"When pigs fly" would be the appropriate response to anyone discussing the notion of a newspaper increasing its circulation. Well, the Philadelphia Inquirer did increase its circ and pigs did, in fact, fly. Beginning last Thursday night, to celebrate the paper's 63,000 circulation increase and with help from Gyro Worldwide, flying pigs adorned the Philadelphia Inquirer building. Along with flying pigs, Gyro developed a print and radio campaign to celebrate the increase. Check out the video of flying pigs here. It's not something you see very often especially when it relates to newspapers.
A group of Boise mothers are miffed over a recent billboard promoting the Indianapolis-based Bob and Tom show which shows the pair emblazoned cartoon-style on a t-shirt stretched across a pair of very large breasts alongside the headline, "2 Boobs in the Morning.". The Boise affiliate which airs the show, in response to complaints, has decided to take down the board.
One mother, Kayla Mooso told Indianapolis television station WRTV, "My kids both saw it and my daughter is seven and she said, 'Mom, that's gross, that's immodest.'" Hmm, any seven year old who can use the word "immodest" certainly has the right to an opinion.
- In an odd sort of 180, bloggers and podcasters now have their own print magazine called Blogger & Podcaster. Scoble Graces the cover.
- We had a contest a week or so ago and awarded tickets to five Adrants readers for the Future of Online Advertising conference. If you didn't win here, youo can check out the contest over at Beyond Madison Avenue.
- Maybe this will finally answer the question asked but not answered by some network interviewer years ago about what exactly Avenue A/Razorfish does.
- Who knew? Certainly no one expected it after the merger but AOL's ad sales are up 40 percent and have helped Time Warner look pretty for for Q1.
- Well that's no fun. JWT Chicago has cut 30 people after losing some Kraft Foods business.
- Imus is planning to sue CBS over firing. Please. Can this just go away!
- Clear Channel is selling 362 stations for $820 million as part of a plan to go private.
- If you need to bitch about products or brands, the newly launched Test Freaks gives you the place to do so.
- After losing the account seven years ago, Kentucky-based Doe Anderson, a won it back Wednesday.
Ripe Blue Tomato's Greg Gillispie was on a recent road trip and wanted to share with us his interpretation of radio's recent HD radio promotions and wrote "Today I was on the road over 200 miles. I heard a number of station promos or spots for HD radio. All the spots were about the QUALITY and none about the CONTENT. And, all the spots were buried in the middle of the stopset.
So...I'm supposed to buy this new-fangled thang because it sounds good? Gee, why do they have to tell me about this when I seem to think what I'm listening to... with this spot...sounds pretty good. Or at least the QUALITY sounds pretty good.
But if I buy this new thang, what the hell am I supposed to get? CONTENT better than what I'm currently getting? Something different, unique, beneficial, entertaining, informative, WHAT?? They didn't tell me. Oh...and if I get it, should I STOP listening to what told me to GET it?
I'm Humbly Dumbfounded...or HD for short..."
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It's common knowledge most TV commercial for radio stations suck. They're always filled with washed up D-list celebs or they fall precipitously into car dealership territory so it is with great displeasure we find Bostonians (yes, those people that hate all marketing) complaining about a refreshingly weird television commercial for Boston's "play everything" Mike 93.7. The ad shows a bunch of office workers grooving to the station's eclectic playlist while stripping off their clothes in a manner that could be described as anything but offensively salacious.
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How soon we forget...but just one week? Yup. Advertiser are already talking about hooking up with Imus just a week after he was fired from CBS for his "nappy headed ho" remark. GM spokeswoman Ryndee Carney said, "We obviously don't condone his statements, but we have found value advertising on Imus in the past. Up to this point, the good has outweighed the bad. If an opportunity is presented to us, we would assess it just like we do all the other opportunities that come our way." Ah yes, corporate drooling for eyeballs continues to outweigh taking a stand on an issue. It's just too alluring to ignore the wallets of those who might still listen to Imus if and when he ever were to reappear.
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Here's a campaign that's too relevant for comfort. Merkley + Partners get cozy with the Ad Council -- which was recently in bed with the US Army for a grammatically icky and unconvincing get-edumakayted campaign -- to inflict fear upon teens for more conservative internet practices.
Part peer pressure, part plain creepiness and all mortification, the spots are entitled Bulletin Board and Everyone Knows Your Name. A typically over-informative PR tells us it's meant to raise awareness about online sexual exploitation but could just as easily be a cautionary wrist-slap over the ever-growing epidemic of Google-happy employers.
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On a local billboard, a St. Cloud, Minnesota radio station promises its morning show is so good it will crack you up...literally...with "Great Thongs All Day." We'll take the thongs. We're not to sure about that crack though. We're sure the Mothers Against Exposed Thongs cause group will be on this one in no time.
- George Parker says close-minded American marketers who buy into the ill-named American sport playoffs which assume America is the world should check out Cricket World Cup which, like football (the kind known to the rest of the world and not Americans), offers a chance to connect with fans the world over.
- New York's Z100 goes all consumer-generated with a new promotion that asks listeners to submit billboard and TV ideas which, if they win, will be shown in Times Square and aired on TV.
- New U.S. Post Office stamps get promoted with RD D2 mail box wraps.
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Calling attention to the nastiness of the Holocaust for the University of Colorado, Boulder's Holocaust Awareness Week, is starkly dark campaign, created by TDA Advertising & Design, that reminds us of the horrors that time brought. From freakish experiments on the body to pressure chamber torture to showers of gas, bulletin board postings, door knob hangers and shower hangers slap students in the face with this message of remembrance. A radio spot featuring a sickly twisted fairly tale accompanies the campaign. There's nothing pretty about this campaign and that's as it should be.
See the campaign components here and listen to the radio spot here.
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