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Lenovo Incorporates (Possibly Literal) Kill Switch into Laptops

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When Lenovo told us about its laptop theft preventative, the SMS Kill Switch, we didn't think they actually meant "kill the thieves dead."

That's the vibe we got when we saw "Laptop Theft Goes with a Bang," a video promoting the new feature, seeded by The 7th Chamber.

But if it's any consolation, even as the street crook spontaneously combusts, you can rest assured your laptop remains both safe and scratch-free.

The SMS Kill Switch now comes stock in new Lenovo ThinkPads. Actual WCDs (weapons of crook destruction) probably need to be modded in -- but hey, if iPhones can open car doors, that can't be hard.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Brands, Packaging, Promotions, Video



Yo T-Dog. Me And The Homies Went Rollin' Down to Chi Lake

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OK, so Chicago Lake liquors is an "urban" liquor store with low prices. Why? Because "urban" people can't afford higher prices? Because suburban white people are cheap and have no problem traveling to "urban" space to get their freak on? Because you can never get enough Crystal or Hennessy?

Aside from all those potential cause group-style alarm bells, this campaign for Chicago Lake Liquors from Brew is not afraid to go all Vanilla Ice on us with every over-done white-guy-goes-black tactic in the book.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Good



'This is just so ... hippy dippy happy!' Steve said.

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Wawa's pushing its yearly Hoagiefest new media-style: with the requisite Facebook, and online video, etc. etc. But like last year, the campaign's big deal-breaker is a song commissioned by Parry Gripp.

Witness the magic at hoagiefest.com.
The animation, unabashedly high-pitched music and the prospect of a fresh hoagie lights up our innards like psychedelic pot. For Steve it conjures up Woodstock "with maybe a little Up With People thrown into the mix" -- for me it's totally Beatles circa Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

This year, fans can join in the fun by making their own songs or videos, then voting for each other's. Winning entrants could win a year's worth or hoagies -- or hell, their own Hoagiefest. (What would you do with such a thing?)

by Angela Natividad    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Brands, Events, Good, Online, Promotions



They May Not Smile; But Ask Nicely, and You'll Get a Pirhouette

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Heh. This is clever. For the New Directors Showcase at Cannes, Saatchi & Saatchi released a video in which some ordinary guy barks marching orders at the Buckingham Palace Guard -- and, amazingly, they obey, even when he asks them to do little leaps, jump on each other's backs, dance to reggae and "RIDE 'IM LIKE SEABISCUIT!"

At this point the stunned crowd gets the sense that this is a stunt, and there is much cheering and carrying-on.

Let's hope this wasn't an intern's stolen idea. In any event, if the New Director's Showcase is something you dig, hurry up and enter here.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Agencies, Events, Industry Events, Promotions, Video



Force Fed Diversity Nets Photoshop Disaster

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We're all for diversity but not when it becomes forced efforts both in real life and in Photoshop hack jobs like this cover of Toronto-based Fun Guide. You can't fake diversity which is exactly what the magazine did when it chop shopped a perfectly decent, racially-nebulous photograph of a family for its cover.

Nope. We need a black man, stat!

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by Steve Hall    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Magazine, Opinion, Worst



SPAM Crashes the Bored Room. AND YOUR LIFE.

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We're just waiting for the spoofs on "Break the Monotony," a campaign for SPAM -- yes, the meat whose identity you can never quite peg -- put together by LAIKA.

See "Bored Room," which depicts bread slices in a meeting, falling gradually into comas, until SPAM leaps in, Kool-Aid Man-style, and crashes the party.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Strange, Television



24DP Hawks Online Video Skillz Off on eBay

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Ripping a sheet outta the playbooks of CP+B, Pourquoi tu cours, Rocketboom (which sold inventory, not creative power), and possibly this guy, 24DP is is using eBay to auction off its award-winning director services.

Bids have exceeded $2225.00, which makes this a success in our book, and there are still 5 days and 4 hours left on the clock. Make the Logo Bigger also encourages labor-whoring skeptics to "view it from the POV that it's a one-time deal to get them on the radar of more agencies and anyone needing viral/spot/video help."

And of course the shipping's free.

Keep track of what happens -- without having to keep visiting eBay -- by following 24DP on Twitter.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-10-09    
Topic: Agencies, Online, Promotions



Tim Gunn Touts Tide. Consumer Reports Corrects Him

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Tim Gunn knows a thing or two about fashion. By association, he knows a thing or two about laundry detergent. Strike that. He only knows what Tide pays him to know. In a recent Tide Total Care commercial, Tim touts the anti-fading qualities of the product.

Taking Tim's Tide claims to task is Consumer Report's Theresa Panetta who examines the commercial's claim Tide won't fade clothing after 30 washes. After testing the claim against two other detergents, Consumer Reports found Tide Total Care faded a test dress "just a little bit" compared to All Small and Mighty.

But the big insight was discovering the third detergent, Tide 2X Ultra Coldwater, did just as well as the other Tide detergent, Total Care, at half the price.

So while Tide's commercial claim is technically true, they'd rather us not know they make another product that does just as ell but costs half as much. Greedy bastards.

by Steve Hall    Jun- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Commercials



Fifty Winning Killed Ideas Unveiled Next Week

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The time is near. In fact, the day is next Tuesday. The winning fifty Killed Ideas will be unveiled and a People's Choice Vote will be launched. You will be able to choose which of the fifty Killed Ideas are your favorite so make sure you visit the site on Tuesday.

The coveted Killed Ideas Volume I will also be released Tuesday. Getting your hands on one won't be so easy though. The books are being sent to some creative gurus in the industry, worthy members of the press and special friends who have mailed in their bribes. OK, so the last part isn't true but Adrants will have a few that will be offered up as part of a yet to be determined contest.

Are you one of the fifty? Make sure you're here Tuesday to find out.

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



Emma Watson Brings Charm to Burberry

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Fresh out the Harry Potter franchise, Emma Watson returns to earth on behalf of Burberry, which managed to score her in full postpubescent splendour.

She's clearly not the geeky kid witch we all took her for -- although this Mary Poppins-esque carpet bag leaves us with the sense she may have a few tricks yet. Or maybe she's just hiding an oversized umbrella that conjures the east wind when she needs to make life-changing nanny trips.

Brought to us by the incomparable Jeremy Dante.

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 9-09    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Magazine, Poster, Sponsorship



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