These videos (1, 2, 3) parody both clueless focus group victims and anal spoonfeeding marketing moderators. It’s for Diamond Shreddies, which is like ordinary square-shaped cereal, except it’s diamond-shaped. Big ha-ha. The thing is, these spoofs aren’t any less…
LONDON – Middlesbrough-based data analysis company Rocket Science is merging with Leeds-based direct marketing agency, e.emotion.
New Yorkers who don’t have washers and dryers in their apartment buildings could face some added stress when they visit the laundromat this week: a guerrilla ad campaign suggesting they’re too fat. The Ad Council and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are placing tiny T-shirts in dryers throughout the city urging laundry-doers to “Shrink a few sizes.†Ouch. The campaign, done pro bono by McCann Erickson, sends the fatties to HHS’s Smallstep site, where they are further encouraged to “shed those holiday pounds, reduce their risk for obesity and lead a healthy lifestyle,†according to the press materials. Of course, some people might respond by simply dropping off their laundry next time.
—Posted by Tim Nudd
LONDON – Content distributor Digital Rights Group (DRG) has appointed Christina Willoughby as managing director of Channel 4 International (C4i), the distribution company acquired by DRG at the end of last year.
John Wayne hasn’t made a bad movie in a quarter century, a boast few living movie stars could make. That helps explain why he once again finishes in the top 10 in a Harris Poll that asks adults to pick their favorite movie star. Denzel Washington was the new survey’s top pick (as he was in the prior year’s poll), with Tom Hanks the runner-up and Johnny Depp running third. Julia Roberts, the top-ranking female star in the poll, finished fourth. John Wayne came in sixth, just behind Will Smith and ahead of Matt Damon, Sean Connery, Sandra Bullock and Bruce Willis. Dropping out of the top 10 since last year’s poll: Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, George Clooney and Harrison Ford. Washington was the favorite of male respondents, and Hanks was tops among women.
—Posted by Mark Dolliver
OK, Mac lovers. Here’s the new Macbook Air commercial for you to drool over. And, really, what else is there to say? It’s an Apple commercial. And, of course, we have Nalt’s spoof….
Another graffiti campaign to show how “street” the brand is, is not needed. But Crisis, a London outfit that helps the homeless and really is of the street has put a spin on street art, and with help from Rapp Collins/London have come up with an innovative way to advertise their cause.
Crisis estimates there are 400,000 homeless people ‘hidden’ in hostels, squats, B&Bs or sleeping on friend’s floors.
To highlight this scandal they have used ‘Reverse Graffiti’. Instead of using spray cans, they clean the dirt from walls with water so, unlike normal graffiti, it doesn’t damage property. The designs are currently present in 15 London locations.
[via Brand Republic]
LONDON – Unilever has split its £150m global ice-cream ad business, including Walls, between DDB and Lowe, which has also picked up the £104m global Magnum ad account.
Who doesn’t love a commercial featuring a cute, cuddly animal who waddles innocently out of thw woods and then, all of a sudden, is taken over by a bunch of digital manipulators and truned into a world class football…
Pencil me in among the legions of people offended by this Target billboard in Times Square, featuring a woman lying spread-eagle on a giant bull’s-eye. Lisa Ray, founder of Parents for Ethical Marketing, says she “could not understand how anybody making an ad would put that together and not have one person in the room say, ‘Wait a minute.’ †I agree. All those winter clothes get in the way of what could be a very titillating campaign. … What’s that? Oh, sorry. I guess the problem is the ad is too suggestive—one blogger calls it “sexualized ad slop.†It probably would have looked better in the old Times Square. Photo by Bennett 4 Senate.
—Posted by David Kiefaber
If you like sending your friends those customized promotional videos, then here’s another one. It’s not anywhere near as freaky as that Dexter promotion that targeted the recipient with a personalized message from a serial killer but it’s not…
Educational publisher Hotcourses has appointed email marketing company Pure to develop an eCRM programme for its members.
What do Blender and Ms. have in common? They’re sharing the same bikini/hot-tub cover for their jointly produced “Summer Fling†issues. Just kidding. Both mags are involved in ad flaps. Blender stands accused of crossing the line between advertising and editorial in its “2008 Rock & Roll User’s Guide,†which I strongly suspect was not penned by Bob Woodward and probably didn’t require a whole lot of ethical vetting. Meanwhile, Ms. sought to sidestep a political “firestorm†by rejecting a full-page ad by the American Jewish Congress that features three prominent Israeli women. Needless to say, its refusal to run the piece has ignited the very “firestorm†it hoped to avoid. That’s how bad it’s gotten in the print-publishing game these days: You’re damned if you run the ads, and you’re damned if you don’t. My point: for the publicity alone, a “Summer Fling†team-up is the way to go.
—Posted by David Gianatasio
OK, here we go. It’s Super Bowl time. As usual, we have GoDaddy foisting upon us its now very tired “boo hoo, FOX banned our commercial” routine. This time, it’s over the word “beaver.” Damn, it’s like an eighties…
Lisa Caruso, VP, Laura Davidson Public Relations (New York) discusses the firm’s work for Tourisme Montreal.
LONDON – Free business daily City AM has appointed online ad sales agency WebAds to sell all of the advertising on the CityAM.com website, which launches this week.
LONDON – Colleen DeCourcy, chief digital officer for TBWA\Worldwide, has been named Cyber Lions jury president at this year’s Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival.
LONDON – Twentieth Century Fox is using a viral campaign on Bore Me to launch the DVD release of ‘Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest’, which retells the story of the original ‘Star Wars’ movie.
NEW YORK – Discovery Networks is joining forces with Oprah Winfrey to launch a TV channel and internet venture in the US next year.
LONDON – The second episode of ITV1’s new series of ‘Taggart’ won its slot last night, narrowly beating BBC One’s drama ‘Mistresses’ with 4.9m viewers.
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