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Obsessed with Golf? Now There's Help

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To fully leverage its sponsorship for the PGA tourney in Orlando, MasterCard launches Priceless, an interactive site that positions itself as a telecenter support group for the one-iron-obsessed. Magical voice response technology even syncs what consumers hear on the phone to what they see on their screens.

Based on a set of quiz questions, golf lovers can log into the site and find out how golf-obsessed they are. A major incentive to answering these questions is that afterward you get the option of registering for text messages from LPGA golfer Laura Diaz or cheats from Spaulding Smalls.

We're going to take a shot in the dark and suggest if you actually explore the site for more than a couple of minutes you are probably pretty obsessed as things stand. Like golf itself, unless you actively decide to get involved in it the site ain't terribly interesting.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online, Sponsorship



Budwieser Beach Bitch Berates Agent, Gets Wish

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This made us laugh. Not quite so annoying as the fast talking T-Mobile Cheerleader - who was actually more endearingly cute than bothersome - comes this beach bitch who, while berating her agent on the phone, trips over a bottle which releases a genie who grants her three wishes. While the genie isn't sure he can grant the woman's first two witches, the third one's easy.

The Budweiser spot, which broke March 1, was created by DDB Chicago and produced by anonymous content.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good



Poster Proudly Showcases Democratic Achievements of Ongoing Pet Project

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"Freedom of the press in the Middle East? Only in Israel." That's what a poster matter-of-factly stated to us on a recent train ride to the mills. Download a copy for your living room at Blue Star PR - we're sure it will make a great conversation piece.

Reporters sans Frontieres reports Israel does indeed enjoy a kind of press freedom previously unheard-of in their parts. And considering the US recently made RsF's frontpage for letting journalist and blogger Josh Wolf rot away in prison for over 200 days, maybe the laud over Israel's achievements are actually thinly-veiled laments for our own slow slide into the cool iron arms of Big Brother.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Outdoor



Adrants Poll Winner Anna Strips Again For Marketing Book

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Dare we say watching a woman stripping in a YouTube video is becoming a bore? It may be but since the readers of Adrants voted Anna, the woman who reads from the new book, Punk Marketing, while taking her clothes off to be hotter than Cleo, the other woman who did the same thing for the book, we thought it would be a disservice not to give you more of what you want. So, here she is for a second time; Anna stripping while reading Punk Marketing.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Promotions, Publishing, Racy, Video



Scion Promotes Do-It-Yourself Plastic Surgery

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In conjunction with design/animation/production team Shilo, ATTIK creates a series of weird virals to promote the Scion xB. We think the Scion xB is ugly as hell, but apparently so does the marketing team and they're using its quirky boxiness as leverage.

We haven't got all the virals, but one called Round to Square involves a standard stick figure hacking away at its face until it achieves a satisfying square appearance that brought back traumatic memories of Mooninites. The video then leads us to Want 2 B Square, an odd interactive wasteland with vestiges of death (like the guillotine at left) all over the place. The site also houses games, which we actually kind of enjoy.

We like the look and feel of the campaign but we're still as likely to start hacking away at our own faces as we are to purchase a Scion.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online



Lame Duck Altoids Work Delivers

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It's been a while and, unfortunately, it's a bit too late but here's some Leo Burnett-created spots for Chocolate Dipped Altoids we actually like. As the agency bids adieu to the client which is heading to the sunny San Francisco offices of Hal Riney, Leo Burnett can be pleased it created some decent work while in lame duck status. These four spots, produced by Biscuit, create four scenarios in which the intrigue displayed by the onlookers isn't due to what would normally cause intrigue. Each spot has a nice twist and holds attention long enough for the payoff. Don't worry, Leo Burnett. Be happy. Maybe Hall Riney will screw it up and the chocolate dipped weirdos will come running back to you. See all the ads here.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Agencies, Campaigns, Commercials, Good



Subway Wants to Be the Anti-McDonald's

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In an attempt to stay relevant post-Jared, Subway unveils Fresh Buzz, which houses a bunch of marginal stars that could use a sex tape career boost, and something called the fit evolution.

A diagram suggests that after discovering french fries and cheeseburgers man got progressively fatter and fatter until discovering Subway Fresh Fit.

We're doubting the veracity of that claim because a recent rerun of South Park not-so-quietly divulges that Jared didn't just get skinny with sandwiches, he got skinny with aides. Fitness aides, that is. Does the fit evolution come with aides? No? Then sorry, Subway. Until the day you can give us the aides we need to get fit like Jared alongside your sandwiches, you're just another chain telling sweet lies.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Online



Nokia N95 Wants to be iPhone. Might Actually be Better

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Not to be outdone by the iPhone, Nokia has launched Great Pockets, a site that creates an entire line of fashion with special pockets just to carry the burgeoning supply of digital devices we all use on a daily basis. Of course, the fashion are horrible and after a bit, you are whisked to another site that sings the glory of the Nokia N95, an iPhone wannabe that's a phone, mp3 player, gps, camera and video cam all rolled into one. It's entirely unsexy compared to the iPhone but Nokia's always made things that work quite well...and with more than one service provider. If you choose the N95, you won't be as cool as your iPhone toting hipsters but you might have a bit more cash in your pocket and a little more flexibility.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Good, Online, Video



Singapore Airlines Opens Review, Singapore Girl Takes Back Seat

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As a marketer, what do you do when your brand icon has been known the world over for 35 years? You open an agency review and change it of course. It's the natural way of things, of course. While we never thought of Singapore Airline's Singapore Girl as any sort of sexist symbol, some feel her time has come and she should step down as the last of many female flight attendants who have been featured by various airlines over the years. While airline officials say the Singapore Girl may remain part of the brand in some form, Singapore Airlines VP of Public Affairs says, "What has worked well in the past is not always an indication of what will work well in the future It would be a mistake to cling to the past as a measure of success for the future. We want to explore the creative market; see what others have to offer." While true, we're hoping the airline, which continually ranks high for service and experience, doesn't become just another American Airlines cattle car.

by Steve Hall    Mar-12-07    
Topic: Agencies, Brands



SXSW: Drunk at the Wheel, Driving Social Technology

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Offering no apologies for social disruption, the Emerging Social and Technology Trends panelists invite themselves into your conversation. The panel on Saturday hosted yet again a large group of speakers from diverse backgrounds. Although intimate panels tend to be more revealing, this one at least showed a little leg. Headed up by Laura Moorhead (Wired), the panelists included Andrew Blum (Wired), Robert Fabricant (Frog Design), Eliot Van Buskirk (Wired), Peter Rojas (Engadget), and Daniel Raffel (Yahoo!).

Perhaps drunk at the wheel sometimes, technology does drive social change. In turn, everyday people are now enabled to be the drivers as well. Similar to the blur of how you got home the night before, there is no longer a clear sobriety line to walk between social interaction and technology. Likewise, a constant negotiation between public and private, business and pleasure, leaves many at polar realms. Understanding the integration versus isolation debate is said to help us understand ourselves, or at least what Kool-aid we drank to get there.

more »

by Ariel Waldman    Mar-11-07    
Topic: Industry Events, Social



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