Newspaper Ad Revenue Plummets, Interns Rock, Kmart Gets Buzz

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- The Newspaper Association of America reports newspaper ad revenue fell 18.1 percent or almost $2 billion in the third quarter of 2008. Online newspaper ad revenue fell as well.

- AdGabber member Buddy Wachenheimer envisions what condom packaging would look like if it were sponsored.

- If your an agency struggling with workload after having laid off half your staff, check out YouIntern. It's always nice to, as YouIntern proudly states in its tagline, gain "freedom from coffee and coffee" so you can work on the more important stuff like sitting in a traffic meeting. Oh wait. Sorry about that. Bad example.

- IZEA is out with a blog campaign for Kmart which is getting a lot of Twitter buzz.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 2-08    
Topic: Agencies, Newspaper, Social



Crispin Trots Globe in Pursuit of Whopper Virgins

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See teaser visuals for the Whopper Virgin campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Burger King. Turn the volume down unless you dig the cacophonous din of high-pitched wind instruments.

According to AdFreak, Crispin -- our fearless leader! -- will scour the world in search of people that have never tried a Whopper, then publish a documentary about this deep spiritual journey alongside director Stacy Peralta.

The site boasts footage of unravaged remote villages as well as cultural wisdom, of which this is just one example: "If you want a real opinion about a burger, ask someone who doesn't even have a word for burger."

Ahhh. Today their stomachs, tomorrow their labour force. It's enough to make Hernan Cortes beam with childlike delight.



GM/Ford Talk Social Media, B-52's Chime, Cunning Turns Ten

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- Two key players shaping Detroit's social media strategy, Ford's Scott Monty and GM's Christopher Barger, appeared on The BeanCast, this week to talk about their social media efforts for the auto industry, the proposed bailout and that private jet fiasco.

- The B-52s have lent their sound to NBC network's ongoing CHIME IN campaign recording its own version of NBC's chimes, which will air in promo form during the network's primetime lineup.

- Marketing agency Cunning is ten years old. Help them blow out the candles on their virtual birthday cake.

- On Tuesday, December 16 at the ADC Gallery on 106 West 29th Street, The Art Directors Club will host its holiday party where the Art Directors Annula 87 and the ADC Young Guns 6 Annual will be made available for purchase.

by Steve Hall    Nov-25-08    
Topic: Agencies, Industry Events, Podcast, Social, Television



Messner Talks, Twitter Quits Facebook, Livestreaming Suicide

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- Tom Messner on web two-dot-oh: "TV was still social medium in 1965 as people gathered around it; nobody gathers around the Internet unless you think that everyone is gathering around it at any time." Read more up-close with Hustle Knockin'. (V-via.)

- Twitter waves $500 million in Facebook stock off the table.

- Montreal-based Sid Lee opens doors where we all wish we could: in Amsterdam!

- "Oh, haven't you heard of Glah-day?" Someone finally speaks out about those Godforsaken Glade Scented Candles ads.

- George Parker will host your Second Life wedding if you promise to pass him some dirt on Enfatico.

- Google lets you customize search results.

- Planning to die? Don't forget to switch on the webcam.

- Shepard Fairey discusses his work and his design agency, Studio Number One, in a video interview.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-24-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Opinion



Bike Hero Puts Pedal to Punk Rock.

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This looks like fun. And before you self-harm on account of your incapacity to contrive something this cool with nothing but gamer love and idle time, take comfort: it was apparently pretty well-funded.

Paul Isakson -- better known as @Don_Draper -- says the faux fan effort is actually a promo for Guitar Hero World Tour. Created by Droga5 under the madflux facade, it's already had nearly 520,000 views in its first 24 hours live on YouTube. I'm sure Feed Company is dying of envy.

Thanks @RobertGorell for passing us the link and agency info.

UPDATE: Steve Coulson persuaded us to call Feed Company and find out if they're the genies behind "Bike Hero." The person we talked to was all evasive and weird about it, so we called one of Feed's contractors and got bonafide confirmation: YES, Feed Company seeded the vid for Droga5.

No surprise, I guess; who besides Feed disseminates astroturf amateur vids that people actually watch?

more »

by Angela Natividad    Nov-20-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Online, Video, Viral



VeeV Spikes Vodka, Sprint 2-Point-No, Lessons Learned from Motrin Mayhem

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- Yesterday's news: Pepsi shafts BBDO for TBWA. BBDO held the account for nearly 50 years.

- After a year and a half of fumbling at the throne of Yahoo, CEO Jerry Yang exits stage left.

- Wieden + Kennedy scores the Nokia Nseries account, worth about $150 million. Lowe London held it before.

- VeeV, an acai-based spirit with delusions of grandeur, brings you The End of Vodka, complete with vodka bots. The site's goal is to show users how much superficiality vodka's introduced into our lives over the course of the past decade. Yeah. If by superficiality you mean lasting friendships and insta-forgiveness.

- "Is this Miley's fault? Ugh, she wouldn't know a legendary jazz man even if he walked up to her and shot cocaine into her neck."

- Sprint's web 2.0 clusterfuck.

- Big Takeaways from the Motrin crisis. (How is it Motrin gets shut down but this goes on undeterred?)

by Angela Natividad    Nov-18-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Opinion, Social



Seemingly, Crispin Porter + Bogusky Can Do No Wrong

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Crispin Porter + Bogusky, which hasn't done anything truly groundbreaking since Subservient Chicken (actually created by Barbarian Group), continues to be the poster child for awesomeness in the eyes of brands looking for some sort of extra kick. Microsoft has handed its $41 million Zune account, previously handled by 72andSunny (among others), to the shop without review.

We've made it well known we aren't lovin' Crispin's current work for Vista. Please, Crispin, help us change our opinion with what we hope will be kick ass work for Zune. OK? Please? Can you do that for us?

[Ed. Seriously. Is it even worth any company to attempt to out do the iPod? Why even bother?]

by Steve Hall    Nov-14-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands



Burma Viral Honored, 'That Guy' Ovulates, Maggots for a Cure

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- MTV's "Burma Viral," produced by Shilo for Ogilvy & Mather, won a London Int'l Awards Gold Statue for TV/Cinema Animation, and a Silver Shark for Best Int'l Animation at the 46th Annual Kinsale Shark Awards. At left is the somewhat-stunned project writer, Carl Le Blond, clutching the London Gold. Way to goooooo.

- Valleywag watered down, broadened out, folded into Gawker.

- Intel's obnoxious "That guy" is a chick, actually.

- Lego reenacts Star Wars with non-violent games.

- I fucking hate maggots.

- Racing for a hot shower.

- Linda Tripp's mouth-blown, hand-painted ornament store.

- And you thought foreign oil dependence was our problem.



Mickie Rosen No Longer A Fox

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Wow, there's nothing like being called a fox and then having the label removed because you change jobs. But, that's exactly what happened to former fox (and FOX executive) Mickie Rosen who's decided to leave FOX for Velocity Interactive where she'll oversee the company's West Coast operations.

But hey, she's still kind of a fox even if she's no longer with FOX.

[Ed. That, by far, was the worst, most inane story that's ever appeared on Adrants. Oh wait. There was the Fudge Packs thing. That's a classic actually.]

by Steve Hall    Nov-13-08    
Topic: Agencies



Ford SYNCs, Cat Dances, W+K Getds $150M From Nokia

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- Common Craft helps Ford explain how Microsoft SYNC works in its vehicles. It's so good it'll be the sole reason you buy a Ford. Or so says the video. It's pretty straight forward but this video explaining YouTube is MUCH more straightforward.

- Got thoughts? Head over to ThoughtPile and check out what everyone else is thinking. And maybe win a Herman Miller Embody chair.

- Do some good when you waste time playing an online game. The Motion Monkey created a game for The Anthony Nolan Trust, an organization that aids donor matching.

more »

by Steve Hall    Nov-13-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Video