Dr. J puts a little throwback spice into Dr. Pepper with "Drink it Slow" by Deutsch/LA, part of Dr. Pepper's just-launched campaign, "Trust Me, I'm a Doctor."
In the spot, former basketball player Julius Erving -- your homie Dr. J -- encourages users to drink Dr. Pepper slowly, to better savor its 23 flavours. "Hey, I get it, 'cause half my life's been in slow motion," J adds. Cut to a sound bite of his dunking triumphs as he lobs an ice cube, slow-mo-style, into a faraway glass. I like the little kick he does.
Kelsey Grammer will to appear in a future spot as Dr. Frasier Crane. I'm hoping they also use Doogie, but it's doubtful since Old Spice already stole that thunder.
A younger Dr. J also appeared in a Converse spot this year.
You gotta love skinny models. They wear clothes well, improve sales, make other women feel bad. The best part? They don't eat. Think of the savings!
A survey of 194 female college students, aged 18-24, found women feel uglier after seeing thin models. They are also more likely to buy products held in a gamine's claw than from ads with "regular-size models." (Here's a secret: none of us enjoy being characterized as "regular." It's like being called "homely" -- a big fat fucking slap in the face.)
Seeing thin models also made women less likely to accept a snack pack of Oreo cookies offered as a thank-you for their participation in the study. Well, no shit.
You know what a woman does want to do after seeing all those runway waifs? (Second to shopping, that is.) Drink. A lot. And that's why we're so keen on Gawker's coverage of the same survey. It's right next to a banner ad for Sobieski vodka. That's targeting to win!
We're not usually fans of ads about personalized colors for laptops. In the 21st century, is that the best you can do? But I like what Dell did in this gentle, feel-good spot, set to the tune of Colors by Kira Wiley.
Definitely better than the last ad in the "Colors" campaign, which hurt our heads and tried too hard. What tops it off nicely is that pretty little tagline: "Yours is here." I like that. It's like Dell is Build-a-Bear for computers, and just as snuggly.
The ad was put together by Mother, which is pretty much holding the fort for sweetly sleeping Enfatico.
- McCain puts Obama on the same "soar high, fall hard" platform as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Probably because they're the only celebrities he knows. I like how the ad cuts to happy floaty music and a soft McCain profile. What a guy.
- See Microsoft-paid blogger give transparency a go for the i'm talkathon. Yeah. You heard me. Transparency.
- Enfatico's having trouble with that whole "being creative" thing.
- method products: so much more than hand syrups and toilet bowl cleaners. Think of them as a summer salad that doesn't know how to capitalize proper nouns.
- TiVo says relevant ads don't get skipped.
- Wendy's cutesy "good good" ad is objectively disgusting.
Though it's likely they had some, Lisbon agency Torke could have used a bit more help identifying the "soul" of FOX's Friday Night Lights, which debuted locally July 20. The guerrilla campaign they created, which involved the gratuitous use of bare midriffed cheerleaders, hardly captured the essence of the show.
Oh sure, the show has cheerleaders in it and centers around a high school's quest for football greatness but those two elements are just a backdrop for the true heart of the show - an examination of family life, interpersonal relationships and life's challenges in small town Texas. The T and A aspects of this promotion hardly do the show justice.
Then again, a dissertation on the woes of abortion, racism, poverty, career choices, physical disability and the difficulties of parenthood wouldn't exactly capture the same attention a few mini-skirted, hot cheerleaders most certainly did.
Hoping to tap into disdain for cheesy film cliches, Sprint chose Union Editorial to refine a set of movie trailer-style spots. The star? Sprint Instinct.*
In "Launch," a couple outruns cops in a high-impact car chase. Mr. Man looks stressed; meanwhile, Wifey buys a handbag on her phone and has it sent to their hideout -- leading the captors right to them.
In "Romance," one woman wants it all -- not from a man, but from her carrier -- as friends beg her to be more realistic.
Here's another dubbed "Horror," and one just for theaters ("Cinema"). We saw it before The Dark Knight and it totally chafed our pop sensibilities.
If you're feeling deja-vu (in addition to that mild burning sensation), it's for a reason. To promote its Scarlet TVs, LG did more with the same campy idea.
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There may be bugs on some of you mugs, but there ain't no bugs on me. Total rip on the old Meowmix ads, but it's so catchy. Way to grow on the brain stem like a fungus, K9 Advantix.
Apparently this dog, which has had about three months to drive you ballistic every time you switch the TV on, has a name. It's Champ. And he's on Facebook, inviting you to camp.
Who sends their dogs to camp?
Efren Ramirez, better known to us as Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite, appears in a new series of ads for Sierra Mist's "Refresh Your Mind" campaign. The format: he walks into a bar, tells a story, concludes, "It's a crazy world; it helps to refresh your mind," and downs some Sierra Mist.
The first spot, "Wedding Girl," is about a girl so desperate to get married she'll put bridesmaids in a coma to catch a bouquet. (Honey, there are easier routes than superstition. Speed dating, for example.)
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His name was Paul Potts. During his unexpectedly spellbinding audition on Britain's Got Talent, he touched the hearts of viewers everywhere. (Really. I don't know if it was his voice or the pop show context or what, but I've never seen anything like that on American Idol.)
The crescendo: Before he went on to win the show last year, he was a mobile phone salesman. So now T-Mobile's using his defining moment in a German ad campaign. (Nice touch with the little girls and businessmen crying over their mobile phones.)
The closer (translated from the German): "Life gives us extraordinary moments. The beauty of it is that we can share them." What a charming lesson in opportunism.
See "Declaration," a :60 ad for Scion's "United by Individuality" campaign by ATTIK. The visuals wed two media cliches: a fleet of cars converging purposefully on one road, and an anarchist leader bleating to somber street warriors from a makeshift platform in the dead of night.
Also, something in the music brought Kevin Costner to mind.
Remember when Scion was nasty and unapologetic about being an individual? I miss that.
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