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Cactus Banned, IAB Does Porn, Buck Hated, Best Buy Listens

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- Cactus guy gets girl pregnant. Ad gets banned. Yea, it really is that weird. Check out the whole story here.

- The Interactive Bureau endorses Porn. OK, well not really. They just let adult entertainment agency Traffic Dude oin the organization.

- Aston martin hooks up with Bang & Olufsen for sonic goodness.

- Make the Logo Bigger hates Joe Buck but hates his National Car rental commercial even more.

- Newsflash! Best Buy listens to customers and introduces Blue Label, a new process for developing products inspired by customer comment.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Social, Strange



Sometimes We Have to Get Lost to Find Ourselves

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Sometimes we have to get lost to find ourselves. Sometimes we have to push away life's mundane, trivial, unimportant and, in the greater scheme of things, entirely pointless aspects of daily life in order to truly appreciate life and all the beautiful things in it. To treasure what really matters. To rediscover what first enthralled you with the people in your life. To understand there is much more to life than work.

These are the stunningly beautiful messages within Baz Luhrmann's new commercials (Kate, Lee Ming) for Australia's tourism campaign. The work does a spectacular job of making Australia a far more interesting place then the previous "Where the bloody hell are you?" campaign ever could.

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Best, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials



Ask.com Puts a Face on the 'Nagging Question'

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Giving the New and Improved! Ask.com a promotional kick, Hanft Raboy & Partners personified the nagging questions that sit fussing in the back of our heads -- or, in this case, on our shoulders.

Watch as an elephantine nag weighs down an inquisitive 8th-grade boy. Here, a cop contemplates where to meet cool girls. And in our favourite spot, a pregnant woman wonders, "Can I eat eggs, clams and crab legs?" -- through an elderly Indian man.

Each question-asker accentuates its host's musings in a slightly tone-deaf way, imbuing the spots with quirky charm. And the tagline ensures we know exactly what each shoulder-bound burden represents: "Get the best answers to all your nagging questions."

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Television



Deflated Wallets Could Use Some Optimism. Hey, How 'Bout Longer Lotto?

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I don't know why it would matter, but the Minnesota State Lottery seems to think a longer lotto game would dramatically lengthen the thrill of (possibly) winning.

To promote the new Print-N-Plays, Colle+McVoy launched three spots that depict ecstatic lottery-playing moments in slow-mo. Nice touch with the dramatic score.

See Coach, Librarian and Slacker.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Promotions, Television



Because the Complete Picture Should Include You

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Here's "Life Story," a spot by IBD Brands for the Panasonic Lumix camera. It's narrated by a guy trying to capture meaningful moments of his life -- except the most crucial factor (his face) keeps getting cut out. Hence the need for a Lumix, which sports a wide-angle lens.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



Diapers.com: Helping Young Americans Do Their Business

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There's something appealing about "Time for a Change," Diapers.com's first stab at online video marketing. Positioned like a political ad, it offers "gas relief" and bi-potty-san support to frustrated Americans.

After walking the talk with some discount codes, a voiceover grandly concludes, "Your doodie is our duty" as the Stars and Stripes hover in the background.

Aww. Finally, something a hockey mom can really get behind.

The ad went live at Parents for Change. Users click straight into the Diapers.com site, where they can put their discount codes to good use. Good, simple stuff by The Ad Store.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Video



Word Is, Fine Fabric Should Get You High

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In IBD Brand's "Make Me High" for J. Hampstead Fabrics, Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra does a sensual, ribbony wind dance with her bedsheets.

They convey her into the air before she alights angelically upon some faceless dude, strokes his shoulder and croons, "I've never felt so close to my man."

Cheesy, so cheesy, and there doesn't appear to be any connection with the fabric and the love interest at all. Did he precipitate the wind dance? Or did fine fabric save their fraying relationship? One commenter was all, "I was hoping the fabric was connected to his suit as workers were still stitching it."

That would've been fun to watch. This rang more like a parody for an early-'90s perfume ad: it felt loaded with banal effects (hot actress, out-of-body experience, a thin stab at love) but lacked sublimity.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Television



ARG Fetishizes Blindness

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DigiSynd prepared an alternate reality game (ARG) to promote the movie Blindness, which is about an epidemic of blindness that affects some small, nondescript town. Check it out at I Am Blind.

The site includes a forum, photos of people wearing blind people shades and abstract, overserious videos with themes like "Stress is blind," "Work is blind" and "Death is blind."

Not great. Poverty-ridden and fetishy, even.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Games, Promotions



Gyro Published, BMW Winds, Diddy Dissed

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- For some politically-themed contextual fuckery, check this out.

- In the new book, Virus: The Outrageous History of Gyro Worldwide, French theorist and Author, Harriet Bernard-Levy chronicles the birth of the agency and its founder, Steven Grasse.

- Rubber Republic is seeding a game for the Aardman's 'Creature Discomforts' series made for the Leonard Cheshire Disability Charity. The first features Callum, a blind chameleon that needs your help getting his dinner.

- Oh look, it's another twisty road commercial for BMW. OK, it's not exactly a road but still. GSD&M Idea City created.

more »

by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-08    
Topic: Agencies, Celebrity



Windows Vista Suckage to be Replaced With Windows7

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Oh please!!! We haven't even recovered form the debacle that was Microsoft Vista and now we have to anticipate the release of Windows 7? Yes,. A video created to hype Microsoft's Professional Developer Conference alongside the new operating system is floating around YouTube. In the video, the tiresome "agency brainstorming" approach is used to introduce a ridiculous boy band which proceeds to go all 'N Sync on your ass.

Thankfully, the video's creator, Brian, is quickly ushered out of the conference room for sharing his dreck with the group. Still, do we really need to even begin thinking about a new OS when Vista still hasn't won over the masses? Though maybe that's the plan. Accept the fact Vista sucks and just release a new OS - that will likely suck just as much - with a different name. Brands do it all the time. Same shit, different name.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-08    




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