Times Square's Naked Cowboy Sues Blue M&M

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It's seems Times Square's Naked Cowboy - aka Robert Burck - who, at first, thought the video billboard showing a blue M&M dressed like a cowboy was funny now has had second thoughts and is suing Mars $6 million for trademark infringement. Burck thinks the video represents too closely what he does each day in his underwear and would like to see some cash out of the situation.

Does that mean with $6 million in his pocket (if he wins), Burck won't have to perform for money thereby depriving New Yorkers of an entertainment in institution? Oh the horror! To pass through Times Square and not see the dude in his underwear? That is just wrong. So wrong. We hope he loses. Oh wait, that's not nice. We hope he wins and heads to Calvin Klein to grab himself some stylish new drawers.

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-08    
Topic: Opinion, Policy, Strange



Wonder Bread Now Made With More Than Just Air

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The most fun we ever had with Wonder bread wasn't eating it. Nope. Not at all. Especially since every bite would stick to the top of the mouth and adhere itself there like glue until a bit of invasive finger surgery was performed. Rather, because it's made mostly out of air, we'd take sadistic joy in compressing an entire loaf into a shape the size of a tennis ball and hurling it across the table at our sister. It made for great breakfast time entertainment but it seems things have changed over the years.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-13-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Strange



Be Warned People! iPods Can Kill!

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Oh we've seen them. You have too. Those people so engrossed with their iPods, they look like they're conjuring their inner Michael Bolton. Those people so intently involved in their Bluetooth earpiece-enabled cell phone conversation they look like mumbling mental patients oblivious to the fact they look like idiots.

Apparently, according to a recent DraftFCB-created campaign for Ontario's Workplace Safety & Insurance Board, the above mentioned scenarios can lead to a bloody death. Death by iPod. Death by ignorance of signage. Death by ignorance of safety manuals. Hmm. Somehow, we're glad the most dangerous thing threatening our existence is the copy of George Parker's book, Madscam, perched on a shelf above our desk.

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Magazine



Sometimes Lingerie Isn't the Best Valentine's Day Gift

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What do you get when you marry an infomercial with a lingerie ad that's about as sexy as a detergent ad? A very cheesy commercial for the equally cheesy Pajamagram, a site which sells women's sleepwear that (oh the horror!) actually covers most of the body. Just think, guys. For Valentine's Day you can give your girl something she'll actually find useful and which will control that annoying "reaction" most women "suffer" when they get chilly.

So, guys, be a loving husband/bf/significant other and properly cover your girl with some cute, cozy, sleepwear. You can always haul out the sluttywear when the mood strikes.

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-08    
Topic: Commercials



James Bond Meets Spy Versus Spy For Kansas City ADDY's

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Barkley and production house Liquid 9 have welcomed back the ADDYs to Kansas city by killing off the OMNI Awards Spy versus Spy-style. Poor OMNI meets a bloody death at the hands of ADDY who uses the usual Spy versus Spy tactics to do so.

Hey, this is advertising. We'll beat our competition to a bloody pulp every chance we get!

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-08    
Topic: Good, Industry Events, Strange, Video



You Mean You Don't Go Shopping to Heal?

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Check out "Meet the Denialers" for Mackenzie Investments. Put together by Lowe Roche, Toronto, it tells the story of "a family of four that spends like fourteen."

Creative is spread across print and online without losing the tune: that of a strangely relatable fable. The campaign does a nice job of positioning an investment firm as a natural option for cash-burning families.

Meet Brett, Penny, Simon, Devon and Amanda. The website, BurnRate.ca, includes nifty little tools like a cashflow calculator and a burn rate spending test.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Magazine, Online



Toshiba Print Ad Gives Us Salesgenie Deja Vu

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We found this print ad for Toshiba's Smartcard technology in a recent business mag. It features a white executive and a bespectacled Indian IT guy holding the lead on a big dog.

The header copy reads, "Finance & IT: Working Together to Keep the Bad Guys Out."

Supporting text describes how execs will love Smartcard technology because it maintains data integrity and exceeds gov mandates for controlling access. And IT will love it because it "ensures user authentication with an ID card." (We know we get a thrill every time we're digi-frisked.)

Sooo. Is it racist, bad product positioning or right on the (executive!) money?

by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Magazine



Bob Garfield's Reign Questioned (And Not Just by Us)

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The Daily Ad Biz is going after Advertising Age's Bob Garfield. In a piece entitled "Fire Bob Garfield, First in a Series," the writer examines a recent article by Bob entitled "Just Imagine How Trump Would Have Looked in Wendy's Red Wig." In the The Daily Ad Biz article, Bob is taken to task, sentence by sentence, for his seemingly "out of touch crotchety old man" approach to criticizing advertising.

While some, though not us, trashed the Wendy's Red Wig campaign to one degree or another, when Bob says an ad is bad, he claims (barring a few "horrifying exceptions") he's always right and that the facts are there to back him up. So it was with great interest The Daily Ad Biz shared with us the recently released 2007 full year and Q4 financial figures for Wendy's which, counter to the belief same store sales have been flat, reports same store sales saw a 1.4 percent increase as compared to 2006's 0.6 percent increase.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-12-08    




McCain Gets will.i.am/MoveOn Treatment, Except without the Love

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MoveOn.org is circulating this satire of will.i.am's "Yes We Can" Obama video. This time, the candidate in the spotlight is the apparently war-mongering Maniac McCain.

Nice to know the young, liberal and convicted have learned the art of killing with irony. But okay, McCain was totally asking for it when he went all-out with the "Bomb bomb Iran" song. (WHAT WAS HE THINKING?)

by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Political, Spoofs, Video



Forget Sandwich Boards; Why Not Wear Video?

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"If you wear it, they will watch." That's the premise behind the concept of wearable video (patent pending).

The business plan is simple enough: just slide a video vest onto "brand ambassadors," a winning euphemism for "leggy girls in bikinis and/or short skirts walking around with audio/visual torsos." Big upgrade on ye olde standby.

Online testimonials included "Hey, cool" and "I was drawn to her."

...Yeah.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-12-08    
Topic: Guerilla, Human, Outdoor, Packaging, Promotions, Video