- Angus Gastle outs the cheesy Becks blogger as a lackey for Euro RSCG. And a standup comedian. *winces*
- Celebs plug NYTimes.com -- which could use a subscription surge right now. At left is Chef Eric Ripert and Cynthia Nixon.
- Ad haiku wisdom.
- Flickr photo seized, 'shopped and repurposed into feature film ad. o_O Aren't there standards anymore? No...? Okay.
- Big cuts on Mad Ave.
- Plaid compiles holiday gift guide for creative people. Includes USB bracelets and subway tokens for your neck, which we actually want, actually.
- Bill Green sits in on Beancast. Listen closely: he's not just delightful in print.
- Yahoo cuts 1700.
Alex Leo over at HuffPo wrote a post on five sexist trends the ad world just can't shake. The following tropes "use stereotypes and violence to prey on our most vile desires" -- and probably aren't going anywhere, despite "cultural outrage" and "personal boredom."
The list (in far less detail than Leo provides):
o Bondage. One awesome example is the ad at left, for Remy Martin's "Things Are Getting Interesting" campaign. Experience has taught us naughty domina girls sell more than liquor, however; they also push PSPs with whip-cracking finesse.
o Rape. Illustrated by this ad by Dolce & Gabbana -- which I think had more of a "gang-bang" in mind than a "rape," per se. It's a feathery-fine distinction.
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Blurb ("Real Books. Made By You.") is on a quest for castrated creative pitches, which it plans to compile in a volume called Killed Ideas Volume 1.
God knows this well of slighted egos is full to overflowing. But Blurb isn't in the creative industry, and apparently has no idea where to find its minions, so it's enlisted Ammo Marketing ("Stimulating Enduring Brand Conversations") to twist Ad Land's tap and get entries flowing.
Ammo in turn published this ad on craigslist, soliciting for city-based Mad Men that'll elicit saucy entries from colleagues.
It's a creative pitch for failed creative pitches!
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It seems public service advertising is the only kind which contains any sort of meaningful drama or that's allowed to depict reality without being glossed over by meaningless creative pontification. All other forms of advertising pale in comparison. Mostly because PSAs depict real life. And real life is a far cry from the kind of fairy tale life painted inside the cozy confines of an ad campaign.
British children's charity Barnardo's is out with a powerful commercial in which a girl is repeatedly subjected to the after effects of child abuse. As the commercial progresses, the girl's troubled life is repeated with increasing intensity until it culminates with the rapid fire reality of child abuse, a cycle that, if unchecked, is doomed to repeat tself over and over again until dramatic steps are taken to prevent it.
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In what simply has to be a joke, Sean Combs/John/Whatever released a video (which he painfully calls "a blog" ... it's a POST, people. A POST on a BLOG) for the movie I Am King. And the best part? He wants to be the next James Bond. Seriously. Or not.
The entire campaign -- which promotes his new fragrance -- is so far fetched, it's not easy to discern the difference between joke and cringe-worthy creative intent.
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Come December, Santa begins to make appearances the world over and since some easily tire of tradition, others are there to shake things up. Actually, no one really tires of Santa and his traditions. Just ad agencies trying to get a nut...and a chance to do something new to something old.
Because smartphones like the Palm Centro are supposedly all the shizzle, Santa, who just got a new one, needs his life upgraded as well. So Seattle-based Creature gave Santa a new haircut, a new suit, a new attitude, a diet and a new name, Clause - pronounced Klouse, of course.
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Euro RSCG is out with a new commercial for Chivas Regal. The agency was asked to "strengthen Chivas Regal's premium positioning in mature and emerging markets by giving it a strong and distinctive point of view."
The spot opens on a man trudging his way to work on a cloudy day in a sea of lemming-like people. He's clearly questioning his purpose in life as as he voiceover intones, "Millions of people. Everyone out for themselves. Can this really be the only way? No." And with that, the man turns and goes his own way.
The spot then toasts life with words and phrases such as gallantry, doing the right thing, giving a damn, straight talk, freedom, true meaning of wealth, the brave and "a code of behavior that sets certain men apart from all others."
And, finally, "Here's to us." Live With Chivalry.
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OK here's another one of those "wear your seatbelt, idiot" commercials. This one, from AMV BBDO, takes a decidedly more "Road Safety 101" approach than most which pray on emotion such as this outstanding commercial from Ireland, one of the most powerful commercials of any kind we've ever seen .
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So Australia promotes itself with "Where the bloody hell are you?" and mini cinematic masterpieces by Baz Luhrmann. How do the "cool capitals" of Europe do it? With CoolCapitals.com, of course. The site highlights Amsterdamn, Antwerp, Valencia, Vienna and Zurich. Sounds boring, right?
Not really. The site is...um...cool. Nice navigation. Informative videos. Pretty pictures. And lots of deals. All good but what makes this offering from the Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions really cool is the promotional video that gets one to the site.
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Yup. Winter is on the way and it's time for the yellow snow joke. It's not like there's anything groundbreaking about this commercial or even remotely original. But, like a fart joke that's been told millions of times, it's still funny. Or at least to a small segment, stereotypically portrayed by marketers who think beer drinkers are idiots and will do anything to drink shitty beer.
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