Forum Drives Tom Green to Depression, Neuroses, General Scariness

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For Snakes on a Plane we witnessed what a forum can do when they really like you. For Tom Green we might see what a forum can do when you're teetering over the edge of sanity.

Post Freddy Got Fingered (among other tribulations) it would be an understatement to say Tom is upset with his fans. Since the cancellation of his short-lived MTV show he has little hope that his months-old internet efforts will do much better.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Celebrity, Online, Strange



Jolt Goes Astroturf, Looks Feeble

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You'd think Jolt wouldn't have to try hard to be grassroots considering they survive on high school hearsay about the soda's cracklike qualities. Yet somehow here they are, failing at the fresh-faced amateur game. The video, enthusiastically entitled "There's a new king in town!" really says it all. But if you need a bigger clue, here's a cut out of Jolt PR email:

"I am here to share a video created by a bunch of college kids in the spirit of the season and in appreciation of Jolt- the most highly caffeinated beverage in the universe!"

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Bad, Video



Reindeer Wanders Deutsch Offices For No Apparent Reason

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We've all seen them before. Those videos and commercials that begin with some odd or strange action and follow it through until the end at which some kind of payoff is provided making the previous :59 worth one's while. Unless you can speak "reindeer" and some sort of joke is being told, you'll waste a full :60 watching this Deutsch holiday video.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Bad



Another Agency Sucked Into the Publicis Vortex

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Leo Burnett held out for a while. Digitas held out longer. But, today, Publicis Groupe announced it will acquire Digitas for $1.3 billion or $13.50 per share. We're sure George Parker will have a lot to say about this one.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies



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Burger Fuel Says Have a White Christmas ... with 330 Grams of Coke

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Ana at Spare Room is none too thrilled by indie restaurant Burger Fuel's shot at viral notoriety, but we admit we were amused in a dark sort of way.

Order the White Christmas combo for 330 grams of Coke - that's right, Coke. In a cup, not on a mirror. Don't be fooled by the razorblades in the viral or the powder-dipped $100 bill in the ad - neither are actually included. We'd shake our heads and go, "Oh how trashy," but then again, we're the home country of Hooters, which isn't exactly a conservative haunt either. And anyway, any restaurant Pablo Escobar admonishes us to visit must be okay.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Packaging, Promotions, Racy, Video



Bond Girl, X-Woman Says Be Nice to Dogs

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Oh we just can't pass on featuring one of our favorite, over-the-top Bond girls Zena Onatop aka Famke Jansen who is appearing in a "Be An Angel For Animals" PETA ad. Famke and PETA want us to be nice to dogs this holiday season. The ad, shot by Andrew Southam, was unveiled at an event yesterday in LA at Runyon Canyon Park. So don't crate your dog when you go to the inlaws for Christmas this year. Call Famke and I'm sure she'd be happy to come over and watch your dog.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Good, Magazine



PETA Tramples Christmas Spirit with Reindeer Revenge

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We don't need to tell you PETA prefers animals to people. South Park established that and everything South Park says is true. But why they need to defecate on the holidays by creating trite little would-be virals about reindeer trampling Santa, we'll never know.

Dissatisfied with a fantasy about the gift-giving saint underfoot, they took it further still by turning the song into a masturbation fest about how awesome PETA is for, among other things, its clever use of busty naked women to rail against animal exploitation. (See our equal opportunity coverage here.)

If you happen to dislike PETA, join us in grabbing your forehead with disdain. And if you happen to dig the hell out of what they're doing, be happy. Look at all the publicity they get from us.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Bad, Online



Holiday Cards See Nostalgic Twist

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Sparked by a handwritten note marked "How do you ask a Ninja for a free hug?", Twist Image disseminates its take on the holiday card, which is less holiday card and more video collage of happy 2006 moments. Some inclusions: the "free hugs" guy, the live-action Simpsons intro, Animator v. Animation and the viral OKGo treadmill video.

Lee Hopkins claims this is the best Christmas card he's ever seen. While we think those are strong words, we're inclined to agree, and not merely because they remembered to include Ask a Ninja (which automatically grants all-star status). We wish the cats at Twist an equally happy holidays.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Online, Video



Y! SNOW Cards Mildly Madden with Mellifluous Mockery

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In its continuing attempts to be savvy, Yahoo! Search Marketing jumps on the holiday e-card merry-go-round and sends all affiliates a Simulated Niceness of Winter (SNOW) card. The one they shot out struck us as a mere mockery of the quiet pain and suffering they imposed as they sat around re-tooling to "innovate" a la AdWords.

We'd like to trash them more along this vein but the SNOW card creation function is actually pretty nifty. The gadgets, slightly psychotic-looking characters and voice recording function recall a time when Yahoo! was cool and truly ahead of its days, a time when we enjoyed playing with them. So here's to hoping they do better this '07.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Good, Online



Fully Dressed Playboy Employees Don Christmas Sweaters

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OK, then. Anytime we receive an email from Playboy, we're more inclined to open it than an email from, say, paypalebayscam.com. In response to our call for entries relating to Sullivan Higdon & Sink's We Love Holiday Sweaters holiday card, Playboy Enterprises Public Relations Manager Traci Coulter sent us a picture of her and three others decked out in cheesy Christmas sweaters found at Salvation Army shops for a recent Santa Crawl the foursome embarked upon. Cute. But, Traci, which one is you in the picture? We need these important facts for completeness, you know.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies



Levi's Let's Anyone Place Their Face On Their Commercials

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Sort of like the trailer promotion for Wedding Crashers, this Levi's site let's you upload images of yourself that then appear on the heads of the bodies that appear in the "Straight Walk" commercials. It's :30 of fame for those who feel they really, really need it this time of year. The technology behind the fun is Personiva.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    




Top Ten Advertising Movies Reviewed

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While we had a tough time getting past the first page of this site on which the very beautiful Susan Jones stares out at us, we finally made it to a story written by Robert Cherry in which he lists and comments on the top ten advertising-related movies. On the list, of course, is, perhaps, the truest movie of them all: Dudley Moore's Crazy People. Also on the list are Lost in America, What Women Want, How to get Ahead in Advertising and several we've never heard of before. So head over to Netflix and give yourself something to do over the holidays.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Opinion



Smirnoff Gives Lost Stars Fresh Play, Children Point and Laugh

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Smirnoff Ice's Save the Mistletoe is an amusingly long-way-around attempt to say Smirnoff brings people together (just like mistletoe - so stop ravaging innocent bushes).

While we remain unmoved by the plight of the sprig, the execution wins us over. By some curious witch magic the campaign features celebrity supporters that we thought were long dead or had found joy in covert day jobs. Natalie from The Facts of Life, Lisa Turtle from Saved by the Bell, Tiffany who crooned "I Think We're Alone Now" and even the Soup Nazi band together to protect the kissing plant from further appropriation by brute force.

That's not all. Kevin at PR Blog divulges having seen a swamp-like creature that was actually supposed to be mistletoe, getting heckled by children at a nearby ice rink for love of the campaign. We wonder which sponsoring celebrity burn-out he happened to be. We put our money on The Incredible Hulk.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Good, Guerilla, Outdoor



Arnold Staffers Pole Dance at Office Christmas Party

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Oh it wouldn't be an agency Christmas party without pole dancing, would it? Of course not which is why several Arnold staffers, during the agency's Boston in-office Christmas party, headed into creative director Pete Favat's office, where, apparently, a pole is in place to hold up the ceiling and did a little pole grinding. The Boston Herald's Inside Track reports there's a video on the agencies Intranet of employee Lawson Clarke doing dance moves while dressed in a red Santa bikini. Those of you at Arnold reading this....please oh please provide us more dirt. You know you want us to scoop Inside Edition, don't you?

UPDATE: Well, that didn't take long. Here's the video of Clarke.

UPDATE II: Oops. It's gone now. Damn. Should have saved it.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies



Agency Fantasies Indulged: Ad Firm Makes Music Video

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Once upon a time we noted ad people would rather shoot movies than make boring ads. To illustrate this desperation we get tons of contrived holiday videos. But considering adland's love of video production in general, you'd think more artists would be thinking, "By gad. I'll get Ogilvy to position my bikini-clad models!"

Well, U2 did. Nix the bikini model part. For "Window in the Sky" they tapped Modernista, the only agency we know that self-promotes to an audience that perhaps prefers to remain unawares about agencies lurking behind brands. The resulting video is gorgeosity and includes multiple musical influences, icons and audiences.

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by Angela Natividad    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies, Best, Online, Television, Video



Fake Sony Blog Re-Uploaded, IQ Interactive Sings

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- Verizon's Giant's Stadium text message contest suffers from bad "can you hear me now?" reception.

- Looks like the pre-holiday layoffs are rolling in. Time Inc. just laid off 27 from its consumer marketing unit reports MediaWeek.

- If you just couldn't get enough of the fake Sony PSP blog, The Consumerist saved the entire site and reuploaded it to humiliate Sony even further.

- coBRANDit's Owen Mack attended the recent Word of Mouth Marketing Association conference in Washington DC last week and created several video interviews.

- IQ Interactive singing heads sing Christmas carols.

- Who knew? USA Today says the wise-ass Windex bird commercial was the most-liked ad in 2006.

- AdMashup, the site that collects submitted ad mashups was featured in the 2006 Advertising Age Book of Tens.

by Steve Hall    Dec-20-06    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Weblogs