Nissan SUV Becomes Skateboard, Gets Ridden by Giant

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Bucky Turco sends us this very, very cool U.K. commercial for the Nissan Qashqai SUV in which the vehicle is used as a skateboard to demonstrate its agility. A giant-footed person hops on the car and takes it for a spin as if it were an actual skateboard. The results are impressive. We like

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Best, Commercials



Laser Makes Every Building A Billboard

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Uh, oh. Marketers. Advertisers. Do not use this. Repeat. Do not use this. This being a technology that allows you to use lasers to put temporary graffiti on buildings from hundreds of feet away using a laser wand. If you do use it, you know what's going to happen. The entire world is going to look like Times Square because every building will be turned into a "temporary" billboard. Come on. Admit it. You know you can't resists this. Check out a video of it here.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Guerilla, Outdoor, Tools



Too Functional for Your Own Good? You Need Havidol

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Australian arist Justine Cooper throws herself behind a drug-and-disorder parody show called Havidol: When More is Not Enough.

Havidol is for sufferers of Dysphoric Social Attention Consumption Deficit Anxiety Disorder (DSACDAD), or people who suffer from worry about life, tension, fatigue, aging, or stress. And we're not too sure how Havidol can help, but it does promise to increase your inclination to do spontaneous and exciting things - like jump off cliffs without restraints.

One testimonial reports, "I felt confident in myself and my relationships. I exercised regularly. I slept quietly through every night and awoke each morning feeling refreshed and ready to start a new day. I now know I had a treatable disorder." Thankfully for those in the dark, marketing for Havidol ain't shy - TV, print, outdoor and interactive work are accounted for, and we dig the Havidol merch. If only Zoloft made hoodies this hot.

Check out the exhibition info for Justine's show.

Imaginary disorders are stacking up as a wrist-slap to big pharma, but we wonder which will actually cross over into "Oh fuck, I really need help" land. Major drug companies, marketing mavens in their own right despite all the jokes we make about them, are notoriously clever like that. You know how it is: things start out as a joke, then spiral into serious real fast, and all of a sudden everybody's on Xanax.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Events, Good, Spoofs, Strange



Upended 18-Wheeles Gets Bald Britney-Like Attention

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CoolzOr features a very interesting guerrilla outdoor effort by Oklahoma Truck Supply which placed a mock up of an 18-wheeler vertically in the middle of a field which, or course, makes it stand out like a bald Britney. Yes, it's stunt marketing but, to us, it works. If you have a field and a spare 18-wheeler (or a mock up of such), why not turn it into a promotion. And yea, yea, yea, before you jump all over us telling us this sort of thing's been done before, we offer this thought. If we only wrote about new stuff, guess what? There wouldn't be anything to write about because, as you well know, it's all been done before. Thankfully, some re-hashed ideas are better than others which, again, thankfully, gives us something to write about.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Outdoor



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Nathan Reifke Adds Whimsy to Action Sports

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Stardust Studios enlists the magic stylistics of Nathan Reifke to add colour to their Signature Series IDs, inspired by limited edition signature skateboard decks starting in 2004. The first 15 have generated accolades from both artists and enthusiasts of unsanctioned - er, action sports.

The Fuel TV release of Number 16, which aired in December, is a collabo with design director Neil Tsai and animators Kevin Ferrara and Daisuke Yamazaki. The spot starts with a natural birth - the sprouting of a plant - and evolves into man-made machinery.

"This piece tries to portray the universe as a literal giant machine and the subsequent relationships of its parts," Reifke says. "My hope was to call to mind that we tend to be very anthropocentric without much regard for the other inhabitants of this planet. [...] My goal is that people get lost in [this piece] like a daydream, and that for just a second they will feel a sense of wonder. That sense of wonder is what makes us ask questions and, ultimately, what leads us to explore this amazing place."

How dreamy. We don't know much about art, but we do know pretty, and this is certainly that. Will it appeal to civilian skaters? We're not sure. It probably depends on if they're stoned or not.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Good, Online, Promotions, Television



Car Crash Caught in Reverse For Danish Road Safety Council

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AdPunch points us to a commercial for the Danish Road Safety Council from last year which replays backwards what seems to be a real accident. Everything from the flying glass, exploding airbag and facial expressions are caught as the women in the accident narrates the commercial wishing she'd driven a bit slower, could turn back time and apologizes to the apparent death of a young couple she caused. Powerful stuff.

There's an even more shocking version of the campaign here (on DailyMotion which is like the world's slowest video site, unfortunately) in which a man hits a boy on a bike and he ends up going through the windshield. The campaign was created by Locomotion in Denmark. We'd love to know how this campaign was shot and if, in fact, these are actual accidents shot backwards.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Television



Perfect Orgasm Not Allowed in Seattle

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Pity the poor female who, according to the Seattle Times, isn't allowed to pursue the perfect orgasm recently offered by British Columbia's Victoria in its tourism campaign. The city recently submitted an ad with the headline, "Your Search for the Perfect Orgasm is Over," to the Seattle Times' Northwest Life Sunday magazine but the ad was deemed too racy. Ultimately the ad did run but with the much blander headline, "Your lust for fine fare can now be satisfied." The ad is part of a Trapeze Communications-created campaign which created the campaign's theme, "Victoria, B.C, Full of Life."

Come on America! You know need all the relaxation we can get. Let Canada offer up it's fun for all of us to experience.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Magazine, Newspaper, Policy, Racy



Britney Unimpressively Dents Car with Umbrella

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We'd elaborate but really, it's exactly what it sounds like. And normally we'd launch into some kind of diatribe about how tailoring Brand You is a life work (does Mr. Peanut go nutty? Does the Green Giant yell 'enough is enough'?) but something about Britney's bald enraged head discourages us.

"I think she's going to commit suicide soon," whispers a scandalized intern nearby. "Oh my God - I'm so sad." He bites his fist to repress his laughter. We stared at him awhile longer and realized this is probably the way most of her former fans are reacting. She's dropped long and hard from the Toxic days.

We wouldn't be surprised if some maverick company decided to rescue the Spears (a la Virgin's Kate Moss swoop post-scandal) and make her a freak poster child. It would certainly draw attention. Look at all the attention going to waste that she's generating now.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Celebrity



Gladys Calls Ellen, MySpace Data Profiled, Grey's Spins Off

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- Adland wonders if Gladys Hardy, an 88 year old woman with a MySpace site and who's called into Ellen several times in just some sort of marketing promotion. It sure smells of it.

- Fox Interactive Media Buys Ad Targeting Firm to Leverage MySpace Profile Data. Let's mine that data, guys.

- ABC is creating a spin off of Grey's Anatomy with the Addison Shepard character and Taye Diggs. This just does not sound right.

- MediaBuyerPlanner reports, "Shares of the two largest, publicly traded billboard owners, Lamar Advertising and Clear Channel Outdoor, have skyrocketed in the past 12 months, growing 36 percent and 43 percent respectively."

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Guerilla, Online, Social



Budding Fashion Interns (or Bitchy Bloggers) Come Ready-Made at Stardoll

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Online community Stardoll unrolls a virtual red carpet for the Academy Awards. For the teeny bopper demo (or girls at heart like Mariah), Stardoll is a candy-sweet space for creating Oscars-themed scenes with - wait for it - virtual paparazzi and Joan Rivers avatars. It ain't the Oscars without invasive camera angles and loud blondes straddling perpetual midlife crises so we smile upon the stab at authenticity.

"We hope to usher in a new generation of kids who want to try their hand at fashion in a way that is fun, creative and a bit friendlier than an internship at Vogue," says CEO Mattias Miksche. After seeing The Devil Wears Prada, we find this noble indeed.

In addition to playing with Oscar nominee avatars and making adamant suggestions about who should win (most favor Kate over Penelope!), girls make their own avatars and craft campaigns to become the next Stardoll cover girl, an honour doled out by the community.

Stardoll stikes us as an awesome resource. While we'd like to suggest it as such, the imagined execution (admen trolling the Pretty in Pink section) is not cute. Resist the urge to channel dormant XX chromosomes. We're sure you know a little girl you can foist this job upon.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Games, Good, Online, Trends and Culture



Head Care Company Provides Top Ten Reasons Britney Shaved Head

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Apparently, there are companies solely devoted to the care of bald heads. Who knew? Headblade is one such company and couldn't pass up the opportunity to leverage Britney's recent head shaving event into some of their own publicity. The company put together a video called Top Ten Reasons Britney Shaved Her Head in which random fitness pros, sports figures and some Swedish Chick offer up reasons why Britney may have offed her locks. The number one reason? Let's just say it has to do with matching styles.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Strange, Video



Orange Offers Rare Glimpse Behind Ad Scenes

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While there are probably quite a few ads that make us go, "How do they do that?" the question isn't answered often enough to be worth pursuing very far.

Adland, however, posed the question about an ad for Orange entitled Belonging. Oddly enough, it was answered. Sam Akesson of Fallon London confesses, "[Belonging] took A LOT of takes, and we spent about 2 months of rehearsing to get all the choreography and movement right. Basically it involves a lot of people running and jumping into holes..."

We were like WTF until Fallon elaborated with its own version of Making the Video. Way more interesting than anything P. Diddy does behind the scenes of his hitmakers, it probably could still have used a catfight or two. But how often do you get to see people jumping into holes? Not nearly enough.

Ask at Ad-Rag confides, "Belonging doesn't use any CGI. Instead they rely on running away, jumping into holes and the camera's blind spot. I think it's neat." We do too.

In fact, we think behind-the-scenes efforts like this are a great way of building intimacy between brands, audiences and even - yes - agencies. If it worked for Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson, it can work for us too. Creative endeavours make fertile ground for screaming, crying and potential taboo trysts, yeah?

by Angela Natividad    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Commercials, Online, Television



Three Guys Launch Campaign to Become Playboy Mansion Pool Boys

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Seemingly unassociated with any official Playboy promotion, Pool Boys at the Mansion is a site created by three guys Sam Rush and two other guys referred to as Denman and The Swede. The sole purpose of the site is to get the attention of Playboy and get hired as pool boys at the Mansion. Prior to setting up the site, they contacted Playboy through normal channels and were told, "pool boy positions at the Mansion, however, are likely to go only to trusted referrals."

Undeterred, the three launched Pool Boys at the Mansion. A quick Whois search confirms (well, as much as Whois can which isn't saying much) no official association with Playboy. Let's hope this is, in fact, the case, and not another sad attempt by a corporate entity to get jiggy with the bloggy thing. Good luck, guys.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-07    
Topic: Good, Social, Weblogs