My God, is that an Asterisk You’re Hiding? You Filthy Fake.

  • 1 min read
bad-asterisk.jpg

Apparently asterisks are bad.* In a campaign called “Don’t be an Asterisk,” the US Olympic Committee and the Ad Council associate them with steroids and inauthenticity.**

Witness as a high school jock repulses once-loving classmates when an asterisk starts forming on his forehead. (Apt, I guess, since steroids are supposed to make you break out like whoa.)

But here I was, all this time, thinking the teen angst market was reserved exclusively for the zit zappers. Speaking of which, J&J — parent company of Neutrogena! — funded this effort, which was put together by TBWA/Chiat/Day/NY.

—

*Good thing Cingular left the game before we all found out, or it would’ve been mayhem!

** Truthfully, I always thought the # sign was more abrasive.

Picture of Steve Hall

Steve Hall

RECENT ARTICLES
Strange

Dad Uses Hot Daughter to Sell Car on eBay
Industry Events

Internet Week Summarized Infographic-Style
Industry Events

Charlotte Gets Social With SocialFresh
Opinion

Why Advertising Will Never Portray Reality
Cause

iPad Drinkspirated, Games Socialized, Honda Gets Naughty
Celebrity

Streakers Pimp Briefs, Politician Gets Clean, Naomi Campbell Sexes Up

Load more

TRENDING AROUND THE WEB

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Real confidence rarely needs to announce itself: it shows up as stillness under pressure, a level voice when everyone else in the room is raising theirs, a willingness to let silence sit for a few extra seconds, and no need to perform for an audience that was never really watching

Global English Editing
A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

A survey of 2,000 women over 45 commissioned by the herbal remedy brand A. Vogel found that more than two-thirds felt completely ignored by men the moment they walked into a crowded room, and 46 percent said no one around them seemed to understand what that shift actually felt like

Global English Editing
Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Received Pronunciation, the accent linguists still nickname the Queen’s English, took shape inside a handful of England’s most expensive private schools, and it remains such a reliable marker of that background that a stranger can often place someone’s education within a single sentence.

Global English Editing
9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

9 truths about people that regular volunteers learn fast

Hack Spirit
7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

7 habits of people who remember everyone’s name and use it well

Hack Spirit
What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

What a glass of wine at 8pm actually does for a writer — and what it doesn’t

Global English Editing
Load more