Agency Launches Stock Copy Website, Should Relaunch Own Site

Chicago-based agency Blue Ant, in a backdoor effort to show the importance of well written ad copy, has launched adHacks, a site much like stock photography sites yet with stock copy. At the site, those who don't wish to pay the high fees associated with good copy can obtain basic stock copy by navigating through categories. Upon finding relevant copy, users can buy the full text for $199.

Of course the whole thing is a joke to gain publicity for Blue Ant. No fault in that but upon reviewing Blue Ant's own site, some tweaking is in order. Blue Ant commits one of the most egregious agency website crimes. In its portfolio section, which provides links to case studies, half or more of the links are blank. That's not very reassuring to a potential client looking for a solid body of work. Also the agency's positioning statement, "Meet Blue Ant, a new kind or marketing agency.

Or ad agency. Or whatever kind of agency you want to call us," doesn't quite adhere to another very important rule in advertising: clear messaging. Perhaps Blue Ant should spend more time properly developing its positioning and building out its portfolio before building spoof sites. Then again, any publicity is almost always good publicity.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Creative Brilliance No Replacement For Information

Here's one of those brilliantly executed spots whose sole purpose is to be brilliantly executed. It's for some cool new phone from Motorola. Oh wait. I get it. The phone is so cool that your house full of electronics can all fit in the phone. Like so totally cool. Now if only I knew what it was called so I could buy it.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Robin Quivers to Host Daytime Talk Show

Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers has signed a deal with Sony Pictures to create a pilot episode for a one hour daily talk show to air as soon as next year. While specifics are not available, the show will, reportedly, not to adhere to traditional talk show formats.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Circuit City Launches Pre-Movie Campaign

To promote its CDs, DVDs and videogames, Circuit City, in a deal with Regal Entertainment, today, launched a pre-movie campaign with an ad featuring Santa Claus dancing to the tune "Just What I Needed" by the Cars. The ad will appear within Regal Entertainment's pre-show program as well as on the Jumbotron in Time's Square.

Accompanying the spot will be box office flyers, signage and soft drink lid mini DVD's.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Publicist Says Kidman Chanel Spot Not An Ad

Displaying all the pomousity of a Hollywood agent, a publicist for Baz Luhrmann says the $12 million spot Luhrmann directed for Chanel featuring Nicole Kidman is not an ad but a film. Excuse us, but anything that sells a product most assuredly falls into the ad/spot/commercial category. The publicists continues with this nonsense calling the ad "a creative first. The film to revolutionize advertising." Oh, it's surely an extravaganza but trying to pass it off as something other than an ad just insults consumers.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Advertising Industry to Support 21 Million Jobs

The advertising industry is projected to drive $5.2 trillion into the U.S. economy next year, a major new economic study has found. The total economic activity generated by advertising -- which includes direct spending, supplier spending and inter-industry activity - will account for a projected 20.5 percent of the United States' economic activity.

Advertising will also generate an estimated 21 million jobs, or 15.2 percent of the national workforce of 139 million. The findings, released today, come from a new study entitled the "Comprehensive Economic Impact of Advertising Expenditures." It was conducted by Michael J. Raimondi of Global Insight, under the direction of Nobel Laureate in Economics Dr. Lawrence R. Klein for The Advertising Coalition. The Coalition is comprised of nine national media and advertising trade associations. Total advertising spending by businesses in the U.S. for 2005 is estimated to reach approximately $278 billion, according to the study. These expenditures are projected to create a total revenue impact of $5.2 trillion. The total estimated impact includes the spending on advertising, the direct impact on sales of $2.3 trillion, the impact on supplier economic activity of $1.2 trillion and the impact on inter-industry economic activity of $1.4 trillion.

22-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Ford 'American Dreams' Sponsorship Brilliant

Sunday night, NBC presented American Dreams with no commercial interruption except for a long form Ford commercial at the end of the episode. In the episode, JJ Pryor, who had been wounded in Vietnam, returned home to his family after having been listed MIA. It was a heart wrenching episode and one that would assuredly have been ruined by traditional, interruptive pod advertising.

Ford, the only sponsor of the episode, created a brilliant and emotional long form commercial which ran at the end of the episode. In the commercial, which mirrored the plot of the episode, a son is seen coming home from Iraq to his family. Ford cars played a role in the commercial, as well as in the episode, but in a way that was natural and not forced. Sure, there were the usual beauty shots of the cars but they blended unobtrusively with the ad's plot. Never, before has there been a more brilliant, emotionally powerful and seamlessly relevant program sponsorship. Kudos to Ford and NBC for this extraordinary effort.

View the spot here. Skeptics should understand this spot will not have the emotional resonance it did when attached to the American Dreams episode in which it ran.

21-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Paul McCartney Featured Performer at Super Bowl 2005

Sweeping last year's boob-fest under the carpet, the National Football League has chosen Paul McCartney as the featured halftime performer for Super Bowl 2005. NFL spokesman Brain McCarthy promised no wardrobe malfunctions this year. Three-timer Up With People apparently unavailable, choosing a former Beatle appears to be the NFL's best bet against Super Bowl mischief. McCartney last appeared during the pre-game show in 2002.

21-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Lopez's Booty Halts Pepsi Shoot

While preparing to be filmed at London's Shepperton Studios, along with Beyonce Knowles and David Beckham, for a new Pepsi commercial, Jennifer Lopez brought the shoot to a halt when she realized she had too much junk in the trunk for her apparel to accommodate. While Knowles slipped into her revealing outfit with relative ease, Lopez was unable to get her famously large derriere into her own. A source reports, "Basically, J.

Lo's bum was just too curvy for the outfit and we had to make sure the costume fit her before we could start filming."

To accommodate the star's bootylicious backside, frenzied producers scurried about behind Lopez's bulging buttocks madly sewing extra fabric into the seat of the overly taut attire while the crew looked on drooling uncontrollably. After several minutes of apparel surgery, the outfit was enlarged enough for Lopez to slide her commodious rear end into the strained clothing and the shoot continued.

Plans are afoot to air the spot during this year's Super Bowl.

20-Nov-04 » File under: (0)

Donny Deutsch The Plate Head

We know Donny Deutsch, with his TV show and egomaniacal appearances on The Apprentice, is an ad industry icon - a figurehead, if you will. But a platehead? Yes. According to former Deutsch employee, Rachel, in the comment section of the blog brand new, back in 1998, his mug was put on a plate as a joke by his staff a while back at a AAAA's award show. It's the ad blog post of the day. Gareth Kay of brand new has it. So does David Burn of AdPulp as well as AdWeek's AdFreak. Will Scott over at Ad Age touch this one? Oh wait, they write about serious stuff.

19-Nov-04 » File under: (0)