White Castle Proposes Day After Super Bowl Holiday

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If a marketer can't own Super Bowl Sunday then, at least, they can try to own the following day by creating a holiday. White Castle has launched an online effort along with a petition to turn the day after the Super Bowl into The "Day After The Big Game Holiday." Referring to the holiday as DA Day, White Castle believes the day is necessary to recover from the previous days eating and drinking and obsessive viewership of Super Bowl ads.

by Steve Hall    Jan-22-06    
Topic: Super Bowl 2006



Coke, Fox, 'Sporting News' Launch 'Best Damn Guide to Football'

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Sporting News and Fox Sports Net have teamed to create the "Best Damn Guide to Football," a guide to all things football, sponsored by Coca-Cola North America's Full Throttle Energy Drink. Starting this week, three million copies of the 12-page, 4x6-inch guide will be distributed for free at convenience stores across the country when customers purchase Full Throttle. The booklet features short items and articles that range from Super Bowl history to best player nicknames, tailgating recipes and advice for throwing an "estrogen-free" Super Bowl Party.

The "Best Damn Sports Show Period" hosts ­Chris Rose, John Salley, Rodney Peete and Rob Dibble ­also share their opinions about the most important football facts, as well as the hottest cheerleaders. The guide will also be inserted in Sporting News magazine's February 3rd Super Bowl preview issue, hitting newsstands on January 25th.

by Steve Hall    Jan-20-06    
Topic: Magazine, Promotions, Specialty, Super Bowl 2006



Wanted: Jagger On Inflatable Penis During Super Bowl Half-Time

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Commenting on the initial requirement that the Super Bowl Rolling Stones half-time show crowd would have to be under 45, well under the age of ever Rolling Stone member, and the subsequent lifting of that requirement, BL Ochman hopes the Rolling Stone give the NFL its "19th nervous breakdown," and bring on some bad ass rock and roll. We, with our "screw political correctness" attitude and desire to see some network execs bust a blood vessel, tend to agree. It's not known what the Stones plan to perform during half-time but here's hoping the lameness of past pseudo-pop, hip-hop, over-produced, poorly lip synched shows are put to shame. Ochman hopes Jagger rides out on "a huge inflatable penis while singing 'Sympathy for the Devil' or singing the anti-Bush 'Sweet Neo Con' off the latest album."

by Steve Hall    Jan-19-06    
Topic: Super Bowl 2006



Toyota to Run 'Hybrid' Camry Hybrid Ad During Super Bowl

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MPH thinks Toyota's plans to run a "hybrid" English/Spanish commercial for its Camry Hybrid during the Super Bowl is less than smart writing, "They better have one heck of a commercial because the concept sounds like a dud. Just sell cars, don't try to preach. Especially during the Super Bowl." Well, as we all know, the binoculars will be on hand to scrutinize every marketers' offering during the game so we'll all know soon enough if Toyota's hybrid/hybrid wittiness bombs or soars.

by Steve Hall    Jan-19-06    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Super Bowl 2006, Television



ABC Rejects GoDaddy Ads, Everyone to See Them Anyway

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ABC has rejected nine version of GoDaddy's Super Bowl commercial and GoDaddy CEO Bob Parson's says ABC is being hypocritical in its decision by citing the network's racy Desperate Housewives. Currently, GoDaddy ran its window Washer ad featuring Candice Michelle during the NFC WildCard game on FOX. Parson's has a verbal agreement with ABC for a placement in the game but nothing official has been signed. Likely, we won't know what the decision is until a day or two before the game. All GoDaddy's ads can be seen online here. Be sure to notice the consistency screw up between the shot of Candice in a white top without the GaDaddy logo and the shot following in which she swipes her breasts across the wet window in a shirt that has the logo.

UPDATE: Marcus Rhatigan from GoDaddy, who wrote and produced the Window Washer spot, wrote to assure us there was no consistency error writing, "There is no plain white shirt without a logo; didn't shoot one, there wasn't even one on the set." It was a lighting issue. The logo's there. We apologize for the error and look forward to seeing that logo all over Candice's chest during the Super Bowl. GoDaddy is currently reshooting for the Super Bowl. Come on, ABC, don't ruin the party.

by Steve Hall    Jan-13-06    
Topic: Super Bowl 2006



Emerald Nuts Super Bowl Commercials Online

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We doubt spending $2.6 million will do anything to overcome the cheap packaging and less than mouth pleasing taste of Emerald Nuts but you can watch their commercials, created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, over at Yahoo beginning January 23. We'll take Planter's over Emerald any time.

by Steve Hall    Jan-12-06    
Topic: Commercials, Super Bowl 2006



The Usual Suspects Make Up Super Bowl Advertisers

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It's that time of year again. From FedEx to Cadillac to Sprint to Subway to ESPN to Burger King to CareerBuilder to Ford, Ad Age has compiled a comprehensive list of Super Bowl 2006 advertising activity reporting who's buying what, what creative will be run, ans what agencies are behind the brands. Oddly, GoDaddy is missing from the list but we know they'll make s showing.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 9-06    
Topic: Commercials, Super Bowl 2006, Television



New England Patriots Highlight Visa Security Features

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Visa has teamed with the NFL in an AKQA-created online campaign, called Know the Metaphors, which uses cartoon images of New England Patriot players standing in as metaphors for the Visa card's security features. In individual videos, each of the five selected players, Brandon Gorin, Tom Ashworth, Dan Koppen, Russ Hochstein and Matt Light use their football prowess in humorous ways to deter criminals and highlight Visa security features. It's a nice way of making boring credit card features like identity theft, fraud monitoring and that little three digit code on the back of the card seem interesting.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-06    
Topic: Online, Super Bowl 2006



GoDaddy Builds Super Bowl Buzz, Clothing Will Be Minimal

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AdJab's Chris Thilk and Tom Biro sat in on the GoDaddy press conference which, they report, was held basically to appease media who are clamoring for some big scoop when all that's happening is, as GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons has said all along, is Super Bowl business as usual. GoDaddy, like any other Super Bowl advertiser would (or should) do, is simply trying to get as much buzz as they can prior to the game and insure that buzz lasts long after the game is over as it did last year. Last year's big-boobed strap-slip spot, by the way, worked to the tune of generating $11 million in media value and increasing the company's market share from 16 to 24 percent.

In the call, Parsons riffed about the difficulty his spots receive which he said amounts to a form of censorship emanating almost entirely from one organization, the Parents Television Council. Parsons also said all the hullabaloo is basically pointless. GoDaddy will create whatever it wants and place it on its website for all to see. The Super Bowl spot, again featuring Candice Michelle dressed very much unlike a beekeeper according to Parsons, will simply be a tease for the unedited version. Once again, GoDaddy is maximizing the PR angle to great benefit.

Thilk and Biro plan to hypothesize about what we'll see from GoDaddy in their spot. Since GoDaddy likes to poke at pop culture, perhaps they should take a stab at the celebrity anorexic ugliness trend and, with Candice Michelle, prove once and for curves are, indeed, better than no curves.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 5-06    
Topic: Super Bowl 2006



Super Bowl Advertisers Gear Up

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As we move closer to advertising's Hall of Fame, Super Bowl XL, the list of advertisers planning to participate in the advertising extravaganza is beginning to build. According to a CNN article, CareerBuilder will be back this year although we don't know if the chimps will be. Gillette will make an appearance of two to promote its new mega-bladed Fusion razor. Anheuser-Busch, Pepsi and GM will have several spots in the game. GoDaddy is, reportedly, working with ABC to reach an agreement on just how racy the internet host can be.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 4-06    
Topic: Super Bowl 2006