Watching Toyota's Saved by Zero Will Kill You

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Wow. Spoofs are getting better. Earlier today, we shared a hilarious rif on the Motrin babywearing commercial which highlighted the latest fad: really big boob jobs, the back pain they can cause and how Motrin can help.

Now, we have a great spoof of that incredibly annoying Saved by Zero Toyota commercial that's had everyone ranting for weeks. It's done ingeniously with scenes from the movie The Ring.

The Toyota folks must be loving all this hatred. Nothing like an annoying, shitty commercial that keeps going and going and going and...oh wait...that's kind of annoying too. And there's been plenty of spoofs on that one.

by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Good, Spoofs, Video



Motrin Eases Pain of Women With Giant Breasts

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Motrin is getting its money's worth. In reaction to this past weekend's mommy blogger debacle which had babywearing moms rebelling against the company for its apparent belittling of the mommy/baby bonding practice, Motherhood Uncensored it out with a spoof of the notorious Motrin Babywearing ad.

The spoof, in perfect homage to the original, advocates for women adopting yet another "fad," the boob job. The bigger, the better. And no matter what kind of type of boob job a woman gets or how big she gets them, Motrin will be there for her just like it was for al those women who engage in the "fad" known as babywearing.

by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Spoofs



Coach Tom Carries Staples into Social Media Scene

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Staples is running a campaign called Gift it for Free, where 10,000 people could "win" any purchase they make at the store between November 16 and December 24.

To promote an already-feeble promotional effort, the marketing team invented a fictional character called Coach Tom, who from what I can tell just wanders around dispensing advice on winning to people that aren't interested, like Tai Chi practitioners and the Kings. At some point in his didactic prattling, he'll toss in a ramble about Gift it for Free, which doesn't visibly spark any interest in his existence.

Feels forced and campy. Also, the videos are too long. But whatev, see requisite YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages. (Remember how everyone used to build a MySpace page too, and now nobody bothers? Sign of the changing times.)

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by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Promotions



Hey, Song Writer. Got a Hit? License It to the Porn Industry.

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Just another idea by our good (if lazy) friend Chuck, who hashes it out like so:


"Give adult entertainment production companies such as Evil Angel and Vivid Entertainment limited rights to music from upcoming video games for use in their adult films, six months to a year ahead of release.

"The soundtracks for most adult films are fairly pathetic, and I am sure that many companies would welcome free, quality music for their films."


Chuck's previous epiphanies have included porno product placement -- but lest you fool yourself into thinking he's a one-track kinda dude, consider this: he also came up with Hacky Snacks (complete with working prototype!) and, um, candy cane chopsticks. Better for the environment, I guess, but potentially also extremely sticky.


Goes to show there are still a few unturned tricks left in advertising. (Pun much intended.) So think like Chuck. Or steal his ideas. Which, oddly enough, is what he wants you to do. (Just send him a kickback once in awhile.)

by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Online, Opinion, Sponsorship, Strange



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Facebook Advertising Isn't Dead

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In an open letter to Facebook dovetailing, in a way, with recent comments from P&G's Ted McConnell regarding the inappropriateness of traditional advertising on Facebook, iCrossing Senior Social Media Analyst Alisa Leonard Hansen explores the social graph, Facebook's place within it, the value exchange it offers marketers and consumers and why Facebook really does have the "golden ticket" to the perfect monetization strategy.

by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Opinion, Social



Don't Just Talk the Grill; Rock the Grill.

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Pay close attention. The object behind the Grill the Goodness advergame is to put items on the grill, then use various tools (spatula, tongs, fork) to achieve two objectives: cook the food properly, and swat sticky fingers that try to steal the food before it's done.

Do those things with grace and poise, and maybe you won't be relegated to salad shaker when the reckoning happens.

Sassy stuff by Red Tettemer. Also one of the better advergames floating around right now, with the possible exception of Suicide Kittens. Hit the Grill the Goodness homepage for videos, tailgate tips and the Get Grilled Hall of Fame/Shame.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Games, Good, Online, Promotions



Tomb Raider Does Site-Takeover, Content-Manipulation Thing

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From now through December, expect to see Lara Croft decimating your favourite gamer sites, starting with this one. (Pull the ring in the leaderboard to get her going.)

Once all that pesky content's out of the way, indulge in a big-ass HD ad for Tomb Raider: Underworld, plus free downloadable demo. By Eyeblaster, IGN and SF-based agency JVST.

Playful immersive ad experiences like this are very cool. We saw something similar last September for Wario Land: Shake It! on YouTube. As the video progressed, Wario's kicks, bumps and big fat jiggles utterly "destroyed" the profile page.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Games, Good, Online, Promotions



Bright Ones: Linda Bustos Will Make You Smile

Linda Bustos loves guacamole, hummus, salsa, tahini, tzatziki and peanut butter. A lot. So much so, she doesn't think of them as spreads or hors d'oeuvres, rather meals unto themselves. It's this endearing quirkiness, along with her penchant for chasing pigeons, giving hilarious presentations and getting really excited about ringtones which causes many people to become intoxicated with her amazing awesomeness.

Linda is an SEO and ecommerce guru who writes for elasticpath's getelastic blog on which articles such as Improving Search Results for Research-Online-Purchase-Offline Customers, Why eCommerce is a Lot Like iCanHasCheezburger, How to Find an Online Reputation Manager and Yes Virginia There Is a Santa Claus; He Searches for Free Shipping can be found.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Bright Ones



Laptops Change Lives, AdWeek A ThirtySomething, Yang Yahooed

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- Laptops can change your world. Well, not yours but the world of those who need theirs changed.

- Congratulations to AdWeek on its 30th Anniversary. The magazine is celebrating with a special issue that"looks at today's big-picture thinking combined with an examination of the key developments, game-changing campaigns, and big ideas from the past three decades."

- Looks like its all over for Jerry Yang as yahoo CEO. Not everyone is CEO material. And there's nothing wrong with that.

- GM paints a doomsday scenario and begs for government bailout.

by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Magazine, Online



Even Australians Are Fat

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It seems America isn't the only place with an obesity problem. It was thought Asian women don't have breasts. Now they do. It was once thought America was the only place where guts hung over the belt line. Now that's not the case. Whether it's America foisting its eating habits on the rest of the world or whether its other countries accomplishing obesity all on their own, Australia has joined the club and is out with an anti-obesity effort from the country's Department of Health.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Disney Career Guarantees Nudity

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So what does an "aging" Disney star do when she gets too old for Mickey? She gets nude, takes pictures, puts them on her laptop, loses the laptop at JFK, reports it stolen and then attempts to twist the whole thing into a career-shifting media frenzy. But unlike her younger Disney brethren, Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens who accidentally (or so it is assumed) found themselves in compromising positions, 25-year-old Cheetah Girl Adrienne Bailon's "compromising position" was entirely planned by her publicist Jonathon Jaxon.

Yes, the girl might as well be a grandmother in Disney's eyes. After a successful run with three Cheetah Girls movies and musical tours, the Cheetah Girls movie franchise has come to a close and Bailon will seemingly be put out to pasture to fend for herself in the "grownup world."

And so it goes. The blunt transition from Disney to adulthood, never an easy one, plays out again. It will happen (is happening) with Miley Cyrus, the entire crew of High School Musical fame, Camp Rock's Demi Lovato and Wizards of Waverly Place star Selena Gomez.

by Steve Hall    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Cable, Celebrity, Opinion



iJustine, Karen Get Lost in America With AT&T

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Surprisingly, there hasn't been much press on AT&T's Lost in America, a Wal-Marting Across America-style (sorry, Justine) travel blog program fronted by Justine Ezarik, a.k.a iJustine and Karen Nguyen. For a few months now, the pair have been "lost" in America and exploring Alaska, Austin and Chicago.

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Diddy Bottles His Pheromones

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We've seen plenty of evidence in the ad world of P. Diddy's self-deluded worldview: Ciroc Vodka, Burger King, Unforgivable.

Even so, I still choked a little upon catching sight of this two-page spread for I Am King, the direct and to-the-point moniker for his newest fragrance. Copy and packaging are flanked by The Man himself, tux-clad and perpetually defiant.

Diggin' how the spread lacks a sampler. Guess you're supposed to take it on faith that if Diddy shits it, it reeks of rosepetal.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Magazine, Promotions



Nova Scotia is Like an iPhone that Pees Coffee.

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It's funny about this subsite. For a few seconds I seriously thought it was for a phone called the Pomegranate NS08 -- which I had already begun to covet more than anything else I've ever wanted, ever.

Then I realized it's unlikely that a phone -- even one with email, internet, GPS, music and a camera -- will actually shave your face, brew coffee or double as a harmonica. (Though it's easy to picture scenarios where all those value-adds would be useful.) So, taking my cues from the site motif, I concluded this must be a campaign promoting the universal merits of the pomegranate fruit.

I hit "Release Date" and got a message that kind of seemed to corroborate my theory:


Someday you'll be able to get everything you want in one device. Today you can get everything you want in one place.

Followed by the product reveal, which did blow my mind because it struck me as so utterly improbable:

"Nova Scotia."

Wait, what?

by Angela Natividad    Nov-19-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Promotions, Strange