Adrants Billboards: New 20-Something Mag Coming

• Next month, AOL is launching a trade ad campaign to promote AOL Media Networks, its ad sales division.
• Havas Board approves offer to buy Grey. Offer belived to be as high as $1.45 billion.
• Newsflash! Newsstand magazine buyers actually like ads. And they're younger. And advertisiers love that.
• Hachette Filipacchi is launching a new 20-something magazine For Me. "There is no magazine on the market today that specifically targets this age group," said Hachette CEO Jack Kliger. Huh? Has Kliger been to a newsstand lately?
• iMediaConnection chooses ten finalists for best online creative. Readers can vote to choose their favorite.
• Trump isn't rich enough. He's asking NBC to pay him a million an episode for The Apprentice.
• Lad mags make inroads in China. "Guys are very similar worldwide."
• Headline of the day: "Fuchs Wants Kuntz Talks."
• Playboy has moved boyond Walmart and Home Depot and is now looking for America's sexiest...gasp...McDonald's workers.
• From Tom's of Maine to Independence Air to P.A.U.S.E., Amy Coor covers new campaign launches in her MediaPost Out to Launch column.

9-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Honda to Launch Roadblock Buy on Reuters

PoynterOnline reports Reuters receiving a roadblock order from Honda for the introduction of its Odyssey on September 22. Reuters believes it to be the first of its kind - a 24 hour take over of all sponsorable positions on the site.

While many advertisers have done homepage takeovers and other "site dominant" buys, a large, full site buy of this kind appears to be a first.

9-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

The Final Advertising Frontier: The 'Poop-Out' Ad

Not that we'll ever believe it could possibly be reached but after headvertising, dogvertising, forehead advertising, assverting, bravertising, blogvertising, bloodvertising, adverblogging, invertising, advergaming, chipvertising, thongvertising, replacevertising, busvertising, police car advertising, adverwear, and urinal advertising, the final frontier of advertising would have to resemble something close to the "Poop-Out" ad.

Envisioned in a cartoon by David Farley, this yet-to-be-created ad medium combines "nanotechnology, genetically-modified food and unscrupulous marketers" yielding these scary messages floating in your toilet bowl.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Burger King Extends Dr. Angus With Dr.Angus Interventions

Following its launch of the Burger King Dr. Angus site created by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Burger King, along with CPB has launched an extension to that site called Dr. Angus Interventions which offers the interactive qualities of another Burger King site, Subservient Chicken.

Offering advice for those who clean too much, are couch potatoes or who continually send company-wide emails, Doctor Angus Interventions dispenses verbal advice that visitors can edit to suit their needs or to suit the needs of others with a "forward to a friend" feature. The site is being seeded by viral firm DMC in London.

From their experience with Subservient Chicken, Crispin Porter + Bogusky found people want to engage and control the websites they visit. CPP Creative Director Jeff Benjamin said,"We learned from Subservient Chicken that people want to be able to customize what's happening. When we originally concepted it, we didn't have so much customization. We were going to use real voice clips [in the latest effort], but we decided it would be more interesting if Dr. Angus could say what you wanted him to. The added customization made the intervention make much more sense."

We'll refer to this as another "brand toy" - a device which is created to be amusing, engaging and/ or helpful all while subtly branding. It's what's needed to amuse the "bored in two seconds, jaded, ad-hating, ad-skipping" generation.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Calin Klein Tosses The Salad

Always one to push limits, Calvin Klein now has a guy close to serving his salad to some hot chick on Houston and Lafayette in New York. Via Fleshbot.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Pot Noodles The Office Snack

If for no other reason than to enjoy some British wit.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

WSJ Waters Self Down, Caters to Masses, Advertisers Love It

The Wall Street Journal is further expanding beyond its original purpose of providing in depth financial news and announced a few changes Tuesday allowing the paper to provide advertisers with more editorially relevant placement options. Following the launch of its Personal Journal Section in 2002, two new editorial features will be added. "Personal Finance Wednesday" will provide individual financial advice and "Home and Health Thursday" will focus on entertainment and home technology. New page pages units on A2 and A3 will be added as well which will provide "prominent visibility in an uncluttered environment." The paper's "Weekend Journal section will expand to include part 2's with seasonal focus beginning with "Weekend Journal Holiday Guide" on December 3.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Another Study States Obvious: People Hate Internet Ads

A study just out by the Ponemon Institute and provided to USA Today found, unsurprisingly, consumers feel bombarded by online ads, want less ad clutter but won't pay for content not supported by ads. Other findings include :

• 80 percent find pop ups annoying.
• 60 percent dislike spam (who are those other 40 percent?).
• 60 percent are always annoyed by banners.
• While ads are hated, 31 percent respond to ads.
• 7 percent made a purchase from a banner.
• 65 percent won't pay for ad blocking services.
• 52 percent are more likely to respond if ad is relevant.
• 66 percent state relevant banner ads are less annoying.
• 45 percent will volunteer personal info in return for more targeted ads.
• 55 percent would respond to an ad that was targeted but was not based on the requirement of providing personal info.
• 31 percent would trust an advertiser more if they had a solid privacy statement backed by a third party such as TRUSTe or BBB.
• Perhaps shedding the brightest light on "ad hate factor" is the finding that 44 percent think unwanted ads should be banned by law.

While it's nice to see it in black and white, the findings are not suprising.

We've always known most advertising of any kind is disliked and no one wants to pay for content when they can get it for free. While we are not there yet, we will arrive at the day when upwards of 90 percent of delivered ad content is 100 percent relevant to a consumer. Until then, expect more survey results like this.

8-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

Ad Urges Enforcement of Korean Law Banning Dog And Cat Killing For Food

In the disgusting department, a group called In Defense of Animals is placing a Korean language ad September edition of Korean Journal urging Koreans and Korean Americans to rise up and speak out against the illegal practice or killing cats and dogs for food in Korea.

Featuring a picture of a caged dog taken in the Moran Market in Seoul, the ad asks the Korean government to enforce its laws which prohibit the sale and slaughter of dogs for food. Apparently, the Korean government ignores the alleged beating, boiling, hanging and electrocution of dogs and cats. Butchers say this last minute torture creates an adrenaline rush which enhances the quality of the meat.

IDA says the vast majority if Koreans do not eat dog meat but notes that official figures show there are 6,000 stores in Korea that deal in the bludgeoned dog meat selling trade.

7-Sep-04 » File under: (0)

LG Campaign Plays Vanity Card

In a new ad campaign for its cell phones, LG is either praying on the actual vanity of tweens, teens and 20-somethings or spoofing the whole idea that anyone would actually consider a phone a fashion accessory.

Either way, it's fun to watch. Also from this week's Ad Age TV Spots of the Week are spots from the American Legacy Foundation's Truth campaign, Campbell Soup's Pace Salsa, GE Medical Technology, Nike's Art of Speed/Gawker promotion, Toyota Scion, EA's Madden Sports 2005 and Footlocker.

7-Sep-04 » File under: (0)