Hospital Campaign Gets Artistic

We don't usually expect to see famous impressionist artwork in hospital ads which is why this ad campaign for New Hampshire's Exeter Hospital by Boston-based Winsper jumped off the pages of the press release and slapped us pleasingly in the face. With the tagline The Art of Wellness," the campaign aims to, well, be different and, thankfully leave behind the overused, meaningless white coat and cutesy family imagery of which most hospital ad campaigns, sadly, consist. The creative will see representation in print, on radio and on billboards. See all the creative here.

Dentsu Demonstrates Fine Line Between Fandom and Activism

The fine people at Dentsu Canada created this magazine ad that won Finalist caliber at this year's IAA Young Creative Competition in London. Peel the pro-Justin message off a love-starved fan's sign and turn her into a passionate anti-war activist.

If only it were that easy in real life. Though we're less jarred by the girl's transformation than the contextual change of the goofy-looking man with the open-chested shirt and necklace behind her.

Copy reads "Support a better cause" and is for the United Nations Youth Group. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Levi's Scores with On4Life

Despite the lame On4Life tagline and the suggestion they've done this before, Levi's Red Tab campaign gets its point across nicely and doesn't waste words doing it. It also happens to be damn good-looking. Check out the subtle use of shading in one variation and the contrast between dark, light and body shape in another.

We've always lamented Levi's unique penchant for creating visually stunning, provocative adwork while somehow still managing to suck in the real world. Let's hope they get it right. They can start by firing the douche who named the campaign. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Talking About Sex Makes For Better (And Safer) Sex

Before the wonders of the Internet, we never had the pleasure of experiencing how open other countries are about the subject of sex. In America, we toss the subject into a box, throw away the key and hope no one ever finds it. Caffeine Marketing points us to a Belgium-based sex and AIDS awareness campaign by Sensoa. There are several versions of the ad that were developed for both the general public as well as specific audiences such as school children and homosexuals. Translated, one of the ads reads, "Oral, vaginal, anal. How about verbal? Say what you like, what you expect, how far you will go. And expect the same from your partner. Because good agreements makes good sex."

Moses Parts Sea to Nasty Surprise

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

Radar Magazine Just...Won't...Die, Returns Again

In this week's Advertising Age, that on again, off again culturati wannabee magazine Radar has placed an ad announcing its return. We've lost count but we think this is at least the third time the magazine has attempted a comeback. While we've seen all manner of magazine ads touting their numbers as if they were the only choice a media buyer could possibly make, there's something cheekishly inventive about this Radar ad. Especially the last fact: 0 subscriptions ordered by the Holmes-Cruise residence.

Draft FCB Gives Yet Another Reason Not to Select Them

Adrants reader Dresden directs our attention to the super-classy Draft FCB congrats ad to all the winners from last summer's Cannes ad festival.

Dresden wryly notes, "Perhaps they should be the first to receive the 'Neal French Award' for non-creative, derivative, tacky work trying to pass as advertising..."

Ooh, that burns going down. Bottoms up to Draft. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Cosmetic Racism Makes Wearers Rather Ugly

Here's a good Saatchi & Saatchi campaign in which Racism becomes a cosmetic in a little jar that turns its users into human ogres, as demonstrated by the images and the slogan: "The more you apply it, the uglier you become."

Racism is cosmetic when you think about it, so the comparison is apt. Check out the female variant and one of ambiguous gender. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Saatchi Congratulates Toyota on Marketer of the Year Award

In just two short sentences, "Thanks for always pushing us to do our best. Then being brave enough to sign off on it," Saatchi says so much about the strength of a good agency/client relationship. At least until the client picks a new agency. The sentences appeared in an ad congratulating Toyota on being named Advertising Age's 2006 Marketer of the Year.

Just Another Drop in the Wine-Guzzling French-Speaking Bucket

Here's a series of print ads that merits some attention just because we had to stare at them for awhile in order to understand what was going on. The caption reads "More than 5,000 bottles to open." The images are bottle openers in various states of injury (and one suicide) presumably after trying to unscrew that number. Variations on the ad are available here and here.

The series is for 1855, a Paris-based internet wine purveyor. Damn, French-speaking countries just love their wine distributor ads. Nobody else seems to bother. - Contributed by Angela Natividad