As Predicted, Firebrand Flames Out

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Less than five months after its launch, Firebrand, the all-ads-all-the-time cable channel and online site is, as we predicted from the start, closing operations. Investor's from NBC Universal to Microsoft to GE have pulled the plug and will no longer fund Firebrand and its ill-conceived belief people actually want to seek out and watch advertising as a form of content on equal footing with network programming or movies.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Commercials, Online, Opinion



For Hardcore Green, Revisit Penguin Basics

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To persuade people to Do the Green Thing, Play With Us put together this documentary about penguins in Antarctica. Except the penguins aren't penguins; they're naked people that seem at least partially catatonic.

All this to get us to huddle? We've seen cozier arguments.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Online, Video



Ford F-150 Comes to Life on Gritty Streets of New England

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Watch closely as a Ford F-150 is harnessed into living form by the mercurial fluid of the cold, hard streets. Kind of like Alex Mack.

We like the introductory bad-ass voice that growls, "It caaaame ... from the streets of New England." We're trying to think of other bad-ass things that caaaame from New England. So far all we've got are self-entitled Ivy League cowboys, and maybe Queen Noor.

Oh yeah, and wooly mammoths.

The ad was produced by Arf for TeamDetroit-JWT. Looking for your own breed of truck love? Check out TruckMatch.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Television



Virgin Pulls Tired 'Bill' Card to Promote No-Con Contracts

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Virgin Mobile is so naughty. Check out this political spoof ad that features Hillary Clinton looking into the horizon and thinking, "I wish my bill wasn't so out of control..."

Tagline: "You call the shots." This is for Virgin's new "no-con contracts." (Thanks to Adrants reader Simon for sending it over.)

The ad rings a little like a cheap blow, considering most of Hillary's Bill troubles went down in the mid-'90s and the poor woman is still suffering humiliations galore. Now that PR guy Penn is trying to divorce himself from Camp Clinton, we bet she wishes she could call a few shots right about now.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Magazine, Political, Poster, Spoofs



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Lightning Bolt Terrorizes, Body Spray Saves the Day

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Check out this crazy Dove viral based on Japanese puppet theatre. It reminded us of that scene in Funny Face where Audrey dons black garb and does interpretive dance at the existentialist bar. Except imagine the protagonist is Ugly Betty, and body odor -- not materialism -- is the source of the world's problems.

Put together by Ogilvy Brazil for Dove Invisible Dry.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Strange, Video, Viral



Online Cult of Oprah Guides Users to the Light

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We never cease to be amazed by Oprah's power and pervasiveness in the culture. She can hang out with liars and just generally unpleasant people and still come out of the association reeking of rosebuds. And she's probably the only woman in the world who can get away with putting her own face on her own magazine every month without looking like a narcissist or a dictator. Do you get how amazing that is?

Anyway, Oprah has launched a 10-week class to promote a book called A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purposes. The class is entirely online and free to take. The first session, which went down last night, pulled in over 700,000 fawning Oprahlytes hungry for "East-West-hybrid mysticism." Future sessions will take place every Monday.

Homegirl could brand a Bible and change every third word to "chewbacca" and she'd still come out of it making more money than Easter Island.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Online, Promotions



Nippleless Heidi Klum Jordache Ad Messes With Kid's Minds

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Gawker notes the oddly nippleless Heidi Klum Jordache ad which appears in today's New York Post adjacent to Page Six may be harmful to our children's education and cause deep seated psychological problems. After all, a fair amount of kids breast fed in their early years and rode the elementary school bus (with all it's lowest common denominator gossip) enough to have surely confirmed there's a thing called a nipple on the female breast. (possibly NSFW image follows)

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    




Frickin' Chicken Weirdos Says America Condones Sodomy

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No doubt, you've heard all about Sheetz's Frickin Chicken billboard drama, but FoxNews and the rest all seem to have overlooked the fact that the couple making the complaint also protested the opening of the Civil War Museum with a banner reading "Proof America Condones Sodomy" during a ceremony to honor fallen soldiers. Huh? Seriously.

And, as Words and Pictures points out, the entire world seems to have given Michael and Sheri Sucec the power to incite an overblown news cycle and to cause Sheetz to issue an apology for their witty wordism.

Where were these two when Crispin Porter + Bogusky gave us Big Bucking Chicken?

by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Strange



Honda Fit Sponsors Evite Party Personalities

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Honda Fit is sponsoring Evite's new Party Personalities, a section which allows people to create custom user profiles to make their Evites more customized with party avatars to match either their personality or the theme of the created party invitation.Oddcast's Voki powers the feature which also allows for the inclusion of voice messages within an invitation.

Come on send us one. Even a fake one.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Sponsorship



Robed Beauty on Horseback Averts Epic Battle Over Mobile Service

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In America, we like to think of ourselves as accepting of differing beliefs be they religious, racial or political. Oh sure, there's plenty of problems but none as long-lasting and deep-seated as some of the issues countries abroad have dealt with for thousands of years.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    




Chevy Malibu SS Commercial an Avalanche of Immodest Homage

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You know how some people are fond of pointing out creatives often imprint themselves on the work they produce as if they were the only demographic in the world? Well, that notion is clearly evident in this Leo Burnett Dubai-created commercial for Chevrolet Lumina SS.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 4-08    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary