Because Rappers, Like the French, Never Pronounce the Last Few Letters in a Word

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The MySpace homepage has Taco Bell's "Why Pay Mo'" campaign site heavy on the spin.

If you're feeling particularly masochistic, give yourself a shout-out in the campaign rap song while the dead presidents gyrate in their new bodies (likely lifted from New Kids on the Block). Oh, and play with the rap name generator. (Mine is "Allota Beanz.")

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by Angela Natividad    May-19-08    
Topic: Online



Ad Claims Blogging is 3,000 Years Old

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My pal Ariel Waldman over at Shake Well Before Use found this ad for Travel Alberta in San Francisco's MUNI (subway) stations which ask the question, "Who knew blogging was so popular 3,000 years ago?" to which Ariel posits, "Apparently, Canadians believe blogging stands for stone-logging." Hmm.

by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Outdoor, Strange



Support Barbarian Group's Eva McCloskey With Your Vote

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Occasionally, important events present themselves which call for the entire advertising industry to band together as one unstoppable force with the sole mission of advancing a worthy cause and doing good for all human kind. One such event has presented itself today requires our complete attention and participation.

What is this important cause? Why the voting for Barbarian Group's own Eva McCloskey as Boston Magazine's Most Wanted Single, of course! What? Did you think we as an industry were going to participate in that Cannes Humanitarian Lion thing and solve all the world's ills? Of course not. That's way too much work. A simple hottie contest is much more our style so please, do your part. Vote for Eva and represent!

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by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Agencies, Cause, Industry Events



For A Good Time, Visit PickupPal

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Back in the day, if you wanted a ride home from college for the holidays, you'd slap up your request up on a bulletin board somewhere around campus or check that same billboard for those already heading in your direction. That's "so yesterday" as one Disney pop starlet used to sing. Now, we have Web2.0-friendly PickupPal.

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by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Online, Social, Strange



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'What's This? Oh. It's a Body, Bloated in the Sun'

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Somewhere in the bowels of my memory is a man with a 'fro, a soothing voice and a paintbrush. As a kid I watched him on TV, mesmerized as he effortlessly whispered magic onto his canvas.

Right about now, though, I'm wondering whether those gripping pastures and endless telephone lines were not actually thinly-veiled and mildly traumatic messages about ethnic cleansing.

I like how at the end he gets all sinister and hisses, "We're almost done here, aren't we? No. It's never done."

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by Angela Natividad    May-19-08    
Topic: Cause, Good, Online, Spoofs, Strange, Trends and Culture, Video



BlogAds Explained, Congdon Returns, Idol Awesomed, Mullen Gets Relentless

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- Saatchi Singapore adds what AdFreak calls a bit of Evil Dead to a domestic abuse campaign which focuses on verbal abuse.

- Rocketboom's Amanda Condonn is back after a two year stint with mainstream media with a new video show of her own called Sometimes Daily. (Did you get a nose job, Amanda?)

- Advertising Age's Simon Dumenco rounds up the top seven "most awesomest" American Idol moments of this season.

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by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Agencies, Cause, Weblogs



Yellowbook Promises to Wipe Away Past Mistakes, Present Inadequacies

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To distinguish itself from its older and heavier rival, Yellowbook reimagines itself as a kind of digital genie, bestowing not merely phone numbers but self-confidence and clean slates. Instantly.

This is not the first time a lower-back tat has been used to sell something it shouldn't. The VW Touareg, Livescribe and Office Max have tread that valley before (and left the ink stains to prove it). Lower still: Hyundai.

Back to Yellowbook. The campaign is called "Say Yellow to the Future" and was put together by Gotham. No word on whether you can muzzle your virtual concierge if you find him too invasive.

by Angela Natividad    May-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Television



Live Performance at Airport Touts Travel Site

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What opportunity does the fact people routinely skip ads and the fact sitting in an airport waiting area is excruciatingly boring present? A Broadway-style commercial performed live by professional actors, of course.

Beginning with a lone actress stymied by a vending machine and progressing on to a full blown aural finale, travel site Lastminute.com delivered its message all while offering up an alternative to airport boredom at London's Stanstead airport.

by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Good, Guerilla



Outdoor Campaign Mirrors Yellow Pages Categories

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Just click the Outdoor category here on Adrants and you'll see the medium never ceases to allow for innovation. A recent Israeli campaign for Yellow Pages created individual boards for specific yellow pages categories. For the electricians category, a board was created that flickered with electrical problems. For Chiropractors, a board was placed on the ceiling of a bus shelter. For Pizzarias, boards shaped like a slice of pizza were created.

Many yellow pages categories were turned into billboards that reflected the category and, apparently, the effort paid off increasing unique users to the site by 40 percent. Shalmor Avnon Amichay / Young & Rubicam, Tel Aviv created the campaign.

by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Good, Outdoor, Poster



Lamborghini Brings Italy With it Everywhere it Travels

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From Philipp und Keuntje GmbH in Hamburg comes a campaign for Lamborghini which doesn't attempt to illustrate what is already known - that Lamborghinis are really fast Italian sports cars. Rather, the campiagn focuses on what life is like from behind the wheel of a Lamborghini even when in very un-Lamborghini-like locations.

by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Good



Microsoft to Close Web With Yahoo Search, Facebook?

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Who can keep up with this insanity? Since Ballmer couldn't have his way with Yahoo, he's now going at it from a different angle allegedly discussing with Yahoo a partnership or acquisition of Yahoo Search. John Furrier also seems to think Microsoft will scoop up the rest of Facebook as well.

While nothing, of course, is clear and won't be until if and when any deal is penned, Microsoft taking over Facebook is a scary thought. Robert Scoble makes the argument a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo Search and Facebook would lead to a closed web over which Microsoft would have complete control while Google would be locked out leaving "data and social graph portability ... dead on arrival."

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by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Social



Ogilvy Ravages the Clios, Takes Home 5 Golds

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The 49th annual Clios took place in South Beach over the weekend. Content & Contact, Integrated Campaign, Innovative Media, Print and Design were recognized at the Fillmore in Jackie Gleason Theatre on Friday.

Ogilvy & Mather received the highest number of Gold Clios -- ironic, considering its founder was so resentful of award shows: three for Frankfurt and two for New York; followed closely by BBDO Worldwide (four Golds) and DDB Worldwide (also four).

Gold winners and "Best in Show" appear below.

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by Angela Natividad    May-19-08    
Topic: Agencies, Campaigns, Industry Events



Current TV Takes A Look at Dov Charney's T-Shirt Obsession

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If you weren't already skeeved out by Dov Charney and his racy (pedophilic?) American Apparel antics, you will after watching this CurrentTV Super News video which takes a look behind the scenes at Dov and his t-shirt fetish. Dov calls this success citing America Apparel's role in helping America out perv the top five pervy nations "by a perv factor of six and a half inches."

by Steve Hall    May-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Racy, Video