Shop Bloom and Score Some Olive Oil for that Rash

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Life can be cruel. Here's a simple salve for that one time you:

o Were trapped in an elevator with diarrhea
o Discovered your adult illegitimate child
o Failed to pass for yourself in a lookalike contest (featuring Erik Estrada!)

Shop Bloom! It's the only grocery store I know of that's located in a cartoon meadow.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-30-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Strange, Television, Video



Prada Auctions, Yelp Yelped, Mo Rocca Talks Money, and Love Grows on Trees

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- Big spenders who can't be bothered to attend a fashion show: Prada wants your business. Click on "Prototypes Auction" at Prada.com to see what's bid-worthy.

- Product packaging can be vastly improved with the addition of Braille.

- Twitter, allegedly the 439th largest social networking site, is deemed niche but influential. (The niche aspect is part of what makes something influential in the first place ... right?)

- Yelp.com released a self-serving documentary to showcase its whole anti-Zagat, down-with-the-homies feel. The mini-doc was fast made mockumentary fodder by the anti-Yelp Elite, which seem to think Yelp's all about hair. No arguments here. And apparently Yelpers find the mock more amusing.

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What Ho, a New Orbitz Game!

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This one is called "Bing Bing." It's as sucky as the last one we played, but "Bing Bing" has comedic value: In lieu of traditional arcade sounds, a goofy recorded voice goes "Bing ... bing!" every time you smack into something.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-29-08    
Topic: Brands, Games, Online, Worst



Like a Tranny, the Satinelle's Merits are Many

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We've seen weird shit sell razors before, but we've never seen an angle like this one.

For its Satinelle ice epilator, Philips explores the life of a transvestite. The premise is simple: he has feminine hair removal concerns AND a man's intolerance for pain.

I loved the spot's "tender journey" narrative. But that "Like all men he's not great with pain" jab? It's so wink-wink-nudge-nudge.

Jesus, Philips. You did a cool thing crossing the gender divide, but you screwed it all up with that last ra-ra for the Girls Team. We don't need to be coddled.

UPDATE, 5/19/08: Boinkology scored an interview with Karis, the dancer in the ad. The boobs were fake, and he thinks of himself as less of a "tranny" than a sexually evolved person. Neato.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Good, Video



Because the Germans Are Experts on What the People Want

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Volkswagen has broadened its talk show host campaign, featuring Max the talking '64 veedub, with the debut of What the People Want.

The site lets people submit simple yes-or-no polls. When you respond to one, you get to see how many people want what you voted for. Stuff we've learned: 66 percent of the people want free candy and endless sunshine. 93 percent want cars to run on something other than gas. 42 percent want to live forever.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online



Sorry Disney, But You're Kind of a Skank Factory

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Next month's Vanity Fair features "provocative" photos, taken by Annie Leibovitz, of Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus. It would likely have come and gone, relatively ripple-free, if Disney hadn't claimed the firm "deliberately [manipulated] a 15-year-old [...] to sell magazines."*

In allegiance with her corporate shareholders, Miley said the photos embarrassed her and apologized to fans.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Celebrity, Magazine



National Lampoon Democratizes Whores, One Diamond at a Time

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For the Spitzer in all of us, National Lampoon debuts Whore Diamonds, a Hot or Not-type site that uses the Emperors Club "diamond" rating system to, well, rate whores. Whore Diamonds joins the Drunk University Network.

Most images and videos are strays from Eros-Vegas and Adult Friend Finder. The pressie says the site "will expand into a forum for breaking news and daily biting commentary on the underground world of politics, pop culture, and entertainment."

Two cents from Sam Elhag, head of strategy for Drunk University Network: "We don't feel that only politicians and Emperors Club members should have an exclusive on rating today's generation of working girls. This opens up the process to the masses. Who knows, a 'five diamond' girl to a Spitzer may only be a 'three diamond' to the rest of the world."

How noble.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Racy, Specialty



Comedy Central Takes Giggles Serious

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To demonstrate how serious Comedy Central takes comedy, kempertrautmann/Hamburg hand-drew a few classic gags. This is the continuation of a campaign that won Comedy Central some love at Cannes.

See bucket over door and thumbtacks on chairs. Also see how I'm struggling not to yawn.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-28-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Magazine



Dykes Like Ike, Vespa Users Headless, Soulless Businesses Sing, Feminine Mystique for Sale

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- Senior exec Alan Cohen of Interpublic was named US CEO of OMD. Cohen has worked at 20th Century Fox, ABC and NBC.

- Rock stars aren't made. They're mothafuckin' born.

- Here's a Vespa campaign where people's heads are replaced with Vespa S headlights and handlebars. BlotTO gets philosophical about it. And for some reason, we're thinking East London decapitator meets hipster Terminator.

- Think political smear campaigns are bad now? You clearly haven't lived that long. Our favourite: "Millard" is a pussy name. Followed closely by Dykes like Ike. (Look at that smile. How could they not?)

- EPM Comm has published a very expensive brochure to teach marketers about women. Because come on, it's not like you know any real ones.

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Microsoft Shafts Music Patrons Pre-Zune

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As of August 31, Microsoft will stop issuing DRM license keys for songs bought on MSN Music, which was shot down in late '06.

This pretty much means that, unless you back it up, you can expect to lose what you paid for next time you update your OS or change computers.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-27-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands