Abuse Is A One Man Fight

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Just when you begin to wonder WTF is going on in this commercial, One Man Fight, which shows one boxer getting the crap beating out of him by another, you realize there's an important message here from Amnesty which reports one in two women murdered are killed by their male partners, often during an ongoing abusive relationship.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Commercials, Good



Axe Says Two Average Women Make One Hot One

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In typical Axe fashion, here's another commercial that, again, illustrates wearing Axe deodorant makes a guy a babe magnet. Though instead of Axe attracting existing hotties as in prior ads, this ad shows how the deodorant transforms seemingly average women into super babes by combining the best features of the two into one. Of course, the whole ad just reinforces the impossible-to-live-up-to stereotype of the perfect woman by demeaning women at the same time. Oh it's just an ad. Let's not get all over analytical here and just enjoy the transformation into hotness.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Commercials



Bloomberg Wants to Ban, Restrict Outdoor Advertising

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While it won't effect Times Square, New York's Bloomberg administration is moving forward with efforts to enforce Local Law 31, a 2005 law that restricts certain types of outdoor advertising structures which were built after 1979. The City wants to dismantle 50 to 60 percent of the boards, reduce the size of others and place restrictions on those that remain. Reacting to the move, OTR Media Group President and CEO Ari Noe said, "Banning billboards and scaffolding signage will cause a significant financial loss for many different sectors of the economy - property owners, local businesses, union labor, advertising agencies and advertisers," Particularly hurt by this move would be stores who are undergoing renovation and who advertise on the scaffolding to make sure people know they are still open for business. While it might be everywhere, outdoor advertising to us is the least invasive and annoying ad medium of them all. They just sit there, You don't have to look at them and they don't interrupt programming as literally every other form of advertising does. isn't there still crime here in the city that needs to be dealt with instead of this minutia?

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Bad, Opinion, Outdoor, Policy



Svedka Vodka Taunts Politicos With Fembot Future

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Svedva, that vodka company with the fembots, has placed a billboard at Houston and Lafayette in New York which is across from the Puck building where political events are held. The billboard reads, "Madame President and her first lady serve Svedka at all official state functions." Witty.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Good, Outdoor



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Vonage Has Answer For Bowel Phone Placement

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Adrants reader Lisa adds to our growing list of contextual advertising oddities with this odd Vonage ad placement in a story in, oddly enough, Reuters' Oddly Enough, about the odd placement of cell phones inside the human body. If you were wondering, a cell phone, apparently, does fit up your ass as proved by four prisoners in an El Salvador jail. It's too bad the four prisoners weren't able to see this news story about how their anal activities were discovered which had an ad for Vonage's much slimmer, more bowel friendly keychain phone next to it. Of course, the keychain phone requires the use of a PC which we are certain is not bowel friendly.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Online, Strange



Travel Site Wants Your Ads

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To call attention to its all-in-one travel site, Kayak is running a contest in which people can submit ads for the service and if the company likes it, it will fly the creator to New York to have it professionally produced. There's already 400 ads people have submitted hosted over at YouTube.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Consumer Created, Good



Cultural Shocker! County Fair Comes to LA! OMG!

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Beginning tomorrow, Los Angeles will bathe in a cultural oddity known as the LA County Fair. Normally reserved for upstate New York or any flyover state, county fairs are full of cotton candy, barf-inducing tea cup rides, tractor pulls, all form of pig - both cooked and live, trucker hats, beer guts, "git r done" accents no one can understand and lots of girls who think they look hot with their gut bulging between their belly shirt and their way-too-tight low rider jeans. In bringing this sort of event to the most plastic place on earth, some serious motivation was needed.

Stepping up to the daunting task and delivering hilariously was LA agency Ideaology which created these two spots featuring a plactic surgeried mom, her Ashley Simpson look-a-like daughter (named Ashley, no less) and a friend. In one spot, the three debate whether or not cotton candy is vegan. In the other, a discussion ensues regarding exactly what sound a sheep makes.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Commercials, Good



McDonald's Talks, Snicket Videos, Sex Replaced, Girls Know

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- AdFreak doesn't like the new McDonald's talking burger spots from Leo Burnett.

- The final two book in the Lemony Snicket series, The Beatrice Letter and The End, are being promoted with a series of online videos conceived and produced in house with the help of A(x)iom.

- Heineken Netherlands is using Skpe's new feature in which 100 people can have a phone conversation at the same time to deliver a Skypecast of Dutch band Johan. Hopefully everyone will shut up so the band can be heard.

- Can't get sex? Eat chocolate instead.

- If you're a girl and you're in the know then Girls in the Know wants you to join their Celebrity Fantasy League, a virtual talent agency that awards points to the girl who "manages" the most newsworthy celeb.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Commercials, Online, Video



AdFreak Turns Celebrity DUI Story Into Ad Story

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We really have to compliment Tim Nudd over at AdFreak for turning a celebrity DUI story into one centered on advertising all to show that hot image of Paris Hilton orally manipulating that gigantic Carl's Jr. burger next to that Bentley in that commercial. Yes, she was arrested for DUI and told authorities she was headed to In N Out Burger which, of course, is not Carl's Jr. and might miff those over at Carl's Jr. that the companies most famous spokesperson is, god forbid, eating something other than a big ass Carl's Jr. burger. Nudd evens brings in Bentley who he says is probobly not happy Hilton was driving a Mercedes when she was arrested rather than a Bentley. We bow to your editorial prowess, Tim.

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Weblogs



YouTube's Lonelygirl15 A Hollywood Creation

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Not that we didn't already know this buy in an LA Times article, the drama that is YouTube's Lonelygirl15 is unfolded and some compelling evidence - confirmed in a forum post here by the creators who say they are "building a website centered around video and interactivity - suggests the girl, the site and the videos are all creations of Hollywood talent shop Creative Artists Agency. Several sleuths did extensive research along with IP address tracking which led them to the conclusion, Lonelygirl15 is manufactured and, perhaps, was a lead up, Blair Witch Project-style, to a new film. If you haven't been following the saga, Lonelygirl15 is a teen who, in her videos, says she's home schooled, has a friend named Daniel, is part of a particularly strict religion and who, in her latest video said of stars in the sky, "They said I was doing something with my teacher, and that's when I stopped asking questions about stars." Ouch. Wonder where this is going next. Call us crazy but we do seem to remember reading, perhaps in Entertainment Weekly, about an upcoming movie that would center on an affair between a student and a teacher. Not that that subject hasn't been done hundreds of times before but the similarities are compelling. All of which is irrelevant since the creators say they are simply creating a website that "will allow everyone to enjoy the full potential of this new medium."

by Steve Hall    Sep- 8-06    
Topic: Online, Video