Got an Opinion? Get a Camera. Now You're in Political Advertising.

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Contributing to the idea that anything the zeitgeist has to say must be useful to The World At Large, SaysMe.tv lets would-be propagandists air political ads on the cheap.

For anywhere between $35 to, I don't know, close to $100, you can air your own ad on a network in your area. (Provided you live in Philly, Raleigh, Indianapolis or Charlotte. But hey! More coming soon!)

The results, oddly enough, are really dull attempts to look like the stuff already on TV. Even promising titles like "You Don't Know Bama" left me with going, "Hmmm. NEXT!"

Come on, zeitgeist. Pull out a rabbit.

by Angela Natividad    May-27-08    
Topic: Online, Political, Trends and Culture



Obama Clinton, ObamaClinton, ObaClintman...

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For people that are bored with the power struggle between the charismatic black man and the woman who'll pursue her ambition to the ends of our patience, some relief is circulating the 'net today:

- Why choose if you can combine? (via MarketingProfs)
- Obama, Clinton fight it out jedi-style

And in other (actual) news...

- Obama and McCain have begun seeking VPs. (Well, that's what the story suggests. Obama, for the record, said, "I am not commenting on vice presidential matters, because I have not won this nomination.")

- McCain cuts ties with the Hitler pastor.

- Clinton beats McCain ... at a vodka competition. Four years ago.



'Rush Hour' Director Launches Brand Consultancy, Uses Idol Finalists as Guinea Pigs

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Brett Ratner, the director who gave us X-Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour trilogy, has launched Brett Ratner Brands.

Less an agency than a "consultancy," Ratner aspires to marry brand messages to pop culture.

His first such effort was for Guitar Hero. During the American Idol finale this week, two ads appeared -- one with Idol finalist David Cook in briefs, lip-synching to Old Time Rock 'N Roll, the other with David Archuleta in boxers, following suit, Risky Business-style.

Ratner said he wants to make ads "everybody wants to be in." His models include "Got Milk," HP's "Hands" and iTunes' "Celebrity Playlist."



'What's This? Oh. It's a Body, Bloated in the Sun'

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Somewhere in the bowels of my memory is a man with a 'fro, a soothing voice and a paintbrush. As a kid I watched him on TV, mesmerized as he effortlessly whispered magic onto his canvas.

Right about now, though, I'm wondering whether those gripping pastures and endless telephone lines were not actually thinly-veiled and mildly traumatic messages about ethnic cleansing.

I like how at the end he gets all sinister and hisses, "We're almost done here, aren't we? No. It's never done."

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-19-08    
Topic: Cause, Good, Online, Spoofs, Strange, Trends and Culture, Video



BusinessWeek Grants Microblogging Some (Very Late) Validation

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Last week, writer Stephen Baker of BusinessWeek wrote a collaborative article with Twitter users. The compilation took several days and generated more than 250 contributions, including quotes and citizen reporting.

The result, "Why Twitter Matters," was published today. (Expect tons of linkbacks to individual tweets, not to mention gratuitous use of "tweet" itself.) Looks like the stream-of-thought community just won a new convert.

Hey, Baker. Think Twitter ex-architect Blaine Cook looks anything like Jesus?

by Angela Natividad    May-15-08    
Topic: Good, Magazine, Online, Trends and Culture



Travails of Miley Cyrus Illustrate Need For Destigmatized Sex

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It's probably just me. No, I'm sure it's just me but I'll ask the question anyway.:Is there something strange about Miley Cyrus jumping immediately from that Vanity Fair/Annie Leibovitz "scandal" -- where she was portrayed as, well, a bit more sexy than our sexually repressed society can handle -- to an appearance in the Body by Milk campaign, where she sports...white stuff all over her lips?

One could argue it's just a natural transition to the next level of, um, participation in the oh-so-seedy activity of -- OMG! -- engaging in dirty sex acts. But, that would be gross so let's just leave that stuff on the table.

more »

by Steve Hall    May-15-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Opinion, Trends and Culture



Pepperidge Farm Gets Racy. Or is it Racist?

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In a lengthy analysis of a recent Pepperidge Farm print ad for the company's Milano cookie, Beyond Madison Avenue in which such details as "soul mates" versus "soulmates" are examined, the writer points to another take on the ad, from 360Nu.com, which...wait for it...calls the ad racist. Yes. A racist cookie ad.

It seems there may need to be a WTF category added to Adrants to house all these idiocies. However, before immediately tossing this off as yet another case of Chronic Overthink, the 360Nu writer offers interesting commentary on marketing, advertising and packaging as they relate to the reflection, creation, perpetuation or racial stereotypes.

Using two examples, angel food cake with white frosting over black cake and Devil Dogs with black ...stuff over the white, a corollary is made between the white over black as positive and the black over white as negative (devil).

Whether or not you decide to file this away in your own personal WTF category, you should at least read the piece firts. Then you can label the writer a crack pot or an insightful genius.

by Steve Hall    May-15-08    
Topic: Opinion, Strange, Trends and Culture



George W. Bush Unites Globe in Shared Mockery

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In the course of his Presidency George W. Bush has both enraged and made us laugh, often at the same time. We've seen plenty of ways where his unique talent has manifested in reactionary advertising. Sometimes the results are funny, sometimes they piss us off, and often they do both at once.

Either way, it's become impossible to leave the States without a good sense of humour -- or an iron-on maple leaf.

Ivan of CreativeBits put together an invaluable collection of print ads where Bush is the star. This close to November, it almost makes us fond of the guy -- the way you grow fond of a stooge you're about to screw over in a drug bust.

more »

by Angela Natividad    May-14-08    
Topic: Cause, Good, Magazine, Political, Poster, Trends and Culture



Renegade Espouses Marketing as a Service

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It would be easy to toss off this Renegade video which espouses its belief marketing should be a service to consumers rather than an intrusive method to get people to buy stuff. It's not new and it's been voiced by many an agency eager to illustrate they know marketing has to engage, enable conversation, provide benefit, offer participatory experiences and provide a service that goes beyond an excuse simply to sell product.

more »

by Steve Hall    May- 5-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Social, Trends and Culture, Video



Miley Cyrus Has Nothing on This Nubile Young Thing

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Yikes! Not that the whole Miley Cyrus thing should have been a thing in the first place but this Disney licensee ad in China, based on American laws and standards, would most certainly have been a BIG THING had it appeared anywhere in this country. A ten year old (?) in her underwear on a big billboard? Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen.

As AdFreak reports, once Disney caught wind of the nubile young thing, the thing quickly became an un-thing and the board was taken down.

by Steve Hall    May- 2-08    
Topic: Outdoor, Racy, Trends and Culture