Cadbury Trades in Gorilla For Tricked Out Airport Vehicles

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Here's Cadbury's new ad, a follow up to that Gorilla ad in which a dude in a gorilla suit lets loose on a drum set to Phil Collins' In the Air Tonight. This new ad trades in the gorilla for some tricked out airport trucks which have fun on the air strip to the tune of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now.

It's OK. A lot of work went into it. But after 90 seconds, you wonder what you're watching which, in some cases be a good thing. But, if you decide to stop watching before the last few seconds, you'll never know what it was for or that Cadbury would appreciate if you ran out to the store and bought one of their candy bars.

by Steve Hall    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Commercials, Good



To Combat Underage Drinking, Alabama Targets Parents, Not Kids

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The Parentalyzer was put together by Red Square Agency to tackle underage drinking in Alabama. It has stats on drinking and driving, tips for keeping tabs on teens, and ads where parents openly admit to letting their critters sip the sauce every once in awhile.

This is one of those campaigns that would piss me off if I were a bottle-slinging Alabama mom, but it's otherwise a riot to inflict on other people. (Especially while they're at work!) Are you brave enough to take the Parentalyzer quiz, which -- unlike your closest friends -- might be man (or, well, machine) enough to tell you that you're raising a future member of the AA?

Think about that over a nice soothing gin.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Cause, Online



Two Ad Guys Start Weird Brain Exercise Social Network

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Like an account planner that actually knows the target audience he's bullshitting about in a new business presentation, George Parker writes us, "Cos, I know you guys are always looking for stuff... Steve, tits and arse, Angela, more intellectual stuff, I'm sending you something you might want to use in the category... "What do ad guys do when they finally get out of their BDA's?"

Yes, George know Angela and I very well. And we appreciate him sharing with us some "life after the Big Dumb Agency" which comes in the form on HeadstrongBrain, a new (oh God, not another one) social network that centers around...um...exercising the brain. He explains it all here which is a good thing because we sure can't.

by Steve Hall    Mar-31-08    




Goodby and Silverstein Get Old, Like Young People, Party

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OK, this is hilarious. Jeff Goodby and Rich Silverstein celebrate their many years in the business by portraying a bunch of senile old men in a video invitation to the agency's 25th anniversary party on May 8. In the video, the pair do all the stereotypical things old people supposedly do like fall asleep, lose their train of thought and drive around in those little automated carts. It's funny but thank God some hottie in a nurse's uniform pops her head into the frame towards the end reminding us nursing home living might not always be a bad thing.

by Steve Hall    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Strange



Scorsese Joins MySpace, Bullies the Weak into Top 8 Subjugation

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Speaking of people who might off you with a grin, Martin Scorsese joined MySpace and now my homepage is splattered with banner ads that read "MARTIN SCORSESE WANTS TO BE YOUR FRIEND!"

Tough to reject the guy who pimped Jodie and fed mobsters their lines for a whole generation. Plus, he has such an earnest smile. Almost like he wants to feed you cookies while peeling off your skin.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Online



Adrants Gets Over Itself, Retires Royal We

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OH: "It's about time those pompous fuck heads over at Adrants got over themselves and started writing like normal human beings without all that stupid "we" shit." OK so that wasn't actually an overheard from Twitter but it might as well have been. But that "we" shit has, indeed, been put out of its sorry-ass misery.

Yes, it's true. Over the weekend, Angela and I grabbed our digital sabers, dove head first into the vast archives of Adrants, swam through the sea of ones and zeros until we found that pretentious pile of cowardly grandiloquence hiding behind a pile of PUMA Cum Shot digits and promptly whacked his digital ass to piece Saw-style.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Announcements



Retirement Isn't Hard. Not Like Killing a Man without Breaking Eye Contact!

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Here's a Ryan Iverson parody of Dennis Hopper's Ameriprise ads -- which were creepy to begin with.

Seems like it was just a matter of time before this guy got spoofed. Something about his choice of sunglasses and the way he touches index finger to thumb while talking. Plus, he does kinda vibe like he wouldn't mind killing you.

by Angela Natividad    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Good, Spoofs, Video



Newsflash! Marketers Must Learn Digital Marketing! Ad Age Says So!

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What? You've got to be kidding. What year is it? Oh, it must be 1992 or something because it's that Total Quality Management verbal diarrhea management consultancy crap all over again. After reading this Advertising Age article penned by a couple of Booz Allen dudes, I'm wondering if the two authors found an old IBM PC in the storage closet, booted it up and found this very same article on it which, itself, was probably a 64th generation copy of the same management blather that's been spewed forth over and over for years offering absolutely nothing of value other than the invention of a few new buzz words each go 'round.

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by Steve Hall    Mar-30-08    
Topic: Opinion, Research



Nine West Does 'Project Runway' For Shoes

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Oh look! It's another branded MySpace page! Oh wait, didn't I just write that a few days ago? Yea, I did. Or maybe it was Facebook. Whatever. Anyway, here's a MySpace page that, THANK GOD, doesn't look like a MySpace page. It's for Nine West and Footwear News' Shoestar and there's actually some decent content on it. That's because an agency that knows its shit created it.

Hate it. Love it. You've got to admit it's well put together. It's like Project Runway for shoes.

by Steve Hall    Mar-28-08    




BBH Art Director Leaves. Steals Stuff. Films It. Sends Vid to Agency

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BBH Art Director Andy Tider writes, "This week I decided to leave my position as an Art Director at BBH New York. This being BBH though, I couldn't just go out with a "goodbye letter". So I spent my last night as a BBH employee stealing everything that wasn't nailed down. On video. Then I sent it to the entire company. Our chairman, Steve Hearty called it "extraordinary". In fact, BBH people couldn't seem to get enough of the video. I guess I was just expressing what everyone wished they could do."

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by Steve Hall    Mar-28-08    
Topic: Agencies, Strange, Video