feb-28-06    
Topic: Online



McDonald's Launched Bi-Lingual Filet-O-Fish Game Site

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Dallas-based Moroch Partners has launched a bilingual, interactive gaming site, called Shark Bait, for McDonald's centering on the Filet-O-Fish and Double Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. In the first level of the game, the player has to keep the sandwich away from attacking sharks and the walls of the tank. There are two additional levels for which unlock codes can be obtained by forwarding the game to a friend viral-bribe style.

The effort aligns well with the rise in online gaming and players who interact with a fish sandwich for a while just might succumb to the power of suggestion and go buy a deep fat fried slab of fish between a bun slathered with some kind of special sauce. Mmm. I'm lovin' it!

by Steve Hall    Feb-27-06    
Topic: Games, Good, Online, Viral



Lance Armstrong Puts His Face on American Century Investments

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While this site called Lance Face featuring Lance Armstrong's head popping onto the heads of other does deliver some important financial messages from American Century Investments, one has to wonder what the connection is between Lance and this effort. If there is one, it's definitely a mystery. Oh wait, American Century Investments Founder Jim Stowers, Jr. had cancer too. That's it. Makes perfect sense. Before all you survivors get pissy about this assessment, I've been where Lance has so I'm allowed to make cancer jokes.

by Steve Hall    Feb-27-06    
Topic: Online, Opinion



Bouncing Breasts Demonstrate Benefits of Sports Bra

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Adland points to a promotion filled with bouncing breasts that actually serves a purpose rather than to simply titillate. U.K. sport bra company Shock Absorber has created a site where woman can choose her cup size, a level of activity and then see the "activity" her breasts undergo in three side-by-side scenarios: nude, regular bra and sports bra. It's certainly a convincing argument for buying a sport bra unless you're the sort of woman that enjoys neck to stomach bouncing action.

by Steve Hall    Feb-27-06    
Topic: Good, Online



'Ice Age 2: The Meltdown' Gets Dress Me Up And Down Treatment

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To promote its movie Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, a film sure to be laden with heavy-handed, left-wing global warming sentiment, Twentieth Century Fox has launch a little online game called Bling My Sid in which visitors are invited to makeover the film's Sid The Sloth, dressing him in a variety of wardrobes. From Punk to Player, Lounge Lizard to Rhinestone Cowboy, there are nine wardrobes to choose from. Players can save their creations to print, produce AIM/Buddy Icons and submit their Sid to the gallery for public vote. A Send to a Friend function and translation into ten languages has, apparently, led Twentieth Century to believe this little ditty will magically spread itself around the globe. UK agency Substance created the campaign.

by Steve Hall    Feb-27-06    
Topic: Games, Online



Poker Site Creates Fake Cause Group to Complain About Ad, Get Views

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A press release rolled across our screen today which claimed a supposedly controversial video supposedly leaked virally last week was supposedly "under fire" from a Muslim group because the video supposedly poked fun at Muslims. The whole thing's a sham. Pokershow.com is behind it. They invented the cause group Muslim Media Watch under the guise of a plainly fake Blogger blog which just launched Feb. 17 according to Whois and the fact the blog has nearly no content. It's amateur hour again in poker marketing land. Of course we just did exactly what they wanted - give them publicity.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-06    
Topic: Bad, Online, Promotions, Strange, Viral, Weblogs



Nike Launches Interactive Video for Nike Women

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Nike announced today the release of an interactive music video featuring moves from the Nike Rockstar Workout - Hip Hop™ by celebrity director/choreographer Jamie King and music from Def Jam singer Rihanna. Ad Age Interactive Agency of the Year R/GA worked alongside Nike to create this interactive music video for NikeWomen.com. The video, part of a larger branding campaign to launch the Spring '06 fitness dance collection, allows users to step behind the scenes and learn the dance moves seen in the video, straight from celebrity director/choreographer Jamie King. Hey, we just like watching Rihanna. The interactive portions are actually quite hilarious if you like watching choreographers "break it down" for you.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-06    
Topic: Online



Flying Motorola Logo Game Promote New RAZR, Report

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To support the launch of the Motorola RAZR V3x, the company has launched What is Razr Speed, a game site that demonstrates how the new phone...well, allows you to "capture a moment of complete clarity." In the game, the player must capture the flying Motorola logo first at a fast speed, then at a slower Razr Speed. The game was created by Howorth Communications' Digital Lifestyle Group.

Accompanying the launch of a the phone is a new report, called Generation HERE, commissioned by Motorola Mobile Devices which explores the impact of 3G (Third Generation) mobile phones technology on society around the globe. From romance to community to flirting to information gathering to basic safety, the report examines how embedded the mobile phone has become in people's lives.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-06    
Topic: Mobile/Wireless, Online, Research, Trends and Culture