Hasta La Creative!

Just when you thought nothing interesting was going to come of the World Cup following that gut-wrenching tie against Portugal, we have a notable player accused of mastication.

During a game that pitted Uruguay against Italy, Luis Suarez (the gentleman seen checking his incisors above) got in a tangle with Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini (the other guy). And then, Suarez got the munchies and bit Chiellini. Thank God for Twitter, because some notable brands decided to have some fun at Suarez’s expense with hashtags, original thoughts, subtle product placement, and even a few sponsored tweets.

It was all in fun, of course, until Suarez got suspended for nine games and banned from “any football-related activity” for four months.

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“Simon the Ogre,” a two-minute mini-epic commercial from agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay, was popular in the U.K. earlier this year but went largely unnoticed in the U.S. before winning a silver Lion at Cannes last week.

We won’t spoil the plot of the effects-driven film, but Fredrik Bond’s direction is solid, as are the editing and performances. Some viewers apparently didn’t like what they saw, though, and the U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority received at least 80 complaints soon after the ad’s debut “for causing offense to people with disfigurements and for trivializing disability.”

I have a different critique. I think it’s a memorable spot that makes its point in a novel way, but Simon behaves less like an ogre than a big mopey baby. Dude, suck it up! Slap a smile on that monstrous mug!

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TV networks’ apparently total victory over Aereo at the Supreme Court on Wednesday isn’t necessarily a long-term win for the broadcasters, observers and analysts said as the implications of the ruling settled in.

By solidifying broadcasters’ ability to demand retransmission fees from any new technology that seeks to carry their signals, the Court may have also reminded Congress about an increasing complaint from constituents: out-of-control cable fees.

“While regulators and Congress may wish to see a vibrant broadcasting sector, the aggressiveness with which CBS, Fox and others stated their expectations for retransmission consent revenue expansion over the course of the Aereo dispute may yet serve to undermine broadcasters’ voice in Washington, especially as cable subscription rates continue to rise,” Pivotal Research analyst Brian Wieser wrote in a note. “At some point, today’s rules will change, and this change could be harmful to broadcasters. A win for Aereo today could have provided some room for broadcasters to ask Congress for forms of relief in the future.”

Continue reading at AdAge.com

It’s a well known fact that in many ads, men are portrayed as bumbling idiots. It’s just payback for all those years Mad Men “put women in their place” by posing them in front of refrigerators, draping them across the hoods of cars and generally treating them like hysterical dumb blonds who were only good for sex and cooking dinner.

And so it is without surprise we have yet another ad treating men as if they just had half their brain removed and, along with it, half their IQ.

Cumberland Farms, which made great use of David Hasselhoff in past years, is out with a Full Contact-created ad called Moving Day in which four men turn into idiots after a woman hands then iced coffee from Cumberland Farms.

Explaining the concept as if it were perfectly normal, Cumberland Farms Senior Manager of Brand Strategy said,”Our new ‘Moving Day’ ad speaks to the quality and value of Cumberland Farms’ Farmhouse Blend iced coffee, and the spot focuses more on the product itself than our past iced coffee commercials. Our agency, Full Contact did a great job inserting iced coffee imagery into a chaotic and humorous scenario, in which movers are so attached to their delicious Cumberland farms iced coffee that they simply cannot put it down — even if it means breaking valuables.”

Right now you’re saying, “Oh but it’s just a joke. Lighten up. Don’t be so cynical.” And, yea, that’s what we told women in the 1960’s too. Doesn’t make it right.

(TrendHunter.com) The people behind ‘Tattooed Bakers,’ a London-based bakery, are both talented confectioners as they are artists as well. Consisting of creative duo Richard Amon and Eddie Lebeau, the…

Luis Suárez foi alvo de diversas críticas na web devido ao seu curioso comportamento mordedor. Após a partida entre Uruguai e Itália, onde Suarez tascou uma mordida em Giorgio Chiellini, a agência holandesa ACHTUNG! decidiu fazer uma ‘homenagem’ ao uruguaio com o game ‘BiteMan’.

Trata-se de uma versão web do famoso jogo PacMan, onde Suárez se transforma no PacMan, e os pontinhos no labirinto são substituídos por ‘piccoli Chiellini’. Ao invés de fantasminhas, juízes com cartões vermelhos perseguem o personagem no mapa.

O bacana é reparar no que acontece quando o jogador uruguaio finalmente é pego pelos juízes.

Apesar da brincadeira, Suárez foi hoje punido pela FIFA – ele recebeu suspensão por 9 jogos, o suficiente para estar fora de todos os jogos restantes da Copa do Mundo.

Post originalmente publicado no Brainstorm #9
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Boston-based agency Full Contact has a new television spot promoting convenience/gasoline staple Cumberland Farm’s Farmhouse Blend iced coffee.

The spot marks a departure for the brand, who in recent years have relied on David Hasselhoff in their iced coffee campaigns, such as last summer’s “Thirsty for Love.” Full Contact takes a simpler, more product-driven approach with “Moving Day,” while still employing humor. “Moving Day” sees a woman give her partner and his buddies Cumberland Farm’s Farmhouse Blend iced coffee to fuel them as they move into a new place. She soon regrets the decision, though, as the guys are so unwilling to put down their iced coffees that they break a series of valuables.

Cumberland Farms Senior Manager of Brand Strategy David Heilbronner said the ad “speaks to the quality and value of Cumberland Farms’ Farmhouse Blend iced coffee, and the spot focuses more on the product itself than our past iced coffee commercials. Our agency, Full Contact did a great job inserting iced coffee imagery into a chaotic and humorous scenario…”

While the ad does highlight the actual product in a way the campaigns featuring The Hoff didn’t, it’s far less memorable than “Thirsty For Love,” and it’s very unlikely that it will draw the same kind of attention to the brand. On the other hand, the ad was clearly made on a tighter budget than previous campaigns and it’s unclear if all the attention surrounding The Hoff actually led to increased sales. Stick around for credits after the jump.  (more…)

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UPDATE: Even as we covered Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s comments on showing up late to an advertiser dinner at the Cannes ad fest last week, we asked readers whether it was really news. Some have argued that a male CEO could have been late without making headlines, while others said it was a valid story, given Yahoo’s need to impress the very advertisers at that dinner. After a day of voting and 679 votes cast, the results: Most of you consider it a non-story.

As Alexa Tsotsis wrote on TechCrunch, “Someone was late in France: Ring the alarm.”

But Ms. Mayer has been under scrutiny since taking the helm of Yahoo in July 2012. She is facing pressure to turn around the portal as it grapples with competition from Google and Facebook. While Yahoo showed signs of progress in the first quarter as revenue expanded for the first time in more than a year, sales growth is estimated by analysts to remain at less than 5% for the next three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Continue reading at AdAge.com