No H8 Fails to Knock Prop 8 Off Podium

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Last year California passed Prop 8, which bans same-sex marriage within the state. The months preceding its formalization were trying ones for our gay friends in the Sunshine State; one of them even scanned freeways in pursuit of Prop 8 signs to vandalize.

In the months since, the climate surrounding Prop 8's gotten feverish. Fresh faces are leaping onto the revocation boat with the birth of a new campaign, No H8, advocated by duct-taped and facepainted social celebrities like Lacey Schwimmer, Perez, B. Scott, Calpernia Addams and Tila Tequila (at left) -- whose A Shot at Love series was labeled the first-ever bisexual dating show. =P

Yesterday California's Supreme Court released its decision about whether to uphold the controversial law. We found out this morning that it remains intact, which means you can expect a few demonstrations wherever they can be organized. I'm also pretty sure the aforementioned celebs will be tearing the tape off their faces and going on blast.

Worth noting: same-sex marriages that occurred before the ban will still be recognized, but try saying that at a cocktail party full of Evangelicals.

Behind-the-scenes vid for No H8, and more photos, are available at the campaign website.

by Angela Natividad    May-27-09    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Cause, Celebrity, Trends and Culture



Yawn. No Wait! Oh, God. I'm Gonna Puke! Where's the Toilet?

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So yesterday, we yawned and practically fell asleep after watching one of Danica Patrick's new Boost Mobile commercials. Today we experienced an entirely different reaction. And it wasn't pleasant. In fact, we had to run to the toilet and puke after watching Danica sign some "great racks" in another iteration of the TV campaign.

"What You think this is wrong?", asks Danica. Yea, we do, girl. We really do. Reverse stereotypes be damned. Let the women wear the miniskirts, high heels and bikinis. We're quite fine with men wearing completely unstylish pit crew ump suits. Anything. Just can they please keep their clothes on?

by Steve Hall    May-27-09    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Good, Racy, Strange



Troy-Bilt Reaches Out, P2P-Style, to Contemporary Gardeners

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Troy-Bilt hikes its ad budget up 50% from 2008 to $1.8 million, springing for a folksy little tune called "Shinin' Down", which can be heard in its ads or on hold with its tech team. Download it for free at troybilt.com.

The ad itself is a modern nod to a young and trendy generation of gardeners, which I guess downloads MP3s in addition to steering tractors with a grin. It will appear nationwide across popular networks, including HGTV and DIY. This is Troy-Bilt's first TV push in five years.

Feels authentic. Don't you just wanna race outside and fertilize something? (*checks pocketwatch*) Still plenty of time left in the day to indulge that inclination.

Work by Marcus Thomas/Cleveland.

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by Angela Natividad    May-26-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Denver Egotist Takes Stand Against Brand Molestation.

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"The big, fat, silver torpedo that is the Chipotle burrito is as iconic (in this city, anyway) as an Absolut bottle or a Converse shoe," lauds the Denver Egotist, bringing to mind billboards that have taken us by surprise more than once.

"So what better way to start off a brand new campaign than to ditch the thing you're most famous for in favor of a bland, new Taco Bell-styled menu and some insipid value statements that are saturating the market in this shitty economy. Oh, and how about a new logo, too? Something that could sit nicely on the shelf at Target with the other Archer Farms produce?"

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Danica Patrick Reluctantly Lives Out Every B-Porn Fantasy. Ever.

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In its latest abuse of its sponsorship, and our eyeballs, GoDaddy sticks racer Danica Patrick in another situational porno-to-be: after pulling her over for speeding, a blonde cop -- bless her heart -- starts stripping down to show Danica she has what it takes to join her horde of URL-buying ad wenches.

Always a team player, Danica fakes it like this whole thing is mildly uncomfortable for her. The ad cuts out in typical GoDaddy fashion; you'll have to see the rest on the homepage after May 24th.

Past Patricksploitation: Danica baring beaver, Danica showers on command (complete with hot grade school teacher!), Danica confesses to enhancements.

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by Angela Natividad    May-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Sponsorship, Video



Reason #34958409 Why You Should Burn Home Videos Pre-Dating '95

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Director Nir Bashan of Reactor Films/LA just sent us its latest work for AquaNet, one of those unfortunate brands whose persona is condemned to retro.

Leveraging that, Reactor -- in tandem with Buck Productions -- busts out with what looks like early-'90s footage of two kids with Highly Unfortunate Hair, lip-syncing to Vanilla Ice's Ice Ice Baby.

It tickles.*

Where are these guys now? It doesn't seem right to laugh at a contemporary's childhood trauma without the victims sitting here, in the flesh, fighting to maintain composure.

Tagline reads "AquaNet: Keeping it stiff since 1991." We're treated to one last finger-pose before the video cuts. Fucking rad.

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by Angela Natividad    May-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Video



Cree Lures Beautiful People Out of Fluorescent-Bathed Purgatory

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Cree taps into the desolation that comes with spending most of your life under office light, which has a special way of making everything look aggressively bland: an atmosphere that first suppresses you before driving you to violent insanity.

To a melancholy melody, casualties of cogdom are depicted in a languishing state, broken by words whose candidness, whose charm, coincide perfectly with an uplifting chorus: "There's so much beauty in the world. Just not in your office."

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by Angela Natividad    May-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Television



Visine Wrings Fresh Tears from Fairy-Tale Captive

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Mix the charm of The Elves and the Shoemaker with the Napoleonic Lilliputians of Gulliver's Travels and you've got "Kitchen," the print piece by JWT/NY for Johnson & Johnson's Visine.

The visual relates a myth about how all those tears get inside a wee bottle of Visine. Look closely: tireless miniature men conduct tear-gathering work around the frozen face and body of a glassy-eyed woman of normal size. Cut onions litter the table before her; elsewhere, tiny labourers bear buckets. One leans over a giant funnel and pours the harvested fluid into a Visine container.

"Natural tears formula. Don't ask how," the piece reads, crimson scrawl on a well-worn hanky.

Dark and beguiling, like good fairy tales often are.

by Angela Natividad    May-22-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Magazine



E-Ink Hoodoo Spooks Prince of Darkness

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Ozzy Osbourne appears in his third (or fourth?) Samsung spot, this time for the Alias 2.

The aforementioned handheld boasts snazzy E-Ink technology that enables the keyboard to right itself no matter which way you're holding the phone: sideways or upright. It's pretty cool actually. But Ozzy freaks, starts murmuring "Samsung voodoo," lifts up his cross and leaves.

Soon after, a scientist attempting to pursue him and explain the technology is Tased for a really, really, really long time.

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by Angela Natividad    May-21-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Television



Cartoons, Creators, Chali 2Na Cross Paths for Adidas

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Jurassic 5's Chali 2Na brings narrative weight and a forceful, poetic pace to "The Inner Workings of a Creator," a deconstruction of NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose.

Rose is frozen in space. Sections of his body are highlighted and zoomed as 2Na describes what makes the wunderkind tick: yo-yo magic, and a Peregrine falcon, among other things. (Seriously though? Falcons don't eff around. See one take a deer.)

Note how Rose's high-top sneaks are targeted twice.* That's because this piece is for Adidas' "Impossible is Nothing" campaign, a nice transition from the Beijing Olympics subset, which was equally epic and also animated, albeit to a totally different tune.

These particular illustrations are by FreeDarko for agency 180LA. See related material at the Adidas Basketball website.

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