Hasta La Creative!

Frito-Lays has been letting the imagination of its customers produce great commercial spoofs and apparently there is one production that is slowly rising above the rest. Titled “New Flavor Pitch”, this commercial shows an executive pitching Frito-Lay on the idea for a new beer-flavored Dorito.

This production is actually one of the finalists and the winner goes on to the Super Bowl ads where it will be shown.

Mr. Holmes, who plays a Frito-Lay executive, watches in horror. After he tells Mr. McCarthy that the beer-flavored chips aren’t a good idea, Mr. McCarthy is seen standing in only white underwear and a necktie. As a kicker, he yells, “You don’t know me!”

(Source) The New York Times

In case you missed it, Al Pacino was sporting a watch, a designer watch from Tutima which many viewers would hardly notice. Glued on to the plot (to which Al Pacino turned out to be the bad guy in the end), there were strings attached as far as the advertising premiums agreed upon by both parties, Millenium Films and Tutima USA. Apparently, the latter failed to deliver and both of them may see each other in court.

Millennium Films filed a lawsuit against watch manufacturers Tutima USA at Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming that they didn’t deliver on the agreed deal. According to the production company this promotional partnership would see Tutima pay $50,000 for a three second shot of the watch, a Tutima Flieger Chronograph F2 in the film and spend $1 million on advertising. They claim that neither of these were forthcoming, despite them delivering the lingering shot of the watch in their 2008 cop drama.

(Source) TMZ

The big three may not be placing ads at the Super Bowl but Audi is sure to be there. Aiming to create the same excitement that the players would have on the field, Audi has a great commercial being awaited which stars Transporter star Jason Statham.

Audi’s advertising agency, San Francisco-based Venables Bell & Partners, created the ad, which was shot on-location in Los Angeles. The agency painstakingly recreated different eras in American history with costuming, lighting, film stock and period-specific automobiles to create a stunning depiction of the different eras explored in the ad.

“Every new model we introduce is making more and more consumers stand up and take notice of the single best line-up in the market. Last year’s spot sent the message that Audi was truly redefining luxury. This year’s spot will ensure that everyone realizes that Audi is the best choice, period.”

(Source) PR Newswire

The best way to get noticed is to have a short-film documentary of your company and it seems Honda has done just that. Binding all the corporate philosophies via an immersive website, the new “Power of Dreams” campaign showcases real stories from people on how Honda aims to provide solutions to their valued clients.

Three short documentary films: ‘Kick Out The Ladder,’ ‘Failure’ and ‘Mobility 2088’ (each about 6- 8 minutes long) debuted at the campaign launch; additional films will be added subsequently every few months. The first two films discuss core values that have inspired generations of Honda associates by telling the stories of impossible engineering challenges and exploring where failure brought Honda and what success came of it. The third film explores the future of mobility.

(Source) Design Taxi

Kevin James of “Two and a Half Men” has been chosen to headline a new cast in his upcoming film “Paul Blart, Mall Cop”. It was actually a reunion of sorts as James had originally appeared on the CBS Network from 1998 to 2007 with a lead role in the sitcom, “Kings of Queens”.

TV networks and advertisers have tested the use of actors from shows consumers are watching in the commercials that interrupt those programs. The idea is that people armed with DVRs will be less interested in skipping ads willy-nilly when the people they tuned in to see in the first place are the ones cavorting about in the advertising.

(Source) Advertising Age

Focusing largely on software solutions that most business find handy in making them efficient, Microsoft has focused their new wave of ads towards guiding people on the important of software in the world of business. A couple of these ads can be found on their website, although some have already been aired on various mediums of advertising such as TV, audio and print.

Taking off from their “I am a business (PC), and proud of it” slogan, you can expect Microsoft to aggressively hit the business sectors. But the thing is, will the business sector grasp these invectives despite the crisis today?

The release largely consists of a Q&A with the company’s general manager of its Advertising and Customer Engagement Team, Gayle Troberman, in which Troberman explains the strategy behind the ads.

(Source) ZDNet

In a move to help address the health hazards that mobile phones bring, France is cracking the whip on mobile phone advertising, particularly to the kids. It is no secret that mobile phones emit radiation which can be a cause for cancer in kids. While this has been known for years now, France has taken the lead to address the issue to safeguard their youth from potential health risks.

Who knows if we may see the same trend followed by most companies from there?

French advertisements by contrast take a different view. Some put up in large cities including Lyon this week read: “Let’s keep them healthy, away from mobile phones!” Some Swedish research indicates that children are five times more likely to get brain cancer if they use mobiles, but other research efforts have found results inconclusive.

(Source) Telegraph

For continuously supporting the gay organizations, a call by the American Family Association to boycott goods and products by Pepsi and Campbell has been announced. It is quite obvious that the homosexuality issue has been far from settled despite being set legal in some states.

Worst, this move by Pepsi on not supporting any pro-family organization that is opposed to homosexuality further got the ire of AFA and for sure, the world. Has Pepsi gone nuts?

Pepsi refuses to give money to any pro-family organization that opposes the homosexual agenda. Additionally, PepsiCo is forcing it’s employees to attend sexual orientation classes. Both of the gay organizations mentioned here donated large sums of money (perhaps some PepsiCo money) to defeat Proposition 8 in California. That didn’t work as the proposition to protect marriage in California was passed overwhelmingly by the people of California.

(Source) Examiner

In a familiar move that most businesses are doing now, advertising premiums have shifted towards the growing popularity of online advertising. Century 21, known for making effective advertising programs to carve its niche has made such a move with the hopes of retaining its market position in the real estate sales industry and hopefully tapping a new market that they never had before.

“With 84 percent of consumers shopping for a home online, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, we are confident that increased online advertising will benefit our brokers, agents and most importantly, the consumer.”

Such is a good tactic if traditional advertising has been failing to deliver. Perhaps other companies may want to study that niche as well.

(Source) RIS Media

Ads in transition is what the new slogan that Advil has embarked on in connecting its previous ad campaign, “Yes Advil” is concerned. In an age where companies are holding back on advertising costs, some companies are doing the opposite and in fact simply continuing where they left off.

This strategy helps them go towards a better direction, especially since familiarization has already been set. For Advil, the slogan may be timely considering many people today want some relief although not in the same definition of classifying pain.

the “most current slogan, ‘The Every Pain Reliever,’ bridges the previous campaign to the current ‘Yes, Advil’ campaign. It speaks to the functional benefits of Advil, which remain the same across both campaigns.”

(Source) Media Post