Pro-Skaters Call Foul on BBDO Content Rip

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From the Adrants mailbag:

My skater friends have been sending me a link all day long that shows a blatant - and I mean blatant - BBDO rip off of a [Spike Jonze] directed skateboard video [...]. The original was from the most popular skate video in years, but obviously, someone's creative director hadn't seen it:

o Original, and far superior.

o The fraud.

The only way that is legit, would be if Spike did it himself... but quality-wise, it just doesn't stand up.

The ad labeled "the fraud" was put together by BBDO Mexico for Snickers, oddly enough. Pro-skaters Steve Berra and Eric Koston are so pissed about the Spike Jonze rip-off that they posted it on their blog and are trying to drum up some righteous rage.

More on this over at Agency Spy, which has a translation for the Mexican Snickers spot as well as comment from Berra.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-20-09    
Topic: Agencies, Bad, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials



Modernista Promotes Own Layoffs, Continental Advertises Crash

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- Oops. Modernista!'s crazy website which isn't really a site but an application that points people to other sites that have written something about the agency is now finding it's "site" touting the agency's recent layoffs.

- Oops. Continental Airlines plane crashes. CNN writes story. Continental Airlines ad shows up right beside story. Classic contextual advertising fuckery. When will someone figure this shit out?

- Oops. The fake Denny's Nannerpus ad is better than the real...uh...originally fake Nannerpus ad. Confused?

- Oops. Overstock.com is selling Illusion's rape simulation video game.

- Oops. The economy sucks. Everyone's drinking. Everyone's having sex. But ads still suck.

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-09    
Topic: Bad



In Case You Thought Their Interests Were Limited to Beer Pong and Travel Abroad...

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...White people also like Jewish men and Thai girls. At least that's what Google AdSense told us on StuffWhitePeopleLike.com's "Political Prisoners" page.

All together now: "Contextual advertising FTW!"

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 9-09    
Topic: Bad, Online



Crispin Porter + Bogusky to Lay Off 60 Employees

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Oh no! Say it ain't so! Even Uber-agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky is facing tough times and has had to reduce its staff of 900 by 60. Katie Kempner, VP of communications sent us this statement.

"In response to the current economic climate, advertising budgets are being reduced in virtually every industry. On a comparative basis, CP+B's business is doing well but we are not immune to the constriction of the economy. Our two main responsibilities are to our clients and to our employees. And in order to most prudently manage our business, we have
take the difficult step of reducing our staff by 60 of our 900+ employees. We do not anticipate any further staff reductions. These are extraordinary times and we hope that we will not have to do this again."

Well, there you have it. Best wishes to all. Getting laid off sucks and there's no other way to put it.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 5-09    
Topic: Agencies, Bad



OK, OK. We'll Write About Your Super Bowl Commercial, GoDaddy

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Yawn... Oh wait. Sorry. I almost fell asleep there viewing GoDaddy's two contenders (the voting is TIGHT!) for this year's Super Bowl, Baseball and Shower.

Baseball is a lame attempt to recapture the, at the time, racy sexiness of the original commercial featuring Candice Michelle. It fails. Shower is a lame attempt to portray Danica Patrick as a sex symbol. It fails.

You can view the two spots at GoDaddy.com and vote.

Let us know if you made it through without yawning.

by Steve Hall    Jan-22-09    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Super Bowl 2009



Oh Look! It's a A Super Bowl Ad From CareerBuilder

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Finally! Apparently someone read our story in which we wondered where the hell all the pre-Super Bowl game excitement was. That someone is CareerBuilder who graciously sent us one of the spots they will air during Super Bowl XLIII.

Created by W+K and called Tips, the spot does the 12 days of Christmas/99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall thing citing of all the things we might hate about our jobs and why we might consider switching jobs if we are experiencing any of them.

If you hate going to work...
If your co-workers don't respect you...
if you wish you were somewhere else...
If you cry all constantly...

You get the idea.

While we like the spot, we're positive repeated viewing will cause a serious case of Saved by Zero syndrome.

by Steve Hall    Jan-22-09    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Good, Super Bowl 2009



'Just 1' Square of Toilet Paper, and Lots and Lots of Twitter News

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- Ketchum's FedEx faux-pas. "True confessions" probably don't belong on Twitter. Particularly if you're a Veep trying to seal a deal.

- Various types of Twitter birds complete with cheesy-but-empowering! traits of eagles.

- If you cannot heat the Healthy Choice mixers, you don't deserve to.

- "Where balloons go to die."

- A goal worth texting for.

- Twitter as Hudson crash citizen journalist.

- A yarn worth remembering: Lotus claims you can successfully swab your sunshine with "Just 1" square of super-strong TP. Uh-huh.

by Angela Natividad    Jan-16-09    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Skittles Loses the Plot.

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In the latest of its "_______ THE RAINBOW, TASTE THE RAINBOW!" ads, Skittles gives us the perplexing "Tailor." In it, a guy gets measured for a suit in front of three mirrors, each of which reflects a man of a totally different ethnicity. (One viewer felt this approach represents the "different perspective" each mirror brings to your life. Uh ... hrm.)

Anywho, one reflection pulls out a pack of Skittles and starts poppin' them. "Wait. I'm not eating Skittles," the customer protests, at which point the tailor starts shouting at the reflection in Thai.

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by Angela Natividad    Jan-15-09    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



Niche: Toys for Grown-Ups.

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No, not three-prong vibrators and gag balls. Actual toys. Like, to show off to your friends and/or prop up on the mantlepiece beside your as-yet-unwrapped collection of first edition Star Wars action figures.

Because being a toy-loving adult doesn't mean you've got sex on the brain 24/7. Some grownies are just gung-ho, copiously-tatted dorks that enjoy stylish mythological creatures. And flannel.

By BooneOakley/Charlotte for Niche, whose online store we visited out of curiosity.

Half its product categories (including TOYS!) have nothing in them. Bad e-tailer, bad!

by Angela Natividad    Jan-12-09    
Topic: Bad, Brands, Campaigns, Online



McCain's Country First Fails to Ignite Evangelical Spark

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John McCain hopes to reshape the Republican party -- and reignite his supporter base -- using the same social media tools that betrayed their obsolescence.

But Country First, launched with help from the same web consultants that helped him lose his campaign for POTUS, is no contest to Change.gov, the Obama administration's way of keeping people involved with government at a granular level. It currently does little more than solicit donations with cheap euphemisms ("Become a charter member!") while pushing a smarmy, superficial "McCain loves America!" video -- which can neither be embedded nor shared.

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by Angela Natividad    Jan- 9-09    
Topic: Bad, Campaigns, Online, Political