Happy Birthday, Hello Viking! Now Let's Smack Some Norse Pirates Around.

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I'm kinda digging Viking Smackdown, a game Hello Viking put out to celebrate its one year anniversary.

I'd probably like it more if I could play it though. (You can only play from an iPhone or iPod touch with sassy tilting capabilities. And as the "sorry, fuck off!" message states, "Shaking your laptop just won't cut it.")

Here's the next-best thing (not really): a video about the game! (Scroll down.) I'm digging the awkward vibe and bare feet.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-16-08    
Topic: Agencies, Games, Mobile/Wireless, Promotions



VW Pisses Off BUND for Failing to Disclose Fuel Efficiency

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Treehugger sent us news that the ad at left, which depicts a Volkswagen Polo Blue Motion chained to a bike rack, violates EU law by failing to disclose fuel consumption and CO2 emissions data.

And it isn't just the one piece. All creative from VW's current campaign, which promotes its "environmentally friendly technology," is being challenged by the Association for Protection of the Environment and Nature of Germany (BUND) as illegal under the above stipulation.

Not to say the VWs aren't actually fuel efficient; apparently, though, you can get your wrist slapped for not making it clear enough. Weird world.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-16-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Magazine, Strange



Without Fellini's Finesse, Peroni Does No Justice to 'La Dolce Vita'

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Peroni's PR dude sent us the pitch for "Calendario," a new campaign tasked with depicting Peroni as a "timeless classic" and "Italian style in a bottle." (Well, hell. If you can get Italian style in a bottle, I suppose you would find it in the liquor aisle of your local grocer.)

We were then given a link to the Peroni website, where we found zip-zero on "Calendario." What we did find was Peroni's branded rendition of La Dolce Vita: 60 seconds long, stuffed with Peroni billboards and loaded with second-rate models that lack the five o'clock shadow and fleshy life of Federico Fellini's original cast.

That's what you'll find here -- if you can wait long enough for the damn page to load.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-16-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Worst



Talking Great PR, Creative Pursuit and OCD with Toronto's Media Mavens

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I went to Toronto last weekend and attended a dinner party hosted by Shannon Stephaniuk of Glossy Inc. If you're a blogger, a production company or one of her agency clients, you probably know her well. She's the PR person who actually presents advertising in a format journalists like (and cover lavishly):

(subject line.)

PICTURES!

LINK TO (DOWNLOADABLE) CREATIVE!

LINK TO CREDITS!

To other PR people: Why is this formula so hard to grasp? Just today I got a fucking one-page essay from Peroni's PR folk, pitching me on its new "Calendario" campaign, and then NOTHING. What, I have to email back to see the creative? Oh wait, there's a tiny link to the site right at the bottom near the fine(-as-hell!) print. Once I give my birthdate and location, I can hunt "Calendario" down myself -- if Peroni was smart enough to post it there at all. (What ho, it wasn't.)

But I digress.

The dinner party took place Friday night at Nyoob and featured a handful of Toronto-based media and ad people. The guestlist is posted here and so are the photos, if you want to see what havoc ensued.

Quotable highlights from the party are below.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jul-16-08    
Topic: Events, Good, Opinion



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Castro's Unpopularity Attributed to Expulsion of Rum

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From what I can gather out of these spots, the only reason people swim out of Cuba is to pursue Matusalem Gran Reserva 15 Year Old Rum, which Fidel Castro expelled in 1959.

But the high seas can be treacherous. A shark comes and eats the rum, then eats the people, and Fidel is pleased. Meanwhile, the people inside the shark party with their liquor of choice.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jul-16-08    
Topic: Commercials, Strange, Video