Actress and Musician Christina Milan is helping NetZero launch PrivatePhone, a free, disposable phone number service for people to use when they just want that loser at the bar to leave them alone or for use in a personal ad or for use when selling something but, for all intents and purposes, it's basically a dating/chat line service. It's inbound only with voice mail. On the site, there's a gallery where people can upload their images or images of things they are trying to sell. Doesn't sound like anything special which is probobly why they needed to hire a hot chick and slap her up on a Times Square billboard.
Kevin Faddis points us to yet another odd Zambia-based Harvey Tiles billboard which reads, "A roof without HARVEY TILES can't make your mind free the same as sex with a baby can't cure HIV/AIDS." Initially, one might react to this buy saying...oh...WTF but there's a reason behind the choice of words on the billboard. The man who wrote the copy explained on an ESPN site saying, "There is a myth some people believe that if you have sex with a virgin, you are bound to be safe from AIDS. It's a rumor that started up here about a year ago. And then they started bringing people in to the police because they had been sleeping with babies. The slogan is to remind people not to sleep with babies. The owner sells tiles and, at the same time, he educates people."
OK, then. Gross but, then again, it's a different world in Zambia than it is in many other parts of the world and if it takes a shocking headline like this to stop people from having sex with babies then we say "good job" Harky Tiles.
New mobile service provider Helio, with help from StreetVirus and Alt Terrain, has launched an influencer marketing campaign consisting of in-venue pop up stores, a print magazine, a blog and sponsorship of local artists. The in-venue stores include a mini-lounge and employees are given Helio phones. Each store receives free ad space in the Helio magazine and become an exclusive retailer of the devices.
The artists sponsorship provides artists with hard-to-come by public mural space to showcase their work, financial support for their gallery shows, exposure in the Helio blog and the print magazine that is nationally distributed, and artists are provided a Helio phone of their choice. For a new company without a lot of money and one whose services appeal to the social networking needs of tweens, teens and twenty-somethings, Helio has headed in the right direction with this influencer marketing approach. You can see some of the artist's work here.
It's seldom you see a really nice piece of witty copy anymore but this Kenneth Cole billboard does the trick. The copy reads, "If Gas Prices Continue to Rise Why Not Switch Pumps." But, as Animal points out, a pair of $196 pumps doesn't exactly help save money.
- Similar to Virgin's find the bands game, Absolut has launched a game in which the player has to find 82 bottles in a busy streetscape. It's sort of like that guy that wrote all those Busy Town kid books.
- Everyone's buzzing about Pepsi' interactive outdoor/transit ad which allows people to plug their headphones right into the poster to sample tunes from Pepsi Access.
- Adopt a kitten door sticker campaign copies begging children door sticker campaign.
- Well, this is one way to get a lot of attention for your average warehouse sale.
- Here's one ad campaign that doesn't paint Mexicans in a very respectful manner.
Amnesty International is running a powerful outdoor campaign in Switzerland calling attention to the horrific events that occur in our world on a daily basis. With the tagline, "It's not happening here but it's happening now," the posters show images of starvation, brutality, torture, child warfare and other less than pleasant avtivities. Adland has the entire series here.
While this outdoor campaign draws attention to HIV, this is one outdoor campaign you probobly don't want to be standing next to lest you enjoy tepid smirks from passers by.
While traveling over the memorial Day weekend to escape the world of advertising, American Copywriter's John January wasn't entirely successful and shares with us the marvel that is the Midwestern billboard. From tuxedo clad car salesman to well drillers to incessant church advertising to Kum & Go, the midwest is, apparently, full of entertaining outdoor advertising.
Those Europeans sure do love their football and this massive and unique outdoor board from Adidas placed over a bridge construction site is a clear representation of that love. The board features German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn making a killer save. If Americans displayed their love of things this way, we'd have a gigantic image of Tom Cruise jumping over a highway shaped like a couch or a floating Army of inflatable paparazzi chasing Britney Spears and she dropped her baby from the top of the Empire State Building. Thankfully, we're just not that creative.
The city of Istanbul is promoting reading with book benches. Benches that look like an open book have been placed around the city and on each bench which carry poems from 18 famous Turkish poets. You can view a larger image of the bench here.
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