Good luck to our friend David Esrati, running for Congress in Ohio’s 3rd district (Dayton & surrounding areas).
Seeing as how his major opponent is giving out literature from 2004 with a new date penciled in, it’s clearly time for someone with fresh thinking.
What? Let a week go by without another Dove Evolution spoof? OK so we’ve let lots of weeks slip without sharing one which is why we’ll share this Foster Farms chicken transformation with you.
LONDON – Sarah Wise is stepping down as Barclays’ marketing communications manager after a decade with the financial services provider.
(TrendHunter.com) Agreed not a new type of event, as New York has its very own National Underwear Day dating back to 2003, but this similar event in Brazil (in its second year) is more of a fashion show, as it represents 13 international, national marks and shops of Brasilia and hands out advertising and marketing ma…
This Dubai, UAE campaign for Sony Micro Vault, created by Dubai-based Promoseven, is, to say the least. a bit weird. However, we like it.
We had a chance to interview Simon Cowell a couple of years ago, back when he was quite happy to do TV commercials — having just wrapped a Vanilla Coke ad. But one brand he won’t endorse is Viagra. As the New York Post reports, the American Idol judge did not take kindly to a reported $2 million offer from Pfizer to be the face of its E.D. drug in the U.K. “Last year my agent rang me and said, ‘You’ve been offered an incredibly big, million-pound deal. It’s to be the face of Viagra,’ †Cowell tells the British edition of Glamour magazine. “And I just said, ‘Sorry, but that has to be a f—ing insult.’ †In the same interview, Cowell admits to using Botox, though apparently he hasn’t been offered the big bucks yet from Allergan. After the jump, read our 2003 interview with Cowell, in which he admits to being intimidated working on a commercial set.
—Posted by Tim Nudd
Simon Cowell: On the Spot
By Tim Nudd
Adweek
26 May 2003
For the acid-tongued judge on Fox’s American Idol (and Pop Idol in the U.K), the hits keep on coming. As a music exec with BMG, Cowell, 43, is credited with developing some 25 No. 1 hits in England. Then came the Idol juggernaut (he helped craft both shows, and the winners sign with his label, S Records, a joint venture with BMG). Next up is Cupid, a summer reality show he’s producing for CBS in which former Campbell-Ewald copywriter Lisa Shannon roams America looking for her soul mate. Cowell may yet realize his dream of becoming Dick Clark–if he can get over his fear of actors.
Q: What’s the biggest difference between British and American pop culture today?
A: The main difference, from what I can ascertain since I’ve been over here, is [in the U.S.], you’ve got sheep following the sheep in the record industry, which is unhealthy. And you also have an incredibly unhealthy reliance on radio. The main difference we found about 15, 16 years ago in England was how to use television as a more powerful tool to break records and artists. And, of course, American Idol is proving the point of how powerful television can be when it’s used effectively.
Q. Are American contestants more susceptible to delusions of grandeur?
A. No, no, no–believe me, that’s an English trait as well. I’ve found the American contestants to be more polite, more respectful than the English counterparts. For instance, Ruben [Studdard] has said on the show, “My momma has taught me this and taught me that,†and it’s quite sweet to hear somebody say that. In England, they can be a bit brattish.
Q. What do you think of American advertising?
A. When I was living in England, I was quite scornful of it, because we only see it in dribs and drabs. I used to think American advertising was intrusive. Having seen how it works, particularly on a show like American Idol, how it’s proactive with the show, it’s very smart. The advertisers benefit, the show benefits, and therefore the audience benefits. In England we have all these weird rules which say you can’t advertise within a show if you’re the sponsor. The way American Idol has worked with their sponsors is superb.
Q. Did you enjoy shooting the recent Vanilla Coke ad?
A. Well, it’s quite intimidating working with proper actors. There’s always the feeling that the actors are thinking, “Who the hell does he think he is?†You know, “We’re actors, he’s somebody who’s become famous from a reality show.†But the good news was that Chazz [Palminteri] and his sidekick were really nice people. It was a blast.
Q. Simon Cowell, intimidated?
A. You’d be surprised, actually. I feel comfortable, normally, within my role. But when you suddenly take yourself out of that role and you’re working with professional actors, that is intimidating.
Q. What was your role in creating Cupid?
A. On the night of my birthday, Oct. 7, I had gone out with friends and we were talking about why shows like American Idol and Pop Idol work and how you could take the basis of the show into other areas. The only other area I could see this working as well in would be dating. And I thought it was so stupid that all the reality shows over here were turning into these weird dramas. Once I’d seen Mr. Personality I realized that that was no longer something you could put under the reality banner. There’s nothing real about that.
Q. Are people getting tired of reality television?
A. When it becomes popular, you get a flood of reality shows, and then only the good will survive. As long as you don’t get too stupid with it, then there’s always going to be a future. What I love about American Idol and Joe Millionaire is letting the viewer believe they’re looking through the keyhole and seeing something they shouldn’t be allowed to see. That to me is the perfect description of reality television. There’s going to be a huge future for it, but some of the silliness will go away.
Q. How did you choose Lisa Shannon to star in Cupid?
A. Ninety-nine percent of the girls who turn up for these kinds of shows now, when you audition, are actresses–either professionals or wanna-be’s. When you’re trying to create a reality television show, if you’re working with somebody whose endgame is just to be famous, then you’ve got a problem. So I tried to find somebody who fit the bill, but was genuine as to what the purpose of the show was. And she was the most genuine.
Q. What inspired you to get into the entertainment business?
A. Initially, it was lack of exam results and a desire to make some money. And I wanted to be in a business where you can have fun.
Q. Is there anyone you’re dying to work with in music or TV?
A. If I could spend a month with two people, it would be [Zomba Music founder] Clive Calder and Dick Clark. Clive is probably the best businessman in the last 20 years in the music industry. And Dick Clark is what I want to be, which is a combination of onscreen and off-screen. If I could mix those two people together.
Q. You have a bobblehead doll coming out. Does this mean you’ve fully integrated into American pop culture?
A. In a weird way, yes! I had so many meetings with would-be manufacturers, and it was all rubbish. But the one thing that appealed to me was the talking bobblehead doll.
Q. What does it say?
A. Oh, I can’t remember. It just insults you generally.
LONDON – Digital company RealNetworks has been tipped to buy Scrabulous, the unofficial online version of the Scrabble boardgame which attracts over 500,000 daily players on social networking site Facebook.
VideoJug has signed a deal with MySpace to provide its range of “How To” advice videos on the social networking site’s TV service.
How oddly appropriate that Jamie Lee Curtis, the aging “scream queen” who helped upset the stomachs of a generation in gory horror hits from the ’70s, is starring in a new campaign for Dannon’s Activia that “encourages Americans to think, talk and care about digestive health.†In the past, the brand’s commercials have been downright bizarre. This new spot is almost shockingly sedate (Curtis talks right into the camera), though it does maintain the penchant for oddly off-kilter elements with the ugly green sofa and that slap-happy “Ac-TIV-i-AHH!†jingle. (Look out, Jamie Lee! The killer’s hiding under the couch! And he’s constipated!) Activia was last spotted on the receiving end of a deceptive advertising lawsuit. The complaint contends that Activia and DanActive are “ordinary yogurt†and asks Dannon to issue $300 million in refunds. Hopefully Curtis got paid upfront. Remember the last scene in Halloween, when Donald Pleasance looks outside for Michael Myers, only to find … BAM! It’s still cool 30 years later.
—Posted by David Gianatasio
LONDON – BLM Clilverd has won the media account for Grosvenor Casinos, part of Rank Group, taking an estimated £2.5m chunk of the group’s £5m media budget.
LONDON – Leo Burnett has produced the first Olympics-related ad for a confirmed sponsor of the 2012 London games.
Well someone doesn’t like this new work for Altoids from BBDO Chicago…and it just might be us. Though we’re not sure. Let’s discuss.
According to World Advertising Research Center, marketers worldwide believe that 65% of their marketing spend had no discernible effect on consumers in 2007.
Asi Sharabi of No Man’s Blog believes “marketers are trapped in a vicious negative feedback of ineffective campaigns and ineffective measurements.”
What’s your read? Would improved measurement allow you to get more creative?
Here’s a picture from a recent PETA stunt at Covent Garden in London.
According to The Washington Post, Marriott.com is one of the top 10 e-commerce sites for sales, bringing in more than $5.2 billion in 2007.
Not bad for a firm whose CEO, Bill Marriott, does not use a PC.
Along with cravability, the other five-dollar word we’ve learned today is Schweppervescence, which refers to the ability to absorb a direct water-balloon hit to the face without flinching in a Schweppes commercial. The ad, filmed in super-slow-mo, is from George Patterson Y&R in Australia. Via Advertolog. UPDATE: As Cathy notes in comments, Schweppervescence has been around for a while. Since 1946, in fact.
—Posted by Tim Nudd
LONDON – Wieden & Kennedy was yesterday among a number of ad companies rated in the Sunday Times top 100 best small employers.
LONDON – Wieden & Kennedy was yesterday among a number of ad companies rated in the Sunday Times top 100 best small employers.
For the network debut of quarterlife, NBC used Free Hand Ads to promote the show across the top margin of college-ruled paper.
We don’t hear too much from Colombia these days, but it’s good to know they’re as taken by zombies as we are. A series of new cholesterol awareness ads show the rotting undead riding the subway, surfing the interwebs (under the supervision of a leathery boss), and primed to hug a small child. Delightful. It’s risky to even mention these ads given how popular (and annoying) the zombie craze has gotten, but as long as no one starts making ads with pirates or ninjas in them we’ll get through this OK. Oh, wait. Via Ads of the World.
—Posted by David Kiefaber
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
