Wawa Brings Back Twin Peaks' Coffee Vibe

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With a vibe very much like Twin Peaks, Wawa coffee is out with a new website which makes it easy for people to create their own personalized cup of coffee and then have the creation analyzed in terms of what the creation says about the person's personality. The navigation is a bit clumsy and it appears the only way to get the analysis is through email thereby allowing for the possibly undesirable collection of email addresses. Wilmington Delaware interactive agency, The Archer Group, worked with Wawa and Dallas based Richards group on the online campaign.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 6-08    
Topic: Online, Promotions



Life without Healthcare is Like Going Commando

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Here's a comparison that's never been made before: lack of health insurance is like walking around with your bare ass showing.

May explain why down-and-out celebrities go pantyless so often. Could they be crying for help? "I'm uninsured, please pity me."

By the campaign for Jim Slattery of Kansas, who's running for US Senate.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 3-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Political, Television



7K Gorilla Run, Absinthe Revisited, Gay Puppy Poems

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- Gay folk write odes to pet pups.

- Folksy new site for Kubler Absinthe. The "Creativity" tab suggests an upcoming CGM effort where people can "contribute to the myth of Absinthe." See videos for preparing mixed drinks. They're cool, and don't you love that background music? Also check out "fact and fiction" and the how-to-drink, which I thought was really neat. By Decon/NY.

- Palin inspires rampant web subculture. So many options! Brings back fond memories of Miss South Carolina.

- Really good resource on getting paid to blog.

- M. M. McDermott is not impressed by Millennials, but he'll cater to them on the Baltimore Sun's hipster spin-off. While reading a stylebook and wearing a nametag labeled "COCK."

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Ad Support Used to Raise Value of Oil Painting

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To promote the work of painter brother Marc Dehareng, Belgian 'net junkie Renaud Dehareng launched GrowingBuzz.com. One painting -- and unfortunately, not the most charming one -- was chosen to become "the future most expensive painting in history." To hike up the dollar value, advertisers bid to have their sites represented when users mouse over the art.

Two advertisers have bid since the launch two days ago, bringing the painting's value to ... drumroll, please! ... $11.50. When we clicked on the painting today, it brought us to ProFish-Technology.be, "studies and consulting in aquatic environment."

Neat idea, but the execution lacks charisma.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 3-08    
Topic: Online, Promotions, Sponsorship



Wicked Uncles Break Toys without Breaking a Sweat

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Decapitate bears, blow Barbies to bits and deflate giant orange balls in Teddy Bear's Picnic, a disturbingly engaging game for Wicked Uncle.

Seems like the kind of game Hugh Grant's character would've enjoyed playing in About a Boy, shortly before getting told off by eight scowling mothers. Those good enough to make the leaderboard get a five pound (the currency) voucher and enter a sweepstakes to win an iPod touch. Generous.

Wicked Uncle helps the hapless "buy the perfect present" without busting their balls or getting bent over in shipping costs. But it's only available for UK residents, so you can relegate this convenience to other fun British stuff you can't have, like Cadbury Almond Apple Banana bars.

Game by TAMBA, which also did that Muck About thing for Match.com.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 2-08    
Topic: Games, Good, Online, Promotions



'They Like Pets, Right? Why Not Get Them a Drug-Sniffing Dog?'

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Patsy, a little potato-faced woman, doesn't know how to talk to her kids about drugs. But she knows that she should, so she finds ways to unearth drug use in ways they won't expect: ambushing them in the shower, patting them down mid-embrace, and stripping labels off the family's prescription pills. (Don't ask. I was clueless about the logic of that.)

In the end, well-meaning Patsy only alienates her kids and bamboozles her husband into accidentally taking female hormone pills. (No labels on the drug bottles, remember?) The moral of this story? "Don't be a Patsy."

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by Angela Natividad    Oct- 2-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Online, Television



Chevy Plays Taxi Cab Confessions With College Students

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In what is sure to prompt all manner of debauchery, Chevy is bringing back its Aveo Livin' Large promotion to college students. this in time in the form of the Chevy Aveo5 Livin' Large College Cab. Students on six college campuses are filmed in the back of the Aveo5 College Cab as they go to class, the dorms or to parties. They then have seven days to get as many people to view their video as possible. The most viewed video from each school will compete in a final round of competition where the students in the video with the most votes at the end of the five days win brand new Aveo5s of their own.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 2-08    
Topic: Online, Promotions, Social, Video



Pandora Scores TB Banknorth A Boatload of New Accounts

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Pandora is my new friend. It's TD Banknorth's new friend too. VIA, TD Banknorth's agency, realizing the growing popularity of the music service that lets people created customized music stations, launched a pandora tuner takeover unit for the bank.

In support of the bank's iPod promotion, VIA created a custom TD Money Mix Tape with a selection of "currency-themed" music from the likes of Radiohead ("Dollars and Cents"), The Beatles ("Money"), Pink Floyd ("Money") and the Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs ("Rich"). There are 82 songs in all.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 2-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Online



Book Helps Brands Avoid 'Social Media' From Destroying Reputation

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New friend and blogger for elasticpath's Get Elastic blog Linda Bustos just published an article entitled How to Find an Online Reputation Manager. In the article, she highlights Andy Beal's book, Radically Transparent: Monitoring and Managing Reputation Online, which serves as a training manual for companies concerned with getting a handle on and participating in online communities and conversations about their brand.

With the proliferation of every conceivable manner of online communication and the dramatic change it's made to the old school rules that govern who, in theory, is supposed to have the ability to publish news and opinion, brands have to take a very different approach in how they influence their brand's perception.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 2-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Online, Social, Tools



If Fiesta Means Love, then What's a Tesla Roadster?

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I oscillate between being impressed and appalled by the juxtaposition of human tango and car (?) tango in this promo for Ford Fiesta.

"Tango at the Tower" isn't just a random spot; it's footage from a Tower of London event featuring Jodie Kidd and Ian Waite (Strictly Come Dancing), the key dancers in the video, as well as a handful of other celebs: Andrew Castle, Suzanne Shaw, Liz McClarnon, Mark Ramprakash.

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