John Brock points us to a billboard for AutoTrader in Auckland that was pulled. It seems several had a problem with the copy which read, "We've Got Rides For Dirty Bitches." Without seeing the accompanying image of two dogs (commonly referred to as bitches in Auckland) looking out the window, one might understand how it might offend but no. The whole thing's been depicted as some kind of woman-bashing campaign and the Advertising Standards Authority has requested the billboard be taken down. AutoTrader has complied with the request.
Amy Corr of MediaPost has rounded up several recent campaigns for her weekly Out to Launch column. First, Tom Brady appears in a Visa commercial, created by BBDO, called Metaphors in which he educates consumers about credit card security. Desperate Housewive's Marcia Cross and Nicollette race through a grocery store in a commercial, created by Y&R SF, to see who can fill their carts with the most 7UP Plus. La Agencia de Ocri & Associates has created a Hispanic campaign for Verizon to promote broadband services. Draft New York has created another Verizon campaign promoting DSL. The Minnesota State Lottery is running a horror-themed Powerball campaign created by Coll + McVoy. MDB Communications has launched an outdoor campaign for DC Lottery's game, DC Daily 6. And GSD&M worked with the Advertising Council and the American Red Cross to quickly create a PSA for Katrina victims.
While trawling for his daily feed tube of crucial gossip, Bucky Turco spotted a banner for HBO which promotes comedian Ali G's show. The banner, which only expands if you have Internet Explorer (what's up with you designers" Have you heard half the world uses Firefox now?), allows you to begin a live chat. Unfortunately, there seems to be no responses from Ali G. Perhaps he's too busy making foreign politicians look dumb but you'd think there'd at least be some sort of automated response. Bucky points out Ali G's vocabulary is like no others and the designers, at least, could programmed in some automated verbal gems for our amusement. Let's hope the banner's just broken, will be fixed soon and the agency doesn't get fired.
UPDATE: Apparently, it's been fixed.
