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Helicopter Douses Pool Party Fire With Hot Guys

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This is nowhere near as good as the first ad Netherlands travel company X-Travel did in which a not so un-lifelike plane crash occurred right in front of a beach before the joke was revealed; X-Travel is a travel agency for frat boys and their bikinied girlfriends.

The reveal is no different in this second spot but the lead up in which a helicopter "inadvertently" scoops up two guys with a forest fire water bag just isn't the same a a plane crash. Nor has it garnered anywhere near the 2 million plus views the original saw.

But hey, it's a pool party and who doesn't love a pool party?

by Steve Hall    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Good, Racy, Video



Welch's Defends the Honor of its Juice

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"Purple is the new black," proclaims a PR guy in an emailed preamble about his love of grape juice, which has been "much maligned as a sugary kids' drink that can't be natural (what could possibly be that purple, right?)."

In that manic light, Welch's, whose purple is 100% au naturelle, enlisted "food scientist" Alton Brown of the Food Network's Good Eats program.

Behold as he vindicates Welch's time-tested, suspiciously picturesque juice production practices. ("At Welch's, squeezing CON-cord grapes into natch'rel juice releases TONS of anti-awx-idants called ... po-lee-fee-nols.") He even takes time out of his day to teach us the Latin name for the Concord grape. (Veetis Labrewsca, baby.)

Boy does that ad work up a thirst. As well as a curious craving for Eucharist bread. "Uh-maaaay-zing little fruit." Thanks for your endorsement, Alton Brown!

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Television



Imagine if 'Jackass' Had an Educational Bent.

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To promote a marathon of The Discovery Channel's top shows, CA Square put together "Best of Discovery," a montage of clips where men get slapped, crocs are wraastled bare-handed, bugs get eaten live, and things are inevitably blown up.

Also, I'm pretty sure somebody got struck by lightning.

In his sauciest, most vigorous key, the narrator promises "more thrills, more explosions, more dirt ... more INSANITY." Curious? The marathon kicked off this week. No worries if you missed anything; it lasts for 13 days.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Commercials, Promotions, Television



Teleflora Super Bowl Commercial to Trash Boxed Flowers

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Oh look! There are going to be advertisers in this year's Super Bowl. Joining the list, for the first time, is Teleflora which will use its Super Bowl commercial to highlight its Valentine's Day offerings. Because for some reason, flowers delivers unboxed are better than those delivered in a box, that's what the commercial will highlight with a box of flowers asking the woman ito whom it was given, "Have you ever considered rhinoplasty?"

The commercial's tag will read, "Don't send flowers in a box. You don't know what they'll say." While that potentially could come off as funny but, really? A talking box of flowers? Rhinoplasty? Unboxed flowers better than boxed? Damn, that's a lot for a guy to take in. It's hard enough just buying the flowers.

So guys, you might want to leave the room when the commercial airs giving you plausible deniability when you fail to deliver your woman a nice (unboxed) bouquet on V Day.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Super Bowl 2009



Scion 'Samples' Puts Individuality Back in Play

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In '07, Scion seduced us with dark wit and gothic charm. Then, in '08, the company took an unexpected sharp turn down Lackluster Lane, barraging us with "limited edition" cars and other cheesy gimmicks.

(By way of explanation, a company rep said Scion's Little Deviants effort -- where "sheeple" are violently attacked by imps in custom cars -- upset a few crucial people.)

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by Angela Natividad    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Television



Geico's Kash Still Watching

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The Martin agency has added two new spots to the Geico Kash campaign. That's the campaign in which the creepy looking stack of money with eyeballs appears seemingly to indicate the money one could have saved had one been a Geico customer.

The interesting thing about these spots is that they are so random. In one, a roofer tells another roofer he's being scoped out, one assumes, by a girl. As it turns out, it's just that creepy stack of Geico money. In another, a man stops to ask a guy working on a fence for directions. After a longish pause in which the guy in the car considers how the hell he's going to get where he's going, he notices the Geico stack of money. Fence guy looks and says, "Poor fella. He must have following your for miles. Looks tired."

Cue mid-eighties dance tune Somebody's Watching Me.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 8-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Strange



Thumbnails Reduce Checkout Anxiety, Gatorade's Mysterious G Spots

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- If you can make sense of this Digitas video "created to showcase the [Indian] office team" during the company's Global Team Meeting in June, you're smarter than we are.

- Writing on Elastic Path's Get Elastic blog, Linda Bustos suggests one of the best ways to reduce anxiety during online check out is to show thumbnails of selected items order summary pages.

- Omnicom has snapped up Arnold VP of Multicultural Programs and Community Outreach Tiffany Warren to head Omnicom Group's diversity efforts. Her title? CDO? Yes. Chief Diversity Officer. Seriously.

- Leo Burnett has agreed to pay the United States $15.5 million to settle a suit which claimed the agency mis-billed the U.S. Army when it handled the account from 2000 to 2005.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 7-09    
Topic: Agencies, Online



New England Aquarium Invites You to See Turtles ... EVERYWHERE.

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The New England Aquarium's "See Turtles" campaign is an appealing exception to the no-pun rule. (Also, we like an effort that doubles as justification to take hallucinogens.)

Variants include Droplet, Water Tower and Rooftop, which will appear in magazines and newspapers.

Online banner ads -- which are also cute, if a little Clip-Arty -- include Snowman, Cocoa and Car. (Forgive us if these links break; they're hosted by Mullen.) These are slightly different from their print counterparts: in them, ordinary things take the shape of turtles over time, taking advantage of the 'net's ability to seize roving eyes. Frankly, the print stuff is better.

Work by Mullen/Wenham, MA. There's also radio material, which we didn't get to hear.



Digital Neighborhood Comes to the Aid of Abused Woman

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If you ever thought for one minute social media is just another stupid new trend dreamt up by a bunch of buzzword-happy people who do nothing but "consult" and hang out on Twitter espousing bite sized chunks of wisdom in 140 characters, you seriously need to re-adjust your thinking.

Take David Armano. He lives in Chicago. He works in the advertising business. He publishes a blog. He's active on Twitter. But this isn't about him. It's about a woman named Daniela who left her husband because she was abused and how a community came to her aid.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jan- 7-09    
Topic: Good, Opinion, Social



Not to Be Rude, But This Cupcake Tastes Suspiciously Like a Wi-Fi Hotspot

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After setting up its first-ever 4G wireless broadband network in Portland, Clearwire tapped Secret Weapon Marketing to promote its merits: better internet speeds, broader coverage.

The result was a series of irreverent prints -- and "Sprinkles," a TV ad that compares wireless coverage to cupcake sprinkles. (Rivals are represented by a stingy sprinkling; meanwhile, Clearwire's coverage deluges the bakery with diabetes-inducing hail.)

"Welcome to the future," the narrator says smugly.

more »



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