Ladies, We Have the Perfect Valentine's Day Gift For Your Man

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Ladies, stumped for ideas on what to get your man for Valentine's Day? Yea, yea, yea. We know it's really your day and us guys are supposed to shower you with flowers, chocolates, dinner and the best sex you've had all year but the man in your life deserves something too, right?

Well, if you're feeling so inclined, check out Kirin's Beer Bro-Quet, a bouquet of, yes, beer. Created by Y&R Singapore for Kirin Mini Beer, this lovely bouquet will ceetainly put your man in good spirits and, perhaps, actually give you the best sex you've had all year rather than just phoning it in.

by Steve Hall    Feb-13-12    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Online, Specialty, Strange



Cat Popularity Leveraged For Advent Calendar

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Cats. Cats are a guarantee. If you stick a cat anywhere online it's guaranteed to get seen millions of times. Or so that's the commonly held belief in social media land. Taking advantage of this notion, Big Fuel and The Humane Society of new York have partnered to create the 2011 Catvent Calendar, an advent calender featureing...you guessed it...cats. Check it out.

by Steve Hall    Dec- 7-11    
Topic: Agencies, Cause, Specialty



Sushi Restaurant Gives Helping Hand to Drunk Drivers

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Well this is pretty ingenious. To aid potential drunk drivers in determining just how drunk they might be before they drive off into a potentially disastrous situation, TDA_Boulder - for client Hapa Sushi - created and distributed 5,000 hand-shaped cards to the windshield wipers of parked cars.

The card's message read, ""WHEN TO CALL A CAB. 1. Turn wipers on low. 2. If you have any difficulty following the finger with your eyes, we suggest you call a taxi at 1.800.829.4222." The 800 number was directed to one of several cab companies.

And no sushi sales message. How high-minded of the restaurant.

by Steve Hall    Nov-17-11    
Topic: Guerilla, Outdoor, Specialty



Volkswagen Goes Social With Fanwagen

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Dutch agency Achtung has created a social media campaign for Volkswagen that will result in the creation of a customized vintage Bus or Beetle. It will be called the Fanwagen and outfitted with all manner of social media goodies such as a Feed-O-Matic which will print out status update, a Poke button on the steering wheel, a Birthday notification system, a Friend finder, a relationship status notifier on the license plate and much more. Very cool. Check out the video here.

The campaign invites people to vote for their favorite model. One lucky voter will win the vehicle of their choice.

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by Steve Hall    Nov- 4-11    
Topic: Brands, Promotions, Social, Specialty



Man Who Sold Ads on Urns Has Died, PETA Capitalizes

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In its continuing mission to leverage any and all things for publicity, PETA purchased - for a the paltry sum of $200 - the right to place an ad on the urn of Aaron Jamison, a man who died of colon cancer this past weekend. When he learned of his condition, Jamison reached out to the ad world to help cover the costs of his impeding funeral.

At the time, Jamison joked, "I'm 400 pounds, so there's enough ashes to go around." Reportedly, 16 companies ponied up for ad space on his urn(s).

One of PETA's suggested ads reads, "I've Kicked the Bucket - Have You? Boycott KFC." The other urn ad reads, "People Who Buy Purebred Dogs Really Burn Me Up. Always Adopt." These are proposed ads and proposed visuals. Actual shots of the actual urns have not yet been seen though last year it was reported Jamison would paint the messages own his own urns prior to his death. That will, one assumes, be determined this Saturday when his memorial service is held.

One might call this shameful. But one never really knows what direction one's life will take.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 4-11    
Topic: Specialty, Strange



Refrigerator's Tweets Remind People to Drink Water

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We have to wonder where this one's going. After all, Twitter is already filled with all kinds of useless crap about the mundane things people insist upon tweeting. Now we have to be notified every time someone decides to take a drink of water?

OK, so it's really not that bad and it's all for a good cause. In Brazil, people don't drink enough water so bottled water company Bonafont created the Tweeting Fridge, a miniature refrigerator sent to one of the country's top celebrities that would post a tweet to the celebrity's timeline every time the celebrity opened the fridge and took a drink of water.

Bonafont has plans to send more of these mini refrigerators to other celebrities to keep the message going.

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by Steve Hall    May-31-11    
Topic: Social, Specialty



Pissalyzer Urges Men to Call A Cab

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By now, we've seen all manner of urinal advertising but this one serves a beneficial purpose. While not actually measuring alcohol content, the Pissalyzer from Publicis Milan delivered a "take a cab" message to men who pissed in the urinal long enough for it to be assumed they'd consumed a pint of beer. While we're sure this is helpful, we have to wonder if a dude whose just down a few shots is going to piss long enough to get the message.

Anyway, it's a worthy effort and who doesn't like to read stuff while taking a piss. It's better than wondering if the guy in the next stall is checking out your junk.

by Steve Hall    May-18-11    
Topic: Guerilla, Specialty, Video



Branded Toast Urges Moms to Feed Kids Danone Dairy Drink

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To convince mothers in Brazil that feeding their children Actimel from Danone for breakfast was a healthy choice, the brand created a line of toasters that would cook personalized messages into toast and gave these toasters to influential moms around the country along with a package of Actimel.

To encourage those moms to spread the words on social networks, the brand promised to send additional packages of the product if the moms posted pictures of their specially messaged pieces of toast on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

Did the effort work? Danone claims the messaging reached 1.2 million mothers. Here's a video overview of the campaign:

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by Steve Hall    May-11-11    
Topic: Campaigns, Social, Specialty



Laundry Bags Promote Washing Machine

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One might think a laundromat/dry cleaner would hope no one would ever buy a washing machine and dryer seeing it as competition. One might also think a laundromat/dry cleaner would never let a washer/dryer manufacturer advertise on the bags they use to cover freshly cleaned clothing either.

One, of course, should never assume anything. Especially in advertising. Created by Y&R Dubai for LG Electronics, the laundry bag takeover was developed to promote LG's new Steam Direct Drive Washing Machine.

by Steve Hall    May- 5-11    
Topic: Specialty



Artist Creates Custom Prints to Benefit Detroit Documentary

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Hugh MacLeod, a best-selling author and the artist behind Gaping Void, has created a custom, limited-edition print to benefit Lemonade: Detroit, a documentary about the revival of the city.

Boston-based filmmaker Erik Proulx has funded the making of the film entirely by donations from supporters of the Detroit story. Proceeds from the Gaping Void "Shut up and reinvent Detroit" prints will go directly toward production of Lemonade: Detroit.

Each print is signed and numbered by Hugh and artwork is available in two sizes: 15x18 and 24x30. Both small and large prints are available for purchase online in the Gaping Void Gallery.

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by Steve Hall    Apr- 6-11    
Topic: Industry Events, Specialty, Video