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You Never Know What Life on a Farm Will Deliver

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Well wow. This commercial take a long time to make its point. But it does so interestingly and, like a Lost episode, in a way you least expect. From Israeli agency Shalmor Avnon Amichay comes this work for internet service provider Orange.

by Steve Hall    Feb-25-10    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Panama City Wants Frolicking Families And Drunk College Students

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The annual ritual of Spring Break is upon us and, like a migrating bird, the communities which host this drunkfest change with the wind. And those which do decide to put up with thousands of hafl-dressed, drunkenn college students puking on their sidewalks do so with trepidation. And let's not forget the $40 billion that gets dropped on these towns each March.

Ft. Lauderdale and Daytona Beach used to rule. Now they look like senior communities compared to their former incarnations. There was Lake Havasu and others. Now Miami Beach, Cancun, South Padre Island, Punta Cana and Panama City rule.

But Panama City wants the best of both worlds. They want to be a family destination and, for two weeks in March, a top spot for Spring Break. And they're spending money to accomplish both goals. can they succeed? Can they sell the same place to two very different audiences? With campaigns and a social media effort, they hope so.

by Steve Hall    Feb-25-10    
Topic: Campaigns



Copywriter Wants to be Treated Like She's in Kindergarten

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She's cute and she's young but she's mostly wrong. Not that it matters that she's cute or young. But she's still mostly wrong. Of course a creative brief should be brief, concise and not an attempt to share the entire strategic plan or be misused as a CYA document. But when Rapp Worldwide Senior Copywriter Lauren Warner tells us a creative brief should be written as if we were speaking to a kindergartner, well, that's just stupid.

Yes, we need to avoid throwing the kitchen sink into it. It needs to offer insight. It needs to distinguish the brand from another. It needs to form basis for the development of a great idea. But to argue the brief should be oversimplified to the point it leaves out important information (um, demographics, competitive information), that it should be "fun" and that it should be akin to something like "short sentences + action verbs = happy creative team" makes all creatives sound like a bunch of whining twentysomethings. Oh wait.

Seriously? Seriously, Lauren? Do you really think creatives should be spoken to as if they were five-year-olds who can't interpret anything more complex than a Dick and Jane book? Seriously?

I've always had a simple solution when it comes to dealing with people who complain about process and it's simple: do your fucking job.

by Steve Hall    Feb-25-10    
Topic: Worst



Honking Hooters Are Funny...Until They Don't Honk Any Longer

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OK so the whole honking hooters thing is nothing knew but we find the application of the joke in this video urging women to get a mammogram to be both humorous and compelling. You see, breasts are fun. They're fun to have, fun to play with, fun to look at, fun to make jokes about.

But it's no laughing matter when it comes to breast cancer. No laughing matter at all. The video was made by Alexandra Askot and Rafael Donato.

by Steve Hall    Feb-24-10    
Topic: Cause



Ad Council Says Re-Learn Life Without Cigarettes

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Having viewed yet another truth interview commercial and made the decision not to bore you with it, we decided, instead, to share a different take on quitting smoking. And it has to do with readjusting to a life without smoking.

From GSD&M Idea City (wasn't plain old GSD&M good enough?) comes this Ad Council campaign for Legacy called EX. Along with two television commercials (see below), there's a website on which those who hope to quit an share their successes and challenges.

There's also radio, posters and branded air fresheners. See all the campaign elements here.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb-24-10    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Poster, Radio



Funny Accents, Golfers Underwear, Copied Ads, Going Dutch

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- Golfer John Daly says, "Slix boxer briefs are the most ridiculously comfortable underwear I've ever put on"

- Juggalo gets parodied.

- Wanna hear what people sound like in these here parts? Give a listen to Matt Van Hoven's This Week in Advertising.

- There's nothing like going Dutch to McDonald's By the way, where's the cause group to protect the Dutch from appearing to be cheap?

- Apparently, this commercial is supposed to sell sneakers. it just puts us to sleep.

- Danny Bloom tries to save the old fashioned "snailpaper."

- Is the Bud Light Observatory commercial a riff/copy of an IBM video from a couple of years ago? You decide.

by Steve Hall    Feb-24-10    
Topic: Celebrity, Spoofs



Cleavage Not Allowed in Colorado Springs

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Ladies, if you possess the pulchritude necessary to form a significant amount of cleavage, you may not be welcome in Colorado Springs. Well, at least your cleavage isn't. So, cover up, wear an old lady bra or get a breast reduction.

That would appear to be the message Lamar Outdoor has sent the community when it banned a transit poster that showed cleavage. But get this. It was puppet cleavage. Not even human cleavage.

OK so the fact the cleavage belonged to the Muppet-like character Lucy the Slut, star of the Broadway show Avenue Q, might have something to do with the decision but seriously? What's next? No more Smokey the Bear ads because he's not wearing a shirt?

by Steve Hall    Feb-24-10    
Topic: Celebrity, Outdoor, Policy



'Fake' Facebook Profiles Promote Biographies

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Facebook's been used to promote everything else so why not create "fake" Facebook profiles to promote biographies of world figures? That, apparently, was Duval Guillaume's thinking when it launched Facebook profiles for Albert Einstein, Fidel Castro and Nicolas Sarkozy.

The profiles offer up quotes and images from the books as well as hosted comments and discussion of the figures. But only enough to tease so that you'll want to run out and buy the book, of course.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-10    
Topic: Social



Golden Gaytime Remembers the Gay Old Times

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"It's hard to have gaytime on your own." Yea, we think it's weird too. But remember. Gay didn't always mean gay back in the day. The Golden Gaytime, the actual name of an actual ice cream treat in Australia, wants us to relive the gay old times. The kind of times that were just, well, gay. Before the word was hijacked for another purpose.

Look up "boner" for another similar hijack..

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-10    
Topic: Strange



Gretchen Bleilor Outshines Lamar Odom in Conceptually Similar Ads

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There's graceful. And then there's crass. Graceful is sending Gretchen Bleiler into space to the tune of Lou Reed' Perfect Day. Crass is sending Lamar Odom into space as if he were in an episode of flash Gordon.

Grace is illustrating an athlete's desire to continuously reach new heights. Crass is minimizing those desires to the notion a candy bar is the sole reason an athlete can reach new heights.

Grace is creating a commercial that is uplifting and beautiful. Crass is creating a commercial that is silly and stupid.

by Steve Hall    Feb-23-10    
Topic: Bad, Celebrity, Creative Commentary, Good, Opinion



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