Olson Launches ‘Mosquitonado’ for Terminix

Olson seeks to capitalize on the buzz around the upcoming third installment in SyFy’s Sharknado series (which debuts July 22), with the over the top shenanigans in its “Mosquitonado” spot for pest-control brand Terminix.

The spot takes the form of a movie trailer, opening on a woman preparing for a Fourth of July party. She’s annoyed by a mosquito which bites her while she’s forming burgers and then stops outside to a see the giant “Mosquitonado” swarm, letting out a big dramatic scream. From here the trailer just gets more and more silly and ridiculous, as citizens try to fight back against the swarm by any means possible. Sharknado star Tara Reid makes a brief cameo, with a tongue in cheek reference to her roles in the SyFy movies. Apparently released to coincide with National Mosquito Control Awareness Week (we had no idea this was a thing), the message seems pretty clear: with the summer here, mosquitoes will be a ubiquitous nuisance, even if the don’t approach “Mosquitonado” levels.

“We knew that if we wanted to get people talking about the world’s actual deadliest killer, mosquitoes, we’d need to create something truly outrageous,” Kelly Medley, vice president of communications at Terminix, told Adweek. “We’ve heard lots of people sharing that a Mosquitonado is something straight out of a nightmare,” she added. “They can relate with how annoying these buzzing bloodsuckers can be all summer long. Mosquitonado leaves viewers kind of frightened and very amused.”

Kevin Smith Makes Ad Debut with Audi Avengers Tie-In

With Avengers: Age of Ultron almost upon us, the Marvel cross-marketing blitz–which already includes partners like Target, Dr. Pepper and Kellogg’s–is only getting started.

Longtime partner Audi, though, is taking a different route. Tony Stark’s automaker of choice, which will see the inclusion of the 2016 Audi R8, 2015 TTS and 2015 A3 Cabriolet vehicles in Ultron, has teamed with PMK*BNC (the PR-first agency perhaps best known to us for last year’s Breaking Bad Emmy promo) to unveil a two-minute short directed by well-known comic book geek Kevin Smith.

Most importantly, the campaign allowed the guy who made Chasing Amy to work with his hero Stan Lee, (along with a few other familiar faces).

Smith, who owns real-world comic book store Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash and hosts AMC’s Comic Book Men, has found the perfect outlet to mark his first time directing an ad with “Stan Lee Cameo School.” Playing on Lee’s penchant for making cameo appearances in Marvel films (not to mention Smith’s own Mallrats), the clip also features the likes of Smith’s constant foil Jason MewesSharknado 2‘s own Tara ReidMallrats co-star Michael Rooker and the original Hulk, Lou Ferrigno, who pays homage to his early ’80s show at the end.

In the midst of the marketing onslaught of Ultron, this one offers some B-List geek fun along with its relatively subtle branding.

 

Title: “Stan Lee Cameo School feat. Kevin Smith, Tara Reid, Michael Rooker, Jason Mewes and Lou Ferrigno”
Hashtags: #Avengers #AgeOfUltron
Audi Twitter Handle: @Audi
Starring: Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Michael Rooker, Tara Reid with cameos by: Lou Ferrigno, Jason Mewes and the Audi S8
Executive Producer: Kim Dellara
Director: Kevin Smith
Producer: Adrianne McCurrach

Blogging for the Big Bucks

 Never underestimate the power of a star. Not the ones high in the sky, but the other ones, dimmer, out at night in Hollywood. It’s been long-rumored that company’s with “celebrity spokespeople” are so yesterday, but they still keep on popping up, getting endorsements then smokin’ dope and losing endorsements. I guess we need someone to look up to…Madison Avenue says so. But, stars are important to products, to companys, and even to people. Stars can make us money, or totally ignore us. I asked for Lindsay Lohan to be my friend on Twitter. No reply. (bitch)
Enter Mario Armando Lavandeira, a man with stars in his eyes, as well. He’s someone that we love to hate, or hate to love. He lives a life of relative ease in Los Angeles, hanging out with Hollywood’s famous, or infamous, celebrities. He had a show on VH1 for a while, has been featured in the NYTimes at least twice, and has appeared on the Kathy Griffin Show, Nightline, The View, MTV, and others.

tarereidperezhilton2

If you hadn’t already guessed, our secretive Mario has an alter-ego that he got on the steets: Perez Hilton. Perez Hilton, the self-proclaimed “Queen of all Media,” just celebrated his birthday on March 30th with some of his fave stars: Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Tara Reid, Salman Rushdie (what is he doing there?), Kim Kardashian, The Jonas Brothers, and of course, Paris Hilton. I know this because I visited his website. I’m not sure why I was there….but as I leisurely scrolled through the gallery of  star-studded birthday snaps, playing “Guess the Star ” with myself (I went 4/82), all hell broke loose. At the bottom of the gallery, glowing as it gloated at me, was the number of unique visitors  received in 9 days: 11,000,000 (EE-Lev-Un-Mil-Yun.) I rubbed my eyes. Squinted. It didn’t change. Chagrined, my first thought was: “The friggin losers visiting this site have NOTHING to do (which I proved…).”  The second thought burned my brain with a tinge of jealous awe: “Perez Hilton is a genius!”

In case you’re “not in the know,” Perezhilton.com is the online version of supermarket tabloids, but way-nastier. Perez berates the stars he seems to idolize, “outs” suspected homosexuals, refers to stars as “bitches” (and worse), and doodles degrading images on top of celebrity photos. Love him, hate him, or despise him, he does deserve some credit: The man has spent four years of his life blogging. For a living. Very successfully. This may be the greatest Social Media victory ever, not to mention that Perez is nearing “phenom stage.”

Just a guy that writes about other people-other  famous people- and is said to make some decent bank doing it… in the high six-figures for his “effort.” Perez won’t say how much he makes (How Rude!), but unconfirmed sources that sued him stated his take-home in 2007 was over $800,000. Not a surprising figure when his advertising revenue is reported to be $45,000 per day! Yep, just a guy and his blog, blogging away, blog, blog, blog. Bloggity-blog-blog, blaga blog blog, all day long, about rich people.  %*$& my life.

Maybe, like me, you think he’s a genius. But, he’s not. He’s a failed actor and former receptionist that was fired from his publicist job at the Star. He started blogging because ”it looked easy.” Okay, I will add lazy to his attributes. On a nicer note, his story does inspire “wannabe writers,” like me; while I am bustin’ ass to get a Google link on my blog, he has the likes of  MTV, Kentucky Fried Chicken, “Twilight,” famous musicians, chic LA boutiques, Walden University, weight loss products, and a host of others gracing his pages. Daily.
Some facts about Perezhilton.com:

  • The site’s demographic is mainly female,perez-hilton
  • Average age is 26 
  • comScore rates the site among the Top 10 Entertainment sites 
  • Monthly unique visitors, U.S.: 1.3 million
  • Global (he’s global?) unique visitors: 2.4 million

With a thriving blog that’s generating bucks, buzz, and press, what’s next for this astute entrepreneur?

Believe it or not, he’s “hard at work” extending the Perez Hilton brand. It’s rumored that he doesn’t write anymore–it took too much time. Others dish dirt for him now. It has, afterall, been four years of work. This new found freedom from writing gives him time to drop in on morning talk shows and comment on the latest starlet, run amok. Plus, there’s always Empire Perez to fret about. As we went to press this morning, the empire included a YouTube channel dedicated to Perez Hilton, and a line of clothing dedicated to Perez Hilton. Seriously, though, perpetuation is on his mind, because the one lesson he’s learned dissin’ the elite for four years, it’s that fame is fleeting. Today’s darling is tomorrow’s Jenny Craig spokesperson.

**No Stars Were Hurt During The Research and Writing Of  This Report.**

 Jeff Louis is a Strategic Media Planner & Buyer with over seven years of B2B & B2C experience. His interests are emerging media, schweet  ideas, and redefining the status quo (not necessarily in that order.)  He’s passionate about writing and digs great creative executions based on strategy.  Follow him on twitter @jlo0312, or LinkedIn, www.LinkedIn.com/in/jefflouis