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We passed on all the hype surrounding the K-fed Nationwide Super Bowl commercial offending fast food workers but after seeing the spot, we can't leave it alone. We have one thing to say: Get a Fucking Sense of Humor, People! For fuck's sake, can't we laugh at anything anymore? OK, so the commercial really isn't funny but that's not the point. The point is through some sort of American political correctness on steroids trend and an orgasmic proliferation of cause groups for every minute issue imaginable, we are no longer allowed to laugh at anything. We can't make fun of anything lest we offend someone. We can't tell joke unless they are of the scrubbed-clean second grade variety. We can't even call someone white or black - even though they are - lest we be labeled racist. Stop the insanity, please!
When we shake someone's hand, we often wonder where that hand has been before. A new commercial from the LA County Department of Health answers that question in an effort to prevent the spread of the flu. We're told washing one's hands is the number one method of curtailing the spread of germs. We are so with Howard Stern on this one. If we didn't feel like a jerk refusing to shake someone's hand, we never would again. The ad is the work of DDB and Curious Pictures.
In a world where...on wait, that movie trailer dude says that all the time. But, for once, the phrase can be put to good use: In a world where teens are subjected to an onslaught of "don't" ads (drive drunk, do drugs, eat too much, have unprotected sex, make racial slurs), the frequency of which only a creative reviewing a Cannes reel would subject oneself too, it's refreshing to see a different approach. We're thinking the teens are appreciating it too.
Rather than use scare tactics of meaningless pontifications, this Ad Council campaign called UR the Spokesperson uses humor and pokes fun at the overused and now meaningless scare and pontification tactics that teens are now desensitized to. In the ads, the usual teen foolery is going on inside a moving vehicle but rather than the ads ending in a crash or cutting to a stern lecture, a game show-style announcer hops in the car and asks, "How would you like to save your life from an ugly, reckless driving death?" It then goes on infomercial-style with the kids getting all agreeably 50's-style. It's different. It's refreshing. Whether it works, though, is an entirely different subject.
Just as we thought, the finished product is always better than the boring B-roll. That's quite evident when you compare the original B-roll of this Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser to a short clip of the finished product. Budweiser is working with MWW Group and the two have released short clips of the ads they plan to run in this year's Super Bowl. There's eight in all and you can view them after the jump. Most seem to have promise.
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While America might have had its chauvinistic nuts cut off by politically correct extremist who can't take a joke when they see one, other countries are still, happily, appreciating a good 'ol dumb blond joke courtesy of Mercedes Benz who think there's nothing wrong with ordering a fast food meal from a librarian.
Though America might have undergone an unfortunate castration, humor is alive and well under the radar and vigorously appreciated as illustrated by this ad having been sent to us by the very blond and very smart wife of Adrants reader Roy Coffman.
Running on the momentum of his :30 Super Bowl Showstopper Guarantee, Bill at Make the Logo Bigger asks the question we all wonder as we write out the checks, but don't want to ask for fear of looking uncool:
With the hype around the Super Bowl, are the (very expensive) ads worth it to marketers? Find out at the Reuters panel on Wednesday the 24th at 11 AM, The Reuters Building, 3 Times Square.
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Apparently, Minnesota Timberwolves forward Kevin Garnett will appear in a Footlocker commercial during the Super Bowl. But that's not the news. It seems the folks handling Footlocker want to guarantee viewership of the commercial by embedding a "secret website" address promoting a contest in the spot and telling everyone about it by seeding a "hidden camera" video in which the "secret" is revealed. Oooo. Get your TiVos ready everyone. This one's gonna be a doosey! And, like, no one has ever done this before either so that's what makes this so, sooooo cool!
Rip into this farce with the rest of your industry mates on the Adrants forumor in comments here..
For its Life Comes at You Fast campaign, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. makes K-Fed its new Super Bowl poster boy, succeeding Fabio in a popular ad that ran last year.
The idea is to have Federline living out a menagerie of rap cliches before he's snapped back into reality - that being his life at a fast food restaurant with his screaming boss.
The National Restaurant Association complains that the ad denigrates restaurant workers. They'd like Nationwide to do away with the K-Fed cliche, but they ain't budging, explaining the ad is about surprise, not the unpleasant conditions of fast food work. In our opinion they ought to be thanking the company as K-Fed's lackluster album is one of those oeuvres that actually might make a disgruntled restaurant worker feel better about being a restaurant worker.
Here's a couple of spots created by TBWA Dubai for an "online matrimonials" site called Bentelhalal (we're guessing that's their version of a dating...arranged marriage?...site) that capture perfectly long-held stereotypes about men and women living together. We won't spoil. Just watch. (1, 2) They're very simple and we like simple. We're not sure about arranged marriages though.
OK. Now we know why a good commercial needs a talented agency and a capable production house. Otherwise, we'd end up with boring outtakes like this making their way to the screen instead of the finished product. As if to drum up some excitement for one of its upcoming Super Bowl spots, Budweiser has released b-roll footage of a spot that will feature Dale Earnhardt Jr. in what looks like a nod Mel Gibson's Road Warrior. You can view the footage here but you won't be missing anything if you wait until game day to see the final product.
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