Berry-Stained Stoli Invades the States from Mother Russia

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Imagine if the Coke Happiness Factory got hijacked by dancing Reds that prefer fruity vodka to sugar water. You're probably picturing "Airship," the latest spot for Stoli Blakberi, put together by Publicis/London and production company Stink/Psyop. Music by Prokofiev.

Part of what keeps me drinking Stoli is unwavering affection for its advertising. On TV or in print, it's always got the same feel: over-the-top, cartoony, propagandistic. Disney's "It's a Small World After All" meets the hoarse ballads and frosty grit of Moscow.

Stoli is a proud, heavy-handed romantic, and taking a swig is like surrendering to history: the beautifying dizziness, concrete on your lips, bile in your throat. It's a suffering, and a brand, baptized in nostalgia.

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



Liv Tyler Fronts Gap's Fall Ad Campaign

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Ever since the movie Empire Records, Liv Tyler (and that not so unknown actress by the name of Renee Zellweger) have served those in need of eye candy quite well. In movies. On the red carpet. And in ads.

Last week, Gap broke a new campaign featuring, among others, Liv Tyler. You can check out all the photoshoot goodness here. She's still looking good.

by Steve Hall    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity



Lots of Words, and Something About a Pony.

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The other day I was complaining -- or was it more like bitching? -- about how all car ads seem pretty much the same. (If not "the same," then "zealously derivative.") Then Organic busts out with this really weird ad for the Chrysler Town & Country.

It's all words. The narrator's telling this bizarre story, then the words appear in front of you, so you get this tiring but riveting experience of seeing and hearing crunchy nouns like "pocket pony" and "crabapples" at the same time. (Don't ask, just watch.)

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by Angela Natividad    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Strange



ABC to Roadblock TV Guide August 25

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Who knew people still read TV Guide? Apparently enough still do to make it worthwhile for ABC to buy out all the ad space in the August 25 issue in advance of the upcoming fall television season. The network will buy 21 pages in the issue and insert a DVD for New York and Los Angeles subscribers and newsstand sales.

by Steve Hall    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Magazine, Television



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New '90210' Won't Screen For Critics, Media

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When a movie chooses not to preview for critics, it's almost a foregone conclusion the movie will be bad. Hopefully, that isn't the case with The CW's 90210 which has also decided not to screen the show for advertisers or the media.

"Classic" 90210 was a good show...for the first few years. Over time, it got worse but people kept watching. All the way through the cast's high school years, their college years and the first few years of their "real world" life. The cast became like Twitter friends. No matter how mundane their lives were, you simply couldn't turn of the "weekly update." It was an unhealthy addiction.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Television



I Won't Buy a Chevy, but Indentured Servitude Sounds Nice

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Here's that Chevy Traverse ad that keeps playing during the Olympics. I sat through it twice yesterday and didn't really get the correlation between Shirtless Man Lovingly Laundering and Chevy Traverse with Folding Seats.

Twitter's not keen on it either.

Fortunately, there's YouTube. Scroll down to the comments. Past all the complaining about double standards and whatnot, someone explains that both the man and the Traverse are "beautiful, useful, and everything you ever wanted ... and them [sic] some."

Ohhhhh. Suddenly the tagline makes sense.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Strange, Television



OMG! Breaking! Newsflash! Enfartico Creator Revealed!

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OMFG! Can you believe it! Is it really possible? Could this really be happening? Could we really be getting this excited and worked up over an agency spoof site and the realization it was created by an ad blogger? Apparently so, given the endless press Adomatica's Robert Gilbreath, creator of Enfartico (now defunct), received following the launch and "leaking" of his Enfatico spoof site.

AgencySpy has full on, breathless coverage in lengthy detail for those who want to wallow in the juicydetails of a fake agency website that's managed to garner almost as much press as the agency itself. That said, it's sad Enfatico couldn't just go along with the joke. It's sad they just officiously shut the site down. It's sad they didn't launch their own CGM/UGC/Web 2.0 response. It could have been fun. Oh well. In this instance, the party line was followed to the letter. No company wants it's brand toyed with but Enfartico was hardly doing harm to Enfatico.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Consumer Created, Spoofs



That's Not a Backpack, It's Ambrose's Co-Pilot

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For client Little Debbie, Marcos Ambrose joins forces with a talking koala. They're so cute together, it's oddly gratifying to see them draw housewives' attention at the supermarket or co-pilot a race while koala eats Zebra Cakes.

"I thought you only ate eucalyptus leaves?" Ambrose demands, slightly miffed, right before he peels out onto the track.

Collective awwwwwwwww. Don't you just want to rub their tummies and feed them a Devil Square?

The spots went live in tandem with racing season. So far Ambrose isn't doing too terribly, no thanks to his choice of snack food, but a talking marsupial riding shotgun (think of the crumbs!) probably keeps things interesting.

See more of their routine on Little Debbie's Miles of Smiles website, put together by Luckie & Co., which also did the creative.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Sponsorship, Television, Video



'Nick and Norah' Website's Loaded with Distractions

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I got up early this morning to play with the website for Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, a Wackness-meets-Go-type movie featuring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings.

It feels totally inspired by the chaos of Manhattan. You're hit with a trailer, after which you can enter the site, riddled with cardboard cut-outs, frenetic noise (honking horns, sirens) and, under "Music," an Infinite Playlist that's not so infinite. (Two songs so far. Will there be more? Somebody needs to contract this guy.)

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by Angela Natividad    Aug-19-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Online, Promotions