Adrants Named Best Advertising Blog by MarketingSherpa

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Once again, we bow graciously at the feet of all who voted for and deemed Adrants worthy of being named the Best Blog on Advertising in MarketingSherpa' annual survey of Top Blogs and Podcasts. As MarketingSherpa writes, despite research that proves otherwise, "Does sex sell? We've seen data that it can depress ad campaign results. However, obviously it doesn't hurt you as a blogger in the world of advertising. Steve Hall, known for witty commentary combined with ad photos of scantily clad young women, has obviously captured the hearts of advertising execs."

And, pray tell, some of you dare to complain we post too many racy pictures. Either you haven't worked in the ad industry long enough or you're a really nice person who thinks we're mentally ill and should retire to a monastery to wash away the sins years of toiling in the ad business have left upon us. But, as we've said before, namely in yet another bikinied cleavage ad, "We don't shoot the commercials, we just share them with you."

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by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    




Train Campaign Mixes Up Flat Girls With Flat Guys

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We're thinking the CSX headline for a college student focused railroad track safety campaign "Girls Don't Like Flat Guys" would have worked much better as "Guys Don't Like Flat Girls." But, then again, we wouldn't want to be sexist or break any political correctness rules now would we? Nope. Let's just twist that headline around from what we know was originally conceived to be the "Flat Girls" version and we'll be all good with the client and bitchy cause groups that can't take a joke.

Along with that unfortunately manipulated headline are drink coasters which read "If you're thinking about walking on the tracks, don't" accompanied by the image of - oh, the horror! - a squashed fly. There's also a card with the image of a CSX freight train on the front and the statement "Trains don't make a asound when they come up behind you" on the back. That is if you're deaf. One of those Exit agencies did the work.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Point of Purchase, Poster, Specialty, Trends and Culture



Hey, I Was Expecting A Hooker, Not A Papa Johns Pizza Guy

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When you travel a lot and sometimes find yourself peering out that tiny little fish eye hole in your hotel room door, you don't usually expect to see the Papa Johns pizza delivery man staring you back in the face. It's a little off putting especially if you don't expect it but that's exactly what Saatchi & Saatchi dod for Papa Johns and they got an awards for in at Cannes. Nice work.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Good, Guerilla



Inc.com Poster Campaign Just Tells It

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Inc.com has launched a new outdoor campaign in New York City which will run through August 20th. The company tells us the campaign is intended to target business owners and C-level executives at privately held companies. The ads will appear on 20 public telephone kiosks located throughout the midtown Manhattan business district and will feature copy and artwork explaining what's available on Inc.com. Let's

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Online, Outdoor



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Professional Bull Riders Is Not PBR

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If we were writing a press release for our client Amp'd Mobile and we were talking about how the company was the official sponsor of the Professional Bull Riders and the client would be simalcasting events to Amp'd Mobile customers, we probobly wouldn't refer to the Professional Bull Riders Association as PBR unless the sponsorship also involved the actual PBR - Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. Even if the client insisted. Just a thought.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Bad, Events, Games, Mobile/Wireless, Online



White Meets Black In Bad Pizza Hut Spots

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You know a company is adhering to those unwritten, politically correct rules which state "one must represent all ethnic groups in commercials" when the spots feature white people with a voice over read by a black. OK, that was crass but let's be blunt. It all sounds very forced sometimes. Maybe it's just that these spots from Pizza Hut aren't very good and that's making us get all uppity about all this PC stuff. Pardon our digression. We'll be back with regularly schedule advertising oddities in a moment.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Opinion, Television



Captain Candidate Action Figure Helps Recruiters Recruit

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Following last year's launch of the Super Recruiter action figure, HotJobs has introduced Captain Candidate, a fully-flexible, multitasking machine at the 2006 Society of Human Resource Management conference. Somehow this is all supposed top help employers and recruiters find candidates for jobs. It's all cartoony and action figurish which, according to recent research which finds 95 percent of people think it's OK to have toys in the office, is a good thing.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Online, Specialty



SunSilk Wingman Dispenses Advice

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To relaunch SunSilk to women aged 18-35, Australian agency Amnesia has created a mini-portal style website with personalized information on career, movies, music, travel and dating. The site site introduces The Wingman, an avatar that stands in as a personal adviser and collector of all things relevant. We suppose they're cute and all but we're not into all that girly stuff anyway so someone else will have to tell you if it's good or not.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Online



Elephant And Martial Artist Glamorize Bombay Saphire Gin

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Here's some visual beauty for all you creative types. For the first time in the U.S., Bombay Saphire gin is advertising itself as a gin and tonic ingredient on television. The campaign includes two spots. One features a martial artist carving a glass out of a block of ice to hold the gin and a second spot has an elephant gingerly stepping over and around martini glasses until she sniffs out the glass holding the Bombay. Oh sure, both are an art director's visual orgasm but they fit the brand perfectly in our humble, gin-drinking opinion. We'd buy the stuff even though recent entrants to the gin club, Hendricks and Q, are a bit more exciting to the pallet.

Oh, and just so we all understand it's not just spoiled celebs that cause "issues" on the set, Maya, the elephant in the spot, needed to have her sidekick, Methusalem, an aging camel with her at all times, .

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Good, Television



America Does Run On Dunkin

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Each morning after my three mile excuse for a workout, I head over to the local Dunkin Donuts to pick up an iced latte. Hey, I know it doesn't sound very manly but it just seems to taste a lot better than regular coffee. Anyway, each day I look at my Dunkin Donuts cup, branded with the new tagline "America Runs on Dunkin," and think, finally, an agency and a company that hit on a message which actually means something. Recently, there's been loser taglines like "Bold Moves" and "Leap Ahead" so it's refreshing to see Hill Holiday, Dunkin Donuts' agency, come up with a winner in "America Runs on Dunkin."

I love the tagline because it speaks directly to the "fuel" that many Americans depend on to get going in the morning. Just like re-fueling a car, that morning stop at the local Dunkin Donuts fills the tank with energy to keep one running all day long. While a 2003 research study found taglines not very effective, "America Runs on Dunkin" just feels right as well as actually says something, an admirable accomplishment in comparison to most meaningless taglines littering the current advertising landscape.

by Steve Hall    Jun-27-06    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Good, Opinion