Court TV Series Says Marriage is Forever, Murder is Eternal

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While perhaps extremely pessimistic to think this way, these Court TV commercials (one, two) for the net's John Waters-hosted 'til Death Do Us Part scripted series about spouses plot the death of their life partners will resonate with anyone who's been married for more than three years. They make their point perfectly.

by Steve Hall    Mar-19-07    
Topic: Cable, Campaigns, Commercials, Good



Nike Reviews, Miracles Whips, Viacom Sues, Nick Marches

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- MTV has added a user-generated category to its Movie Awards.

-Nike is opening an agency review with its U.S. business, currently handled by Wieden + Kennedy, getting first look.

- After many years with JWT, Kraft's Miracle Whip is heading over to DDB.

Mark Cuban must be laughing his ass off now as Viacom, following unproductive settlement talks, sues Google and YouTube for $1 billion in damages.

- If your into the whole March Madness thing, Coke has a nice Brack-O-Matic site that makes picking teams easy.

- Nickelodeon UK has launched Musical March, a site where kids can create their own musical videos and upload them to the site. The best videos will air on Nick JR Video.

by Steve Hall    Mar-13-07    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Cable, Online, Video



Sharpies Cuts Through Crap, Gets to Point

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Sometimes a well-written, polite letter just doesn't cut it. It certain times, what's needed is the purest, most unfiltered expression of thought and what better devive to transfer that blunt thought to a piece of paper than a big 'ol sharpie. In a new Brand Buzz-created campaign, that's exactly the message. There's no need to waste time with fancy words when you can quickly scrawl out your thoughts with a Sharpie.

A collection of :15's broke February 19 on national cable and print will hit March issues of Better Homes & Garden, Family Fun, Parents, People, Sports Illustrated, Martha Stewart Living, Redbook and Oprah.

See the ads here, here, here and here.

by Steve Hall    Feb-27-07    
Topic: Cable, Campaigns, Commercials, Good, Magazine



Blog Seeks Attention of Ari Gold in HBO 'Entourage' Promotion

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Hmm. Must be time for the next season of Entourage on HBO. Hmm. Paging Ari Gold? Hmm. Yup. It's time. Looks like we've got a cute little bloggy blog and YouTube video action here promoting the February 24th return of the series. We love how we get these tips from gmail addresses as if the sender is stupid enough to think we won't know this is an HBO-created promotion.

UPDATE: OK, OK. We give. The denials are coming in from left and right. This dude is freakishly on his own in his attempts to get Ari's attention.

by Steve Hall    Feb-15-07    
Topic: Cable, Video, Weblogs



Entercom Called 'Criminal,' FM Gets Responsible, Bud Gets Funny

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- FMBQ reports Royce International Broadcasting alleges to the FCC that Entercom, which hopes to acquire 16 CBS radio stations, is "a highly-leveraged criminal enterprise that cannot be relied on to serve the public interest" an wants the sale stopped.

- It seems the idiocy that is the FM radio promotional stunt may come to an end. FMBW repoprts, "After radio contestant Jennifer Strange died from water intoxication - the result of KDND/Sacramento's water-drinking contest Hold Your Wee for a Wii - syndicated radio personality Erich 'Mancow' Muller has announced that he is creating the Foundation For Responsible Radio and calling for an end to 'voyeuristic FM radio stunts.'" Nah. Opie and Anthony are still out there.

- Cynopsis reports the President's State of the Union address was viewed by a combined station total of 45.5 million people, up from 41.7 million in 2006.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jan-29-07    
Topic: Brands, Cable, Radio, Super Bowl 2007, Television



McDonald's Places Subliminal Ad on Cable Network

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Get ready for the return of the proverbed naked girl in the ice cubes of liquor drink ads. Or at least single frame brand blips on television shows such as the Food Network's Iron Chef America. YouTube user H20ay32 posted this video capture of a recent broadcast during which a single frame of the broadcast consisted of the Golden Arches and McDonald's tagline, "I'm Lovin' It." While McDonald's did obviously sponsor the show with on screen billboards, this subliminal placement by a major brand is sure to create debate.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jan-23-07    
Topic: Brands, Cable, Guerilla, Trends and Culture



Doritos Begs Customers for Super Bowl Ads

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Yahoo and Doritos marry up for a consumer-generated-media contest in which the best Doritos video to hit their site by mid-January gets aired on a coveted Super Bowl spot. A crass man at the bottom of the screen repeatedly shouts, "Watch and vote for your favourite Doritos commercial NOW!"

We were really into Doritos for a minute because they had that Japanese nut-crushing thing going on, but then they started littering and now they resort to the all-time laziest but most prevalent campaign style of the web 2.0 world: begging.

We're embarking on a new horizon in which we were supposed to work with consumers, not beg for creative at every open opportunity. Are we just going to hand over our cushy jobs and Foozball-ridden offices like that? Just like that? Come on, guys.

by Angela Natividad    Jan- 5-07    
Topic: Bad, Cable, Games, Television, Video



Monster Works at Finding Work by Asking Why We Work

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Asking for consumer opinions and airing them as ads is super trendy, and Monster hops on the clue train with Monster Works for Me, a campaign running on just about all iterations of traditional media to ask us why we do what we do.

Created by Brand|Content out of Boston, it "recognizes the multiple reasons why people work and the passion that drives them," says agency CEO Doug Gladstone. "In short, no matter what you do, or what you'd like to do, Monster has the tools and resources that can help you find the right match, so you can be successful at whatever you pursue."

While we can't claim it pulls much creative weight it certainly moves the long-dormant Monster in the right direction as people are more interested in what they have to say than what companies have to say anyway. And it definitely helps to play mirror. So cheers to Monster.

by Angela Natividad    Jan- 3-07    
Topic: Cable, Campaigns, Good, Magazine, Online, Outdoor, Radio, Television



Samurai Kittens People Invite You To Look In Santa's Pants

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COG1 takes a pause from bloodying kittens to deliver What's in Santa's Pants, a confusing, slow-loading site for Fuse TV. Guess what's in the pants of a pervy Santa perched between a contentious elf and a Russian ... hooker? Muse? Cookie-baker? We don't know why she's there aside from making eye candy and strained comic relief. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

by Angela Natividad    Dec-15-06    
Topic: Cable, Games, Online



Moses Parts Sea to Nasty Surprise

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A detail-rich image, coupled with a story almost everybody knows from childhood, do heavy-handed justice to the usual "don't litter" message. We can just hear the chosen ones complaining about the litter as they trot across, kicking debris out of the way with their sandals, as Moses clutches his temples in consternation.

Brentter points us to this ad by Young and Rubicam, Paris for social-minded and trendy Surfrider. We think it's clever and a touch risque, especially in this political climate, but for an Echo Boomer grassroots organization it's an interesting break from the "let's ignite the young/zealous/psychotic!" guerilla campaigns and cut-outs of dead people. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

by Angela Natividad    Dec- 4-06    
Topic: Cable, Good, Magazine, Poster