Prayers for Palin, Ogilvy Takes Wachovia, McMahon Raps, Fishing for Validation

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- The McCain campaign was caught proclaiming John McCain's victory in the Presidential debate -- before the debate even happened.

- For down-and-out creatives that need to feel like heroes. V-v-v-via.

- PETA insinuates that fishermen have small penises.

- Sarah Palin needs prayer from advertisers.

- Ogilvy picks up Wachovia. Good fucking luck!

- Ed McMahon does rap vids for FreeCreditReport.com. Guess the waiter was unavailable that weekend.

- Citigroup vs. Citi-Mobile. Here's a thought: why not just buy the bastards?

by Angela Natividad    Sep-28-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Outdoor, Political



Bloggers vs. Bailout, 'Human' Ice Cream, Digital Marketers Wrist-Slapped ... by Eyeblaster?!

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- Last night Steve Hall hit Nokia Theater for Adobe's Battle of the Bands (photos here). Later he ran into Barbarian Group, which brought him a-frolicking to a hip hop club. Steve has all the fun.

- Guinness World Records taps greenfield media to manage its 3D book campaign. You'll need 3D specs to get the full experience from the ads, which run from Oct. 6 to Dec. 25 in the United Kingdom and United States.

- Blogging taxpayers aren't keen on this whole "Wall Street bailout" thing: "[We] have yet to see any online evidence of organic support for the Paulson proposal. Instead, what's going on may be the largest flowering of civic dissent since the antiwar protests of 2002-2003, but with a [bipartisan] twist." Our own online digging corroborates that (HuffPo! Michelle Malkin! YouTube junkies!), but Pew says 57 percent of the public favors the bailout. Confusing.

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Android Unveiled, Candystand Sold, Teachers Targeted, Flat Screens for Fiesta

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- T-Mobile debuts first Google Android phone, thereby changing face of mobile forever, etc., etc.

- Wieden and Starbucks break up.

- Wrigley sells advergaming goldmine Candystand to Funtank. No word on why the service, which CEO James Baker of Funtank called "great viral marketing," was sold. Maybe it was just time to cash in.

- Biggie Smalls hits the big screen. "Too bad we're not in middle school anymore," says a twenty-something colleague. "I'm imagining the tears ... and the hugging."

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Twitter for Christ, Facebook Narcissists, Vaseline for Men, McCains on the Grill

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- Recap of the McCain/Rachael Ray glee-fest.

- University of Georgia claims narcissists can be pegged by their Facebook photos.

- Save your soul -- and the rotting souls of others -- while microblogging. Way to multi-task!

- AIG yanks all corporate ad campaigns.

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Jungle at the Opera, Paddington Bear Poisons Guests, Millennial Girl Destroys America

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- Hyundai and Goodby Silverstein & Partners are breaking up. Yeah, it's such a tragedy.

- Tokyo Agency brought the jungle to Paris's Opera Garnier to promote Guerlain Homme, a fragrance for the testosterone-soaked wild animal in you. That's cool and all, but I wonder if the wrist-spritzing preppies in suits didn't send a mixed message. Merci to in:fluencia for passing this along.

- Speaking of France, one Languedoc vintner launched a saucy new label: Le vin du merde (Shit Wine). For optimum psychological fuckery, serve with dark chocolate cake.

- Childhood icon Paddington Bear sneaks Marmite into egg sandwiches during his birthday party. Surprise! All the guests gasp and gag. Wonderful stuff by DDB.

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Democracy in Perspective: What Would Obi Wan Kenobi Do?

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Ever see those Advent Day calendars that count down to Christmas, and with each new day you can pop open another part of the calendar to reveal a wooden toy or a piece of chocolate?

Gerrymander, a company that produces political oddities, worked with Ignited/LA to release an election day calendar that does pretty much the same thing. Buy one for $12.98. Then, starting from October 1st, pop open each of the cut-out doors to find neither chocolate nor choking hazards, but non-partisan political wisdom, like what's listed below.

Guess who said what!*

o "I never vote for anybody, I always vote against."
o "Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to untiring effort."
o "Who's more foolish; the fool, or the fool who follows him?"

I like how when you Google "advent day calendar," the "2008 Election Day Advent Calendar by Gerrymander" is the first organic result that comes up. Way to usurp the old-school kitsch kings!

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by Angela Natividad    Sep-18-08    
Topic: Packaging, Political, Strange



Shoot Clays, Cure Leukemia; LiveBar for Lifeless Websites; Pink Palin Kippahs; Crest Slogan Contest

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- LiveBar makes static websites instantly interactive. Hooray! No work for you.

- Twenis. Hilarity.

- Yahoo tries hard to be kooky. "That's the problem with Yahoo: It thinks it's an iPod -- universally loved and carried around. But it's really a Mac -- a fine product nevertheless rejected by many."

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'The Fundamentals of Our Economy Are Strong.'

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John McCain makes another one of those verbal oopsies (see a previous noteworthy soundbite) and Team Obama wastes no time whipping an ad around it. Bonus points for mentioning the Lehman Brothers collapse. Way to be timely!

Feels like dirty press to me. Our economy's shit, but it's not a lost cause, and I think that's what McCain wanted to highlight. You cannot save a lost cause.

Still, a fellow blogger points out, "running the economy from a defensive mindset like that is different than having a vibrant economy." McCain's a defense guy for sure -- and defense usually implies lack of leverage. You're trying to protect what's left, not win new ground.

Even so, are we all in agreement that a vibrant economy can be manufactured with Extra-Strength Hope Serum?

by Angela Natividad    Sep-16-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Political



Effie Calls, TBWA Snags Visa, Obama Says Chill

- The Effie Awards has open its call for entries. The entity that "honors marketing communication ideas that work" asks that entries be submitted by October 15.

- TBWA has won the $600 million Visa global creative account. Bested were BBDO, Grey and Leo Burnett.

- Yes. Is is insane but there are still companies out there willing to drop $3 million on a single ad to appear on the Super Bowl.

- Here's the ad Barak Obama would run if presidential candidates didn't have to act all polished and buttoned up.

by Steve Hall    Sep-15-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Industry Events, Political



Julianne Hough for Juicy Fruit, BMW on Review, Pigs in Drag, HP Meets Far East

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- BMW's holding a media review worth $155 million.

- Remember Memento? Imagine if it were an ad for Sony Ericsson.

- The Institute for America's Future hopes to derail the political bullshit train with an ad campaign about "major challenges facing the country." That's cool and all, but is this nearly as exciting as this? Don't answer, that's rhetorical.

- "Mom, what are those?" "Tadpoles, honey." "Oh. What do they have to do with being 'knocked up'?" Good luck with that.

- If PETA's ads were always this cute, I might have wanted a pig for a pet, not for breakfast. I like the point it made though. And look! They didn't even have to embarrass anybody.

- Here's a Wrigley Juicy Fruit ad in the style of that DoubleMint candy raver-looking thing. In this one, Julianne Hough invests the Juicy Fruit jingle with country music flair. It was so peppy and sweet, watching it gave me a cavity.

- In the unlikely event you need a laptop to match your Mandarin dress, Hewlett-Packard's got just the thing.