New Coke Cans Celebrate Summertime

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Coca-Cola kicks off barbeque season with a set of fresh and festive Coke cans. Each is red with the silver silhouette of something summery -- sunglasses, a grill, a beach ball -- and the logo, either peeking out of the image or interacting with it some other way.

The one at left looks kind of like Diet Coke masquerading as Coca-Cola Classic. (We'll leave you to make the aspartame-laced-wolf-in-sheep's-clothing jokes.) But this is infinitely less gauche than the limited-edition Ramadan cans.

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by Angela Natividad    May-12-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Packaging



Tweets on Rich Media, Meaty Love Messages, Jobs on the Wire

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- Finish the sentence: "Without advertising..." (LOL at "I'd have a savings account.")

- French agency Pourquoi tu cours (trans: "Why are you running?") is selling itself -- and its services -- via eBay and Facebook. The founder claims bids have exceeded 2,010 euros.

- Following fast in the footsteps of Volvo and Land Rover, Universal Studios will start incorporating live tweets in its rich media ads for certain films. Expect to see them in late June.

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-30-09    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Guerilla, Online, Packaging, Social



Ska Brewing Introduces Rotgutzen, A Beer For Babies

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Yes, you read that right. Beer for babies. "Hand-crafted by robots, every can comes with the promise that you won't be able to tell the difference between it and the one before it.With no measurable taste of distinct flavor, you can enjoy Rotgutzen without ever wondering if it tastes 'good' or 'bad' or even 'OK.'"

Specially formulated to helps kids transition from womb to barroom, the benefits are numerous for the little ones: lower alcohol content to teach responsible drinking, small bottles for small hands, great for teething, mixes great with processed mush, scientifically proven sleep aid, better for babies than whiskey and helps delay angry teen years.

What's not to love?

Oh, and yea, if you haven't already figured it out, the whole things an interesting Red Tettemer-created anti-campaign for Ska Brewing...which makes actual real beer for grownups. And which has an actual, real website.

by Steve Hall    Apr-14-09    
Topic: Good, Packaging, Strange



...but Won't the Fibers Destroy that Fine Watery Flavour?

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Designer Benjamin Edgar is responsible for the minimalist packaging behind Boxed Water is Better, which helps bottled-water elitists be more eco by using packaging made from renewable resources.

The, uh, box format that's become so popular with other fine beverages means empty containers can be shipped flat back to a water plant. More flattened boxes can fit in a truck than whole bottles, so emptied Boxed Water containers require fewer truckloads.

Nothing's sexier than a rapidly-shrinking carbon footprint. (Writing that out makes us think of Chinese foot-binding, which is sort of uncomfortable, and probably has more to do with our psychological states than this campaign.)

by Angela Natividad    Mar-23-09    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Packaging



'Guns, Blood, Drugs ... What Else Could You Ask For?'

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Got this email blast from Echelon Studios this morning and that header totally perplexed us. What else could we ask for? In my mind, Steve was all, "Hot bitches!" -- and I was like, "...microfiber cloth...?"

The blast is a promotion for two (appropriately) made-for-DVD titles: Death Rattle Crystal Ice ("meth, murder, mayhem"!) and Blood-Stained Romance ("sometimes love doesn't have a happy ending"). Priceless blurbage from the latter:


Soon lies turn to murder launching Holden into a spiraling bloodbath of violence and desperation as he tries to hide the infatuation that feeds his madness. Through it all, he tries to cling to a trembling grip on reality, as love and pain coalesce into a shocking "climax".

Melodramatic run-on sentence? Check. Use of the irresistible "coalesce"? Check. Quotes around "climax"? Check, baby, check.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-13-09    
Topic: Online, Packaging, Promotions, Strange



SBUX Value Meals, Doe-Eye Prejudice, Recovery for Dummies

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- The Obama Administration's recovery.gov logo kinda reminds us of...

- MoMA shoots for socially-minded redesign. (It should probably start here, though.)

- Google's Eric Schmidt's a Twitter-hater. Well, maybe "hater" is too strong a word.

- For once, an instance where extreme prejudice may improve your online quality of life. (Via that one guy whose site's all covered in Skittles.)

- Hella happy over drillwork.

- Starbucks value meals? Seriously? Sell your stock. Now. Because a licensing partnership with Hello Kitty is just around the corner.



Don't Pay to Learn Words You'll Never Use; Just Read Billboards.

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Continuing its quest to make every nut-loving man we ever met sound like an asshole, Snickers ramps up "Snacklish."

"Snacklish" exists solely to leak Snickers Speak into the vernacular. Impressionable minds will be exposed to various iterations of Snacklish on TV, billboards, print and digital.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Outdoor, Packaging



By Gad -- a Bra that Demands Creativity!

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We're not really sure why something like the Doodle Bra should exist -- much less why you'd want to graffiti your lingerie with friends, or under the watchful eye of Proud (and Copiously Botoxed?) Mom.

What we do know is that the Doodle Bra is real, tantalizing us with its Chinese convenience store packaging, mocking us with its generic markers and broad selection of stencils.

Here's an encouraging thought: someone out there is getting rich this way.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar- 4-09    
Topic: Packaging, Strange



Because a Villain's Not a Villain 'Til You Can Buy 2, Get 1 Free.

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You gotta admire a guy who can throw a blanket over $50 billion and make it disappear.

Pay tribute to this modern-day Svengali by investing in your very own Bernie Madoff action figure. For a paltry $149.99, you'll get plenty more than did the overeager speculators that hosed Madoff with their hard-earned savings: a plastic doll with a fistful of cash, and a wristwatch plated in 24-karat gold!

Hard-up? Aren't we all. Scale down with the $110 variant. He's not as snappily-dressed, but he does come with a hammer the size of his head.

Big-ups to @bloggersblog for the links.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-17-09    
Topic: Packaging, Trends and Culture



Facebook's Scary Content Stance, Gatorade's Mid-Brand Crisis, 'This is Why You're Fat'

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- Facebook revises TOS, Twittersphere goes apeshit.

- Wisdom from the front lines. Via.

- Gatorade's new packaging and naming conventions betray desperate need to fit in with the minimalist lifestyle 2.0 crowd. Here's an idea! from reader Elinora: "Make a drink that doesn't taste like vomit!" Come on, Ellie, it's not Gatorade's fault; those are the electrolytes.

- Hardees/Carl's Jr. slips into the Daytona via YouTube.

- "Do we need a new internet?"

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-16-09    
Topic: Best, Cause, Good, Online, Packaging, Social