Stripvertising, Social Media Etiquette, Pot-Driven Cautionary Tales

global-warming-hands.jpg

- Hurtin' for love? Advertise on a stripper's apple bottoms. Dolla make you holla! (Via.)

- BU needs money too.

- Mind your social media Ps and Qs.

- The rumours are true: it snows in Switzerland.

- Ivanka Trump blogs for Brides.com.

- Bogus Nike discount code. Boooo. (Hoooo.)

- Maybe that dam is somebody's house.

- Possibly the best marijuana PSA evar. If you watch it while high on 4/20, the universe will fold in on itself. Also, just for the record, I have ironed my hair while under the influence. It is so, so dangerous.



Starbucks Goes (red).

starbucks-red.jpg

Late to a party long populated with the likes of AmEx, Apple, Converse, Motorola, Microsoft, Dell, The Gap, and Giorgio Armani, Starbucks finally joins the Product (red) brigade, spearheaded by U2's Bono to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Buy a Starbucks exclusive beverage, save lives in Africa! If the watch-worthiness of the ad isn't equal to the cause, it's at least a tribute to the crippling mediocrity that halos brands grown lazy and slow. Way to go, BBDO!

If I'm shocked, it's only because this didn't happen sooner. Really. This has to be a record for the amount of time a top-heavy "lifestyle" company's spent resisting the rejuvenating call of Bono.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Promotions, Television



Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss Commercial An Awkward Mess

saxby_chambliss_awkward.jpg

Straight out of advertising's Book of Awkward Moments comes this Thanksgiving-themed commercial for Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss who, after giving thanks and offering prayer for President Bush, President-Elect Obama and the troops, gives his granddaughter a very creepy chest grope.

Creepy as that move might be, it's made even creepier by the two grand kids who utter "...and vote for my big daddy." With the commercial just dripping with overtones of family value, the ending is a bit shocking. Even more shocking is the fact no one noticed Chambliss' awkward hand movement before the commercial hit the airwaves.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Political, Strange



Claus is in Da House. Yes, Santa Gets A Makeover

claus_remixed_palm_centro.jpg

Come December, Santa begins to make appearances the world over and since some easily tire of tradition, others are there to shake things up. Actually, no one really tires of Santa and his traditions. Just ad agencies trying to get a nut...and a chance to do something new to something old.

Because smartphones like the Palm Centro are supposedly all the shizzle, Santa, who just got a new one, needs his life upgraded as well. So Seattle-based Creature gave Santa a new haircut, a new suit, a new attitude, a diet and a new name, Clause - pronounced Klouse, of course.

more »

by Steve Hall    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Creative Commentary, Outdoor, Social, Television, Video



Enjoy what you've read? Subscribe to Adrants Daily and receive the daily contents of this site each day along with free whitepapers.

Crispin Trots Globe in Pursuit of Whopper Virgins

whopper-virgin.jpg

See teaser visuals for the Whopper Virgin campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Burger King. Turn the volume down unless you dig the cacophonous din of high-pitched wind instruments.

According to AdFreak, Crispin -- our fearless leader! -- will scour the world in search of people that have never tried a Whopper, then publish a documentary about this deep spiritual journey alongside director Stacy Peralta.

The site boasts footage of unravaged remote villages as well as cultural wisdom, of which this is just one example: "If you want a real opinion about a burger, ask someone who doesn't even have a word for burger."

Ahhh. Today their stomachs, tomorrow their labour force. It's enough to make Hernan Cortes beam with childlike delight.



TD Bank Uses Regis and Kelly Puppets to Attract Young People.

regis-puppet.jpg

And it's like ... it's like ... a less funny Terrence and Phillip.

By Tierney Communications/Philly, which hopes to draw 18- to mid-twenty-year-olds choosing a bank for the first time. Two other spots, "Lincoln" and "Operator" -- use your imagination! -- are currently in production. Keep an eye out for those bad-boys at TD Bank Theater.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Online, Television



Everybody Loves a Witch Hunt!

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Opinion, Trends and Culture



Chivas' Chivalrous Chivalry Leaves Us Wanting More

chivas_chivalry.jpg

Euro RSCG is out with a new commercial for Chivas Regal. The agency was asked to "strengthen Chivas Regal's premium positioning in mature and emerging markets by giving it a strong and distinctive point of view."

The spot opens on a man trudging his way to work on a cloudy day in a sea of lemming-like people. He's clearly questioning his purpose in life as as he voiceover intones, "Millions of people. Everyone out for themselves. Can this really be the only way? No." And with that, the man turns and goes his own way.

The spot then toasts life with words and phrases such as gallantry, doing the right thing, giving a damn, straight talk, freedom, true meaning of wealth, the brave and "a code of behavior that sets certain men apart from all others."

And, finally, "Here's to us." Live With Chivalry.

more »

by Steve Hall    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary



What's that Underfoot? ...No, Not a Bell.

walmart-hark-how-the-bells.jpg

"We're opening more lanes than ever ... to make Christmas shopping easier!"

Given what happened at its Long Island location, I think it's sorta weird that WalMart's still airing this ad. I saw it at least eight times this weekend -- and each time, without fail, it brought to mind the Black Friday Death Trample.

In it, lights from open aisles flicker to the tune of Carol of the Bells, which always struck me as a semi-creepy song anyway. (Don't make me explain why.) But now it also rings with the heavy panting of crazed, slightly overweight bargain hunters, indelible red splatters ... and the cracking of bones.

The spot first aired during the 2007 holiday season. Co-workers claim a woman was trampled then too, but that's cool because she was "a repeat stampede faker, from what I read," one dutifully disclosed.

WalMart, what good are extra checkouts without an orderly entering and exiting process? Stampedes don't organize themselves.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Promotions, Strange, Television



Adidas House Party A Celebrity Hipster-Fest

adidas_house_party_ss09.jpg

Everyone loves a good house party, right? Especially one with lots of good music, dancing, (drug-induced?) finger painting, pixie dust, fireworks, gambling and celebrities. So if this all came together and Russell Simmons, DMC (nice guy), Ilie Nastase, David Beckham, Kevin Garnett, Young Jeezy, Katy Perry, Estelle, Ting Tings, Missy Elliott, Jeremy Scott, Kazuki, Dynamo, Ryukyudisko, Afra, Method Man, Redman, Mark Gonzales showed up, it'd be the perfect party, right?

Sadly, it's just an ego-fueled, self-indulgent, hipsteresque celebu-fest akin to, oh, say, the recent AgencySpy party (kidding, Matt. Seriously!) masquerading as an Adidas commercial. And if this weren't enough, there's a two minute version of the commercial coming out after the New Year.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials



Bob Garfield Gives Widgets A Thorough Exam

bob_garfield_trim_flex.jpg

"Branded widgets are the refrigerator magnets of the Brave New World," says Bob Garfield in a lengthy Advertising Age article in which he examines widgets, compares them to specialty advertising and dubs them "the magical connection between marketers and consumers."

Garfield notes the widget space will "amount to something like $100 million." Though not a small sum, he also adds, "it's a sum even an endangered species such as NBC Universal can shake out of the sofa cushions."

He spoke with Jackson Fish Market Founder Hillel Cooperman who laments marketer's malaise and his frustration with their lack of interest in widgets. While marketers seem to clearly understand the day's of the :30 spot are numbered, confoundedly, they act like a deer in headlights when it comes to moving ahead with alternative methods of marketing.

more »

by Steve Hall    Dec- 1-08    




Frankfurter Allgemeine Pokes Holes Through ElBaradei

xray-frankfurter.jpg

Under its classic slogan "There is always a clever mind behind it," German paper The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung is running a campaign depicting various "clever minds." At left is UN Chief Inspector Mohamed ElBaradei in a state of exceptional transparency.

Hmm. What he needs is a red nose. Then we'd really have a party.

See variants for Billy Wilder, Helmut Kohl and Vitali Klitschko. All smart stuff, comparable to some of the better work we've seen for The Economist and BusinessWeek.

Photos by Nick Veasey. Curiouser still? See making-of and interview with ElBaradei.

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Magazine, Newspaper, Political



Throw Your White in the Air Like LeBron!

lebron-talc.jpg

For his signature sneaker the Zoom LeBron VI, "Chalk" lovingly exploits LeBron James' habit of throwing talcum powder into the air before each game. Watch as others follow suit -- with contagiously patriotic reverence -- to the slightly narcotic Candyman by Cornershop.

The spot aired on Thanksgiving day and features cameos by Greg Oden, LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Daniel Gibson, Anderson Varejao, J.J. Hicks and Lil' Wayne. By Cohn & Wolfe in tandem with Wieden & Kennedy/Portland.

more »



Just Imagine if 'The Network' Could Clone You.

vodafone-share-the-love.jpg

It's common during the holidays to wish you could be many places at once: everywhere you're obligated to be, and everywhere you actually want to be. So instead of promoting the girth of its network, Vodafone claims it'll let you make the most of now.

In this ad, a guy on an iPhone traipses casually around town, doing everything he wants to, and ends up at the door of a booty call. (Well, I guess it could also be his sister.) Anyway, as he walks, he's joined by clones that have done still more.

Expect the song, Because I Do by Katie Sutherland, to stick with you awhile.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 1-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television