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2/3 of a Donation Drive is Provoking Empathy. Will Ferrell Can't Do It; This Might

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For MTV and the Burma Arts Board, Shilo and Ogilvy & Mather/Amsterdam created the "Burma Viral," which will air on MTV's Times Square Jumbotron and elsewhere around the world.

The film depicts war planes lifting off all over the world and meeting over Burma. I watched with a pinch of irritation as their hatches open, expecting bombs and the requisite sight of human suffering, but -- unexpectedly -- the planes rain a canopy of flowers over the cityscape.

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by Angela Natividad    May-15-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Good, Video



Pepperidge Farm Gets Racy. Or is it Racist?

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In a lengthy analysis of a recent Pepperidge Farm print ad for the company's Milano cookie, Beyond Madison Avenue in which such details as "soul mates" versus "soulmates" are examined, the writer points to another take on the ad, from 360Nu.com, which...wait for it...calls the ad racist. Yes. A racist cookie ad.

It seems there may need to be a WTF category added to Adrants to house all these idiocies. However, before immediately tossing this off as yet another case of Chronic Overthink, the 360Nu writer offers interesting commentary on marketing, advertising and packaging as they relate to the reflection, creation, perpetuation or racial stereotypes.

Using two examples, angel food cake with white frosting over black cake and Devil Dogs with black ...stuff over the white, a corollary is made between the white over black as positive and the black over white as negative (devil).

Whether or not you decide to file this away in your own personal WTF category, you should at least read the piece firts. Then you can label the writer a crack pot or an insightful genius.

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



Fair Trade Groupies Toss Wares in Aisles Six and Seven

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The Max Havelaar Foundation, a coalition of fair trade producers and initiatives worldwide, is using this video to promote fair trade practices.

I'm not really sure what's going on, aside from that a bunch of subversives seem really unhappy with what they're finding at the grocery store.

Alternatively, they could just be looking for buddies to play catch with. Reason #458 to take up Ultimate Frisbee.

by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla, Online, Strange, Video



Sci Fi: Just as Good as 'Gossip Girl,' Except Not Everyone's Human. Problem?

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Oh my. These ads for the Sci Fi channel make me want to adopt a sweet little potbellied alien. And name it Oliver. And maybe homeschool it.

The tagline: "Open your heart to science fiction. Adopt Sci Fi." Agency: BETC EURO RSCG 4D (thanks, in:fluencia!).

See the short version, but it's the long one that made me the suffer the angst of shedding genre prejudice. Anime overload, here I come.

by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Best, Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



Bogusky Flattered, craigslist Countersues, Home Depot Goes for the Gold

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- Fast Company loves itself some Alex Bogusky. Enough to compare him to Jesus. No word on whether the author washed his feet with her hair.

- Shelf that silly Microsoft morale video. "It's here and it's hot! Home Depot Solid Gold!"

- To combat the eBay suit, craigslist countersues. Then the nanny found their babas and put them down for a nap.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Strange



Its Trump Card Played, Crocs Gets Gimmicky

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Having generated reluctant admirers with its "Ugly can be beautiful" campaign in 2005, Crocs now gives us "What a Croc!" -- which has guts in spades, and occasional moments of flair, but is otherwise far less coherent.

See insane screaming man and the pretty pretty princess. The latter is the result of a collabo between Crocs and Jibbitz, self-styled "the official Crocs shoe charm." And you thought those Godforsaken mules couldn't get any uglier.

Thanks AdFreak for bringing "What a Croc!" to our attention.

by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Strange



Million Dollar Homepage Knock Off to Deface Hillside

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If it weren't bad enough an army of wannabes copied, unsuccessfully, Alex Tew's very successful Million Dollar Homepage, now there's a dude who wants to spread that filth all over an actual hillside, as in a real-world hillside in Austria.

Thomas Kager, a 34 year old software developer plans to sell both pixels and actual real estate on a 10,0000 meter portion of a hill. As the press release explains, "Kager's idea is to market squares of virtual advertising space on his website to companies and individuals who, after their purchase, will receive one square meter of real outdoor advertising space for a five-year period."

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by Steve Hall    May-14-08    
Topic: Online, Outdoor



Layoffs Abound, Accounts Lost

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- AgencySpy reports layoffs occurring at Chicago's Critical Mass including creative director Mike Rezac and at Seattle's Publicis West office.

- An insider shares news JWT Canada may have lost the Kellogg business due to a "global Realignment." Don't you just love the phrases people create to describe layoffs and firings?

- Bulldog Reporter PR University, today, is presenting an audio conference entitled "Blog Pitching Update for PR: Top Tech Online Influencers Reveal Advanced Blog Relations Practices"

by Steve Hall    May-14-08    
Topic: Agencies



George W. Bush Unites Globe in Shared Mockery

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In the course of his Presidency George W. Bush has both enraged and made us laugh, often at the same time. We've seen plenty of ways where his unique talent has manifested in reactionary advertising. Sometimes the results are funny, sometimes they piss us off, and often they do both at once.

Either way, it's become impossible to leave the States without a good sense of humour -- or an iron-on maple leaf.

Ivan of CreativeBits put together an invaluable collection of print ads where Bush is the star. This close to November, it almost makes us fond of the guy -- the way you grow fond of a stooge you're about to screw over in a drug bust.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Cause, Good, Magazine, Political, Poster, Trends and Culture



Finally Those Subway Tunnel Walls Get Used for Something

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Imagine sitting on the northbound Metro Red Line between Hollywood/Highland and Universal, reading whatever's in your lap, when all of a sudden a Speed Racer trailer starts playing just outside your window.

"WTF," you might say. "Even underground, LA's infested with movies."

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Outdoor, Video



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