McCain's Real Change Comes in Fun-tastic Refreezable Bags

What's McCain's campaign for real change? Bringing politics to more humble roots: the frozen foods market. It's McCain Potatoes -- now in three lovable styles! Because can you honestly call sweet potato fries crusty and old?

Didn't think so. "Go for the BLUE bag."

Thanks to Adrants reader Tom for the tip. Don't look now, but this might actually be funnier than VPILF.

Amalgamated Defends Honour, Sexy (Sexist?) Palin Buttons, B of A Tries Gettin' Down with Co-Eds

- Amalgamated clears air over "Virtual Drinking Buddy" rip. In addition to starting a dialogue with Robbie Wenger, Amalgamated founder Charles Rosen told Adrants, "in no way are we above stealing ideas around here - but it wasn't the case this time. we really didn't know about robbie's virtual drinking buddy until he emailed us about it after our mike's spot ran." That's serious grace under pressure, and we were completely charmed.

- Smart way to promote sober driving.

- Tribal DDB scores Wrigley account, must now work out how to adhere gum to 'net users. Shouldn't be too hard. Just chew a little and avoid this kinda crap.

more »

Step Right Up, Getchyer Ironic Political Buttons Right Here!

Inspired by all the election-time media-whoring, Make the Logo Bigger designed buttons that depict what voters McCain and Obama are going after.

Variants include Carnies for McCain, Luthiers for Obama; Fluffers for McCain, Cobblers for Obama; Women for McCain, Women for Obama. (Sure, Obama scored with women when Hillary endorsed him, but the GOP pulled out the big guns when top Republican women rallied in defense of Sarah Palin earlier today.)

For those of you that watched Sarah Palin's acceptance speech at the RNC tonight, the button at left is a tribute to one of the many soundbite-worthy statements she made: "Do you know what they say the difference is between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick."

...Yeah. I'm holding out for a "Drill baby drill!" pin though, because you know that shit was bananas.

Minnesota Residents Alter Lifestyle in Preparation For Republican Convention

Following Denver's Obamamania at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the Twin Cities are preparing for their own slice of mania by urging area resident to properly welcome the Republican party. Quite often when big events come to a city, be it the Olympics, a major trade show, a Presidential visit or, yes, a Presidential convention, a city likes to put it's best foot forward to properly welcome its guests. Sometimes that includes bending a city's - even life's - realities to properly accommodate as this UnConvention commercial depicts.

Just as China rolled out the red carpet for the world the last few of weeks, Minnesota residents are ready to welcome the Republican party with open arms even if it means slightly altering their lifestyle for a few days or so.

For Choice of Running-Mate, McCain Pitches Ovulating Curveball

For those of us that seriously thought John McCain would go the predictable route for Veep, the Maverick whips out a trump card: Sarah Palin! Gotta say, McCain/Palin '08 isn't the ickiest choice of bumper sticker.

The Alaskan governor -- age 44, anti-abortion and alarmingly photogenic -- is expected to split women voters that would've otherwise put their weight behind Hillary (and failing that, her choice of POTUS). According to The Weekly Standard, honey's got an approval rating in the 90s and is allegedly "the most popular public official in any state."

Sounds like a dish the media won't be able to resist, even at the expense of the latest Obama mashup.

more »

Fetch the Suspenders! It's Obama Buttons on Parade

The tireless MoveOn.org is giving free Obama buttons away to anybody willing to part with their email, mobile number and address data. (What a tradeoff!) Packages include:

o One free Obama button.

o Three Obama buttons for a $2 donation. Just think how spiffy your tatty old backpack will look this September.

o 45 BUTTONS for a $20 donation, which, stylewise, would put you in direct in competition with this here little lady.

A moving ticker on MoveOn's site reports over 1,776,804 buttons have been ordered so far. I smell a trend afoot. Don't get left behind!

Greenpeace Raids Scrapbooks for Guilt Trips

Never mind petitions, Greenpeace wants PICTURES. The organization's asking community members to submit photos of dearly-loved things being threatened by global warming. Users are also invited to write a tear-jerking message explaining the photo. All photos and notes will be sent to the Representative for your district.

There were only a couple of submitted photos when I clicked on the link above, and at the time it seemed like it would be hilarious if a bunch of people got together and deluged the site with shots of their ice trays. Then I choked on some tea, and I'm over it now.

CK Pushes Sweatsuits, IE8 Eats Cookies, Google Dinners Seized, Cho Gets Show

- Calvin Klein hopes a new e-commerce subsite will help it unload some "white label" (that is, very expensive but still mostly nylon and cotton) sports gear.

- For marketers hoping to retain a healthy base of Internet Explorer users, IE8 might turn cookies into a sometimes friend. Its InPrivate feature blocks them and automatically clears users' browsing histories once they end a session. Some writers are fondly calling it "porn mode."

- Free din-din at Google: officially off-limits, unless you happen to be an engineer. Not to worry, less twitchy Googlers won't starve. Lunch and breakfast remain a perk.

- PhotoShelter is selling some of its photographers' work as limited-edition art. Check out the existential phone booth.

more »

Industry Creatives Given Free Reign For Presidential Campiagn Ads

Adweek asked industry creatives to create presidential campaign ads just for fun. While many made excuses as to why it wouldn't be right for them to take part (lack of objectivity, client embarrassment), several were up to the task including Anomaly's Mik Byrne, Butler Shine Stern & Partners's John Butler, Deutsch's Peter Nicholson, Goodby's Jamie Barret, Kaplan Thaler Group's Tom Amico, R/GA's Nick Law, T.A.G's Scott Duchon and TBWA\Chiat\Day's Rob Schwartz.

Some of the concepts centered around Obama's perceived lack of experience, McCain's elderly age and, of course a Paris Hilton take.

Hmm...this prompts a thought. Victoria's Secret versus Frederick's of Hollywood. Any takers?

Planned Parenthood Believes in Abstinence! Seriously.

Planned Parenthood Ohio is using a stodgy, responsible-looking older woman to rationalize its newest campaign, "The A-Word," which from what I can tell is made up of one video and an "Abstinence" graphic in smudgy Courier. Two of the tabs, "Affordability" and "Advocacy," are still "Coming Soon..."

The site was put together by Eisen Management Group, who argues "Planned Parenthood has been characterized in a largely false and negative light for far too long" -- that is, as champions for sex, however safe, but not abstinence.

more »