DDB, Paris Adds Racy, Political Undertones to Iconic VW Campaign

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Here's a contemporary homage to the classic Volkswagen ads created by Doyle Dane Bernbach, NY. This version was put together by DDB, Paris. Adland has more. Some, like this one, position the 60-year-old van as politically transcendent as well as timeless.

Hey. Didn't the Dharma Initiative in Lost use VW vans?

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Magazine, Political, Poster, Trends and Culture



Collective Intellect Tracks Super Bowl Blog Buzz

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Here's some Super Bowl buzz research from Collective Intellect:

- Pepsi generated the most "share of voice" (22 percent) in blog posts during and after the Super Bowl. This includes the Sobe spot that gave us WTF Syndrome.
- eTrade's ads produced the "most positive sentiment" across .com advertisers. (If by "positive sentiment" they are referring to the talking fetuses that haunted us in our sleep.)
- The Ice Breakers spot generated most negative sentiment. Well ... no shit.

Download the report, complete with handy-dandy graphs, and bars that go both up and down.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Super Bowl 2008



Obama Girl Introduces MediaCurves Super Bowl Ad Survey

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Looky, Looky! It's Obama Girl, aka Amber Lee Tettinger...and her curves... introducing the results of this year's MediaCurves Super Bowl commercial study. And we thought all she did was Barely Political Work., Hmm.

This particular study, which surveyed 2,400 Super Bowl viewers (eat that, USA Today!), declared the FedEx Pigeon ad the best commercial of the year. Following FedEx were Budweiser's Clydesdales commercial, Coke's balloon commercial, Diet Pepsi's Head Bob, Bridgestone's Squirrel, E-Trade's baby, Bud Light's Caveman and others.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Research, Super Bowl 2008



The Super Bowl Is Over, Christina Ricci Our New Obsession

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OMFG! Finally, something not Super Bowl-related. When we head over to our fellow industry ad rag, Advertising Age (OK, it's far from a rag), we are usually in search of some specific article or reference that's been made. For some reason, early this morning, we headed directly to AgAge.com and were presented with one of their full page interstitial ads. We usually quickly click "Skip" (which, of course has some kind of built in delay forcing you to few the ad for about five seconds anyway) but at the sight of the deliciously captivating Christini Ricca lounging in the back of a limo reading Conde Nast's W, we became transfixed and couldn't turn away.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Online



Last Night's Super Bowl 'Debacle' A Bit Rosier in the Morning

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Oh how the morning after brings clarity to the prior evening's dalliances. After having obsessively consumed over 40 ads, analyzing them and then writing about them all within a three to four hour period, we sat down this morning with a cup of coffee and did what ad people to the morning after: we watched the game again. Or, to clarify, we fast forwarded through the game and watched the commercials

We laughed. We smiled. We grinned. We even enjoyed that Will Ferrell commercial. And, we bathed in the beauty of Coke's beautiful balloon ballet. In the heat of the battle, people can be harsh and in some cases, we were. But from the perspective of the average viewer not hunched over a computer or in front of a conference room screen, most of the ads weren't so bad.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Opinion, Super Bowl 2008



Budweiser Clydesdale Dalmatian Spot Wins USA Today Ad Meter Poll

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That bastion of scientific accuracy otherwise known as the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter has crowned Budweiser's Clydesdale Dalmatian commercial the highest scoring ad.

We don't disagree but are saddened Coke's It's Mine beautiful balloon ballet didn't take top spot. It did, however, place 7th which is pretty good.

Rounding out the top 10 were FedEx's Pigeons, Bridgestone's Critters, Doritos Rat (an ad from last year, no less), Bud Light's Fire Breather, Bud Light's Wine and Cheese, Diet Pepsi Max's head-bobbing Nod, Planter's uni-brow woman (WTF?), Tide to Go and Sobe Life Water's Naomi Campbell/Dancing Lizards.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Research, Super Bowl 2008



Increasingly Disconnected Bob Garfield Weighs In On Super Bowl

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If you want a seriously retarded re-cap of this year's Super Bowl commercials, be sure to check out Bob Garfield's video in which he thinks one of the Bridgestone commercials was homophobic, an extremely tame Victoria's Secret commercial somehow compels guys to go home and masturbate, the cartoonish heart in that Careerbuilder commercial as well as the "blood curdling scream" in Audi's Godfather spot will "scare the wits" out of children, Diet Pepsi Max is somehow marketed as a drug, McDonald's somehow shouldn't make people aware it's behind the Ronald McDonald House and that it's impossible for two people of opposing political parties to put aside their arguing for a day and relate to each other like human beings.

Seriously, Bob. Life really isn't as bad as you paint it. Didn't you see Coke's beautiful balloon ballet? OK, so this year's Super Bowl wasn't a stellar one ad-wise but it was not the debacle you paint it.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-08    
Topic: Bad, Strange, Super Bowl 2008



Adrants On-the-Fly Post-Super Bowl Reflections

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Big conclusions:

- The Pats have spoiled what may have been a historic football streak. Can you say performance anxiety? Somebody could have made a killing selling warm crying towels in the locker room after game time.
- No matter how exciting a game is, shouting "GO BARACK" in the AdGabber Super Bowl chat room will result in a half-hour-long political death match.
- "Plaxico Burress" sounds like it belongs on a big pharma's drug pipeline.
- Bud Light failed to impress. Well, this was all right.
- The question of the night: Who thought the SalesGenie ads were racist? We didn't much notice -- but then again, we were also sharking Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts after that racist tee fiasco.
- eTrade spots: Latent trauma or the quiet mark of an Ally McBeal fan?
- Coke dives into the Super Bowl -- traditional Pepsi territory -- and accomplishes two goliathan tasks: mending American politics for :60 over Jinx (have you got a better idea?), and recapturing America with "Balloon". The AdGabber chat room is screaming (or rather, furiously typing) "Charlie Brown! Did you SEE CHARLIE BROWN!" for the next 10 minutes -- a cheer only seconded by "BANANAS!" when, for some reason, the Super Bowl camera guys take a few wistful shots of some browning bananas on the sidelines.

Good game. Last-minute crowning glory for the Giants? Very The Art of War.

"It was the art of bad football," snarled twinzdad6 from the AdGabber chat room.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-08    
Topic: Opinion, Super Bowl 2008



Coca-Cola Brings Die-Hard Politicians Back to Sandbox Basics

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"Jinx" by Coca-Cola sparked a political flare war in our Adrants Super Bowl chat room. In it, James Carville and Bill Frist set aside their differences over a personal jinx (except Carville has to buy Frist a Coke, not a slushee).

Cute. Why can't more things in life be solved this way?



Vicky's Secret Super Bowl Ad Looks Suspiciously Like Its Preview

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Really, we don't know what we were expecting. But we sure hoped it would be more than what Victoria's Secret gave us.

What a waste of Adriana Lima's come-hither talents. Check out the preview, which is about as unimaginative as the ad itself, which just wastes more time.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Super Bowl 2008, Television