- Musical group Devo (yes, apparently, they still exist) is suing McDonald's for making Happy Meal dolls in the band's likeness.
- Wanna hop on the "engagement" bus and whip out some cool "engagement" figures during your next client presentation? Then check out Starch's new engagement index, a buzzword-worthy combination of the organization's "noticed" and "read half/some" metrics.
- As only George Parker can, Yahoo's recent re-organization is characterized akin to the way Queen Victoria characterized the inevitability of rape.
- AgencySpy reports, "AS just got another tip that "at least 2 ECDs and a bunch of lower level creatives have gotten the axe today" at Doner. This can't possibly have anything to do with Minute Maid. No, you think? That was quick."
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- It Didn't Air is another awards show that aspires to tickle the creative babies that were too ugly or flawed to make it into waking life. Strictly for radio ads -- and only $75 to enter!!
- Anheuser-Busch is going to stop selling energy drinks. Which is probably wise, because tipsy + hyper = high likelihood of Death by Freak Accident. Typically on a train track.
- Mega-Bang turns bald, bearded, nearsighted men into repetitive sex gods. Also, check out his bathrobe insignia. It's a phallus. With an orbit.
- Mattress Firm is looking for the most sleepless person in America. The winner gets a new mattress and a free consultation from a shrink -- er, sleep expert. To enter, write an essay or submit a video, though I think the latter's preferred because that's what all the cool kids do.
OK. Guy with acquired class along with hot girl enters Ritz Carlton pool. Guy with born and bred class approaches and the one up-manship begins. Both men devolve, as many men do where a beautiful woman is concerned, into classless buffoons. In the end, the right one wins.
It's the next "film" in a series from the Ritz Carlton and American Express.
Denver-based Cactus put together this promotional video for Westwood College, a vocational school for, you know, vocations.
Way better than those crap Western Career College ads (whose only legacy is this drunk guy). And if you find it tough to take degree recommendations from a guy in a diner uniform, sit tight: he changes clothes.
More creative here. One tagline we liked: "Go from making a living to MAKING A LIFE." Smooooth.
New Media Strategies just debriefed us on Museum of the Obvious, a campaign that showcases obvious inventions.
I dig the virtual museum, but the online videos are way too long. This might be because New Media Strategies believes that "on the internet, speed kills." (Really?)
Nice use of the Duracell theme music, though. See:
o Sliced Bread
o Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries (the actual Duracell product!)
o Oven Mitt
o Football Helmet
With help from TEQUILA, Cartier built a MySpace page to showcase its latest collection, "Love by Cartier."
"How far would you go for love?" This question appears across creative and in artist interviews. For a coveted Love bracelet, expect to go pretty far: $1000 or more. Get this: you have to fill out a form to get any pricing information.
Tracks come courtesy of Lou Reed, Grand National and Marion Cotillard, among others. Download 'em at the Cartier Love website. I tried, but didn't like the process. The form is too much work -- Cartier likes everything just so -- and the site controls the download. So I missed the tiny "33%" at the bottom of the screen and closed the browser.
Way to go.
Cartier's MySpace goes live in the US, UK, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and China. Here's to hoping users feel more passionate about 18k-gold love than they do about credit card debt.
Capitalizing on culture junkies accustomed to a world they can manipulate with ease, AKQA shot Street Canvas, a promotion for Nike PHOTOiD.
To a cool beat and without narration, the video describes the following process.
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"Dude ... I think the tennis player in that ad just totaled your car with his oversized ball."
"Sucks, man. Wanna play tennis?"
"Sure. But before we go, let's buy proper footwear at K-Swiss."
"High-five!"
Orchestrated by TriBeCa for the Roland Garros French Open in Paris. More photos here and here.
Fun facts: Maybe because it's French, TriBeCa calls it "ambush marketing," not "guerrilla marketing," and the goal was to create a "Wahoo Effect."
I'm not really sure what "Wahoo" is ("Yahoo" without the awkward "Yang" association?), but maybe it has something to do with how people open their mouths and make no noise when they see something like, say, a car smashed by a giant tennis ball.
Via the hip cats at in:fluencia.
JWT plans to run a spot in Mad Men's upcoming DVD set, spelling MAD MEN out with letters and logos from its client roster. Tagline: "Making brands famous since 1864." See it right here.
"All I'm looking for is a nod of the head and recognition for what JWT is," CEO Bob Jeffrey whines. Which begs the question: from who?
To answer that riddle, AdWeek gleaned perspective from Chris Vollmer, a Booz Allen-based media guy: "It's an industry play rather than a consumer play, because I can't see how it would make sense to a consumer."
Aww. JWT needs a shoulder-punch from its peers. Before leaving work today, call your nearest JWT creative and tell 'em you really like what they're doing with, I don't know, Kit Kat.
Loving the "Maestro" spot for HP's TouchSmart PC. It's a striking but natural development from the more casual "Hands" campaign. And it would have been absolutely perfect if a few origami airplanes self-replicated and staged a mutiny.
Produced by Psyop for agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/SF.
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