Detroit has a museum, and you should visit

Detroit has an Institute of Arts? Once I let that sink in, I enjoyed these new spots from Perich Advertising + Design and Head Gear Animation, directed by Julian Grey. (A second one is here.) There’s been a wave of animated commercials of late (those Minnesota Lottery spots spring to mind), but these promote a museum, so don’t expect to scratch and win. In fact, please don’t scratch the paintings, or the classic Ford tailfins, or the Red Wings jersey collages—or whatever it is they have on display. The characters in the ads seem happy enough, briefly taking on the characteristics of various works of art. The message of the spots, according to the press release, is: “Come to the museum to get inspired, people!” The problem is, there’s only one real inspiration a person can have while visiting Detroit, and that’s to get the hell out of town!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Lego brings back 80s ‘Kipper’ ad

LONDON – Lego is celebrating its 50th birthday by bringing back its 1981 ‘Kipper’ advert.

Celeb site Holy Moly adds video clips for relaunch

LONDON – Celebrity gossip website Holymoly.com is adding hundreds of celebrity video clips and encouraging user-generated content in a revamp of its website.

Delegate places disappearing fast for email marketing conference

LONDON – Delegate places are going fast for Brand Republic’s ‘Sophisticated and Relevant Email Marketing’ conference in December, which will showcase how to achieve next-level, sophisticated email campaigns.

Saatchis unveils T-Mobile G1 campaign

LONDON – Saatchi & Saatchi is launching a print, outdoor and online campaign to support the launch of the T-Mobile G1, which goes on sale today.

MySpace launches Android application with Google phone

LONDON – MySpace has created an Android application offering better access to its website to coincide with the UK release of the T-Mobile G1 Google phone today.

Rimmel London launches new faces Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Lily Cole online

LONDON – Cosmetics company Rimmel London has launched a special section on its website featuring its new brand ambassadors – singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor and model Lily Cole.

Conde Nast renews database contract with Acxiom

NEW YORK – Condé Nast has renewed its contract with its database hosting company Acxiom with a three-year agreement.

Television awards show draws 5.3m to ITV1

LONDON – More than 5m people watched the two-hour long ‘National Television Awards’ on ITV1 last night although it was not enough to beat ‘Silent Witness’ on BBC One, which pipped it in the 9pm slot, according to unofficial overnight figures.

Will Smith named programming director at RDF

LONDON – RDF Television, part of the RDF Media Group, has poached Will Smith from ITV, appointing him as director of programmes.

MMA relaunches UK mobile council

LONDON – The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has relaunched its UK Council in a bid to lead the creation of guidelines and best practices in the mobile arena.

IDS secures Virgin sponsorship deal with Pathe

LONDON – IDS, the sales house for Virgin Media TV, has signed a sponsorship deal with Pathe Distribution to promote the launch of the big screen adaptation of Noel Coward’s Easy Virtue.

Samsung Omnia (i900) Unboxing – hahaha, check out the marching band

The Viral Factory (UK) mock all those youtube films where people unbox their latest tech gear. So far it’s been viewed 650,000 times.

read more

Eyeconomy hires Gidley for video sales role

LONDON – Eyeconomy has expanded its management team with the appointment of Paul Gidley to the new role of head of video sales.

WPP revenue growth slows in Q3

LONDON – WPP’s UK operations saw growth slow in Q3, with the company admitting that the recent banking crises have hit the UK and US hardest.

Posh strips down to underwear for Giorgio Armani

LONDON – Following up on its well-exposed David Beckham ads, Emporio Armani has signed a £12m deal for the footballer’s wife Victoria to appear in ads for its ladies’ underwear.

Brand quits while Ross awaits fate at BBC

LONDON – Russell Brand quit his Radio 2 show last night over the prank calls he made to Andrew Sachs, while Jonathan Ross’ future with the BBC could be decided in a meeting between senior executives and the BBC Trust today.

McCain attacks LA Times for Obama bias

NEW YORK – Presidential candidate John McCain has criticised The Los Angeles Times for refusing to release five-year-old video footage of his rival Barack Obama honouring a Palestinian rights advocate at a dinner in Chicago.

WPP expects ‘very tough’ 2009 but not Armageddon

LONDON – Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP Group is predicting a “very tough” 2009, but not the Armageddon being predicted by share prices, after revealing its third quarter revenues rose by 16.2% to £1.72bn.

Starbucks partners with Bono charity in holiday promotion

SEATTLE – Starbucks is to join U2 singer Bono’s Red charity label in a product tie-in that will raise money for the global fight against Aids over the Christmas season.