Those radical exaggerators over at PETA are up to their old sensationalism again with the launch of Milk Gone Wild, a spoof on the Girls Gone Wild series which uses titillation and human udders to call attention to the apparent health hazards of drinking milk. While we have a decidedly different viewpoint than PETA does on the whole milk thing owing to our attachment, through marriage, to the realities versus fiction of dairy farming, PETA has, again, done what it does best; use sex and controversy to bring attention to its causes. With all the anti-everything campaigns PETA produces, it would be intriguing to watch a video of PETA employees deciding what to choose from the organization's cafeteria menu: lettuce, lettuce or lettuce topped with lettuce.
In the minds of television execs, it seems the little 'ol Internet still gets the shaft from the corner office as indicated by UPN and The WB neglecting to secure a viable URL for their new network, The CW. As Lost Remote points out, TheCW.com is not available nor is any other remotely close URL other than theonlinethecw.biz which we're sure they're not going to like. Looks like TheCW is going to be out a pretty penny buying domains from squatters, settle on a domain name that makes no sense or rename the company.
This morning UPN and WB decided to throw in the towel as competitors and, in September, join forces to become a bit more substantial together than the also-rans they were separately. The new network will be called CW. MediaLife reports, "UPN president Dawn Ostroff will head entertainment for the CW, and WB chief operating officer John Maatta will become the CW's COO." The new network will be owned by CBS and Warner Brother together. Ah, that's where the CW came from.
Today, Commercial Alert launched StopDrugAds.org, a site devoted to ending direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising in the United States. Commercial Alert says the purpose of the website is to educate the public about the dangers of prescription drug advertising, and to recruit Americans to voice their opposition to the ads.
When we wrote last summer about the test launch of The PreTesting Company's MediaCheck, a passive, digital television commercial viewership measurement service, we knew a new world of television viewership was upon us. Following a test launch in 2,500 Omaha homes, MediaCheck plans to have its measurement service in 35,000 homes in up to seven cities. The company is also in talks with cable operators to embed the system within set top boxes. Bye, bye archaic program ratings measurement systems. Bye, bye Nielsen. Hello commercial viewership metrics that will allow buyers to properly price television buys.
Responding to Strawberry Frog's Scott Goodson who said metrics such as MediaCheck could "rob commercials of edgy creative," AdJab's Chris Thilk took the words right out of our mouths writing, "You're [Goodson] the problem. Advertising is about selling, not entertaining. If you want to entertain go to Hollywood."
In a sad indication of how off-base and over complicated advertising can be at times, we find this image of a drawing labeled, "A first rough drawing to explain a TV script that wasn't crystal clear." OK, OK. So some people need extra visual representation of an idea to completely understand it but if we were that forgiving all the time, we'd have nothing to write about here now would we? Obviously, it's a slow news day here.
MPH thinks Toyota's plans to run a "hybrid" English/Spanish commercial for its Camry Hybrid during the Super Bowl is less than smart writing, "They better have one heck of a commercial because the concept sounds like a dud. Just sell cars, don't try to preach. Especially during the Super Bowl." Well, as we all know, the binoculars will be on hand to scrutinize every marketers' offering during the game so we'll all know soon enough if Toyota's hybrid/hybrid wittiness bombs or soars.
Making sure to ward off criticism by calling it an experiment, CBS will launch an advertising-sponsored week-long "micro-series" titled The Courier on Tuesday, January, 24 in the first act break of CSI: MIAMI after 9:00 PM EST/PST. The serialized short film, sponsored by Pontiac and broadcast about the same time each night in seven short episodes, will premiere as a 60-second installment with subsequent editions running for 40-seconds.
more »
We aren't normally a fan of iconic brands drastically changing their image, logo, tagline and overall marketing but we've taken a quick look at the new Absolut campaign from TBWA/Chiat/Day New York and we like it. We really like it. Gone is the bottle, mostly, and gone is the print heavy focus. TV has been added to the mix showing iconic imagery such as an image of Steve McQueen with the tagline, "The Absolute Man," an image of the Statue of Liberty with the tagline, "The Absolute Welcome" and an image of the moon rover with the tagline, 'The Absolute Road Trip." Clearly, the over crowded, hipsteresque vodka landscape has required a different tact for Absolut to set itself apart. This just might work.
Our friends over at Japander bring us so much glee, delivering us our favorite American movie stars and celebrities in ads they'd never be caught dead doing in America. In this ad 24 star Kiefer Sutherland runs through a train full of plaid-skirted Japanese school girls 24-style shouting "yes, yes, no, let me through" until he finally gets his Calorie Mate.
|
|
