Hasta La Creative!

LONDON – Online TV platform Joost, backed by the founders of Skype and Kazaa, has been dealt a blow in its attempts to secure much-needed content after the departure of Yvette Alberdingk Thijm.

Comedians’ mouths are watering over news that an airport in Great Britain has clarified, in advertisements seeking an air-traffic controller, that the job applications are available in Braille. Sure, the position requires 20/20 vision, but St. Mary’s Airport on the Isles of Scilly (off the southwest tip of Cornwall) was loathe to disenfranchise any applicants, no matter how horribly underqualified. Current controller Keri Jones admits, “We have had loads of calls about it and people generally find it quite funny.” She adds: “The islands are always at the cutting edge of innovation, so it would certainly be something for Scilly to have the world’s first blind air traffic controller.” Yeah, it would be something all right.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

The latest anti-smoking spots from American Legacy have generally been poorly received. I was blasé in my “Ad of the Day” appraisal on Adweek.com. This Adrants write-up was scathing. I think I’ve figured out the problem with the whole genre: Once you’ve trotted out all your throat-hole gross-out ads and paraded every conceivable tobacco-related image of pain and suffering before the cameras, what’s left? Almost nothing’s shocking anymore. Except, perhaps, this: images of pretty people smoking at home and at work, in cars, bars and restaurants, on trains, planes and buses. That’s right—anti-smoking advocates would only surprise the public nowadays if they were to run pro-smoking ads! Imagine the consternation and buzz such spots would stir. Of course, there’d be a tiny URL at the bottom of the screen inviting viewers to learn the “truth” about smoking. A re-energized debate might be the lasting legacy of such a campaign. And if a few more people did pick up the habit, well, the trains are too darn crowded anyway.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

The Senate has been holding hearings on privacy and online advertising. This begs a question: What do these political types have to hide, anyway? I decided to find out by Googling, because I can’t bring myself to search using MSN or Yahoo! until they do the deal. Do the damn deal, already! Googling Sen. Byron Dorgan, FTC consumer protection chief Lydia Parnes and other key players yielded eerily similar results: their Web pages, speeches and appearances on Fox News. OK, in each case I only looked at the first page of results. Well, the top half of the first page. Like all good Americans, I’m pretty darn lazy. My point: These Beltway bozos are obsessed with controlling people’s online profiles because they’re afraid we’ll all learn how God-awful boring their own lives really are. Being stalked across the Web by marketers is probably more excitement than they can handle. Frankly, I’d feel lonely if Denny’s messages didn’t pop onto my screen every now and then. They can serve me ads any time; just not their food.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

LONDON – Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corporation, has warned that he sees ‘a lot more bad shocks’ ahead for the economy in the next 12 months and is not expecting a turnaround in 2009.

LONDON – Surrey County Cricket Club is promoting a series of Natwest Pro40 matches at the club’s Brit Oval ground with the tagline “Twenty20 with twice the balls” in a CMW-created campaign.

Look up more often.

Advertising Agency: Neogama/BBH, São Paulo, Brazil
Executive Creative Director: Alexandre Gama
Creative Directors: Márcio Ribas, Wilson Mateos
Art Director: Márcio Ribas
Copywriter: Isabella Paulelli
Digital Retouch: Alessandra Perez
Published: April 2008

Look up more often.

Advertising Agency: Neogama/BBH, São Paulo, Brazil
Executive Creative Director: Alexandre Gama
Creative Directors: Márcio Ribas, Wilson Mateos
Art Director: Márcio Ribas
Copywriter: Isabella Paulelli
Digital Retouch: Alessandra Perez
Published: April 2008

JAKARTA – PermataBank has become the latest Indonesian banking giant to review its advertising arrangements, with eight agencies vying for the full-service account.

LONDON – UK consumers will have to scramble to get their hands on Apple’s 3G iPhone today after O2 and Carphone Warehouse warned they have limited stocks available.