Gawker Weighs In On September Magazines

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When we picture tiny Gawker Editor Jessica Coen trying to lug behemoth September issues of the fashion mags back to her place for the soon-to-be-annual Fall Fashion Weigh-in, we can't help but feel sorry for her but it's all in the line of duty . Reporting on important issues like the weight of magazines requires a determined dedication and Jessica most certainly has that. Out of the four issues she purchased last night, Glamour, Lucky, Vanity Fair and W, it was W that beat oth the others weighing in at 3.5 pounds. While that's heavy, it's no record. If memory serves, Vogue has tipped the sales upwards of four or more pounds. Stay tuned for Jessica's next weigh-in.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Magazine



Explosive Pinkness Now Primary Method of Selling Bubble Gum

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Apparently in acknowledgment that every method to sell bubble gum has been done to death, Toronto-based agency Youthography chose to go with a decidedly different approach for its client Bubblicious. Celebrating the gum's pinkness, the spot gets a bit orgasmic with the stuff in that odd. nonsequitor sort of way. Print accompanies.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Magazine, Strange, Television



True Consumer Generated Media Should Not Be manufactured

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Over at Shake Well Before Use, Ariel wonders if Consumer Generated Media is an offensive, if not meaningless, term since its current iteration by marketers places so many limitations on it by boxing in CGM with all sorts of cut and paste rules of brand engagement. Or, worse, creating it on their own and passing it off as CGM like Pop Secret did. She argues true consumer generated media (or any term you choose to throw at it) should be organic and limitless. Opining insightfully, Ariel says marketers, in their efforts to hop on the latest trend, are wasting their time trying to create a desired reaction rather than maximizing and leveraging an already organically existing one.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Consumer Created, Opinion



New York Times Ad Coverage Has Disappeared

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This is just too good to pass up. Commenting on New York Times ad columnists Stuart Elliott's three month vacation and his replacement by Jane L Levere, George Parker writes, "...for fucks sake Jane Baby... Get off your arse and write about advertising... Otherwise, just rename the column... Jane L. Levere's really fucking boring column that has nothing whatsoever to do with advertising, 'cos it's much easier to re-write PR releases from the media companies that take me out to lunch and get me fucked up." Exactly.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Publishing



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Specialized Mocks O.J Chase, Bloodies Cartoon Character

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Aside the having been able to take a dump in the time it took these virally-intended videos for Specialized Bicycles to load, they're actually quite funny. Created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, one video gleefully tears a cartoon character's intestines out as he rides the Stumpjumper mountain bike and the other mocks the O.J. Simpson aerial chase. Both good. Both funny.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Good, Video, Viral



Heineken Hilarity, Snakes Call, Snakes Tatoo, Madonna Mugs

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- George Parker thinks every agency vying for the Heineken account is out of their minds and says it's a forgone conclusion the account is going to Red Brick Road.

- Samuel L. Jackson calls the cell phones of your friends and family with customized messages to invite them to see his new movie, Snakes on a Plane.

- Altoids is auctioning off three tins of its new Chocolate Dipped Mints on ebay.

- Another wizened George Parker insight: Saatchi has set Youth Connection, a new division focusing on, well, the youthful. George says don't bother, "None of them ever last, because no one in advertising really has a clue what's going on in a kids head."

- This dude is really looking forward to Snakes on A Plane.

- Currently under construction, Madonna will appear on an 8 story billboard outside Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel for H&M.

- If you're into magazine inserts, Ron Redfern has them for you here.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Agencies



Creative Director Ponders Contribution to Teen Alchoholism

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Dieste Harmel & Partners' Creative Director Mack Simpson tell us the story of an ad campaign he created several years ago for Anheuser-Busch's Tequiza, how his campaign was mentioned in Koren Zailckas' book Smashed and how he feels somewhat responsible for contributing to this girl's and others binge drinking at a toung age. Of course, Simpson and the rest of know, as he writes, "advertising is incapable of holding a gun to someone's head and ordering them to chug a beer bong," but the idea that advertising, in some way, might contribute to that, gives pause.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Agencies



Go! Retire Your Tired Wardrobe And Go Shop!

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Creating a shopping mall campaign is usually right up there with creating a BRC for LCGC magazine but it looks like the folks over at Minneapolis-based Colle+McVoy had fun with this campaign for the area's Taubman Center shopping malls. The campiagn has a simple message: "Go." Go shopping. Poking fun at those who haven't shopped in years hence own a wardrobe worthy of a 50 year old trying to look fashionable as a chaperon at a high school dance, the campaign's message shame people into updating their wardrobe.

The campaign will appear outside of the shopping malls and consist of customized signage, door hangers, Transtops, train wraps, hot air balloons, coffee cup wraps, dry cleaning bags, bowling clearing arms, restroom mirrors and a Website. Check out the creative here.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Good, Guerilla, Online, Outdoor



Yet Another Fashion Brand Signs With Yet Another Supermodel

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No sooner do we publish a piece on the ad industry's addition to sex and debate the merits of using one's beauty to better one's life and sell products for marketers, fashion brand Rampage has signed a deal with Petra Nemkova to appear in its fall print and online ad campaign. Created in-house, the ads will break in September issues of InStyle, Elle, Cosmopolitan and others. Anyway.

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Magazine, Online



The Ad Industry Is Addicted to Sex

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In her recently released book, Danika:Crossing the Line, IRL racer Danika Patrick offers up this truism about her work in advertising, writing, "Here's the upshot. Sponsors such as Honda, Peak Antifreeze, and Secret deodorant have stepped up and are using a sexy woman racecar driver as a unique marketing tool. Let's face it, guys don't sell antifreeze quite the same way I do."

Danika approaches the whole notion of sex symbol with a refreshing nonchalance, saying, " Why not use whatever assets I have? I'm confident in myself as a driver. It's obvious I'm a girl, so why not use it as a tool?" Her statement does, though, open up the age old debate about whether one should use their sexual assets to get ahead in life. But is being a hot looking girl or guy really any different than being the best major league pitcher or the most famous Hollywood actor in terms of using those qualities to further one's life? All of us have various assets in our arsenal and we all use them to achieve our goals in life. Why should the asset of physical beauty be looked upon with less favor as if being beautiful automatically makes one dumb, desperate and lacking in higher intelligence?

more »

by Steve Hall    Aug- 8-06    
Topic: Celebrity, Opinion, Trends and Culture