OMG! No Parties at Cannes This Year?

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Everyone knows the real reason ad people go to conferences and awards festivals is for the networking and the parties, right? Oh, and other un-printable things too. So what would happen if, suddenly, there were no parties at say, for example, Cannes?

Oh wait, there are no parties at Cannes this year. BBD? No. Publicis? No. Havas? No. Leo Burnett? Unlikely. Oh sure, there will be smaller get togethers but this year's Cannes, no thanks to the economy, may end up being as much fun as a life insurance conference.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Industry Events



The New Samsung Hard Drive...Yawn...ZZZ...Oh Wait, This is Good!

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So we get this link to a video that's supposed to illustrate how great the new Samsung SSD hard drive is...

Yawn...

ZZZ...

Oh wait! This is pretty good.

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Good, Video



What Happened to the Beer Babes?

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Rising (falling?) YouTube starlet Jill Hanner wonders what ever happened to those beer ads where the beer was decided on how hot the girl was? It's a good question. Where have the Coors Twins gone? The Miller Lite Catfight girls? The St. Pauli Girl? Oh wait, she's still around.

But, seriously, it's like brewers pulled out and took a vow of abstinence or something. When was the last time beers and babes were in the same frame? Maybe it's a good thing since studies keep saying sex doesn't sell. And damn, a troll through the Adrants archives reveals we've trashed the tactic as well.

Or maybe it's just the normal course of things. After all, everyone needs a bit of a break between bouts.

by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Opinion, Racy, Video



ATTIK Out With NoiseFive

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It's round five. ATTIK, as it did four times before, is out with the fifth version of its "experimental design book," NoiseFive. The book chronicles the history of the agency from its humble beginnings in Huddersfield England to its expansion across multiple continents, the previous four Noise books and, the purpose of the books, an explosive orgasm of design.

Coca-Cola VP of Design David Butler described the book saying, "NoiseFive makes you think. What would happen if the world's biggest brands were all design-driven? The scale of impact on business and culture could be incredible. With NoiseFive, I am reminded of ATTIK's relentless focus on innovation and look forward to the future we're designing together."

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by Steve Hall    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Agencies, Publishing



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Love Hides Where You Least Expect It. Like in Condiment Bowls.

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With help from Blacklist, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners adds "Firesprite" to Frito-Lay's painfully adorable Made for Each Other campaign.

In the words of the pressie: "Made for Each Other is about that brilliant moment where two worlds collide to make an even greater whole. [...] Much like Dips and Chips, when our two heroes meet you just can't help but smile."

In this spot, a well-meaning little firesprite chars everything he touches -- until he finds unlikely harmony with a giant blanket on a windy day.

I realize how insane that sounds, but really, it's cute, and in keeping with the chip/dippy happy-ever-after we saw in the previous spots ("Sockets" remains our favourite).

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Video



'It's Just Such a Thrill When Somebody Comes Up and Says I'm Glad You Made Those Clubs.'

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To kick off its "engineering smiles for 50 years" campaign, PING puts founder Karstein Solheim on the platform. The work is a more bearable version of the sap-saturated Sprint/Dan Hesse material: it's just a simple, no-frills voiceover with product imagery.

Unpretentious, nice and neat. By The Martin Agency, whose class-act status was heavy on the spin last week as the result of news that it would lay off staffers -- and give competing agencies up to half the shafted Martinites' first month's pay in exchange for hiring them.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



Heavens, No, It's Some Guy's Ass!

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Fashion whore Jeremy Dante put our eyeballs in touch with the rear-wheel drive on this Armani Exchange ad -- which is currently languishing on the cutting-room floor.

Here's the story: the piece was slated to hit New York's Meatpacking District but was rejected by the Van Wagner Billboard company, which deemed it too racy. General consensus blames the rejection on the man-lumps, but I don't know, maybe it had less to do with that than the fact that it looks like he's wanking in a corner.

As an addendum to that, there's also the matter of the copious cleavage (which, to be fair, never really stops anybody from appearing on a billboard) and implied menage-a-trois (do fashionistas mind the occasional gangbang?). But hey, if the internet says VW's rejection is all about ass, then who are we to argue.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Poster, Racy



The FedEx Box: Both Medium and Message

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Diggin' these prints by DM9 DDB/Brazil. In each, a FedEx delivery box is positioned as a conduit for items that bear some storytelling cachet. Two sets of hands, reaching toward each other from top and bottom of the frame, represent giver and receiver.

Perfect delivery, no pun intended. (Don't you hate it when people say that? Because if the pun isn't intended, isn't it terrifically convenient that it's there?)

See Trumpet -- the more popular piece -- and Robot.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Magazine, Poster



Sexting Suicide, Sad Pups for PETA, Evan Williams' Life in Longform

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- Adidas launches branded video hub. Welcome to Bandwagonsville!

- New Pearl Jam website by Freedom + Partners. Site includes a puzzle that lets users "unlock" songs from reissues of Ten. Puzzle completion can be timed; people can compete for speed.

- Evan Williams: just a poor but honest farmboy.

- BeanCastin' it up: "I'm for Sale" with Bill Green, John Wall and the spirit of Ben Kunz. (Take a shot every time I say "like" -- and thank me when you've got the goggles on tight.)

- Media that shapes Advergirl's worldview.

- Who Watches the Watchmen?

- Helping PETA help themselves.

- Sexting suicide.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Guerilla, Strange



Handplay Advocates for Rubber Dish Gloves

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Gery Colombia interprets Scotch-Brite for whimsical clean-freaks with print ads where rubber gloves are manipulated in the shape of animal bits. At left is Chicken; also see Cow and Crab.

Not - terrifically - original, and heavy with the Real Simple aesthetic.

Wonder who still uses kitchen gloves to wash dishes. It'd be interesting to see a semi-campy glove ad where these bad-boys are used in unexpected -- and yet useful! -- ways. Like putting them on your feet to tightrope over electrified wire. Or something.

by Angela Natividad    Mar- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Magazine