Hasta La Creative!

Joel Johnson of Boing Boing Gadgets caused a bit of a stir yesterday, appearing on an AT&T Tech Channel online show and changing the subject to discuss AT&T’s plans to filter the Internet.

As Joel says:

As you can see from the video, the crew ended up scrubbing the interview about half-way through. Figuring that might happen, I asked my steely-nerved friend Richard Blakeley to tape the first take. I wanted to make sure that we had a record of the event, primarily to ensure that AT&T would have no reason to try to bury the interview entirely—the same reason I am running this clip now, while discussion about what to do with my segment in post-production is surely underway.

After the crew got their wits about them—they were not very happy with me, understandably—we went on to shoot a second take, which to Hugh’s credit also included not only talk of gadgets, but of network neutrality and AT&T’s collusion with the NSA. I look forward to seeing that segment air on the The Hugh Thompson Show.

It’s yet another lesson for all you Join The Conversation/Two-Way Dialogue/New Transparency/Consumer Engagement gurus: Companies want to control the conversation as much as possible. And it could get very, very ugly.

Thanks to The Consumerist for pointing to this.

If you are one who believes capturing attention – and luring one to a special website – makes for a successful ad, then I think you’ll like this one from Hyundai. But, if you believe ads should directly help sell something and move people to want to purchase it NOW because of what they saw or heard, then this may not be your cup of tea.

I’ll try to explain…

I’ve watched this TV spot more than several times. It is odd and captivating…but, I’m not so sure it really sells the product (in this case, a brand and a car). But, it may move folks to type in Hyundai’s special, off-beat website ThinkAboutIt. And, I certainly have been thinking about it. And…I did do as the spot tells me, and checked out the website. So, I guess it worked on me. But, did it work for me and for Hyundai?

In all honesty, the spot engages me and makes me think a little — which is good. But, it doesn’t highlight the car well or tell me much — except the vehicle has a fine powertrain warranty (10 year/100,000 miles). So, am I more apt to go test drive and buy a Hyundai? I don’t know…probably not. But, it did make me go to its special website.

You tell me…is this a successful ad?

Technorati Tags: Hyundai. commercial, ThinkAboutIt.com, beyond madison avenue

Firebrand (the hottest spots from the coolest brands, ya know) is pleased to announce what it’s dubbed “The Holiest Day in Advertising,” occurring February 4th. On that day, Firebrand will showcase the best of this year’s Super Bowl spots.

LONDON – Titan Outdoor has unveiled a glass dome outside Canary Wharf tube station as part of a campaign for the Canadian Tourist Board.

Television has always been the proverbial “lean back” medium with information flowing mostly in a one way direction from the TV to the viewer in a non-interactive manner. That’s changed a bit over the years with the arrival of video on demand and other semi-interactive capabilities.

LONDON – O2 has consolidated its estimated £20 million media planning and buying account into ZenithOptimedia, parting company with Media Republic, the media division of Omnicom’s Agency Republic.

The third edition of "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This" will be hitting the shelves soon. We at American Copywriter are giddy to announce that Master Sullivan himself will be joining Tug and I on an upcoming podcast to talk about what’s new in the book, and the strange and wonderful life of an American copywriter. If you read this blog and have not read this book, pre-order it right fucking now.

I can’t count how many times I’ve utilized Luke’s wisdom to help sell some work. Anytime I’ve lost my advertising way or questioned my convictions I’ve come back to this book. Tug and I are really looking forward to our conversation wth Luke and hope you will, too. Questions? Pose them in the comments here or email us at our new gmail address. You can probably guess what the prefix of that address is. Don’t use a dot.

In the meantime, Luke’s given us permission to publish a few new snippets from the new edition in this space. Stay tuned.

According to The Wall Street Journal, NBA star Steve Nash went native and produced his own Nike spot.

Mr. Nash, who plays for the Phoenix Suns, says he is happy with how Nike has marketed him but felt he could come up with an ad that reflected more of his personality. There was little financial risk to Nike, since the campaign would require no ad buy. He says he got the idea from the young fans who take pictures of him with cameras and phones during his informal workouts. “There’s such an appetite for the ordinary stuff I do every day,” he says.

Mr. Nash received little input on the shoot from Nike, which pays him about $1 million a year to promote its sneakers, although the company provided one of the two cameras and edited the piece.

A Nike spokesman said the company has no problems with Mr. Nash’s ad and welcomes other athletes to follow in his footsteps.

Nash didn’t act alone (and it’s a stretch to call his spot user generated content). He enlisted Lola Schnabel, the daughter of artist and filmmaker Julian Schnabel, to shoot the self-styled Web ad for the shoemaker. So, it’s star generated content, but it’s still indie and that’s cool.

LONDON – Clear Channel Outdoor has created a package for advertisers that focuses on Liverpool as the city holds the mantle of the European Capital of Culture 2008.

Adam & Eve records the trials and tribulations of their first few days of business. Scroll down to the bottom to add your views on their diary.