In a unique approach to illustrating just how long Cadbury Adams Stride gum lasts, the company has launched a website on which several people sitting at a desk chew gum while doing random acts of nothingness. There's also a contest which be can enter by submitting a 100 word statement of what they would do for a ridiculously long time and, if selected, a photograph of them doing it. No, you can't film yourself having herculean long sex nor can you be gross, obscene, violent or any of those other activities that irk lawywers but you can do just about anything else. Who knows if it will sell any gum but I wasted a good 20 minutes watching some of the videos.
In a nod to the age old "smell my fingers" routine as proof of contact, this UK commercial for Scampi marries horny guys with hot chicks to sell chips. Not much more seeds to be said.
Ah, yes. Another mysterious site with a countdown clock. Don't the creators of these sites, in this case, according to Whois information, Cincinnati Ohio-based hyperQuake, know this has been done a million times before? Do they think we will actually care what the countdown leads to? Are they so bold as to assume there is something unique about what they are about to announce? Oh wait. Of course they do. This is advertising and when we create cool campaigns like this we just know the entire world will be jonesing right along with us.
The countdown site, called Debunkify, is accompanied by a video on YouTube and billboards and TV ads in several Ohio locations. The billboards proclaim, "kill the myths before they kill you" and the site indicates all will be revealed July 10. OMG, we just can't wait. Can you? Yawn.
Shannon Stephaniuk of Toronto-based Glossy got to be queen for a day when she met up with the man in the strange mask who was in town shooting his latest commercial with the famed Perlorian Brothers. She had some time to hang with the King and get a few pictures. Since the King was dumped by Brooke Burke, maybe he's moving in on Shannon now. She is pretty cute after all.
Kevin Faddis points us to yet another odd Zambia-based Harvey Tiles billboard which reads, "A roof without HARVEY TILES can't make your mind free the same as sex with a baby can't cure HIV/AIDS." Initially, one might react to this buy saying...oh...WTF but there's a reason behind the choice of words on the billboard. The man who wrote the copy explained on an ESPN site saying, "There is a myth some people believe that if you have sex with a virgin, you are bound to be safe from AIDS. It's a rumor that started up here about a year ago. And then they started bringing people in to the police because they had been sleeping with babies. The slogan is to remind people not to sleep with babies. The owner sells tiles and, at the same time, he educates people."
OK, then. Gross but, then again, it's a different world in Zambia than it is in many other parts of the world and if it takes a shocking headline like this to stop people from having sex with babies then we say "good job" Harky Tiles.
We love when we get little tipster emails from people that say things like "Thought you should check out this new site..." and "Viral marketing at its best" because, inevitably, it's not and we relish the opportunity to squat down and dump all over it like a 400 pound slob who's just had an enema. This, unfortunately, is not one of those times. This viral, and we do call it viral because we're sure it's been paid for or influenced by The Coffee Bean, follows the antics of three roommates as they terrorize a fourth who is a mascot called Mr. Ice Blended for West Coast-based The Coffee Bean.
The site, Masot Roomate, has a bunch of videos that show the guys pulling various pranks on the mascot from attacking him on the job, impersonating him, placing his hands down their pants and mascot mascotnapping him. Without fail, all the guys have MySpace profiles which look like they were all recently created and, for the most part, all have the same friends. In another section. Another section of the site, called "5 mascots we wouldn't ever fuck with" explains why the Kool-Ais Man, The Fruit of the Loom Guys, Grimace, McGruff the Crime Dawg and The San Diego Chicken are off limits. Only an unleashed creative type would obsess over these icons and write such lines as, "I spent my formative years with my junk cradled in the safe confines of their white cottony briefs" about the Fruit of the Loom Guys.
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Well, it's happened. A couple years ago, we said the proliferation of advertising would, one day, reach the point where people's house would be painted with a brand's logo as part of an ad campaign or promotion. To promote the Simple Life on E, an Atlanta house was decorated with the E and The Simple Life logos and the shrubs in front have been trimmed (likely pre-shaped fake bushes) to spell "Sundays". Oh sure, the whole house is just one big purchased promotion and, likely, it's not the first but it's the first we've seen. It's actually done quite well. Particularly nice job on the "broken" window. We wonder what the neighbors think though. A second photo can be seen here.
 It looks like a New York agency's cultural sensibilities didn't match those of Eagle, Idaho residents. In this video, a local news reports Eagle's Mayor is threatening to cancel Eagle Fun Days this weekend, part of which is the local fire department's Rocky Mountain Oyster Fest. With the festival based on bull's testicle, the fire department thought it would be a good idea to promote the event bay asking a New York agency to help ouot. They did with some spots that might be considered humorous to some but Eagle mayor Nancy Merrill told the fire fighters to pull the spots or she'd cancel the event. The fire department complied, pulled them off the website and canceled their TV schedule. Radio ads did air but Merrill has called a meeting and is still threatening to cancel the event. While the agency told the television station they meant no harm, the station is apparently, keeping the agency's name confidential. Come on guys. Step forward. Take credit. The campaign's great. Just not for Idaho.
UPDATE: FCB did the campaign and CEO Steve Centrillo sets the record straight in the Comment section stating they are fully aware of Eagle culture since one of FCB's creative directors comes from Eagle. He also states Mayor Nancy Merrill is overstepping her bounds, advancing her personal agenda and using her position as a bully pulpit.
UPDATE II: You can see all the work here.
We all thought the whole Chevy Novo "No Go" thing was a bad naming gaffe but that doesn't hold a candle to H&M's naming of their new men's jeans Fit Sliq. A harmless name to those of us who regularly speak English but not so harmless and carrying an entirely different meaning in Swedish. In Swedish, it means - brace yourselves - cunnilingus or "cunt licker" in a more exact translation. Yes, according to Adland's dabitch, a women well versed in Swedish, the jeans just might become a hot item as "Swedish men and the occasional lesbian raid the stores for a pair of these naughty naughty jeans."
The kicker to this whole thing is that H&M is a Swedish company. Perhaps it's not a gaffe at all but an inside joke or perhaps it's an English speaking product manager run amok. Either way, it's funny. I mean, unfortunate.
We are tired. So tired. Tired of typing the words "Burger King," "Chicken" and "Crispin Porter + Bogusky." But, it is our duty, as one who conveys the latest in advertising goodies, to tell you that, yes, CP+B has launched yet another chicken-themed campaign to promote Burger King Chicken sandwiches. We've seen everything from the Whopperettes to CoqRoq to Subservient Chicken to Big Buckin' Chicken. Now, there's this site called Huckin' Chicken on which a guy in a chicken suit does increasingly more daring motorcycle stunts based on how many people visit the site. It's a nice twist on a viral campaign but maybe CP+B should just move on to Big Fuckin' Chicken and close the book on the man in a chicken suit approach to selling sandwiches. Oh wait, there's still Suckin' Chicken to endure.
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