(TrendHunter.com) Zeichen Press is a design studio that makes cards for different kinds of occasions using the old, antiquated method of the printing press. Zeichen Press, which uses 100% recyclable paper, does not make cards with the usual saccharine-heavy messages however. Their retro-looking cards offer tart, hila…
Alec tipped us to this rather vague MSNBC story that seems to announce the thirty minute commercial – programs created around sponsors products.
Digital Studio’s first productions, which will premiere this summer, are a science-fiction series starring Rosario Dawson called “Gemini Division” and a quirky comedy about a college-aged zombie called “Woke Up Dead,” said NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.
If we take a minute to think about this, we know that the commercial-as-program on broadcast TV rather than the web is already here. Take Americas Next Top Model which exports around the world for example, all those fancy prizes the models get are edited out when you watch the show here in Sweden simply because covergirl can’t be bought around here (nevermind that in-program advertising is a legal nightmare around here).
Then there’s the “hit MySpace personality” Dan Fielding a.k.a ‘Domestic God’, the character who built up an online following with thousands of fans tuning into his video clips on domestic life. The project, which began in February 2007, has been revealed as an experiment to assess the potential for a new TV show. Electrolux, who are behind Dan’s persona he’s actually played by actor James Rawlings, are now in talks with several broadcasters to develop a series. Electrolux weren’t hiding behind Dan though, they sprinkled many clues around – for example:
LONDON – MySpace has launched an ad platform called Community Builder that gives advertisers more control over their presence on the social networking site, allowing them to build, maintain and customise brand profiles.
LONDON – Chris Albert, co-founder of WWAV and the former group Executive Creative Director at the agency, died earlier this month from cancer.
LONDON – The Daily Mail has been labelled hypocritical by the Daily Express after it raised its cover price by 5p to 50p.
LONDON – Stella Artois has scooped eight Gold World Medals for its new site, including Best Consumer Targeted Website, at the New York Festivals Innovative Advertising Awards.
LONDON – Sport Media Group, the owner of the Daily and Sunday Sport, increased its profits by 48% during the six months to end-January, although it is adopting a “cautious approach” to its expectations for the rest of its financial year.
Since when did drinking water become boring? When the creators of Gatorade dipped their hands into it, that’s when. Now, there’s no such thing as “water” anymore. Rather, there’s regular water; there’s sparkling water; there’s tonic water; and there’s Propel Fitness Water. Marketed by the makers of Gatorade with some pretty schnazzy commercials that have athletes falling out of drops of water and into action, it kinda’ makes you want to see what this “water” is all about. And with all the different types of water out there now, it’s no wonder it takes me forever to shop at the supermarket!
HONG KONG – WPP Group has acquired a minority stake in Chinese digital media advertising business HDT Holdings Technologies, which is behind rich-media ad-serving system iCast.
It seems like Box Vox’s Randy Ludacer is losing some sleep over the relative scarcity of consumer products that employ the Droste Effect on their packaging—i.e., packaging that features within its artwork a picture of the packaging itself. (This gets mathematicians excited because of its “implied infinity†of images—the smaller product image should itself have an even smaller product image on it, and so on.) Randy already has Land ’O Lakes butter and Royal baking powder on his list. But his grocery store must not carry Laughing Cow cheese, whose jolly spokescow sports the product as earrings. And if Randy has cable, he might want to check out The Colbert Report, as Stephen’s self-portrait adds a new recursive level each season. Hope that helps. Via Boing Boing.
—Posted by David Kiefaber
If you’re selling radiation fallout shelters these days, you have to target isolationist kooks. But there was a time when they were a mainstream product. Dinosaur Gardens helps us relive those halcyon days by posting some radio ads for Survive-All fallout shelters. Made by the Mort Kridel ad agency, the ads maintain the wholesome, fatherly 1950s policy of portraying the Russians as dangerous lunatics who could vaporize the entire United States with the push of a button. Frankly, I think their emphasis was misplaced. As recent computer simulations have shown, surviving a nuclear apocalypse is way easier than rebuilding society afterwards.
—Posted by David Kiefaber
Looking for chefs wherever they are.
Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Caracas, Venezuela
Executive Creative Director: Fabian Bonelli
Creative Directors: Virgilio Flores, Norberto Da Silva
Art Directors: Juan Manuel Niño, Norberto Da Silva
Copywriter: Virgilio Flores
Photographer: Rodolfo Benitez
Published: April 2008
Looking for chefs wherever they are.
Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett, Caracas, Venezuela
Executive Creative Director: Fabian Bonelli
Creative Directors: Virgilio Flores, Norberto Da Silva
Art Directors: Juan Manuel Niño, Norberto Da Silva
Copywriter: Virgilio Flores
Photographer: Rodolfo Benitez
Published: April 2008
Former HBO exec Chris Albrecht, who left the cable net in disgrace, is staking his comeback on SlamBall, a violent, “futuristic†basketball/ rugby/gymnastics hybrid sport that apparently failed to capture the public’s fancy in a past incarnation. (Spike TV aired some games in 2002, but I don’t remember them. Do you?) Albrecht was arrested last year in Las Vegas for attacking his girlfriend (now his fiancé), so aligning himself with a “slamâ€-based sport takes some “balls,†though it may bespeak a lack of brains. Also, SlamBall sounds uncomfortably like “SlimeBall.†That would probably be a lot more popular as a game. Same rules, except the contests take place in a pit of slime. Sponsor tie-ins abound, from WD-40 and K-Y to Wesson, Plumbers Goop and Jell-O. The teams would, of course, feature SlimeBalls of the day (e.g., Spitzer), along with D-list celebs like Meat Loaf and Tiffany, at least one of whom gets offed in every match. I seem to be getting carried away. Blame it on the time of year. … Happy upfront!
—Posted by David Gianatasio
As content and commerce continue to merge, it’s no surprise that conversations about ethics—which once drove op-ed pieces and columns in the print-media world, which is now rapidly shrinking—these days take place in paid advertising. Hill, Holliday fashioned this push for Liberty Mutual, headlined, “You just witnessed a purse snatching…†Issues of personal safety, right and wrong, are diagramed for our consideration. (Click the image to enlarge.) It’s part of Liberty’s “Responsibility. What’s your policy?†campaign. The insurance company recently sparked some heated debate for buying Google ad keywords related to the suicide of ad exec Paul Tilley. Ethical conduct has always been a matter of opinion; ultimately, the marketplace decides. That’s the marketplace of ideas—which, despite our best intentions, has never been entirely free. Though our ability to choose a course of action still is. For now. So, you just witnessed a purse snatching. What would you do?
—Posted by David Gianatasio
NEW YORK – Viacom is to launch a premium television channel and video-on-demand service in partnership with Hollywood studios, which will have access to up-coming blockbusters including ‘Iron Man’ and JJ Abrams’ revamp of ‘Star Trek’.
Some of the world’s biggest football stars meet the world’s smallest teams in a new Adidas campaign by 180 Amsterdam.
SHANGHAI – WPP Digital, the digital investment arm of WPP, has acquired a minority stake in HDT Holdings Technologies, a rich media advertising and technology company.
LONDON – BSkyB has received expressions of interest in its controversial ITV stake from European broadcaster RTL and US billionaire Haim Saban.
Healthcare shop Axon Communications has poached Cancer Research UK’s head of media relations to join its team as associate director.
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