Adrants

Hyundai Pussies Out of Dropping Super Bowl Spots

2008-01-18T17:25:04Z

With what Advertising Age calls Hamlet-like indecision, Hyundai has decided to keep its ads in the Super Bowl after all.

Here's our brief coverage of its flirtation with pulling out. (We hate that!)

AdAge dubs the move "a most unlikely ploy to drum up pre-Super Bowl buzz." Replace "most unlikely" with "feeble," and you've got our opinion.

Not to tear open old wounds, but waffling was what lost Kerry the 2004 election. (Say what you will about Bush, at least we always know where he stands. To our endless, purgatory-like chagrin.)

And going back to that useful Hamlet reference, didn't everybody in that play die because he spent such a long time caressing his volatile emotions?

For Royal Treatment in Developing Nation, Build Brand that Doubles as Tarp

2008-01-18T17:15:51Z

We spent some time in the Philippines last week. Good news for old-school brand goliaths: free promotion is alive and well alongside freeways and in living spaces (at the same time!).

That, and offshore telesales. We're in the money now, baby.

Who's to Say Technology Doesn't Get Under the Skin?

2008-01-18T17:08:43Z

Adrants reader Atif sent us this spot, snapped by Engadget at CES 2008. It causes us physical pain.

Not to say every questionable piece doesn't have its audience. Atif thinks the veins as headphone wires idea is cool, actually.

McDonald's Ends Report Card Advertising

2008-01-18T17:00:34Z

Everyone bitched and McDonald's listened. Under pressure from the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and 2,000 angry parents, the fast food giant haspulled the advertising it had placed on Seminole County, Florida's report cards. Graciously, McDonald's will still pay the cost of printing the report cards, the initial reason given for the ad placement.

Heart-Shaped Crotch Shot Promotes Italian Footwear Quality

2008-01-18T16:57:58Z

In the customs line at Heathrow we saw this leggy ad reading "I love Italian shoes."

And then we blinked. What's that logo in the upper left-hand corner? Is that a wide-open, heart-shaped pair of legs? Then we understood. If crotch shots keep Britney in the public eye, why not use the same method to promote the quality of Italian footwear?

The logo and ads are brought to you by ANCI, the National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers. The ad we saw (and hastily snapped for posterity) goes on to say, "The words 'Made in Italy' are a guarantee of fine Italian-crafted shoes."

Who are we to say a quality product can't open wide every once in awhile?

Pocket Geek Game Tests Management Skills

2008-01-18T16:37:17Z

We really like when business to business advertising leave behind the idiotic metaphors that so pervasively fill their advertising and, instead, opt for something, well, more fun. For power plant and air traffic control software developer QNX, Fuel Industries created The Pocket Geek, an online game whereby the player acts as manager to a developer for a five day project. In the game, a set of management tools helps the manager keep the developer fed and his productivity up. Between each day, there's an IQ quiz. Unfortunately, we blew the pocket geek up after just two days. Guess we suck as a manger. It was fun though.

Cheetos Gets Really, Really Weird With Orange Underground

2008-01-18T16:34:00Z

After spending some time with Cheetos' new Orange Underground, a full blown movement "committed to transforming sterile order into messy mayhem," its primary purpose of urging people to do wacky Random Acts of Cheetos that don't involve eating makes perfect sense. After all, Cheetos aren't even food. They're just a bunch of man-made chemicals mixed together and placed in a bag. This campaign is much like the Mentos/Diet Coke thing whereby people were urged to perform all manner of chemical wizardry as opposed to actually consuming the products, both questionable, at best, as to whether or not they, too, are actual foods.

Denver Wants Ego, Effie Calls Green, Absolut Does Vaginas

2008-01-17T17:54:00Z

- The Denver Egoist, which covers the Colorado ad scene, is in search of an additional writer and is holding an essay contest. Check it out here.

- It seems American Idol judge Paula Abdul along with Madonna may perform during the Super Bowl. No one at FOX is confirming or denying anything and it's unclear when (and even if) either of them will make an appearance.

- Maybe because it's now OK to make movies about girls who have teeth in their vaginas, it's OK to develop an ad that looks just like the body part.

- The Green Effie Awards has announced its call for entries which will be due February 15. The Green Effies honor eco-marketing campaigns. Info here.

Teacher Suspended After Students See Her in Racy Ad

2008-01-17T17:45:00Z

How many times have you done something you've regretted? Perhaps more that a few if you're the average human being. Thankfully though, for most, these regrets don't end up on YouTube for all to see...including your employer. This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened but British private school teacher Sarah Green has found herself suspended from her job after her students unearthed a video she did for Scruffs Hardware construction clothing two years before taking her current teaching position.

Gondry Lays Waste to Internet for 'Be Kind Rewind'

2008-01-17T17:39:50Z

We used to be fans of Michel Gondry, the father of lush Levi's commercials and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But then he came out with The Science of Sleep and shattered our childlike faith in his ability to do no wrong.

We're willing to forgive him, though. Check out the website for Be Kind Rewind, his latest oeuvre, created by Sydney and Tequila Australia.

Rascal Flatts Says Milk Rocks. Do You Care?

2008-01-17T17:30:04Z

We're not really sure who Rascal Flatts is. But they think milk rocks, and that's cool with us.

"Milk Rocks" is a contest that will be promoted online and on milk cartons nationwide, as well as on school lunchroom posters. Impressions are expected to hit one billion.

Oh, yeah. The terms of the contest: starting March 1, fans can hit milkrocks.com and upload videos of themselves karaoke-slaughtering a Rascal Flatts song of their choice. The winner gets a private meet-and-greet, a webcast concert with the band, and a meeting with a Lyric Street Records A&R rep.

To Up Bread Sales, Grain Foods Aims for Carnal Appetites

2008-01-17T17:03:00Z

We like this cute take on a sinister fairytale. Instead of Hansel & Gretel, think gorgeous girl with good shoes. And instead of breadcrumbs in a forest, think breadslices in a well-furnished house.

And instead of running home to a mean woodcutter and bitchy step-mom, think yummy guy, in bed, with sandwich.

The moral of the spot? White bread's rich in folic acid. Folic acid helps make healthy babies. Enjoy.

This is probably the sexiest way of promoting bread -- without offending the everyday mom's senses -- we've ever seen. It comes courtesy of Mullen, on behalf of Grain Foods Foundation.

Realistically, we'd probably be pissed-off and slightly disturbed if our mate tried seducing us with a trail of breadslices. But hey, Grain Foods, you can sell us bread anytime.

Earnest Firm Goes Sherpa: 'We Are So Not an Agency'

2008-01-17T16:31:28Z

LaBov & Beyond is this delicious mesh of old-fogeyness and "I swear I'm cool, I swear!"-ness.

When we last covered them, they were trying to generate creativity with a whiteboard website. This time around, they're spreading word that LaBov & Beyond isn't an agency at all. Latest positioning statement: "LaBov, the Un-Agency Agency."

Wondering what LaBov & Beyond is? We're not sure, but we bet it involves a lot of super-expressive words that don't actually say anything. See PDF.

But hey, we're into their earnestness. LaBov vibes like a dependable bunch, even if not flawlessly hip.

Cloverfield Sets Potential Audience Members on Apocalyptic Scavenger Hunt

2008-01-17T16:02:17Z

Movie Marketing Madness wrote a really detailed column about the guerrilla campaign for Cloverfield, the New York apocalypse horror film that was seeding images of a headless Statue of Liberty long before it had a name to call its own. (Is that a metaphor for our lives?)

From what we can tell it involves a camera, a party and the end of the world. Naturally, hijinks ensue.

Anti-Advertising Efforts Backfire, Cause More Advertising Overload

2008-01-17T15:39:00Z

The human brain is an amazing thing. It does so many complex things with complete ease. Luckily, one of the things it does is filter out, according to some, is the up to 5,000 advertising messages a city dweller sees each day. This is a very good thing. Because if the brain weren't able to filter out the incessant onslaught of advertising and consciously processed each of those 5,000 daily messages, it would explode quickly sending the owner of that brain to the nearest mental institution.

In some respects, advertising is a never ending cycle of idiocy. People ignore ads so marketers just create more. People block ads so marketers just come up with more methods to circumvent that blockage (just wait until you see the DVR-proof side and bottom bar ads the nets will soon implement).

Guinness Beer Made From Dots...Really

2008-01-17T14:30:52Z

Created by IIBBDO Dublin, this new Guinness Dot commercial explore the life of a dot and how it realizes it's many opportunities as it grows, meets other dots, explores and...becomes a glass of Guinness beer. Huh? A bit of a stretch but as one person pointed out, if you can be anything, be the best. The best being Guinness, of course. Right. Still a bit of a stretch. Wonderfully creative though and always great to hear Donald Sutherland's voice - even if it makes us think we're watching a Volvo commercial.

Five, FIAT Seize Relaxed UK Ad Regulations to Promote FIAT 500

2008-01-17T05:55:41Z

UK-based Five.tv and FIAT Automobiles have joined forces to promote the FIAT 500 online and outdoors. This may not be a huge deal Stateside, but it's a big deal in the UK, where OFCOM recently relaxed regulations for terrestrial channel sponsorship.

Fiat seized the moment and blew a wad for a whole evening on Five. Its FIAT 500 will also be unveiled at the British Airways London Eye on January 21st at 8pm.

The launch was timed to occur exactly 500 hours into 2008, which will be docked on a countdown clock on Five.tv via 10" and 20" commercials.

Manhattan Unveils Pay-Per-Potty, Execs Are Stoked

2008-01-17T05:45:03Z

Last week New York City unveiled its first automatic pay toilet. For $0.25 and at a limit of 15 minutes per use, you could hit a streetside loo that automatically self-cleans.

The effort to promote the APTs (as they're so trendily called) was called First Flush. The automatic public toilets were unveiled last Thursday.

"City big-wigs," as WCBS TV calls 'em, say this is "a truly historic occasion."

Bravo for progress, especially when it's in the ass-wiping arena.

BFD Takes on New Meaning With Domino's Pizza Builder

2008-01-17T00:51:57Z

Now please. Are we really supposed to believe the only phrase the oh-so-witty copywriter had in mind when developing the BFD acronym for this Domino's Pizza website was Big Fantastic Deal? Oh to have been a fly on the wall in that concepting session. We can almost hear the high school boy humor through the conference room door as the dudes at Crispin Porter + Bogusky crafted this beauty.

Aside from all that, this pizza builder site is pretty cool. It's simple to use. It gives a great visual representation of the pizza you are creating. And, after you've finished playing around, you can get the thing delivered to your door. Not that that's anything new or anything but it's a whole lot more fun than just selecting from a printed menu.

Apple: The Only Company Capable of Designing Products Properly, Thinketh Steve Jobs

2008-01-16T19:25:24Z

You gotta love a CEO that falls in love with his own product to the exclusion of all else. In a NYT interview Steve Jobs calls the Macbook Air the most elegant of Apple's computer designs, lavishing affection even on its four adorable footpads.

"Some of the competitors' machines are so flimsy," he reportedly gushed, "they require a fifth or even sixth pad to keep from sagging."

Keep the image of those sagging competitor footpads in mind when you've absorbed his take on the Amazon Kindle and Google Android.

Current, T-Mobile Pair Up to Lavish Dollars on Would-Be Advertisers

2008-01-16T18:22:00Z

If you've ever fantasized about a trip to Scotland, now may be the time to enter what may be the mother of all UGC contests: the Current and T-Mobile VCAM ("viewer-created ad messages") Assignment. We just watched an entry called "Leader of the Pack," which bored us stupid. But it did have bagpipe music.

Entries are accepted 'til Feb 25. If your video is worthy of Current airtime, you could win $1,000 -- slave wages in the ad industry, but who are we to judge.

If the sponsors want to air your ad elsewhere, you could get anywhere between $5,000 to $50,000. And yeah, somewhere in there is a free trip to Scotland. So start recording, squares.

Movie Trailer Suddenly Becomes Smirnoff North Commercial

2008-01-16T18:17:25Z

In what first appears to perhaps be a movie trailer, we see aerial shots of the arctic North complete with dramatic iceberg cliffs, the clear blue sea, under sea ice flows and floating icebergs. It's matched perfectly with a movie preview-style voiceover and continues as such until a giant dagger with blueberries on it smashes into a towering iceberg. As the camera pans in and then back it's revealed the entire scene is a glass of Smirnoff North, a new, berry-flavored vodka. At the same time the scene changes a new voiceover steps in and completes the commercial.

We like the ad's simplicity. It was created by JWT with effects rendered by Version2.

Sarah Michelle Gellar, Eva Longoria Drink HINT to Reinvigorate Careers

2008-01-16T18:03:35Z

What do you do when you've pigeonholed your career in an award-winning TV series? If Eva Longoria and Sarah Michelle Gellar are any indication, you get behind a beverage. (Or change your name. The sirens of Desperate Housewives and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are now, legally, Eva Longoria Parker and Sarah Michelle Prinze. Uh ... yeah.)

Eva and Sarah, among other celebrities, are helping promote a flavored water drink called HINT. It boasts zero calories, no artificial sweeteners and total lack of tact.

Here's to their health. (We're brand-whore traditionalists, so we'll stick with Evian.)