Oregon Tourism And Horizon Air Like Maps

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It seems those in the Pacific Northwest think alike when it comes to travel and tourism advertising. In early September, we took a look at a campaign for Horizon Air which highlighted the 200 mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland. It's referred to The Slog for all the oddities and annoyances along the way that make taking a Horizon Air (of course) flight to traverse the distance instead.

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Horizon Air Convinces Sloggers The Slog Is Not the Best Way to Travel

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After spending some time on Horizon Air's The Slog, a site created by WONGDOODY which highlights the landmarks along the 200 mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland - in order to convince us to fly the 200 miles instead of drive - we actually want to take the 200 mile drive just to see all the cool stuff the site highlights. OK, so it's not all cool, the road sucks and the rest stop bathrooms are disgusting. But the way WONGDOODY crafted the site - a collection of videos highlight each of "the slog's" oddities and frustrations Old West-style - lends a certain attraction to the road.

In addition to the site, the campaign also includes print, radio and a branded truck with a museum-like diorama of the road that makes stops along the highway. Brochures will also be handed out to travelers on the road convincing them Horizon Air is really the way to go. In all, it's one of the best airline campaigns we've ever seen.

by Steve Hall    Sep-18-07    
Topic: Good, Online, Outdoor, Radio, Video



Bay 'Booms' Toronto With Fashion Protest

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"We're here. We're Hot. Get used to it." That's the battle cry kicking off a new spot for Toronto-based fashion retailer Bay. Boom is the name of the campaign and it's all about baby boomers reclaiming their fashionista status by staging a fashion protest which looks like some sort of colorized sixties protest.

The campaign's got everything: TV, radio, a contest to win a car, interactive retail windows, transit, guerrilla, fashion shows, in store event and even a "bra burning" promotion.

by Steve Hall    Aug-28-07    
Topic: Events, Good, Guerilla, Outdoor, Point of Purchase, Radio, Television



And Ironically, Imus See Reinvigoration

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Our favorite post Civil War relic Don Imus is back after reaching a settlement on Tuesday that frees him to get back on air at a new station, four months after calling the Rutger women's basketball team nappy headed hos.

"He's more valuable now than before the controversy," says founder Michael Harrison of Talkers magazine. "He was such a focus of media attention for so long that his career has been reinvigorated, and he's in a position to sort of reinvent himself -- to make himself more pertinent and even more interesting."

Racist slurs spouted by major media figures are indeed demonstrably interesting. Consider our other buddy Mel.

Well hell, if nothing else, maybe Nike will get another campaign out of it.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-15-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Radio, Worst



Ice Cream Truck Songs Perch High on Nouvelle Culture CD Collections

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There is something deliciously clowny and fragile about the ice cream truck songs developed by Michael Hearst for his aptly titled solo release, Songs for Ice Cream Trucks (sample at Wired).

When we were kids, ice cream trucks had maybe two songs in circulation and an angry turbaned man at the helm. These tracks bring playful innocence to the otherwise-jaded profession of hawking ice cream on the streets of 'burbia. How the world is changing.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-25-07    
Topic: Good, Radio, Trends and Culture



:30 Not Dead, Cannes Goes to Coney, Stern Sued, J&J Robs McCann

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- All those predictions about the death of the upfront? Still wrong. It's looking healthy and on it's way to 9 billion, up three percent from last year. Death of the :30? not this year.

- PricewaterhouseCooper says global web ad spending will hit $80 billion by 2011.

- Even more Cannes idiocy: Wrath of Cannes

- Howard Stern may be sued by weight loss company JEC for disparaging comments he made about Stern regular, Cabbie who is using the product.

- Johnson & Johnson has pulled creative duties for all but one account, Acuvue, from IPG's McCann Erikson, a loss of $90 million for the agency.

by Steve Hall    Jun-22-07    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Radio, Television



Radio Billboard Uses Britney Spears' Shaved Head, Lawyers Not Amused

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Yet another idiotic morning radio team has been chastised by lawyers for their mindless attempt at humor. While it's all kind of fun to crap all over Britney Spears and her recent head shaving event, Spears' lawyers are not amused by Clear Channel Communications' use of Britney's image for Florida station WFLZ. Her crazed head shaved image appears next to WFLZ morning show host Todd Schnitt under the headlines "Total Nut Jobs," "Shock Therapy" and "Certifiable." A letter was sent to Clear Channel from Spears' legal team, Lavely & Singer demanding the removal of the boards or a law suit may follow.

by Steve Hall    Jun-19-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Outdoor, Radio



Texas Car Dealer Gets So Horny With Jingle

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You can count on car dealers for two things. Smarmy sales tactics and advertising that's really, really good or really, really bad. AdFreak points us to Mesquite Texas Hyundai dealer Absolute who adapted 2 Live Crew's Me So Horny for their own purposes in the form of Me So Horny, a car dealer jingle that lives quite comfortably on the really, really good end of the quality spectrum.

by Steve Hall    Jun-15-07    
Topic: Brands, Good, Radio, Strange



Pop Culture Still Tells the Best Stories

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This isn't an ad; it's a music video for D.A.N.C.E. by Justice. And it's amazery!

We just think it does a spiffy job of mashing up retro pop images, subculture slogans, familiar ad themes, and corporate fonts to demonstrate how these messages embed themselves into our everyday interactions. We adopt and drop them with the ease of a casual shrug.

Witty little manifestos make up a patchwork retelling of our shared media experiences. We really like the moment when "Internet killed the video stars" is swallowed by a spinning cross, which is then overtaken by a pyramid.

And can you catch the moment when the Disney font is used?

Your T-shirt does indeed say a lot about you.

by Angela Natividad    May-21-07    
Topic: Good, Radio, Television, Video



Breast Cancer Radio Ads. Ho Hum

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John St. has just launched a campaign for Rethink Breast Cancer. The idea is to get you thinking about assumptions you make about shirts people wear and ultimately convince you it would be awesome to buy a breast cancer tee.

Radio spots by shirt type: Camouflage, Chinese symbol, Bride.

The ads do a decent job of helping you jump the proper cognitive hoops but overall we felt chafed by the processed vanilla yogurt feel. Sitting through this felt like Homestar Runner's Marzipan come to life and singing us one of her insufferable folk songs.

by Angela Natividad    May-21-07    
Topic: Bad, Cause, Radio