Personal Videos Share Heartwarming Red Cross Message

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With help from BBDO New York, the American Red Cross has launched a new "storytellers" ad campaign which consists of personal accounts filmed by real people affected by tragedy and how the Red Cross came to their aid. The stories are touching and eloquently capture experiences we all hope we never have to go through.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-13-12    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Consumer Created, Video



Consumer Created Ads Tout Customized Checking Accounts

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The consumer-created ad is back. Production company B-Reel and ad agency Eleven, Inc. recently teamed up to create a promotional campaign for Union Bank called Commercial by Design to highlight the bank's Banking by Design product that lets customers customize their own checking accounts.

B-Reel director Roderick Fenske shot various comedy-driven scenes that site visitors can mix and match to create up to 40,000 different commercial, which will then be voted upon with winning favorites airing as a televised broadcast spot in 2013.

by Steve Hall    Nov-20-12    
Topic: Consumer Created



House Explodes With Audio-Visual Holiday Spectacular (Revisited)

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Previously published in 2005 but worth another look every year around this time.

This has absolutely nothing to do with advertising unless, of course, this person starts stringing lights for marketers (which he ultimately did...so we guess it does now). You have to marvel at the relentless dedication and months of preparation something like this requires.

This isn't just your average Holiday house lighting. It's a full blown light and audio spectacular. The music is Trans-Siberian Orchestra's "Wizards in Winter" and the lighting spectacular was created by Carson Williams, an electrical engineer for Cincinnati Bell Technology. Give it a watch. It's a classic. And a viral sensation.

Because of this work, Williams became a bit of an internet sensation for a while and went on to bigger and better lighting design professions.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-19-12    
Topic: Consumer Created



The Worst Halloween Ad You Will Ever See

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Here is, perhaps, the dumbest Halloween-themed ad you will ever see in your life. It's cheesy, illogical and, well, just stupid. Yes, it follows the tried and true approach of people helping others when they really shouldn't but this effort is so lame you can't even get to the notion it's supposed to be funny.

Created by aftermarket additive brand Gold Eagle in partnership with crowdsource video company, Poptent, the spot, Chainsaw Psycho, aims to spoof the 1974 cult classic, Chainsaw Massacre. But all we get is further proof crowdsourcing always results in lame-ass, unprofessional work that should never see the light of day.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-23-12    
Topic: Commercials, Consumer Created, Worst



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Doritos Saves Hot Model From Elevator Fart

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Although the title of this YouTube video screams, "NFL Bans Super Bowl Ad Starring Sexy Lingerie Model," we're not quite sure anyone over at the NFL actually saw this ad. It appears to be part of the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl challenge but a search fort the name of the video or its director, Max August, finds nothing.

But who really cares about all that. It's got a hot model with bulging cleavage and a fart joke. What's not to love? After all, hasn't most recent advertising gone for the lowest common denominator anyway?

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by Steve Hall    Jan-22-12    
Topic: Commercials, Consumer Created, Super Bowl 2012, Video



Axe Thinks Customers Smart Enough to Develop Plot For Comic

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If Axe can convince guys its fragrances attract the hottest women on the planet simply by applying it, it must think it's customer base is pretty stupid. Which is why we are confused by the brand's recent launch of Anarchy, a graphic novel that asks fans to help create the story. Why the brand thinks its customer base has the intelligence required to create a plot scenario other than one centered on huge breasted women in tiny bikinis bouncing their way down the beach is beyond us. Oh wait, the comic features huge breasted women. Makes perfect sense to us now.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 3-12    
Topic: Consumer Created, Social



How to Use Lebron James to Further Your Social Media Campaign

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Leveraging his celebrity and apparent desire to become a creative director, LeBron James, NBA great and founder of Sheets Energy Strips, has launched a Doritos Crash the Super Bowl-style social media campaign which encourages people to make their own Sheets commercial.

Convincing everyone that, well, anyone could do a better job at creating a commercial than himself, James has debuted his own commercial for Sheets. It's bad in a comically bad way. But that's what this contest is all about. Encouraging people to create something much better than LeBron did.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-13-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Consumer Created, Social



Sausages Pimp Dildos, Arby's Gets Andy, UK Riots Solved

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- Dildos and sausages. Only in advertising.

- L.L. Bean has hired Weber Shandwick to create a campaign for its upcoming 100th anniversary celebration.

- Here's Andy, Arby's new commercial boy.

- Sam Pepper thinks he has the answer to the challenge of ending riots in the UK.

- What to look for in an app according to L'Oreal's Men Expert.

- AOL is out with an iPad magazine.

by Steve Hall    Aug-12-11    
Topic: Agencies, Consumer Created, Mobile/Wireless, Racy, Social, Video



Harley Davidson Unveils Crowdsourced Commercial

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There's things we like about the new crowd sourced Harley Davidson commercial from Victor & Spoils and there's things we don't. But first, it would be very easy to toss this off as crap simply because it was crowd sourced rather than created inside the walls of an ad agency. It's not crap. And it doesn't matter where it was created.

We like the commercial, called Cages, because it conveys the concept of freedom. Freedom from the confines of a vehicle. Freedom to go where you want when you want. Freedon from a mundane, predictable lifestyle.

We don't like the commercial because of its jarring ending. After being lulled into the concept, one is suddenly and harshly slapped with the closing call to action. It's just a bit rough. Maybe that's splitting hairs because the majority of the spot achieves just what we imaging Harley Davidson likely intended; that's its bikes free the soul. Or something like that.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-15-11    
Topic: Consumer Created



Slightly Stalkerish Film Wins Raymond Weil Competition

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We've all done it. We don't like to admit it but we've all done it. We see a person we'd really like to meet and we plot, plan and generally do whatever it takes to insure we "randomly" bump into the person so we can strike up a conversation.

Or...we just have coincidental meetups.

Late last year, watchmaker Raymond Weil held a film competition that focused on "the relationship between man and watch." The winning entry was entitled My Watch My Destiny.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 2-11    
Topic: Consumer Created, Video