'OMGWTFBBQ?!' is a Universal Sentiment...

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...And Jagermeister's going for the glory. If in doubt, consider the curly straw action that ends each spot in these anti-Jager commercials. The logic, via Philipp and Keuntje GmbH:

For 6 years now Jagermeister has been positioned as the THE WILD DRINK. So our idea was to show the brand the way it is not, rather than the way it is. To do this, we developed a fictitious product - the exact opposite of Jagermeister: NotJagermeister.

"NotJagermeister." I guess Pixie Love Juice was taken. I only wish I'd been better prepared for the sparkly cock thrust. But that's the thing about zealous penises. They always hit you when you least expect them.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Strange



Because Do You REALLY Wanna Take the Casale Bag Home?

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Last week at ad:tech, Steve and I ran into Marjorie Kase. Kase, in tangent with David Preciado and originator Mike Liskin, is a mastermind behind the Schwaggin' Wagon, whose mission is to gather craploads of SWAG (Stuff We All Get -- but don't actually want) for charity.

The Schwaggin' Wagon will take donations all through the Web 2.0 conference in SF this week. Follow the van's activities on Twitter (caution: psychedelia ahead) or check Facebook for tour updates.

Let's just hope the Schwaggin' Wagon doesn't cross paths with Plaid Tour '08, because the result (AESTHETIC WARFARE!) might give us epilepsy.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Events, Good



Alicia Visits Motherland, Fights AIDS, in Documentary Special

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A soft-hued, angelic Alicia Keys appears -- on a first-name basis! -- for Alicia in Africa, a documentary following her efforts with Keep a Child Alive. (Not to be confused with that other video work she does.)

The film is streaming on the official site as well as on Blip.tv, which provided the video player; and on MySpace. (It's a wonder people still bother with that.) You can also download it for free on Spiral Frog.

But let's cut to the chase. KIDS! In AFRICA! With AIDS! Go DONATE.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Celebrity, Online, Sponsorship, Video



It's a Daisy Chain of Sensory Delights!

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Okay. We don't make music ourselves, but this iPhone synthesizer is too cool to stand. Wait for the piano sequence around 2:10. Oh, and the song is pretty kick-ass too.

Brought to our attention by Shilo.tv, a team of bicoastal filmmakers, music lovers and artists. We Make it Good serves as its blog and portfolio site, where you can get a taste of neat things Shilo's involved in, like Pretty Titty's We Make It Good mix series, which went out on Obey Giant Records -- another brand we love to the point of hyperventilation -- this year.

Obey Giant was founded by Shepard Fairey, who first caught our eye with his provocative visual mashups of familiar advertising, Communist propaganda and pop and political icons.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Tools, Trends and Culture, Video



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Watching Someone Eat His Feelings? That Never Gets Old.

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It's funny about York Peppermint Patties. They're delish -- but, as with Andes Mints, I never actually ate one unless it came out of a complimentary candy bowl. Who actually buys them for casual snacking purposes?

Anyway, here's a Fark spoof for York. Something about a dude being bummed over his girlfriend, and life being better in black and white. Mainly there's eating and soft, soft whimpering.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Spoofs, Strange



McCain Girls Outed, Gnarls Barkley Refurbed, AgencySpy Critiqued, AmEx Does Travel (BETA!!!)

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- The new Honda Accord is so lame that RPA had to use an image of its own creative team, gawking at the car, as part of an outdoor wallscape.

- American Express has launched Members Know, an "insider" travel community that, in trademark AmEx style, manages to be both elitist and bland. Also, there are INSIGHTS. And TAG CLOUDS. And the word BETA.

- Interactive firm ROKKAN redid the Gnarls Barkley site to reflect the duo's dynamism and harmony. (You know, like OutKast, but without Andre's mood swings.) The site includes a pretty awesome pop-up video player. In fact, it's pretty awesome all around.

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Caution! Large Fleshy Objects Overhead, Productivity Challenged

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Just how can a guy be expected to concentrate on work when a giant pair of bulbous breasts hanging pendulously from an incredibly hot model suddenly spill forth from a billboard image found on Flickr? Even more disconcerting is expecting a guy to physically walk past this giant pair of bulbous breasts without experiencing at least a tiny bit of "DAMN! I want sex right now!" urgency.

Is this how we sell clothes to women? By making guys horny? Clothing sales...horny guys. That's a total non-sequitor. A hot mess if you will. Yes, leave it to Sisley to temporarily hamper the day's productivity causing all men who come into contact with this billboard to revert to a sex-starved high school boy. Damn!

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Strange



Abercrombie & Fitch Sponsors Obama's Concession Speech?

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Now here's an interesting product placement. And you know it has to be one because the liklihood of three guys all wearing Abercrombie & Fitch occupying the much sought after on-camera position behind a presidential candidate making a concession speech is next to zero. Unless, of course, it was purposefully orchestrated to be a product placement.

It certainly seems feasible and makes sense given Obama's desire to appeal to the young voter. The effort, while not necessarily a new thing, is admirable and, though a bit overkill, is hardly the worst product placement we've seen.

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    




Copyranter Beats the Blues, Joins AnimalNewYork

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Less than a week after calling blogging quits unless someone decides to pay him for it, Copyranter got his wish. (Damn. That's some serious range.)

Pop the champagne. Our beloved ranter of copy scored a blogging gig with AnimalNewYork. And since he'll be blogging anyway, he plans to continue updating the Copyranter site (sporadically, he claims, but at this point we know he's full of crap. Expect to see updates FIVE! TIMES!! A DAY!!!).

Probably my favourite comment on his "I'm back!" post so far:

Let the day drinking begin! Seriously this is why we have wakes because sometimes the departed isn't dead after all!

That, and the one about Copyranter being "like the goddamned WHO."

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Opinion



Freak Sister Eats All Day Long Until Rescued by Hot Tub Chicken.

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Oh yea. Let's make fun of them hillbilly types with their funny accents, horrible fashions and disgusting stomachs. Oh and their freak child who lives in the basement and eats all the time until...yes...until she get fed Hot Tub Chicken. It's all good, though. Oh, but Chore is spelled C H O R E. Not C H O I R as in Choir.

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Good, Strange, Video



Couples Physical Separation Deftly Illustrates Effects of Spousal Abuse

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Sometimes commercials delivers their message with a sledgehammer. Other times, such as with this Canadian Woman's Foundation commercial to end violence against women, the delivery is far more subtle. So subtle, in fact, that in this case the spot had to be watched a couple times before the message made sense.

The physical separation between the husband and his wife and two kids as they sit on the couch in the commercial is an analogous illustration to the emotional separation that can come with spousal abuse as well as the emotional separation caused by years of suffering abuse without complaint

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Cause, Commercials, Good



Huge, Erect Nipples Distract in All Bran Commercial

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Some spots need to be viewed over and over again to be truly appreciated. Others, like this All Bran Honey commercial, need to be viewed over and over again get past staring at the unbelievably gigantic nipples protruding through the shirt of "Tall Jan" ... to truly appreciate what the hell the ad was trying to sell.

Apparently it's a word play on All Bran is delicious versus Tall Jan is malicious. Whether or not the "protrusive" scenario was intended or not, it achieved repeat viewership and what more could a marketer ask for?

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good, Strange



Art Director Obsesses With Water, Wastes :60 of :90

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It must be Amnesty International day. First there was the sex trafficking ad. Now there's the waterboarding ad.

Waterboarding is a torture method for encouraging prisoners to, well, do what they are asked to do. Apparently America uses this technique and Amnesty International doesn't like it. The :90 makes the point but takes an interminable :60 to get there. It's like some art director was like, "Dude, let's illustrate the beautiful innocence of water and then suddenly cut to the horror of its abuse." Um, yea. Next time, make it a :30.

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Cause, Commercials



Sexy Chain-Linked Legs Supposed to Stop Sex Trafficking

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Is it wrong to think this Amnesty International sex trafficking ad is just a tiny bit hot while at the same time realizing it's a clever representation of a reprehensible practice? Please! Don't confuse. It's like those ads where young girls with huge boobs are used to convince you underage sex is a bad thing while making you want to have sex at the same time. (Not with the underage girls in the ads, mind you. Contrary to popular belief, even I know the difference between right and wrong.)

The ad, created by Switzerland's Walker, does catch the eye and that's half the battle in this game. But like the underage sex ads, it creates an uncomfortable awkwardness. Maybe that's a good thing. Perhaps it causes one to feel a bit skeeved. Trouble is, the people who engage in this reprehensible practice, after seeing the ad, may simply be more motivated to find the next young, hot thing to trade like a piece of property.

by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Bad, Creative Commentary, Good, Magazine, Opinion, Racy, Strange



Logo Gets Excited, Rubs One Out

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This, by far, is the best logo fuck up ever. Even better than that pedophilic one from that pediatric center. While the goof has been found out and may (or may not) be corrected, that didn't stop employees of the UK's Office of Government Commerce from having a laugh over it. Flip the logo 90 degrees to the right and you'll understand the gaff.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Strange



Cause Group Targets Triggers to Tackle Smoking

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They came for the smokers, and I did not speak up because I wasn't a smoker.

They came for the caffeine junkies, and I did not speak up because I drank neither coffee nor tea.

Then they came for sex, and chocolate, and my sluttiest Halloween costume, and there was no one left to speak up for me.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla, Online



Liberty Mutual Uses Sentimental Camera Eye to Explore Responsibility

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Remember Chicken Soup for the Soul before it got all commercial and had spin-offs for grandparents, moms, kids, and your apathetic father? Imagine if it were audio/visual, and that would get you The Responsibility Project, a series where four RSA directors try interpreting what it means to be responsible. Commissioned by Hill Holliday for Liberty Mutual.

See Mandy and Lester by Lena Beug. You may find it bears a slight resemblance to your childhood -- if you're squinting, and your neighbors were named Kevin and Paul.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Video



But Heineken, I See No Good Here

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Apparently Heineken has started a radio and (cheese-tacular) TV campaign that directs people to a subsite that isn't even up yet. (We tried. Still doesn't work.)

Try your luck at SharetheGood.com. Jetpacks, who seems sort of traumatized by the radio spot, went out of his way to check the Who Is data behind Share the Good (registered to Brian Citron, Associate Brand Manager for Heinie) and see if it works on other browsers (no).

UPDATE, 10:10 EST: The site is up now. And it only took all morning. Good going, guys.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Online, Radio



Sheppard Mullin is a Lost Member of Kiss!

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Making a name for yourself in the legal world must be tough without OJ Simpson or sex tape spawn. What's the average divorce attorney to do?

A few things, actually. You can force your lawyers to take up lederhosen and the accordion. You can make divorce look really appealing. You can form strategic liaisons with pizza parlors.

Or you can invite a comparison between yourself, and Gene Simmons, and omelets. Guess it's a matter of what you personally find less morally reprehensible.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Poster, Strange



Adidas: Bigger's Always Better, and Don't Forget the Aerosol!

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To propel its classic kicks back into salience, Adidas made a gigantor pair of Superstars and gave one shoe to each coast.

I did The Eyeroll when a bunch of dudes started whipping out spray paint cans because the first thing a brand does in crisis is reach for a graffiti artist. (Adidas also did the tagging thing last year and the year before. Plus, Reebok and Converse have already peed on this hydrant.)

But the resulting footwear is (of course) pretty dope. If in doubt, a whole three seconds of the video is devoted to recording some dude in a doo-rag giving Adidas props.

Sam Flores and Upper Playground designed the left coast sneak; NYC and Surface2Air, Paris handled the right. Thanks in:fluencia for pushing the news our way.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Guerilla, Video



For McD's Swedish Clientele, Fairy Tale Cameos are No Big Deal

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We're addicted to DDB, Stockholm's work for McDonald's. (See "WAKE UP!" and other randomness.) There's a strange and wonderful pixie magic about it that McD's lacks Stateside.

Check out the spots for "No Big Deal," a campaign brought to our attention by Ads of the World. Finding a geriatric under your hood, a knight at your doorstep, an artist who paints with his toes, or a troll playing games with your kid, doesn't even register on the radar against McDonald's humblest meals.

If those unnatural-looking meat patties tasted anything like how these ads look, we would eat them every day. Well, probably not. But we'd maybe have chicken nuggets once in awhile.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Television