Hasta La Creative!

NEW YORK – The Wall Street Journal is to offer free online access to all of its editorials, op-eds, video interviews and commentary, just weeks after it was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

Droga5’s HoneyShed project is not to everyone’s liking, which may explain why the shop is vying for second place in Adweek’s “most overrated agency” poll. I think it’s too early to say whether the online branded-entertainment channel will work out. But it’s the arty promotional videos that have me utterly befuddled. After a first round late last year, they’ve uploaded another batch to YouTube. There’s one featuring women gyrating in their underwear while messages left on the HoneyShed call-in line are played. Another simply shows one of the HoneyShed hostesses rolling around the floor with kittens. Finally, there’s “HoneyShed Presents: Weng Weng.” It’s a bizarre remake of a scene from The Impossible Kid, a movie made by the Filipino midget martial arts actor Weng Weng, only all the parts are played by women, including one who walks on her knees to imitate Weng Weng. I’m not sure how this is celebrating the sell exactly. I hope Maurice is getting his money’s worth.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

After apparently reading the John Hughes Teen Comedy Guide to Parenting, an Iowa woman named Jane Hambleton has decided to publicly shame her teenage son after finding beer in his car. Her solution? Sell the car and embarrass the kid all at once, with a cheeky ad in the local newspaper. The ad reads: “OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.” Parents have been calling Hambleton around the clock to congratulate her, but we’ll have to wait until next Halloween to see their kids’ response. It may not be pretty.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Thought I’d give loyal AdPulp readers a preview of an upcoming TalentZoo column while it’s all fresh in my mind. Lord knows, this could all change in a week.

In a Presidential campaign, politics is theater. It’s entertainment. And above all else, it’s marketing. Can the ad industry learn anything by watching this $1 billion spectacle? I think so. As of January 10th, here’s what I’m learning:

A loved upstart brand can beat an unloved brand with deep pockets. Campaign money goes to advertising, but also to staff, supplies, phones, etc. They burn money fast, long before the first primary or caucus takes place. That’s a huge gamble with no way to predicting ROI. Already, we’ve seen some campaigns like John McCain’s and Mike Huckabee’s win without the most cash.

People want something to believe in. Americans are an optimistic bunch at their core—we still believe that our government can work the way Schoolhouse Rock said it could. Which is why so many deeply cynical, apathetic voters are moved by Barack Obama’s message.

If you can’t close the sale, no sales pitch, emotional or rational, will help you. There is a difference, though: In politics, you only have to make a sale once or twice—at a primary or general election. On the night of the Iowa caucus, Obama and Huckabee made sure their supporters showed up. Otherwise, they’d have been screwed.

Consumers don’t like being told what to do. When Hillary Clinton was considered inevitable, Obama won. Then Obama was considered inevitable, and Clinton won.

Chuck Norris has very, very, white teeth.

LONDON – Help the Aged has launched a Que Pasa-devised text-to-donate T-shirt campaign, encouraging students to make donations to its work to alleviate poverty and isolation.

LONDON – A former British athlete who represented the nation in the Commonwealth Games has launched a business that helps companies find suitable up-and-coming sportspeople to sponsor.

LONDON – The Food Standards Agency has appointed Proximity, Iris and Initials Marketing to its first roster of direct marketing agencies.

Mattias Montero from Social Club was both the director and DP on the new ATG commercial called “Statues”, which was shot in Madrid
and Stockholm during two weeks this past November. There’s a website to go with this film at Levandespel.se.
In the ad, statues of horses come alive at the break of dawn.
ATG – Statues (directors cut) – (2008) :45 (Sweden)

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LONDON – Digital agency LBi International has appointed Luke Taylor, its UK chief, as chief executive of the whole group, replacing Robert Pickering.

LONDON – Clear Channel Outdoor is running a six-sheet campaign for The Woodlands Trust that aims to encourage Christmas card recycling.