Madness Record Gets Spit-Shined by Zazz

liberty-norton-folgate.jpg

Madness, a band, just released The Liberty of Norton Folgate, which it's promoting by way of ad nostalgia.

The spot appropriates old Cheer spots where a Very Sterile Man washes soiled shirts with both Cheer and "ordinary detergent." In this case, the soiled accoutrement is The Liberty of Norton Folgate. The latter was washed in both ordinary detergent and fictional brand "Zazz."

Five and a half out of Madness' seven band members concluded the album was vastly improved with the latter. We're not sure what happened to the other one and a half members, but it probably had something to do with the button labeled "Permanent Press" and those pesky spin cycle propellers.

Clever. But wait -- does this mean Liberty is less profane, or less gritty, or just really, really wet?

Work by production team Gas & Electric; directed by Sell! Sell!.

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-19-09    
Topic: Good, Promotions, Video



It's Another Ozzy Osbourne Ad. We're Sorry.

ozzy-samsung-jack.jpg

Samsung enlists the head of the Osbourne household yet again to debut its Jack personal assistant handset.

In the spot, Ozzy makes almost-funny jokes about how the phone is more attuned to his needs than previous human assistants, which respectively had hearing problems (for obvious reasons) and kept odd hours (the daytime ones).

It is surprisingly not horrible. But in the event that brands race out right now with a mad hankering to book a seat on the Ozzy train, we're at pains to remind you he's got a full docket: World of Warcraft's already aboard, plus Samsung's planning still more spots.

The one-time dauphin-of-Darkness must be a helluva prince to work with.

more »



Danger Mouse Charges Ridic CD Rate; Shouts 'Pirate Away!'

dangermouse-blank-cd.jpg

Piracy's looking pretty good these days, and a handful of popular artists have done what they can to demonstrate they don't support the act of suing music fans that also happen to be flagrant file-sharers.

Radiohead gave away In Rainbows online in '07 on a pay-as-you-wish basis, followed by Saul Williams, whose Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust gave you the option of paying a $5 support donation. Just recently, Del the Funky Homosapien opted to give Funk Man out at no charge, jokingly dubbing it his "stimulus package."

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-19-09    
Topic: Good, Packaging, Promotions, Trends and Culture



World's Longest Burp An Oxfam Commercial

worlds_longest_burp_oxfam.jpg

This is absolutely the most hilarious and disgusting (at the same time) thing we've seen in forever. And it's an ad! For a cause group no less. So remember the guy who used to do huge burps in high school? Of course you do. Every school has one. This guy is that guy.

And as the teacher always used to say to that Olympic High School Burper, so says this ad, "Do something better with your name."

And who said juvenile burping couldn't be put to good use?

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Cause, Good, Strange, Video



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

Among Women, Fling's Fingers Make a Limp Tease

fling-mars.jpg

After 20 years of riding its existing array of brands, Mars introduces a new candy bar: the Fling, a skinny, "shimmering" (wait, what?) 85-calorie chocolate "finger" whose packaging is hot pink and whose creative invites you to "pleasure yourself."

Just not beyond a PG-13 rating. We just watched the first-ever ad, the first 15 seconds of which gave us that embarrassed schoolgirl flush: two pairs of legs in a dressing room, making motions and noises as if they're doing The Do.

The camera pans over the tops of the rooms, revealing the frisky couple is not a couple at all. The man is in a separate room, grunting as he struggles with clothing that's two sizes too small; and the woman, who's finished shimmying into a tiny dress, moans with quiet glee as she collapses into a seat and pleasures herself with one of Fling's, uh, fingers.

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-19-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Strange, Television



Six-Packed Hunks and Bikinied Babes Commute in New York

swimsuits_new_york_grand_central.jpg

Casey writes, "It's got to be for something, but I'm not sure what it is..." Well thanks for the detailed information, Casey. We really appreciate it. But, yes, it's definitely for something but we know not what it is. Anyone care to shed some insight on why men and women are walking around New York today in swimwear?

Is it related to that similarly-themed promotion that had similarly-dressed men and woman wandering the streets of New York on Friday?

Either way, it's definitely a travel promotion of some sort.

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Guerilla, Promotions, Racy



Ten Grenades, An Exploding Car and 5,426 Car Parts Say Slow Down

auckland_rodney_district_drive_safely.jpg

This is drive safely commercial for Auckland's Rodney District is an amazing piece of work. Truly amazing. Not as technically amazing as Honda Cog or as emotionally charged as the classic The Faster the Speed The Bigger the Mess (which you can view here) but still, amazing.

Saatchi New Zealand, working with production company Flying Fish and a demolitions engineer, blew up a car with ten grenades and then reassembled the vehicle, piece by piece, creating a work of art. The finished piece is stunning. And the music. Well, that works too.

more »

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Best, Cause, Commercials, Creative Commentary



Threadless Plugs Twitter Tees with TweetPR

huge-on-twitter.jpg

Threadless is developing a crowdsourced line of tees with statements from Twitter. Users can enter any tweet for inclusion; the best tweets are voted on by the community and ultimately turned into shirts.

More exciting than the crowdsourced chest manifestos, however, was the PR, which Threadless decided to limit to 140 characters:


Chicago, IL (PRWEB) May 19, 2009 -- @Threadless to crowdsource #TwitterTees. @Biz says "Awesome!" http://thrdl.es/~/R

Isn't that the most beautiful pressie you've ever seen?!!

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-19-09    
Topic: Packaging, Social



Here's Work for Robots that Star Wars Neglected to Cast.

robot-dance.jpg

US Cellular launched a really neat program called Battery Swap. If you're on the road without a charger and your phone's dying, or your battery is just really crappy in general, visit a US Cellular store to exchange your old or uncharged battery for a new one -- at no charge.

To promote the program, Publicis & Hal Riney went diving in the generic mascot bargain bin. The result of that pursuit is a poindexterish robot character who dances and slaughters multi-generational slang

(*shakes head sadly*) How far some robots fall while others penetrate untold heights of stardom.

more »



Jezebel Gets Frisky, Malibu Bowls (Again), Google Bitch Slapped

Jezebel_Ads_main.jpg

- The Firsky thinks Gawker site Jezebel is engaging in double talk by lambasting sexist advertising while accepting money from advertisers who, according to The Frisky, make sexist advertising.

- Subway is out with a new Subway Kids game.

- More Malibu Rum Island Bowling silliness.

- adMarketplace would like us to know "For the second straight quarter, Google reported that it cut its Traffic Acquisition Costs (payments to AdSense publishers) in the first quarter of 2009. Their payout to publishers dropped 1.7% in Q4 2008, and an additional 2.1% in Q1 2009, costing AdSense publishers thousands of dollars."

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Commercials, Games, Online, Research, Weblogs



Because Melting Crayons Have Everything to do With Your Friends

us_cellular_crayons_hal_riney.jpg

This would appear to be a lot of money to spend simply to tell people you'll back up their mobile phone contacts, something Verizon has been doing since, well, ever. Now U.S. Cellular (does anyone even use U.S. Cellular?) wants us to know they, too, will back up your precious contacts. And U.S. Cellular does know they are precious.

So how was this accomplished? We couldn't gush better than the press release which reads, "To highlight U.S. Cellular's 'My Contacts Backup' feature, which stores your numbers even if you lose your phone, the team found inspiration from the idea that your phone numbers aren't just numbers; they're connections to the people who matter most. The spot celebrates the humanity behind what a phone brings to your life in a colorful way."

Yes, people, your friends are melting crayons.

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary



Douchebags All Across the Club Make Me...Puke In My Mouth

puke_in_my_mouth.jpg

Rosie Siman points us to a hilarious sequel to the SNL skit Jizz in my Pants. This one's called Puke in my Mouth and it's from MsTaken which sells fake engagement rings. So what makes the oh so familiar actress (oh, it's Michelle Nunes) in this video puke in her mouth?

Jizz, of course. Inner thigh perms. Facebook wall posts. Tub farts. Jeans. Bananas. Tom Cruise. And more. Give it a watch.

The work was created by comedy video production group, Pantless Knights. About 1.1 million views after a couple of weeks isn't bad but it's no where near the 50 million or so the original got.

by Steve Hall    May-19-09    
Topic: Good, Racy, Strange, Video