In perhaps, one of the most ingenious uses of a fake product to sell a real product, Portal A is out with The Roominator, a fake video conferencing product used to sell a real video conferencing solution from Blue Jeans Network.
Comedian Hasan Minhaj plays the role of an office worker whose boss is threatening to fire him if he doesn't close a deal on a video conference call. To make matters more stressful, Minhaj's character receives a call from his wife who is in labor.
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Earlier this year, dating site Zoosk ran a humorous ad in which a girl kisses a frog. It was cute. It was funny. And it was a little gross. But it worked.
Now, with help from Camp + King, Zoosk is out with a series of advice videos entitled Zoosk Presents: From the Heart, that aim to answer pressing dating-related questions. If the first video is any indication, the series is going to be a snooze.
The question? A girl asks what should I wear on the first date? The answer? Red. While the Zoosk Heart Friend tries his hand at humor, he fails miserably. The least he could have done is go for a bit of silly salaciousness and answer the question honestly. Why? Because, of course, every last guy on the planet wants his first date to show up wearing the shortest, sexiest miniskirt or dress known to mankind along with 5 inch heels and a top that reveals miles of cleavage.
Oh but wait. That would be objectifying women as a sex object, right? Right.
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This BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel-created commercial for drugstore chain Super-Pharm features women dressed as lobsters, a guy who dances with the sun...and eats it along with Blue Man Group-like dancers who stand in for ocean waves. All of this activity is set to a very Charlie Chaplin-like silent film.
It's weird for sure but it's also a breath of fresh air. After all, how many more CVS-style price and item ads can you stand to watch? This is the third of a planned six ads for the chain.
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OK, first off, we really, really need to know something. Are today's women actually attracted to the cliched, razor blade-challenged man who looks like he hasn't bathed in over a week? Is that really a thing or is it just an over-used staple in a young director's toolkit?
Anyway, take a look at this two minute promotional video for music festival Electric Picnic in which a girl experiences the festival for the first time and makes googly eyes with an aforementioned scruffy-looking dude.
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My how times haven't changed. Remember that classic Goodyear Polyglass commercial which many have dubbed the most sexist ad of all time? You know the one. The one in which...OMG...you wife has to drive alone!
On one hand, advertising culture has moved beyond portraying women like moronic, bikini-clad bimbos whose sole purpose is to drape themselves across the hood of a car or stand in front of a refrigerator. On the other, we have TrueCar.com which, in a serious headscratcher, thought it smart to imply women are still hapless nitwits who have no idea how to buy a car on their own.
A not-so-recent ad from the used car site features women telling us how the site gave them the necessary confidence to buy a car on their own with one particular woman saying...wait for it..."I don't even need to bring a dude with me."
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We agree with AdWeek's David Gianatasio 100% percent on this one. Which, of course, isn't like us agreeing with Bob Garfield back in the day because, of course, we rarely did. We used to pick stupid little fights with the man over his ad reviews because, well, that's what Adrants was all about; poking holes in the media and advertising establishments.
My how times have changed. Back in the day, Adrants was a single voice of over-sized balls and horse-hung swinging man meat. Today, well, everyone's in on the game of snark. So much so that it really doesn't mean anything anymore. Just take a look at Business Insider headlines or BuzzFeed or headlines from just about any other publication which now scream extremisms to announce the fact an ant has crossed the street. Anything for a pageview.
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