Creative Director Finds Lost Ring, Agency Dutifully Issues Press Release

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OK. Everyone in unison now. "Awwwww...how sweet." Isn't that how you'd react to Mullen Associate Creative Director Bob Pirrmann getting his wedding ring back after losing it three month earlier in the four story, 200,000 gallon New England Aquarium tank? No? Right. Neither did we but it's still an interesting story.

Back in July, Pirrmann, a certified diver, was at one of the Aquarium's public dives where the agency wsas celebrating the launch of Sharks & Rays, an exhibit for which the agency created a campaign.

Thinking the ring was lost forever, Pirrmann gave up hope of ever seeing it again until this past Sunday when he received a call from the Aquarium informing him part time Aquarium diver Mike Whyte had found the ring nestled among, yes, finger corals at the bottom of the tank. Today, Pirrmann returned to the Aquarium for a dive with Whyte who showed Pirrmann just where his ring had been hiding for the last three months. A mini media frenzy ensued.

All parties went home happy. The media got its story. The agency got some press. Pirrmann got his ring back. And Pirrmann's wife got her man back having reattached Bob's balls which she'd been holding ransom since the ring was lost.

by Steve Hall    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Agencies



Lisa P. Maxwell Exposes Agency Members to Outside Interference

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Nodding to the transparency craze, last March Modernista created the most transparent website imaginable. Instead of telling people about itself, it used public websites -- over which the agency had little or no control -- to relate the story instead.

For its own redesign, agency Lisa P. Maxwell tackled "transparency" from a different angle. Visit the site for unfettered access to all its creatives. There they are, live on streaming webcams, waiting for a chat buddy who hopefully won't shriek "SHOW BOOB."

Weeeeird. Could the Zeitgeist (that's us!) be the "Big Brother" George Orwell so feared? I smell a dissertation!

by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Agencies, Online, Strange



Economy Got You Down? Buy A Chainsaw, Cut Some Trees

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Appearing today in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, Stihl offers confidence to wary consumers that, of late, hear nothing but bad news about the economy. With so many portfolios in shambles, Stihl promises to be a sharp investment in today's crazy market.

Say what? Is that a chainsaw in the ad? So, like, the solution is to take a chainsaw to your portfolio and dramatically carve it up because, given Wall Street, anything less would be wimpy?

Oh wait, Stihl isn't a financial management firm. It makes power tools. And not just any crappy power tools like the ones you can find cheaply priced at Home Depot or Lowe's. Nope. Stihl is an investment, not an expenditure because, unlike the cheap tools you have you buy over and over because they always break, Stihl is a life long investment. Or so the ad would have us believe.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Creative Commentary, Good, Newspaper



Live Takes Visa. No, Wait. Life Takes Vista

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While the Life Takes Vista spoof has been around for a while in various forms, this new take offers up even more goofy creative mashups such as "A dog rolls over, a man scrolls over," "He takes Levitra. Life Takes Vista" and "I'm a naked PC."

It's amusing enough though the least the creators could do is get the Share on Facebook link to work properly.

by Steve Hall    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Spoofs



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Pair the Agency Ego to His Celebrity Doppelganger!

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Vote for the most uncanny likeness between men in advertising/media and men in Hollywood. Because if we can't be somebody who matters, it's sorta comforting to look like someone who does.

This effort's among several other irresistible list-candy posts that Glam is using to promote Brash.com, the men's network it launched last week. Other lip-smackin' slices of data pornography include the Brash Hall of Fame (50 legendary men!) and the Brash 100 (men still changing the game).

by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Agencies, Celebrity, Online, Promotions



Ogilvy Athens Causes David to Roll Over in Grave

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On par with the embarrassingly horrid Bank of America internal ballad, Ogilvy Athens has unleashed its own horror show in the form of an ode to the agency's founder.

Thankfully, the beginning of the video comes with the warning, "CAUTION: The following video clip is an amateur effort. It was produced and edited by the staff of Bold Ogilvy Athens."

Heaven help Ogilvy Athens when the agency's clients see this and begin running for the door, screaming, "OMFG! Those people are producing and editing our work?"

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by Steve Hall    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Agencies, Video, Worst



Bakers Molds Magic Between Flour-Stained Fingers

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"Precious Biscuits" uses the loose, altered threads of fairy tales to imbue Bakers Biscuits with wispy wonder.

It begins with pretty schoolchildren walking through a forest. Behind them, biscuits leap out of a cobblestone pavement (vestiges of Hansel & Gretel), bringing the environment to animated life.

Naughty piglets race across a canvas populated by blind mice, an egg that only almost dies, a lone social advocate made of gingerbread, and a round Red Queen with a teeny china mouth. You remember them, don't you? At the end, Bakers draws a subtle comparison between itself and other confectioners of myth.

Produced by the divine hands of Shy the Sun & Blackginger for Ogilvy/Johannesburg and client Bakers.

by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Television



Google for Obama, SBUX Blamed for Economic Meltdown, SMS on Your Tab

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- Like that other demi-god Oprah, Google takes a side in this tense, farcical battle for America's future.

- Speaking of Google, check out the drool-worthy exposure T-Mobile's getting on its homepage. (It's probably worth mentioning that Google serves over 71 percent of searches in the US.)

- By the way, did you know McCain's a Ford and Obama a BMW? Think on that while casting your ballot.

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by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Games, Mobile/Wireless, Online, Opinion, Political, Strange



Because You Know You've Pictured Her There. And Cried.

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Adrants reader Candace sent us Palin as President, a just-for-kicks interactive site "updated daily until November 4th!"

Palin sits behind the desk of the oval office, wearing a frozen doll-like grin. Click on the items around her and along the walls.

"Where'd Russia go?" she wonders when I brush by the window. For bonus points, take a shot every time you see or hear the word "Maverick."

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by Angela Natividad    Oct-23-08    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good, Online, Political, Spoofs



T-Mobile G1 Brings Answers to You!

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Last night I saw the first ad for the T-Mobile G1, the first mobile handset built on Google's Android platform.

The spot depicts people in random situations, asking spontaneous questions that bug you at the time, but might not be important when you're back in front of a computer: "Do sharks have eyelids?", "Do monkeys make good pets?", "Can I get this cheaper somewhere else?"

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