Industry Group Launches Mentor Program to Educate 'Next Generation'

ot_foundation.jpg

The Internet Oldtimers Foundation has established the Andy Bourland Internet Oldtimers Mentorship Program, in memory of Mr. Bourland's dedication and legacy as Co-founder and former CEO of Clickz.

Andy, who I knew personally and worked with when I was involved with MarketingVOX, opened the doors for many to be able togiving them the opportunity to succeed in the interactive marketing industry as responsible, accountable, and successful business people.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Industry Events



Because Why Get All Huffy About Oven Cleaner?

oven-pride.jpg

AdFreak takes vocal issue with this spot for Oven Pride, which got the clear in the UK after riotous accusations that it was sexist.* (Okay, maybe "riotous" is overstating.)

The ad's not sexist, our buddy blog says; it's just idiotic. And yeah, we're inclined to agree. Even taking into account that British humour is different from the American variety, everything from the man's chimpanzee behaviour to the narrator's forced "mm-hm-hm!" at the end gives us the ad-willies.

It's just a low-budget piece, screenwritten, no doubt, by housewives that produce skits for the local Pentecost. Speaking of housewives, know what yours needs? A shiny new set of Madison Avenue cookware.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Commercials, Opinion, Television, Trends and Culture



Mercedes Refines Axe-Like Childishness

mercedes_horseback.jpg

Fully clothed women riding horses in slow motion accompanied by classical music? For a moment, we thought the soundtrack would break into some hip-hop shit and a sudden gust of wind would blow the ladies' gowns off leaving them wearing nothing but their undergarmets. But no. This is a Mercedes commercial, Not an Axe commercial. We're talking respectability here. Elegance, Finery. Fully clothed women!

And true to Mercedes' refined reserve, the closest thing we get to an Axe-like witticism is an old man who, while enjoying the allure of the women on horseback, comments, "I like car commercials."

Daring!

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Doritos Unleashes Sweet Chili Lovers on Willing Webcammers

doritos-sweet-chili.jpg

To promote its Sweet Chili packs, Doritos Brazil adds a touch of the surreal to your day.

Click on "Liberte seu Doritos Lover" ("liberate your Doritos lover") in the upper left-hand corner of the Doritos Sweet Chili website, then enable it to access your webcam. Your presence on-screen is supposed to stimulate the release of a "Doritos lover" -- a friendly cartoon monster, of which over 18 trillion unique variants are possible, says Contagious Mag.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Online, Social



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

Hanes to Send 16 to Disney With T-Shirt Design Contest

hanes_disney_celebrate_comfort.jpg

Hanes hooked up with Night Agency to launch Celebrate in Comfort, a promotion which offers up 16 people a Walt Disney Celebration Vacation for four people...if they enter and win a t-shirt design contest.

You'd think with all the supposedly talented designers we have in advertising, all 16 winners would come from our industry. Well, that won't happen if you don't enter so head over to the site and get your creative freak on.

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Promotions



Three Wolf Moon Madness, Tinseltown Jailbait, YouTube XL

three-wolf-moon.jpg

- Why you should buy the shirt at left. (No, it's not a Greenpeace thing.)

- Tetris' 25th.

- Keg party on Twitter. May be a mite warm, though.

- What tacky-ass Kiss needs to do is show women trying to type with those acrylic French manis. Not so sexy when your E's and I's keep turning into 8's and 3's, are they?

- 10 examples of how crowdsourcing is (possibly) changing the world.

- Tinseltown jailbait.

- Very Funny Ads is a glowing testament to the following truth: it's not that people don't like ads, it's that they don't like shitty ads. Embrace it.

- This is kinda saucy: YouTube XL makes your favourite amateur vids deliciously watchable over big TV screens. (V-v-via.)

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Television, Trends and Culture



Nine Tips on Proper Use of Social Media For Brands

see_hear_speak_chimps.jpg

"There are a lot of social media experts out there, and I'm not one of them. I don't think your business needs a Facebook Page (actually, I say that they're largely bunk); meanwhile, I feel that a lot of "blogger outreach" is an outright waste of time. In fact, I argue that you should probably ignore a lot of tools and features out there."

Well yikes. That's harsh. But oh so insightful. Do give Eric Karajaluoto's More mess; less B.S. (or: Nine simple suggestions for using social media) for some insightful, um, insight or the merits of social media and how companies can tread properly through the overblown hype of social media.

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Social



Newsflash! Site Pimping Erotic Stimulators Crashes. Le Yawn

ann_summers_strip_rabbit.jpg

Yea, it's true. And we have the press release to prove it!. Apparently hoards of people had to check out U.S. Marine Roberto who does a bit of an online strip show to help Ann Summers promote their line of Rabbits. No, not the furry kind.

Who really knows if the site ever did crash. But who cares anyway. Check it out here. Yea. A bit of beefcake for a Wednesday morning.

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Online, Racy



The Gift for the Copywriter Who Has Everything. Except a Hobby.

multilingual-skateboard.jpg

This cool minimalist skateboard design, with "Hello" printed on it in nine or ten languages (if you're counting "Hallo"), is the fruit of a collabo between California skate label Buddy Carr and New York-based typography designer Antonio Carusone.

Top of board is black with "Hello" in white; wheels are printed too. More photos at Fubiz.

There are currently only 100 boards for sale at the not-bad rate of $160 apiece, so we strongly suggest dropping that cash like its hot. Hat-tip to @pakkoidea.

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Brands, Good, Packaging, Promotions, Trends and Culture



Asa Bailey and Cream Make Naughty with Saatchi

saatchi-london-site.jpg

Asa Bailey and Cream Recruitment tag-teamed to poach a bit of business -- and maybe some creatives, too -- from their new London neighbour: Saatchi & Saatchi.

The pair pretended to "hack" the Saatchi site (its actual site is located at saatchi.co.uk: SaatchiandSaatchi.co.uk sports subversive scribbles and a video that lends unattractive insight on the big agency's goings-on: how it crushes the dreams of earnest creatives, etc. The video's end promotes Cream Recruitment, but the lower left-hand corner features also subtle pluggery for Asa Bailey Viral Advertising.

Cold, man, cold. Though to be fair, any agency that thought this was socially acceptable behaviour was just begging to have their interns snatched.

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Agencies, Online, Promotions



Gillette Tackles the Hairy How-Tos

gillette-groin-lesson.jpg

In its latest YouTube campaign, Gillette plays the Sagacious Big Brother for lessons on shaving things you wouldn't ask your actual brother about. Well, apart from maybe the armpits, but hey, we all would've figured that out ourselves anyway; and possibly your head, but only because he probably had to do it for you first.

What we dig about the videos: they're easy to watch, no-nonsense and talk in a chill factual tone. We actually learned stuff. And we don't even need to shave our faces. Nice work by BBDO/New York and Proximity Canada.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Good, Online, Video



T-Mobile Wackos Give Trees Paperless Pelvic Thrusts

t_mobile_tree_rave.jpg

Yup. The whole flashmob/spontaneous dance party thing has jumped the shark. Actually, it jumped the shark long, long ago but T-Mobile is confirming every last shark has been jumped with its Tree Rave.

In Tree Rave, unsuspecting park dwellers are assaulted by hired freaks who, upon placement of a boom box (they still make those?), break out into a really bad tree dance causing onlookers to offer up classic WTF looks as they wonder whether or not they should grab their kids and run far, far away from these tree hugging wackos

by Steve Hall    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Strange