Adidas Launches Consumer-Generated Street Graffiti Campaign

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Street art site Wooster Collective has photographed a German Adidas outdoor poster campaign which consisted of the brand's logo on a white background with a hint of graffiti added. The brand hoped the public would take the hint and add to the boards. They did. While an early outdoor graffiti campaign for Sony's PSP consisted of completed graffiti placed on boards and was viewed as a lame co-op of the medium, the Adidas provides the hook to draw the public in to complete the job. Wooster Collective likes it. We do too. There's more here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-23-06    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good, Outdoor



Greenpeace Scales Jesus, Hangs Ad banner

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Here's an inventive stunt for Greenpeace Billboardom points out whereby a large banner with the copy, "The future of the planet is in your hands. What would Jesus do?" is hung over a large statue of Jesus (the Cristo Redentor, in Rio) by a team of climbers.

by Steve Hall    Mar-23-06    
Topic: Guerilla, Outdoor



Jammin' Geriatrics Don Butterfinger Bling, Rap

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Because the site is just really weird and the whole brown finger thing, along with all it connotes, sort of grossed us out, we were all set to dislike this Butterfinger Follow The Finger promotion a poster and Bucky Turco pointed us to until we saw jammin' geriatric Manny G. Who cares if the site's trying to sell Butterfinger candy bars, this shit is kickin'. Oops, sorry. Just trying to be down with it all here but as you all know we're only almost sorta hip, not genuinely hip so pardon that outburst. Anyway, the site's got a lot of funny stuff but we wonder why they do the "pick on the Indian call center" thing. It's still better than a boring TV spot though. Way better.

by Steve Hall    Mar-22-06    
Topic: Good, Online, Outdoor, Strange



Oranges on Trashcan Promote Godfather Game

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Writing on his Coffee & Manipulation blog, Victor tells us about a promotion he saw on his way to work in San Francisco today. As he emerged from a transit terminal, he saw a collection of oranges atop a trash can with the stickers affixed to them which read "Godfather321.com." The URL turns out to be an Electronic Arts site promoting its new Godfather-themed game featuring Marlon Brando. Victor notes the significance of the orange lies in its representation of death in the Godfather movies.

by Steve Hall    Mar-21-06    
Topic: Guerilla, Online, Outdoor, Promotions



Windshield Sticker Convinces Drivers Not to Speed

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While we don't know where, geographically, these windshield stickers were placed, we're quite sure most local PTA's would take issue with it. However, the message is powerful and clear. This poster is exactly what one could be looking at if speeding through a child-filled school zone. It certainly delivers the message.

by Steve Hall    Mar-20-06    
Topic: Creative Commentary, Good, Guerilla, Outdoor, Poster



'Balls' Culturally Misrepresented in VW 'Turbo-Cojones' Billboard

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It seems some Hispanics don't like the American version of "having big balls" let alone being told the VW GTI has Turbo-Cojones. Apparently, to "have balls" doesn't really mean one is a badass Mofo to a Hispanic since the word "cojones" refers literally those bulbous round objects inside that hairy, baggy sack of flesh that hangs between a man's legs. Not exactly an image that conjures a bold risk taker. And so it goes. Another billboard comes down because of cultural misunderstanding. The board, in New York, LA and Miami will be replaced by the less "culturally offensive" Spanglifications "Here today, gone tamale" and "Kick a little gracias." How un-ballsy. Image from El Blog De Popo.

by Steve Hall    Mar-19-06    
Topic: Outdoor, Trends and Culture



Giant Billboard Attacks Passerby

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Now we all know advertisers are hard pressed to attract the attention of message-weary consumers but we never thought they'd take to literally clobbering people over the head to get them to pay attention to their ads. This past Wednesday around 2:30 PM, a piece of a large L'Oreal billboard in Toronto's Eaton Center fell and hit a man seriously injuring him along with two others. High winds, versus an aggressive guerrilla media planning strategy, were blamed for the incident. Local TV report here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-17-06    
Topic: Outdoor



Florida Allows Citizens to Advertise Political Beliefs on License Plates

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Odd as it may seem, our New York City culture correspondent Bucky Turco found himself in Florida this week and marveled at the state's license plate citizen advertising program whereby the state lets people select from a list of ahundred or so messages to emblazon their license plates. Without surprise, Turco found and photographed one of the more controversial messages people can choose to slap on their vehicles.

by Steve Hall    Mar-17-06    
Topic: Outdoor



McDonald's Bus Shelter Makes Mouth Water For Crap

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Just what you want while waiting for the bus: that mouth watering, tantalizing reminder of how much you'd love to stuff your face with a 1,000 calorie burger only to be reminded later by your stomach it wasn't the best decision you could have made. See more here.

Leo Burnett Istanbul created the piece and the media agency is OMD Turkey.

by Steve Hall    Mar-17-06    
Topic: Outdoor



Army Poster Conveys It's More Fun Not to Join Up

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Ironic Sans points out an ad for the Army that, perhaps, sends the wrong message. In the ad, citizens are shown smiling and army personnel are shown with stern, even angry or sad expressions. To us, it looks like being a citizen is a lot more fun then joining the army. We're guessing the top brass is of the opinion smiling soldiers convey a weakness, hence the bad ass, military facial expressions.

by Steve Hall    Mar-13-06    
Topic: Bad, Outdoor