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Alltel Wants to Send You on Vacation ... Just Hope It's Not to the ManCave

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To celebrate the second anniversary of its "My Circle" program, Alltel Wireless is giving a luxury vacation away to a My Circle customer and his or her family and friends.

Register at the My Circle Reunion website. You'll also have to text "CIRCLE" to 102102.

The vacation package -- which lasts four days and three nights, like a timeshare sweepstakes! -- includes a "special meal" by celebrity chef Ted Allen. The winner and his minions will also receive a new handset and a $200 Alltel gift card.

Off-topic, Alltel Wireless now claims to be America's largest network. I thought that phrase was handcrafted especially for AT&T. Guess anybody can use it.

by Angela Natividad    May-16-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Mobile/Wireless, Online



Because Who Forgets an Anniversary that Falls on 08-08-08?

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Based on the premise that the average wedding costs more than most couples can cough up ($30,000) -- and the "fact" that 08/08/08 is the most desirable Friday wedding date in history -- Eight O'Clock Coffee launched the "Gr8 Wedding D8."

The prize is a wedding on 08/08/08 at a Hamptons estate with up to 100 guests. Couples have until May 31 to register with eight reasons why they should win.

This is part of a partnership with TheKnot.com, which will manage the wedding plans and serve Eight O'Clock Coffee at the reception.

And here I was thinking that the apex of consumer surrender was a Starbucks/Tiffany's wedding. Actually, once I find a guy that goes for that (and doesn't choke on his own spit like the last one), I might still do it.

by Angela Natividad    May-16-08    
Topic: Online, Product Placement, Promotions



HP Plays Eye Tricks on Strolling Malaysians

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To demonstrate how well an HP printer can print, Publicis/Malaysia punched paper holes in realistic-looking landscapes. One dog-eared strip shared the gospel of HP with bewildered passersby.

Neato. Variations here and here.

by Angela Natividad    May-16-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Outdoor, Poster



Why Rubberneck from the Freeway When You Can Do it From YouTube?

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Few things are more irritating than a manufactured crisis intended to scare you straight -- in this case, using the human tendency to rubberneck to guilt drivers into slowing down in less dire situations. Then again, few things are more provocative.

It's a fine line, I guess.

The stunt took place on Matakana Road in New Zealand. And if the logo on the marquee is anything to go by, I guess this was brought to New Zealanders by the Rodney District Council.

Huzzah -- I was right. Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi. Thanks in:fluencia for pushing it our way.

by Angela Natividad    May-16-08    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla



Painted Hotties Hand Out Free Hotel Room Keys For Harrah's

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So how to you promote the opening of a new tower at Harrah's hotel in Atlantic City? You hire hot models, have an artist paint their bodies and parade them around cities across the Northeast, of course. Oh, and you also give away...for free...all 945 rooms in the tower for one night by having the hot, painted models hand our room keys.

Yesterday, the promotion took place near Wall Street near 100 Broadway. Peter Shankman, the mastermind behind the promotion, sums up the day on his blog (with pictures of the hot models, of course) and offers up tips for those considering similar marketing events. Needless to say, the models attracted all kinds of attention and all the keys were handed out.

by Steve Hall    May-16-08    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Racy



Mazda Goes Mod Way, and Slightly Out of Cultural Coherence, with 'How Dare You!'

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Tearing a page out of Dell's playbook, Mazda's latest spot features sinister robotic women with a minimalist sense of style. Watch as they pursue a cherry-red Mazda 3 with hive mind perseverance, then attack it with off-white paint.

The car sits a moment, bathed in the colour of hotel linens, then scrapes to a start and washes the world in red -- including its (possibly Vicodin-dazed) antagonists. The premise is to fight conformity ... but it looks like one monochrome universe just makes way for another.

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-16-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Strange, Television



BusinessWeek Grants Microblogging Some (Very Late) Validation

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Last week, writer Stephen Baker of BusinessWeek wrote a collaborative article with Twitter users. The compilation took several days and generated more than 250 contributions, including quotes and citizen reporting.

The result, "Why Twitter Matters," was published today. (Expect tons of linkbacks to individual tweets, not to mention gratuitous use of "tweet" itself.) Looks like the stream-of-thought community just won a new convert.

Hey, Baker. Think Twitter ex-architect Blaine Cook looks anything like Jesus?

by Angela Natividad    May-15-08    
Topic: Good, Magazine, Online, Trends and Culture



Social Hotties Endorse Their Favorite Brands

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Well OK. So now when you troll MySpace, Facebook or whatever your favorite daily social diversion may be, you can view, yes, even more ads courtesy of SocialVibe, a service that lets people choose brands they wish to endorse with a widget they can embed on their profile pages or blogs.

For example, Nicole Lynn's cleavage endorses...oops, I mean Nicole Lynn endorses Adobe. By displaying the SocialVibe badge on profile pages, people get points they can use to donate to charities as well as the chance to win trips, gadgets and entry to events.

more »

by Steve Hall    May-15-08    
Topic: Cause, Social



Travails of Miley Cyrus Illustrate Need For Destigmatized Sex

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It's probably just me. No, I'm sure it's just me but I'll ask the question anyway.:Is there something strange about Miley Cyrus jumping immediately from that Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz "scandal" -- where she was portrayed as, well, a bit more sexy than our sexually repressed society can handle -- to an appearance in the Body by Milk campaign, where she sports...white stuff all over her lips?

One could argue it's just a natural transition to the next level of, um, participation in the oh-so-seedy activity of -- OMG! -- engaging in dirty sex acts. But, that would be gross so let's just leave that stuff on the table.

more »

by Steve Hall    May-15-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Opinion, Trends and Culture



Hey, Mom. How About Exchanging that Dignity for a Month's Worth of Free Brownies?

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In hopes of selling, I don't know, more sweet potato casserole through May, Boston Market is trying to turn Mother's Day into a month-long event.

Visit The Moms Party to check out the campaign. And if you really want to make the matriarch cringe, upload her picture into a "President of the Moms Party!" poster.

It could always be worse.

Anyway, all members of the Moms Party will get free desserts with purchase through May at Boston Market. The more views your mom-inate (get it? Like "candidate"?) poster receives, the more likely your mom is to become the party leader.

Horrors.

by Angela Natividad    May-15-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Promotions, Strange



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