Last year Canon ran a series of ads where tennis pro Maria Sharapova follows her dog Dolce around, snapping an endless string of doting pics the way pet owners like to do.
This year, we see the fruits her labors reaped: this new spot depicts PowerShot-toting fans racing over to the tennis star -- and taking pictures of Dolce instead of her.
Maria's not happy about that. But on the cheery up, Dolce's apparently lost the ability to think out loud in a Spanish accent.
For every cloud, a silver lining.
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In "Set," Crown Royal tells the tale of an old jazz cat who passes opportunity to a young, wise-eyed trumpet player on the street. It's our favourite kind of trope: one about rebirth, and how the American dream can pass from one hand to the next.
And while Crown Royal is only seen briefly in the spot -- moving across the frame on a waiter's tray -- it ends with an elegant kick-back to the label: "For every king, an heir. For every king, a crown. Crown Royal."
I quite liked it, but a hoodied kid peering over my shoulder walked by and went, "Ugh, is that a liquor ad? What do they gotta use jazz for? That makes no sense at all."
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This ad for Target makes the commercialization of the holidays look downright cuddly.
It's like a glimpse into mirror world: parents' pupils dilate as kids spout retail propaganda in iambic pentameter. Scrooge is loved for exactly who he is. And nobody's pretending it ain't about the presents.
If only my childhood Christmas plays had been this relevant to the longings of our souls. Think about it: does Baby Jesus help you save on everything from Isaac Mizrahi ankle socks to vintage poster art deco? Is he as generous about parking spaces? And does he own exclusive rights to Christina Aguilera's greatest hits?
...No? That's what I thought.
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If serendipity brought you to Croatia's Zagreb Zoo last week, you could've seen lions! and tigers! and bears! ... and hipsters!
Agency Bruketa & Zinic parked "fashion beasts" in a cage to showcase Puma Sport's 2009 collection. And they didn't just stand around, either; sometimes they sang. These efforts, so different from the usual dolphins-catching-fish or monkeys-throwing-poo, were rewarded with heavy gawkage.
We've seen people trapped in cages or store windows before, typically for more sobering reasons: to combat human trafficking, or fight for pigs' rights, or promote the objectively unloveable Dodge Magnum. In any case, we thought the fashion beast thing was a neat way to captivate both parents and kids -- which aren't typically receptive to noisy marketing messages during family time.
Like the iPhone 3G, the iPod touch is sensitive to motion and stimulus, making gameplay a funtastically engaging experience. To illustrate that, the Yahoo Games page "reacts" to the movement of the gamer in this piece by TBWA/Media Arts Lab.
Niftay.
Wii did something similar on YouTube to promote Wario Land: Shake It!. And every once in awhile, a somewhat-less-awesome page manipulation spot for Marley & Me appears on MySpace. (In it, the dog Marley drags a leaderboard across the screen, knocking stuff around as he moves.)
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- Pepsi blocks other non-alcoholic beverages from entire first half (!!!) of next year's Super Bowl. And Halftime! Now that's just gluttonous.
- To promote its Scott Shop Towels ("like paper towels but way tougher," the PR folk explained), Kimberly Clark goes on safari for grills gone wild!.
- Bill Green lends valuable insight on how to gain a near-instant boost in Twitter followers.
- Evil Dead -- the Musical.
- If the Peanuts crew were an ad agency, Lucy would be the obnoxiously bitchy, but refreshingly honest, Christmas party organizer. And Linus would be an AD. (The security blanket should've been the tip-off.)
- Powder Blue trailer strips Jessica Biel down to her bare minerals. Eat your heart out, Natalie Portman! (Neither link is SFW.)
- Burger King's King loses wallet.
Hoping to make Yahoo! Messenger more appealing to the apathetic, Colle McVoy brings us the Emoticarolers. Bear witness while four floating emoticons struggle to wrap a holiday tune around customized greetings.
Not to say we didn't have a blast building our own. Hear ours. Features for sharing and embedding your carols are included on-site. In the unlikely event that you grow attached to one and want to listen to it every Christmas forever, there's also an option to download an MP3.
I was watching Heroes on Hulu last night when I caught these two utterly-bananas PSAs by Americans for the Arts.
Each ad spoofs prototypical cereal and junkfood ads in a fresh, over-the-top way. And they are hilarious, even after 80 watches (which you'll inevitably endure if you're watching any streaming TV on a network-owned site).
In "Raisin Brahms," Johannes Brahms bursts into a family's breakfast nook, Kool-Aid Man-style, and offers the kids Raisin Brahms -- "fortified with increased test scores and creative problem-solving skills!"
Pan to Dad. "Bobby? Susie?!" he whispers, aghast, when Brahmsy beards appear on his kids' faces.
"Don't worry, that's just the POWER of the ARTS!" Brahms explodes.
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Disturbed by the perks he's being freely given since TD Bank's absorption of Commerce, Regis Philbin gets some pop therapy from his TD Bank representative.
This ad precedes a more recent spot that takes place in a therapist's lounge and depicts Regis and Kelly as puppets. Aside from some slight tweakage, the ads repeat the same jokes (Regis TALKING in the THIRD PERSON! Har!!!), drive the same points home (two banks now one, and friendlier than ever!) and are equally forgettable.
Okay, that's not entirely true. The primal scream therapy spot sticks a little. And I guess there are few things "not to like!" about a bank rep that prescribes breathing exercises for you.
By Tierney Communications.
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Photoshop Disasters give us a blow by blow analysis of the post-photoshoot "work" done on Jessica Alba's Campari campaign. From body resizing to the use of Preparation H, no pixel is left unturned.
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