Belgian Campaign Says Fois Gras Hurtful to Ducks

In Belgium, an outdoor campaign is hoping to educate people about Fois Gras, that fancy sounding fatty liver dish. Apparently Fois Gras is made from the enlarged livers of ducks who are force fed in captivity so that their livers dramatically expand. The campaign was supposed to run in 40 major Belgian railway stations but the railway company refused the posters because they are "too shocking" according to one news report. Here's a second image.

XBOX Takes Over Union Station

Always everywhere Bucky Turco reports Microsoft has made a Union Station station domination buy for XBOX 360. Turco reports the ads have a "Jurgen Teller-ish for Marc Jacobs" look and that some of the ads carry the "Jump In" Tagline.

Poster Says F the MTA

Wandering wayfarer Bucky Turco, as Gawker refers to him, spotted a sign at the 1st Avenue L Station in New York City which contains the email address [email protected]. Cute.

Robin Williams Appears on Hospital Ad Poster...Sort Of

If, perhaps, you've wondered where Robin Williams has gone following his Hollywood heyday, Tian has learned he's lent his mug to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center by appearing on the hospital's transit posters in Scottsdale Arizona. The posters are eerily similar to William's One Hour Photo movie poster. OK, so it's no really William's on the posters but, all the same, it's always fun to jab at those who's lifestyle you can only dream of achieving.

Technology Enables Billboards to Direct Camera Phone Users to Website

In Japan, Northewest Airlines is running a billboard campaign which contains QR codes, small image tags on the billboards which contain an embedded URL. When a camera phone user takes a picture of the board, they are directed to a website that features a game where airline coupons can be won. A company called Semacode makes the technology behind the QR codes. Many phone manufacturers are adopting the technology which may make billboards finally serve a purpose other that simple brand awareness or physical directionals.

Chinese Coke Billboard Goofy...Or Not

There's something about Chinese culture that makes relatively snark-free advertising like this Coke billboard possible. Of course we have no idea what we're talking about because we've never been to China. But we do know, or at least we're told, there's a bit more innocent goofiness in the culture that makes this stuff possible. Of course, we could be completely wrong about that notion too.

Sony's Street PSP Campaign Getting Tagged, Ragged

While initially it seemed Sony's PSP street chalk drawing campaign in several cities around the U.S. was being well received by some (us), others have dished out a bit of backlash by defacing the drawings and calling for an end to corporations' attempts to co-op the graffiti art form. AdFreak sums up the issue pointing to a rant over at Gothamist, an online petition to stop the practice and street art blog Wooster Collective's collection of PSP street art.

Site Says Cut The Bull, Calls For Respect

Connecticut-based Outhouse Communications has created a site for Operation Respect CT called Cut the Bull, a site that urges respect among kids, teens and everyone while hoping to eliminate bullying. At the website visitors can spread respect in various ways by making a unique, one of a kind custom respect poster, by sending friends respect notes, by downloading ringtones and by purchasing a "No Bull Shirt" T-Shirt. Outhouse is using billboards to promote the site.

Individual's to Appear on 'Person of the Year' Times Square Board

Time Magazine is promoting its Person of the Year issue on the Reuters board in New York's Times Square. As part of the promotion, developed by Fallon, the first 50,000 people who submit their photo will, after review, be shown on the 45 foot tall electronic display at 43rd Street and 7th Avenue. There will also be photographers, who will beam photos of selected people to the board, roaming Times Square from 12 Noon until 3PM each day until December 8. Each headshot will be framed in Time Magazine's Iconic red border on a mock Time Person of the Year cover.

People don't have to actually be in Times Square to see their headshots displayed - a digital camera will snap photos of each new image as it is displayed, and will place these photos in a searchable database online at www.impoy.com. Photos can be emailed, printed and shared with friends and family. 50,000 headshots will rotate through the display along with real Person of the Year candidates such as Lance Armstrong, Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush, Bono and J.K. Rowling. The display will ask passersby who they would choose to be Time's 2005 Person of the Year.

The promotion, presented by Chrysler, will run for a total of 6,000 minutes from Dec. 1 - Dec. 19 on The Reuters Sign in Times Square. We submitted our photo. You should too.

MangoMoose Wraps Limousines

If you hired a limo, would you ever get into one similar to the one pictured to the left? I didn't think so but a company called MangoMoose Media hopes you will with their introduction of LimoWraps, a new limousine ad medium debuting here in the U.S. and in Canada. While you might not ride, advertisers are buying. Madonna's recent CD release "Confessions On A Dance Floor" incorporated a wrapped stretch Ford Excursion that roamed Toronto streets for 10 days.

The company puts the limos on the road for eight hours per day for a minimum of five days and charges $5,900.