BAT-Test Shatters Long Held Belief that We Are, in Fact, Superhuman

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This is almost too engaging. To promote the premiere of Bionic Woman, take your BAT.

The BAT-test is where you can have a bionic assessment made on your super-extremities. The examinations are simple but actually pretty hard, and they can all be solved via keyboard.

Apparently Adrants is only 39 percent bionic. We're bummed.

Well, even if you can't be all powerful, you can at least watch Jaime Sommers try balancing life and paramilitary affairs on NBC's series premiere, which hits TVs on September 26th at 9/8c.

by Angela Natividad    Aug-22-07    
Topic: Best, Games, Online, Promotions



BooneOakley Runs For Saucony Account, Literally

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Charlotte-based BooneOakley is in the running for the Saucony account. Leaving it at that, though, would be a giant understatement regarding the lengths the agency went to to deliver the RFP to Saucony's Boston office. A team from the agency literally ran for the account - 859 miles to be exact - from Charlotte to Boston and documented the entire trip on a blog with videos.

Sadly, it seems, no one at Saucony is aware of the agency's extreme efforts as no one but a lone intern website coordinator from the marketing department was in the office last Friday to receive the RFP when the running team finally arrived. Contents of the RFP aside, Saucony should hire BooneOakley for the intense dedication and effort it put into running for this account. If it's any indication of the ongoing dedication the agency would give the account, Saucony would be wise to choose BooneOakley.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-13-07    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Brands



Smirnoff's Multifaceted Purity Message Makes Powerful Statements

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With not so subtle environmental and political commentary, this new JWT London-created commercial for Smirnoff - sent to us by Adrants reader Scamp - just blows away any recent liquor ad - or any ad, for that matter - we've seen in a long time. With amazing special effects and bone-chilling Soviet-style music, the sea rebels against man's carelessness and penchant for war mongering by eradicating itself of human byproduct to illustrate Smirnoff's "extraordinary purification" and deliver its "Clearly Smirnoff" tagline.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-31-07    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Brands, Commercials



DMBDO is the Ultimate Agency. Really. Seriously. Go Look.

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"Welcome to DMBDO, the hottest agency in the business, where the work comes first, unless something better comes along." This is the welcome line for Puppet Agency, a wicked take on agency life in serial form.

We tried in our lazy two-minute way to figure out who was behind it, but the whois on the domain is, of course, anonymous. But we've been tipped it's BBDO. Blue Sky Agency.

The featured agency episodes, though, are funny as hell and surprisingly insightful. They take every inane frustration you suffer at your desk, talking to all sorts of digression-happy vainglorious folk, then magnify them - with puppets! And oh, what a theme song.

See the first installment, Junior's Advice. Way to encapsulate a character that doubles as both puppet and complete tool.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-12-07    
Topic: Best, Online, Spoofs, Video



Old Spice Stakes Claim to Tony Stewart's Armpits

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If we ever thought Old Spice was past its prime, we were horribly wrong. We should have guessed they had long-term comic genius when they enlisted Bruce Campbell to help them win youngbloods with winning condescension.

The grand old deodorant brand hits us again with a spot called Armpit for its Collector's Edition. Compiled by Wieden+Kennedy, it begins and ends with the maniacal laughter of the company's "marketing president," Alex Keith.

We don't want to blow the spot for you but this print ad sums up the humor and vibe.

Armpit marketing is actually a clever idea. And good inclusion of yellow flare and exclamation points! They give the whole concept just the right amount of trying-hard! pomposity.

We love Old Spice. If we were 100 percent male back here, we'd all be Axe wearers, but boy do we love Old Spice.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-12-07    
Topic: Best, Celebrity, Commercials, Human, Promotions, Sponsorship



Perrier Nails Left-of-Center in the Bullseye

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In hopes of winning points with the edgy and the tongue-in-cheek, Perrier launches Show Me Perrier.

The site works a little like Stumbleupon. You click on the Perrier logo (which, instead of "Perrier," says "Sexier") and it brings you to a new Web destination without driving you out of the Perrier site. Then you rate the content or contribute your own site to the mix.

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by Angela Natividad    Jul-10-07    
Topic: Best, Brands, Online, Poster



Scion Woos Wee Deviants with Sheeple Death Warrant

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After reluctance on our part and a helluva lot of persistence on theirs, Scion finally won us over with their Want 2 B Square thing. We even almost dig the cars. Almost.

But if we had a scrap of distaste left for the dumpster-esque vehicles, it's wiped away with this new Little Deviant effort they've launched for the xD, put together by the same guys who built Want 2 B Square.

The game could ride on the merit of its description alone:

"Send the sheeple from the streets and find them in the highrises. Knock the stuffing out of them and collect their blood. It can be used to your benefit. Turn that awful bleating into awesome bleeding."

Violence against sheep? Shameless bloodlust? We'd leap into a Scion right now but we'll be distracted with the Deviant site for awhile. The goth vibe and sadistic humor remind us of old-school computer games like The Seventh Guest - a nice little throwback.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-24-07    
Topic: Best, Games, Promotions, Strange



'Never Ending Story' Puts Nail in Winding Road Car Ad Coffin

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Damn you, AdFreak. We were all ready to get busy with work this morning and you go and point us to a new Renault commercial which, as well as having hotties in bikinis riding bikes, contains the theme song from the movie Never Ending Story, a movie we love and whose contagious music we can never get out of our head once we hear it. We might as well just throw in the keyboard, call it a day, go rent the movie and watch it over and over again for the rest of the day. Yes, we know, the movie and the song are totally bubble gum kid stuff but we loved them then and we love them now.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-14-07    
Topic: Best, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Strange



The London Olympic 2012 Logo Trashed, Questioned, Praised

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Creativity is subjective at best but we think we'll have overwhelming support when we say the newly released London 2012 Olympic logo sucks. On the other hand, creativity is subjective at best but also we think we'll have overwhelming support when we say the newly released 2012 Olympic logo is brilliantly infused with modernity of motion and the mastery of motivation. You choose. We can't.

Viewing the logo, designed by Wolff Ollins, initially caused an immediate WTF? Letting the logo sink in while viewing the illustrative brand video behind the logo causes an entirely different reaction. The support for the brand direction could have easily gone down the ill but well traveled road of Olympic fist pumping, rather it quite eloquently examines what motivates humans to achieve. Interestingly, it wasn't for quite some time, we realized the logo's imagery visually represents the numeric date 2012.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 4-07    
Topic: Best, Brands, Creative Commentary, Opinion, Worst



Agency Says Connection to Consumer Cannot Be Found, Offers Solution

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Atlanta-based agency WestWayne has modified it website to resemble the classic 404 Page Not Found page. Humorously, yet very insightfully, the page reads, "The consumer you are trying to sell products or services to has been disconnected from your brand."

The page then offers suggestions such as, "Stop calling them consumers, they are people" and "Build a relationship with them and they will return the favor."

It's a daring move for an agency to make. To forgo all that Flashtastic, ego-driven drivel no one cares about in favor of a simple, straight forward message is truly commendable.

by Steve Hall    May-30-07    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Online, Promotions