Gorbachev's Louis Vuitton Ad A Political Message Delivery Device?

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That Louis Vuitton ad featuring Mikhail Gorbachev sitting in the back of a car next to a Louis Vuitton bag while staring out the window at what's left of the Berlin Wall seems, on closer examination, to contain a political message. New York Magazine features a segment of the ad blow up which appears to be a book or magazine with a title that reads (translated), "Litvinenko's Murder - They Wanted to Give Up a Suspect for $7,000."

Interesting. The person referred to, Litvinenko, was the Russian spy whose death was attributed to Putin's henchman. New York Magazine wonders whether or not ads are the new method of worldwide communication between politicos and spies. We just think it's an art director's or photographer Annie Leibovitz's idea of witty political commentary

by Steve Hall    Nov- 5-07    
Topic: Celebrity, Magazine, Newspaper, Strange



Anthony's Pizza Tells Colorado Residents to 'Eat Me'

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Continuing its quest to bring New York-style vulgarities to the peaceful, mountainous region of Colorado, New York-style Anthony's Pizza & Pasta says "Eat Me" to residents from atop billboards, alongside buses, from within newspapers and on radio. When it comes to pizza, or any food for that matter, there really isn't a simpler, more direct method of conveying the primary marketing message. Cultivator Advertising & Design created the campaign.

by Steve Hall    Oct-18-07    
Topic: Good, Newspaper, Outdoor, Radio



Long Island City's Powerhouse Puts Ads on Booty

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Continuing his asses-in-advertising and real estate advertising series, Copranter brings us this ad for Powerhouse Condominiums in Long Island City. Perhaps this is just trivial trashy or perhaps it's brilliant. After all, everyone looks at a nice ass. Women do to see how they measure up and men do because, well, men are men and their behavior needs no explanation.

by Steve Hall    Oct-15-07    
Topic: Newspaper, Strange



Pizza Boxes Carry Newspaper's Classified Section Promotion

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As part of a promotion to tout its classified advertising sections, the Charleston Post and Courier launched a television and print campaign accompanied by a third, very interesting element: pizza box advertising. Yes, there's been ads on pizza boxes before but the paper's agency, RawleMurdy, worked directly with local Charleston pizza shops providing them with a total of 50,000 pizza boxes branded entirely with the paper's message and an offer for free classified listings for items under $100.

The campaign ran between August 27 and September 26. The paper reports phone inquiries and online listing are up. Not half bad in an age where many paper's are seeing a decline in classified ad revenue. You can view the print work here and one of the spots here.

by Steve Hall    Oct-10-07    
Topic: Good, Guerilla, Newspaper, Packaging, Point of Purchase



Oregon Tourism And Horizon Air Like Maps

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It seems those in the Pacific Northwest think alike when it comes to travel and tourism advertising. In early September, we took a look at a campaign for Horizon Air which highlighted the 200 mile stretch of Interstate 5 between Seattle and Portland. It's referred to The Slog for all the oddities and annoyances along the way that make taking a Horizon Air (of course) flight to traverse the distance instead.

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Ad Begs Lindsay Lohan Not to Die

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Apparently pleading with drug-addled starlet Lindsay Lohan to save herself, New Jersey-based Canterbury Institute has introduced ads with the headline, "Don't Die Lindsay!" Funny ha ha. Trouble is, they really don't care about Lindsay. They're just exploiting her to promote their own drug and alcohol addiction services. Lame.

by Steve Hall    Sep-26-07    
Topic: Newspaper, Worst



Jenny Craig Reviews, Page Six Goes Sunday, Kronkite Returns,

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- WPP New York is reportedly not going to defend its $70 million Jenny Craig crative account which has been placed in review handled by Blank and Associates.

- The New York Post is expanding its Page Six gossip section to a full blown Sunday glossy magazine section debuting this Sunday.

- Walter Kronkite is returning to television and will appear on the newly launched Retirement Living TV.

- In an interesting mashup, the Polygamous Marriage conference in New Orleans October 26 brings together media, account planing and creative to hear speakers such as Modernista's Gareth Kay, Fallon's John King and Naked's Paul Woolington.

- As if there weren't already an overabundant plethora of awards shows, AdWeek now wants to honor supposed future creative geniuses before they even become geniuses with its "10 Best Creative You Don't Know" showcase.

by Steve Hall    Sep-17-07    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Newspaper



Parker Bullshits, Ads Suck, Hyundai Un-Hyundais

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- Calling AMC's Mad Men, Dr. Ernst Dichter's The Hidden Persuaders and current motivational research "mostly bullshit," George Parker manages to get himself into Advertising Age and promote his new book, The Ubiquitous Persuaders which, if his past book, MadScam, is any indication, won't be bullshit at all.

- Magazines and newspapers aren't doing anything wrong. It's just that the ads inside them all suck.

- Hyundai's new campaign leaves behind the brand name hoping to leave behind associated cheapness.

- Has anyone else noticed how "bloggy" Advertising Age is getting and how it's now OK to "print" words like fuck and bullshit? We just thought we'd wonder publicly a bit about that.

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LA Times Smells, Diversity Rocks Apple Cart, NFL Does Video

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- If you want your NFL online...legally, that is... the league is splitting with CBS Sportsline and launching its own site to offer its library of video.

- The UK's KateModern is the answer to LonelyGirl15. Viewers and brands seem to like it. Hmm. Not as cute as Bree.

- Diversity rocks the apple cart which is why things won't change until a new cart arrives. Sadly, we couldn't agree more.

- While concern over CBS's Kid Nation increases and advertisers shy away, we're betting this thing'll be a hit.

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 4-07    
Topic: Newspaper, Online, Television



German Engineers Wish They'd Built the Subaru Imprezza

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Subaru makes good cars. At least that's what Consumer Reports says year after year. But why do most their cars look, well, so pedestrian. While that's one person's opinion, it seems, according to a recently launched campaign for the Impreza (which does actually look better than past models) created by DB Canada, German engineers are jealous of Subaru's performance.

The campaign consists of an onslaught of television, out-of-home, online, print, direct and cinema. The cinema ad broke late July and the rest is coming soon to Canadians country-wide.

The cinema ad, which you can view here, features four German engineers out for a joy ride in the Imprezza. They cruise the test track to the tune of Falco's Amadeus until they are met with the disapproving eyes of their senior engineer who mutters disgust in German.

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