Mini-Skirt, Bikini, Rubber Duck, Giant Pencil Sell...Something

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Thank God for Flickr because without it, we wouldn't have these WTF-inducing advertising images catching our eye as we scroll hundreds of ad images every day. This one, apparently for some king of orange juice (?), features a kid with a giant pencil, a bikinied woman straddling a rubber duck (read what you will into that) and an impossibly leggy woman with an impossibly short (OK, we've seen shorter) mini-skirt and an impossibly long knife...nest to an orange. Whatever.

And yes, we're sure it all would make perfect sense if we could read the language the ads were written. But, then, what fun would that be?

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Strange



Hairy Fat Guy Wants His Body Back

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WeightWatchers, playing off the post-holiday weight gain agony so many apparently suffer from, has launched this Duval Guillaume-created video entitled My Body is Out of Proportion. It features a fat guy who sings, cowboy-style, about the woes of weight gain such as not being able to see his toes and how it would be so much nicer if he could. We like.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Good, Video



Green Freaks Climb Stairs Everest-Style

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Apparently because even elevators are no on green freak's naughty list, we are now blessed with a lengthy dramatization of ascending three flights of stairs Everest-style. Please.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Cause, Video



Adrants Announces 2008 Diversity in Advertising Conference Series

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Adrants is happy to announce its continued partnership with Business Development Institute and its ongoing series of Diversity in Advertising conferences. Aimed at addressing an issue that usually receives nothing more than lip service, the conference series hopes to keep the discussion of diversity in advertising alive and to broaden the appeal of a career in advertising to all.

This year, there will be four events. On February 12, the Second Annual Advertising and Marketing Industry Diversity Job Fair will be held at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. On February 27, the conference will travel to New York's NYU. In March, we will hold our first job Fair conference in Chicago. And during Advertising Week September 22-26, we will hold our second Experienced Hire Diversity Recruiting program.

We'll share more details with you as they become available. The BDI website will also carry updated conference information and details on how to attend and/or sponsor.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Announcements, Industry Events, Trends and Culture



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Creators of Wonderbra Spec Ad Beg For Coverage. We Relent

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OK, OK OK! We don't usually highlight spec ads but because no less than nine people have sent us this video, we guess there must be some kind of demand for it so here it it. Believe it or not, we've grown tired of Wonderbra's wacky efforts at advertising its supportive devices but it seems many have not including the creators of this wannabe ad.

The "ad" uses the age-old visual trick of the revolving spiral that, when stared into for a while, can make the following image appear to move as well. In this case, it's a pair of bra-clad breasts which seem to continuously get bigger. Yet another witty representation of the apparently magical breast enlarging qualities on Wonderbra.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Racy



Teen Magazine Cover Gets Clearasil Zit Sticker

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Either ingenious or just gross, Clearasil has placed a sticker that looks like a zit on German teen magazine stadtlichter. Created by Euro RSCG Duesseldorf, the sticker says "Get rid of it" and when removed from the magazine cover, the Clearasil brand is revealed along with the brand's website address.

Assuming teenagers still pick zits off their face, it's likely they'd be predisposed to pick one off a magazine cover as well. It seems they did according to Clearasil which reported a spike in website traffic during the run of the campaign.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Good, Magazine, Poster, Specialty



HoneyShed Gets Weird Again in New Video Series

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HoneyShed, that Droga5-created, brand-as-content site has some new videos out that are floating around YouTube. As whacky as the originals, these videos feature iPod silhouette-like female figures gyrating while HoneyShed voice mails are played, a woman in her underwear frolicking on a carpet with puppies, that weird Filipino martial arts dude Weng Weng and two women doing...well, we have no idea...in front of a skyline. Some truly drug-induced creativity we must say.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Good, Strange, Video



Wendy's May Dump Saatchi

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Wendy's, apparently not pleased with its red wig campaign, may be leaving Saatchi & Saatchi, AdScam's George Parker reports. A Saatchi source tells Parker production has ceased on all work. George didn't like the red wig campaign citing its lack of relevance to the brand and its lack of message content.

We're not sure we agree. Following the death of iconic Dave Thomas, Wendy's work hit a low point. We think the red wig campaign succeeded in eliciting a "whoa, that's pretty good in a weird sort of whacked way" reaction. Whether it sold any hamburgers we know not.

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by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns



Airplane Meets Twin Towers in Old Pakistani Airlines Ad

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Adland has unearthed an old 1979 ad for Pakistani Airlines promoting its flights to New York City using an ominous plane shadow cast upon the Twin Towers. Certainly in the seventies, everyone was enamored with the stature and size of the the then amazing looking towers but unless you were Irwin Allen, even in your most imaginative moments you weren't envisioning this ad's imagery would foretell the horror that occurred September 11, 2001.

Barring that horrific day in 2001 and placing oneself in 1979, it's actually a good ad. The Towers were the premiere iconic image of New York city and they retained their iconic status through three decades until they fell that fateful day. No one in 1979 could seriously have believed an image like this would become reality. Sadly, it did. Similar images from the past will continue to pop up from time to time in old magazines, in old ads, in old movies and we'll wince a bit each time we see them remembering our connection to that day. Sally Martin.

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Creative Commentary, Newspaper, Opinion, Trends and Culture



Nudity Doesn't Always Equal Sexy in Advertising

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Wow. Could this potentially sexy ad be any less sexy and more pedestrian that it is? To promote its full body blow dryer, Triton created a video featuring a nude model in her bathroom taking a shower and then drying off. While all this imagery is happening (nude and possibly NSFW), an announcer drones on about how the product saves on towel usage, doesn't spread germs, makes for less laundry, reduces harmful humidity, warms you on a cold winter morning and makes drying the kids and pets fun.

Hmm, apparently every ad doesn't have to be innuendo-laden and over the top objectifying of women to actually convey a commercial message. Who knew?

by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Good, Racy, Video



Hair Club and Playboy Frolic Together With Before/After Game

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When the vanity that is Hair Club for Men Hooks up with the vanity that is Playboy, it's clear we've entered a new chapter in the book of cultural vanity. When otherwise perfectly good looking but folically challenged men are paired with perfectly airbrushed (oh wait. that's so 70's. Photoshopped) Playboy Playmates, well, you have an online game, of course. Yes, really. After all, it's likely the only time you'll see a balding guy with a hot chic.

The game, Photo Hunt was created by Cowboy, an agency George Parker recently riffed asking, "Cowboy!!! Fucking Cowboy!!! They have to be kidding, right?"

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by Steve Hall    Jan-10-08    
Topic: Creative Commentary, Games, Good, Online, Racy