Hasta La Creative!

Papa John’s giant six-acre crop-circle ad, which we wrote about during the planning stages, has gloriously sprung up in an “unassuming wheat field” near Denver, per the press release. And apart from a few apparent moldy bits on the pepperoni (click the image to enlarge), it looks pretty decent. The pepperoni is actually red mulch, the green peppers are corn stalks, the black olives are black mulch, and the cheese is harvested wheat. Artist Stan Herd led the creation of the monstrosity over a period of about three weeks. Herd, in order to get paid, had this to say: “This was an incredible opportunity for me to showcase the beauty of a Colorado wheat field through the style of art I enjoy creating most. Fortunately, Papa John’s was willing to allow me to lead the design of the image, which was important to me. And after I got the opportunity to meet the folks involved, I knew this was going to be an amazing project.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

The New York Times takes note of the above ad created by Santo, an Argentine agency.

“When we talked to consumers about Coke, we realized they didn’t know that it has no added preservatives or artificial flavors,” said Cathryn Sleight, marketing director of Coca-Cola Great Britain. “We felt it was important to reassure Coke drinkers of this fact.”

In other words, this is a spot made from research, not creativity.

LONDON – The Beijing press launch of Peta’s latest anti-fur ad, which features US Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard in the nude, was cancelled by the Chinese authorities yesterday.

NEW YORK – US authorities have charged 11 people with stealing more than 40m credit and debit card numbers in what has been described by investigators as the country’s largest identity theft case.

“Defendant trades murder plea for KFC, pizza.” That’s the kind of free publicity that KFC probably doesn’t want or need. But actually, Tremane Durham’s agreement to plead guilty to murder in Oregon so long as he gets to enjoy buckets of the Colonel’s finest in prison (along with apparently unbranded pizza, calzones and ice cream) could be a big plus for KFC, positioning the chain as a vital link (such wordplay!) in the criminal justice system. Super Chicken achieved that status about 40 years ago, but his crime-fighting exploits were cut short by a deep-fryer and a coating of extra-crispy bread crumbs. Point to ponder: Just how bad is prison food if KFC is considered an improvement?

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Another day, another Olympian going old-school by taking her clothes off just in time for the Games. This time it’s American swimmer Amanda Beard, who won’t let a few unusually healthy-looking Britons get all the attention for going naked. Beard has stripped down on behalf of PETA to give the animals some love—something she’s already done, actually, by posing for FHM. (She also did a Playboy pictorial, for which she wasn’t asked to tactfully cover a breast.) Beard, 26, is pursuing her eighth medal in Beijing, and also has a shot at being named the Hottest American Olympian.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

LONDON – Four former British Airways executives, including former commercial director, Martin George, have been charged by the Office of Fair Trading in relation to fuel-price fixing.

Like all actors from canceled sitcoms, Geico’s cavemen have quietly retreated to commercials. One new spot shows our hirsute hero, who rather resembles Björn Borg circa 1980, playing a tennis match against all-time great Billie Jean King. Not since King trounced Bobby Riggs 35 years ago in the pop-culture watershed “Battle of the Sexes” has she faced an opponent with such intense sideburns. In another ad breaking this week, the prehistoric pitchman tries to relax on a beach with model Lauren Hastings—to no avail. Seven of the 13 episodes produced for ABC’s Cavemen series never aired. Unfortunately, both of these ads from The Martin Agency will probably air for some time. Hey, I’m a gecko fan—no apologies!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

You can add “ESPN is yanking a commercial for an infidelity matchmaking service” to the list of sentences we never thought we’d read. According to ABC News, the sports network was asked by its parent company, Disney, to stop running TV commercials for AshleyMadison.com, a dating Web site for not-so-happily-marrieds. The cheating service’s president, Noel Biderman, is taking this as well as could be expected for a professional enabler. ESPN, he contends, is silly with beer ads, and he doesn’t see much difference between that product and his. Interesting. If he has time, we have some other things we’d like him to compare.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

LONDON – Nikon has withdrawn its support of Microsoft’s Iconic Britain competition, which asked users to submit their favourite UK images online, following complaints from photographers that it infringed their intellectual property and copyright.