Greenpeace Spoofs Budweiser's 'Wassup,' Poorly, Really Poorly

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This is really, really, REALLY bad. We'll say it again, REALLY bad. If you're going to go and spoof the Budweiser Wassup commercial, the least you could do is put a little effort into it. Apparently, Greenpeace, who claims Anheuser-Busch uses genetically altered rice to make Budweiser, thinks shitty dialog and bad actors can somehow call attention to the horror that is genetically enhanced rice. At least use phones made this century?? This critique is, of course, irrelevant because Greenpeace is getting the publicity they want anyway.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Cause, Video, Worst



Nothing Says 'Support My Cause' Like a Cupcake

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We hold a special place in our hearts for little girls carrying cupcakes because of an ad for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints that we used to see all the time when we were kids.

To this day, it still makes us hungry for multiple halves of love-smattered confections.

Along the same altruistic vein (except without the whole changing-religions part), Merkle launched an interactive bakery called Cupcakes for a Cause to raise money for Cancercare. Every virtual cupcake sold means $1 toward research for a cure.

But talking of cupcakes would be lame if you couldn't actually eat one. The campaign also involves bake sales with sponsoring homes and bakeries. Oh heaven.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 9-07    
Topic: Cause, Good, Online



Greenpeace Lunges for Kleenex (Again)

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This is part of Greenpeace's ongoing attempt to get Kleenex to stop using ancient trees to make its products. It's pretty much the same deal as what happened here -- indeed, they're interrupting the exact same "Let it Out" campaign -- but this time everybody's in Wrigley Fields and there's lots of bear puns (Chicago is home of the Cubs).

There's an adaptation of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at the end of the video, except the lyrics have been changed to champion the cause of bears and trees.

Clever the first time. The second time around? ...eh.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-07    
Topic: Cause, Guerilla



Sexy 'Sidaction' Leads to Raw Awakening for Sexually Active French

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One thing we can say about French AIDS PSAs: they're compelling and almost always raunchy, even if they don't always take on a playful persona.

Leo Burnett, Paris just put together Sidaction, which pairs the heat of the moment with a crucial truth about sex in an AIDS-slammed environment.

Beyond an orgy of writhing bodies, the spot's end leads to jarring -- but not pushy -- imagery. We hate to ruin the surprise, but you'll never look at the hourglass scene in Disney's Aladdin the same way again.

It's great work. Now if only we could stop thinking about Vaseline.

by Angela Natividad    Oct- 8-07    
Topic: Cause, Commercials



Wolves to Be Killed in Yellowstone, NRDC Says 'Please Don't'

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We suppose it's a good thing to stick up for endangered species like the NRDC's Mobilizing America For Our Environment is for the Gray Wolf in and around Yellowstone park. We're guessing those in favor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's plan to kill close to 600 wolves this winter think the creatures are predatory and a danger to humans. We're not here to judge (OK, sometimes we are), we're just going to point you to a not so great spot calling attention to the cause. We'll let you decide.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 5-07    
Topic: Cause, Commercials



Youth Anti-Smoking Campaign Gets Fashionable

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WongDoody, which recently brought us the clever Horizon Air campaign, has extended its No Stank You youth anti-smoking campaign for the Washington State Department of Health with a social media and fashion styled campaign.

The program is described thusly, "To earn a free No Stank You shirt, teens visit No Stank You and participate in the "Do 3, Get T" incentive program. Points are awarded for adding a No Stank You banner to a personal Web site, submitting an original tee design, referring a friend to the No Stank You site and more. Each activity is worth one point. Three points earns a free tee."

Supporting the effort are TV and radio. View one of the six spots here. Gross. Weird. Good.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 2-07    
Topic: Cause, Good, Online, Radio, Television



Who Needs Social Networking When We Have eBay?

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Interesting. When every marketer is on a land grab for the latest Second Life, MySpace, Twitter or Facebook stunt, Metropolitan Life, perhaps being true to the blandness that if life insurance, has chosen old fashioned eBay (remember all those stupid auctions?) to place its MetLife Snoopy in Fashion promotion. Part of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, the promotion lets people bid on fashions designed by Heatherette, Isaac Mizrahi, Betsey Johnson and Pamella Roland, Kristin Chenoweth, Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Ingrid Hoffmann.

Design for a September seventh runway event, proceeds from the bids will go to Dress For Success, "a non-profit organization which promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life."

For once, an eBay auction that doesn't have anything to do with tattooing body parts or auctioning off pixels on a website. And who doesn't love Snoopy?

by Steve Hall    Oct- 2-07    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Good, Online, Promotions



YPulse: Condescension Does Not a Responsible Marketer Make

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Renee Hobbs freaks us the fuck out.

Who is Renee Hobbs?

The director of My Pop Studio. And she's currently expounding on media education for girls at the YPulse conference.

My Pop Studio is a pretty interesting site. Founded on the notion that society promotes developing self through sales, it "pushes back" by imbuing girls with critical thinking skills for battling media messages.

A series of free online games teaches kids about how media works by letting them manufacture culture: you can observe how your feelings about a product (like lip gloss) change depending on the backgroud music, create a pop star, and practice multi-tasking.

This could be a great resource for kids. In fact, it probably already is - the site boasts partners like Alloy, and Hobbs champions her team as masters of viral and WOM marketing.

In the meantime, our experience of the product is colored entirely by Hobbs' own personality, who's an overwhelming real-life version of Nurse Ratchett.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Sep-28-07    
Topic: Bad, Cause, Industry Events, Online



Advertising Week: If 'Darfur' Sounds Familiar, Thank Heaven for Saint Advert

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It bears mentioning that Panasonic Ideas for Life - Saving Darfur was as much about advertisers' power to set global agendas as it was about the actual plight of Darfur. Call it a conceit, but there's method to the madness.

Advertising played a pivotal role in raising awareness about genocide in Darfur. Some members of the panel expressed having been inspired into their current professions after seeing ads about famine or others' suffering.

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by Angela Natividad    Sep-26-07    
Topic: Cause, Events



Forget Dating Sites, the Mail Order Bride is Back in Vogue

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The college-bound doll at left is going for a steal at $19,995 on Marry Our Daughter, where families can safely sell stone-footed girls for a price soothing enough to eradicate in-law strife.

Harking back to arranged marriage in the Biblical sense, the site's a publicity stunt orchestrated by women who actually were sold into marriage. They hope to shed light on the mail order bride industry at large, and on loopholes across the nation that enable minors to marry, says Newsweek.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Sep-26-07    
Topic: Cause, Online, Spoofs, Strange, Viral