Lyric Tees Come with Music, Help Charity

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I love rock n' roll. I will survive. I'm a hustler baby.

Why Tweet that profound, self-affirming lyric when you can rock it? Check out i/denti/tees. Each tee comes in its own album cover -- developed by agency POV -- and the ability to download any 10 iTunes tracks you want. (US residents only.)

Lyrics are printed on tees provided by EDUN LIVE, a charity started by Bono and his wife Ali, so a percentage of your purchase also goes to benefit sub-Saharan Africa.

All this for just $35!

Available at Hard Rock Cafes, where people are usually too drunk and/or high ("On life, man, on LIFE!") to notice price tags anyway. Also, Bill Green says Jennifer Aniston is serving as an unofficial brand evangelist. What other endorsement is there in life?

by Angela Natividad    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Brands, Cause, Celebrity, Packaging, Promotions



Self-Lovin' Scents, Twitter Marketing Help, Designer Laptops, Knowledge Hustlers

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- A whiff of Hugo Boss Femme may put you in a self-adulating, decidedly Diddy state of mind.

- Twitter marketing toolbox. *twirls finger*

- Contemplating facial hair? Upload your likeness here. For Schick -- which may actually lose customers that may have otherwise grown mustaches out before realizing they looked like Super Mario. (And not in an awesome, sliding-through-the-magic-pipe kinda way.)

- Bob Knorpp contemplates the legal saga of the Bratz. Complete with at least three hooker jokes.

- This HP Mini 1000 is brought to you by Vivienne Tam. We find them semi-sassy.

- Hey Facebook, "your dreams of avarice are fucked."

- Just another world record-breaking stunt.

- Cab driver advertises MBA credentials to customers. One good thing you can say about this economy: it makes everyone a marketer.



Microsoft Does Softwear. No, That's Not a Typo.

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Having failed (twice!) to woo young defectors with ads, Microsoft tries appealing to their unending quest for ironic shirts.

The so-called Softwear line of tees joins Crispin Porter + Bogusky's ongoing "I'm a PC" campaign. Common -- who already appears in ads for Microsoft's Zune -- infused the shirts with retro cred and his own '80s-inspired designs.

Variants include:

o The DOS Tangle: "The first logo you saw on a screen."
o The 101: "Learn to speak the language." Oooh, binary.
o The Misdemeanor: "Everyone deserves a second chance."

There's something the world needs now: mugshots of Bill Gates prowling the streets.

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Smoking Out Smokers, Lively Bludgeoned, Hello Kitty for Alkies

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- The American Cancer Society is hosting a Great American Smokeout today. How liberating. Excuse me while I light up.

- New Anheuser-Busch InBev logo fails to be a turn-on.

- Google is shuttering virtual world Lively, which it launched in July. Guffaw.

- Honeyshed's hurtin' for suitors.

- Clean your free t-shirt with our product. That's confidence.

- Hello Kitty Beaujolais Nouveau -- the bastard child of all things commercial, cavity-inducing and just generally wrong (or right?) with the universe.

- Oh snap, my email just went retro.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-20-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Events, Guerilla, Packaging, Strange



Encumbent Avatars, Undecided Coffee Cups, Crocheted Shotguns

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- Obama/McCain WeeMees! OhMG kyoooooot. Diggin' how the page reads, "Invite the presidential nominees to your Room." So naughty.

- Speaking of politics, that half-hour Obama ad pulled in an average household rating of 21.7. The top market was Baltimore, where it averaged 31.3.

- Still undecided? Sport it on your coffee cup. $10 says at least five election canvassers will make a beeline for you within minutes of exiting 7-Eleven.

- Zap bugs with Honda. Reminds me of a Stargate SG-1 episode where these giant bugs would prick you, then turn you into an egg sack.

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When You Make That Transaction, Be Sure to Wear A Condom

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"Go all in - but play it safe" so says the copy on Ladbrokes-branded condom packaging. Ladbrokes is a Swedish gambling company which decided to hand out condoms as a promotional item. Another version of the packaging reads, "Don't play with fire - Play with us!"

Ladbrokes' Andreas Gillberg explained the thinking behid the promotion, saying, "We came to think about the fact that condoms - just like Ladbrokes - is all about safe transactions. Just like our games, it's about excitement and safety at the same time".

Interesting. So sex is just a "transaction" in Sweden? Hey, we're all for casual sex but we like to think of it as a bit more meaningful than a poker bet.

by Steve Hall    Oct-28-08    
Topic: Packaging, Racy, Strange



Pepsi Unveils Packaging to 'Digital and Social Media Influencers'

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Today, Pepsi, with strategic help from Edelman, reached out to 25 "digital and social media influencers" with three separately-shipped packages. The first contained five cans representing logo design from 1898 to 1950. The second contained five cans representing logo design from 1962 to 1998. The third contained (yes, you guessed it) the newly launched can design - six of them full of actual Pepsi.

Accompanying the final shipment was a DVD highlights of the company's 110 year history including the debut of the new logo and packaging across all product lines. You can watch the video here.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-27-08    
Topic: Brands, Packaging, Social



God Belittled, Broccoli Faced, Dove Examined, Elastic Pathed

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- The British Humanist Association has launched a transit campaign on London buses claiming "There's probably no god."

- Not as racy as the tweaked Disney Video/DVD covers of old, the designers of Canadian Farm Frozen Broccoli packaging had some fun.

- Speak Media Blog's Jennifer Jones takes a long look at the Dove Real Beauty campaign that's been running in various forms over the past four years.

- Have the day's of FuckedCompany returned? Yahoo will lay off 1,400.

- ihaveanidea has announced its D&AD 2008 Screening North American Tour. Dates and ticket info are here.

- Using $15,000 as a start up loan, Harry Chemko and Jjason Billingsley launched online retail software company Elastic Path. It's a $10 million company now and the pair were recently awarded BDC's Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

by Steve Hall    Oct-22-08    
Topic: Cause, Outdoor, Packaging



Twitter vs. Yammer, STD E-Cards, Mac/PC Face-Off, Meghan McDreamy

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- Marvel's soliciting the YouTube community for the best comic-inspired costumes. Get dressed, flip your camera on and keep your videos down to a minute. Beyond licensing an entire suite of heroes and villains to Hollywood, I guess that's one way to stay relevant.

- Got VD? The decent thing to do would be to tell everybody you slept with, so they can check if they have it too. But don't sweat it too much; this is the digital age! Send those hutches an e-card. (Thanks Adrants reader Candace.)

- Not quite The West Side Story, but it's Macs and PCs, so almost the same thing.

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by Angela Natividad    Oct-22-08    
Topic: Cause, Consumer Created, Online, Packaging, Political, Strange



Crimes of Facebook Passion, Palin's Rack Promotes Storage, and More Crappy Jingles

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- Avenue A/Razorfish is changing its name to Razorfish.

- Considering an iPhone? Read this first.

- Wife killed by estranged hubby for changing her Facebook status to "single" too soon. Wow ... the world has changed.

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