John McCain makes another one of those verbal oopsies (see a previous noteworthy soundbite) and Team Obama wastes no time whipping an ad around it. Bonus points for mentioning the Lehman Brothers collapse. Way to be timely!
Feels like dirty press to me. Our economy's shit, but it's not a lost cause, and I think that's what McCain wanted to highlight. You cannot save a lost cause.
Still, a fellow blogger points out, "running the economy from a defensive mindset like that is different than having a vibrant economy." McCain's a defense guy for sure -- and defense usually implies lack of leverage. You're trying to protect what's left, not win new ground.
Even so, are we all in agreement that a vibrant economy can be manufactured with Extra-Strength Hope Serum?
- GI Direct hopes to inspire direct mail marketers with Creative Formats, a visul muse that makes direct mail seem rad as scrapbooking. Search by feature, format, market sector or size of run.
- MoveOn.org goes behind enemy lines in hopes of, I don't know, making McCain implode. Meet Billy Mires, bus driver of the "Straight Talk Express." He'll pass on charming yet ironic factoids like how John McCain invented the BlackBerry.
- The anatomy of toothpaste. What you see at left is Colgate Total Mint Stripe. Was it Andy Warhol who said art is whatever you can get away with?
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The Ad Council and the US Department of Energy are using a new ad effort to build a new "energy ethic" for tweens. The campaign's called "What's your excuse?" and was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.
LoseYourExcuse.gov is stocked with tips for saving energy, desktop background downloads and the like. I really love the game, though. Been playing it all afternoon.
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Oh look. How quaint. Yes, it's another consumer generated thingamabogbber. This time around Crest wants people to submit catch phrases (is that laymen for tagline?) in support of the four new flavors of Crest Whitening Expressions. The winning phrase gets the creator $5,000, an all expenses paid trip to the commercial shoot and the appearance of the phrase in the commercial.
Oh yea, "bigger than BAM!" Emeril Lagasse is part of the promotion. Fun, huh?
It would be sexist to assume it's always the woman who wants to leave the bar first, dragging her man by the balls out of the bar as his friends utter phrases like "pussy whipped" and "wimp," right? Of course it would which is why I'm not saying it. I'm just pointing you to a commercial that does it for me.
From Australia's Carlton Mid, comes "The Woman Whisperer" who rescues a poor schlub from his bitchy little cutie...until The Woman Whisperer makes his dramatic entrance and puts the whiny woman in her place.
"A lot of girls out there love healthy food. If you want to get into bed with one, check out our debut episode!"
That's the premise for the mDialog-produced show Cooking to Get Lucky. Its purpose is to turn men into gourmet cooking machines that create meals guaranteed to get the girl. OK, so there isn't necessarily a guarantee but that's the hook upon which the show hangs.
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On Sunday's BeanCast with Bob Knorpp, I was joined by Ford Head of Social Marketing Scott Monty and The M Show's John Wall to discuss a host of ad-related issues ranging from author Brian Reich's somewhat shortsighted opinion marketers and consumers would be better served if TV networks performed the job of ad agencies to Yahoo Head of Research Prabhakar Raghavan's quite correct statement search isn't as desirable as some would have us believe to moderation and liability is social media to FOX's "remote-Free" TV to location based mobile services to, of course, Apple and the notion, despite popular opinion, it has truly mastered the art of participating in social media.
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An hour or so ago I read a grisly article about some Russian kids that killed and ate their goth friends. After scrolling down to the end of the piece and feeling appropriately perturbed, I came across the Ask.com video ad at left.
"How can you learn to walk in high heels?" it burbles cheerfully. "Get the answer." I played the video out of morbid curiosity and watched a pair of legs walk, with sass, up until the grand finale -- when the owner of those legs topples over with a scream, followed by cries of dismay.
It remains unclear whether she was eaten after her plummet from grace.
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For the California Academy of Sciences, Heat/SF launched a series of outdoor executions that highlight the institution's eco-friendly design and emphasis on sustainability.
To tie in to the "green" roof over the Academy's new facility -- which actually sustains some wild animals and vegetation -- outdoor ads include a "living" bus shelter and billboard, upon which grass or other greens have been planted. See them in San Francisco. TV and digital work will also supplement the campaign.
McDonald's and Ford have also done the living billboard thing. Tell me, minions: is this America or is this Hobbiton?
Witness the Tappening by DiMassimo Goldstein/NY. Didn't we cover almost this same thing yesterday -- except prettier and less tight-assed?
In any case, it's nice to know there's a tide turning against the bottled water-buying trend. But why flood the market with new plastic containers at the same time? What committee got together and decided this made business sense?
Demonstrate your conviction with a little extra. Go stainless steel. Or even tin, but watch out for the occasional stomachache or bout of diarrhea. Small price to pay for a happy planet.
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