It isn't what it used to be, but there's something about Cannes that still excites. It's a place apart, where you're plunged willy-nilly into a life that doesn't belong to you for an inordinate amount of time. For that reason, alighting on it yearly feels a bit like coming home, and the expectation that rises inside is a welcome feeling.
I arrived around 1 in the morning, following a long train delay in Paris thanks mostly to a workers strike. (This is normal.) Because it's a small town, I walked to my hotel: 6 minutes from the train station. This is a convenient city once you know it, and despite the constant barrage of tourists and entitled conference folk, it doesn't change much.
I am staying in a place that lacks sex appeal but has free secured wifi and is clean. The window has an excellent view of Curves, an American weight-loss chain that caters primarily to working women.
It's funny how the sight of something you haven't seen in a long time takes you elsewhere: Curves, an unlikely nostalgic device, brings me back to Oakland's business district, where I contemplated registering on my lunch breaks until a friend told me I'd be joining "fat camp for deluded feminists." I didn't think about it again.
But you're not here for reminiscences of lost fitness aspirations; you're here to read about the Lions. That's cool, let's get down to business.
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Claiming the decision had nothing to do with PETA's effort to highlight its treatment of baby elephants, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, yesterday, announced it will end its search for a public relations agency.
With a $30,000 monthly retainer on the RFP Feld Entertainment VP of Corporate Communications Stephen Payne told PRNewser, "We received a very positive response from over two dozen firms and were in the process of whittling that down when we took a hard look at all the proposals and a hard look at our staff internally, and came to conclusion that we could do most of what we were looking for in house."
Of the search for a PR firm, PETA EVP Tracy Reiman said, "Ringling is a public relations nightmare waiting to happen. There's not a PR team in the world that is slick enough to sell the beating of baby elephants, the whipping of tigers, and the use of chains, bullhooks, and electric prods on animals--all for the sake of a few cheap tricks."
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Like Rocky Balboa returning to the ring for his last fight, Y&R Brazil, along with Energy, has given the now 70-year-old football great Pele another chance to work his magic against Argentina on the field. After a tough first half, Pele gets it together and finally scores.
Called 1284, the video, which begins with Pele uttering, "If I could replay my life, maybe if I scored my last goal with the Brazilian Team, I'd like that," was created for Brazilian mobile telecommunications company Vivo which is Brazil's national team sponsor.
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Unless this video has an encoding problem, it looks like its creators didn't make the soundtrack long enough to match the video portion. But who really cares about that crap when the video gives us a detailed aftermath-style view of what was most certainly an amazing night of Axe-Style partying on a boat?
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When will Microsoft realize there's absolutely nothing it can do to associate even the tiniest bit of cool with its brand? In yet another lame attempt, we get this flash mob stunt the brand did yesterday in New York's Lincoln Park for the launch of its new Office product.
It's as bad as that in-store dance disaster they did last Fall.
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Back in January we let you know Megan Fox (Those eyes! That waist! Those hips! Those lips! The Come Hither-ness!) was tapped to become the new face of Emporio Armani Underwear and Armani Jeans. There were photos. There was a video. And there was some blogger who complained the video didn't show enough Fox.
Well, now there's more to look at in the form on a just-released new ad that's part of the brand's Fall and Winter ad campaign. The campaign breaks in July online and on billboards in New York, Los Angeles, London, Milan, Rome, Paris and Tokyo.
Cristiano Ronaldo handles the men's side of things for the brand.
- The ad campaign for the Sarah Polley Adrien Brody movie, Splice misled viewers into thinking it would be a horror click when, in reality, it was something else.
- Sony opens marketing spigot to combat iPhone.
- On June 23 during Cannes, Massive Music will celebrate its tenth anniversary with a party on the beach.
- Matt VanHoven is leaving AgencySpy where he was Editor for a position as communications director for New York agency Skinny.
- In fashion advertising, when out of ideas, shoot ass.
- W+K Portland's Jimm Lasser, Greg Rutter and Joe Staples give us a behind the scenes look at the making of the Dodge Challenger "Freedom" spot.
While it's no surprise Starbucks is not the best coffee out there, the marketer doesn't take kindly when another coffee brand claims that in an ad. UK-based Costa Coffee recently launched a campaign that, based on taste tests, claimed 7 out of 10 coffee lovers preferred Costa cappacinno to Starbucks.
Starbucks complained to Britain's Advertising Standards Authority claiming the taste tests only applied to cappuccino's, not the entire product line. The Authority dismissed Starbucks' claim. It's no surprise since, well, that's all the ad claims - that 7 out of 10 coffee lovers preferred Costa cappacinno to Starbucks.
Sorry, Starbucks.
Do you love Kettle Potato Chips? Are they not the best potato chips you've ever had? If you haven't had them, you should really try them. They are awesome and if you're a lover you are now invited to join the Loud Food Club. The online promotion and sweepstakes is the first work from Cultivator Advertising & Design, Denver, for its new client, Kettle Foods, Salem, Ore.
At, Crunch Proud, a Loud Food Club meeting leader (with bullhorn) compares the sound of a Kettle chip's crunch to a monster truck, a lion's roar, and a electric guitar. He invites new members to take the LFC Pledge and then to download a membership kit, complete with interoffice disclaimer email, pictographic crunch courtesy instructions, an LFC pencil flag, and loud food crunch caution signage. Also available are a $1-off coupon and sweepstakes entry for the chance to win free Kettle chips for one year (but only15 bags per month. Um, that's a lot of potato chips).
So if you're a Kettle potato chip lover, this campaign's for you. Oh wait, no it's not. You're already branded. So do the brand a solid and tell your Ruffles-loving friends to check out Kettle.
Today, Microsoft launched an $80 million campaign to tout the launch of Office 2010. The campaign, called Make it Great, features people who were involved in the product's beta testing. Seventy percent of the campaign's effort will be online with the remaining 30 percent spent on print and billboard.
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