Here's an extended version of the American Express Travel ad that aired during the Emmy Pre-Show. In it, Martin Scorsese gives Tina Fey the hard sell on Boca Raton. It's the kind of thing we might characterize as funny, even if we didn't really watch it, just because it involves an awkward timeshare situation and Scorsese prattling -- almost, it seems, without end.
"There's a possibility of nine days -- not consecutive -- near the end of August, beginning of September." I like how he asks her to make the check out to "Cash."
By Ogilvy for American Express.
Take note, CP+B: In the realm of advertising, Scorsese's like the Seinfeld for a live-in-HD, less corny generation. His AmEx work aside, see what he did for Freixenet last year. (Seinfeld occasionally still does work for AmEx too, but it's all got a datedness to it.)
...it does, and they don't wish you well.
Time has taught me to look forward to French PSAs, whose entertainment value outpaces (often dire) American counterparts while maintaining a lighter, friendlier feel.
This French PSA for colon cancer is less action-packed than the AIDS PSAs we've been so stuck on. Like a rerun of Osmosis Jones, the :30 spot takes users on an animated trip inside an apparently-healthy man's body, where a grinning cancer cell waits, eager to wreak havoc and whatnot.
Its object is to convince men over 50 to get tested for colon cancer -- which, if caught early, can in most cases (the ad says nine out of 10) be cured. Launched by the National Cancer Institute, it airs from September 14-October 8 across most major French stations.
There's something crude and flippant about these new ads by the Corn Refiner's Association, which have begun advertising to undo all the bad PR surrounding high fructose corn syrup.
In one spot, a mother casually accuses another of not caring what her kids eat; in another, an uptight boyfriend insinuates his girlfriend doesn't love him because she's offered him an artificially sweetened Popsicle.
Both the girlfriend and the accused mom get the last word in the end. Turns out the corn syrup Nazis don't know why it's bad, and are apparently only following an invisible crowd of lemmings informed by, who knows, the nasty nasty liberal media.
Each spot ends with "You're in for a sweet surprise!" and guides users to SweetSurprise.com, which sports a gigantic, disarmingly fresh ear of (as-yet-unrefined?) corn.
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"I'm a PC and I sell fish!"
Say what you will about the Microsoft/Seinfeld ad campaign (or "Phase I" of a grander design), it's hard not to like these fresh-out "I'm a PC" ads.
The spots -- quirky, friendly and feel-good -- debuted last night during The Office. See all three below.
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Crush/Toronto, the fine folk that produced the promo work for Douglas Coupland's The Gum Thief (kicking off our love affair with his books), partnered with Blok Design/Mexico City to produce the opening title sequence for Arte en Construccion.
The latter is a Mexican TV program that "[examines] the creative process of leading artists in Mexico."
The score is playful, almost exploratory; the visuals are well-shot and deliciously tactile: grains of sand, vibrant pink against dull landscapes, thread being manipulated between metal points. Thankfully, it's also short, so you can enjoy all its charms without holding that wry grin for over a minute.
Because they're spraying on their pantyhose.
But wait! -- don't stop at aerosol hosiery. Think bigger. Think self-adhering panties. Introducing the NYCE G strapless G-string, part of a life-changing liaison between Nyce Legs -- the spray-on pantyhose people -- and Shibue Couture. Helping you look your sexy best.
Thanks to MTLB for the find.
On October 2 in Times Square, Netflix kicks off a five-day movie-watching marathon. The objective: to make the Guinness World Record for most consecutive hours spent watching movies.
Provided you don't die of sleep deprivation, drowning or electrocution,* winners get "undeniable notoriety associated with holding the title of world champion," plus $10K, a lifetime Netflix subscription, and a Popcorn Bowl trophy -- the first of its kind!
But jobless film buffs be warned: the current record-holder, Ashish Sharma of Mathura, India, will also compete. The time to beat is 120 hours and 23 minutes.
To promote the marathon, DECON produced three spots for TV and three for online. The online ones are pretty much the same as the TV ones, except more to-the-point (see?).
Each ends with a huge Netflix logo, followed by the ominous words, "The training has begun." Titillated? Is your calling calling? Enter on Facebook.
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Well, everyone got what they wanted. Those zany Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld ads (see 1 and 2) are out of the picture and now we'll never see what they were building up to. That upsets me. Then again, I didn't whip out the $10 million for Seinfeld.
In their stead, Crispin's hired a dead-ringer for John Hodgman, the stodgy but lovable "humorist" who personifies PC in Apple's "Mac vs. PC" ads. (See Hodgman pose as free pizza in the most recent spot. He's so cute!)
According to Engadget, the new effort is a direct rebuttal to the "Mac vs. PC" ads, which have become part of popular culture. One even starts out with the John Hodgman lookalike saying, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype."
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Even sabotage your car, just so you'll accept one of its new models.
Also see "Pinned," where a girl wanders into a parking lot to find her car sandwiched into oblivion -- just in time for a Suzuki rep to hand her the keys to a 2009 Suzuki SX4 Sedan.
Both ads are part of Suzuki's deliciously desperate "Whatever it Takes" campaign by john st. Given that Suzuki vehicles aren't known for their inherent awesomeness (unless you live in Lebanon), the company might wanna rethink this approach.
"Heads," an ad where people around Los Angeles sport art instead of faces, brings Magritte to mind -- in part because the images echo certain work of his, but also because they share a muted texture and feel. "Heads" is subtle and almost unsettling.
The tagline, "Getty. It stays with you," weds imagery to action. By M&C Saatchi for The Getty.
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