Have Great Sex Without All the Mess

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So here's the latest condom marketing idiocy. Durex is out with Digital Love, a site on which, so they say, you can have sex without actually coming into contact with a partner. Which, of course, is likely the best way not to get pregnant or contract a sexually transmitted disease. However, the site offers no such thing.

You get a slow loading site, a webcam experience (if you have one) and the chance to stare at a hot woman or man who will coo sexual innuendo in your ears until, surprise, you are told you are an idiot for actually thinking you could have sex without touching.

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by Steve Hall    Oct-11-11    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Online, Opinion



Idiocy Still Front and Center in Most Advertising

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This is kind of stupid. Would a grown adult actually dump coffee over the head of someone they just took off their inner circle cell phone calling list? That seems to be the assumption Comparis is making in this new commercial for its circle of friends feature which allows for the inclusion of more than five friends.

Idiocy can be funny, of course. After all, we love to look down our noses at buffoons who would actually do this sort of thing thereby making us feel superior and intelligent in comparison. But why is it that so many brands have to stoop to this level of idiocy just to move product? Are people simply not capable of consuming information delivered in a straight forward fashion? Especially when said information is clearly - and without need for embellishment - compelling enough all by itself such as is the case in this commercial?

You tell us.

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 6-11    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary



Infiniti Europe Fails to Set Itself Apart From Competition

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Aiming to "change the face of luxury motoring across Europe," this new Infiniti Europe campaign from TBWA changes the face of nothing when it comes to car advertising. With the tagline "Since now, the perfect line is a curve" - whatever the hell that means - the campaign is said to help position the brand as a viable alternative to Mercedes, Audi and BMW.

Explaining the campaign, TBWA European Creative Director MacGregor Hastie said, "With the launch of this campaign we are more than certain of having given Infiniti its proper place in the world of high-end luxury car brands and have found an extraordinary and distinguishing big idea that will allow us to create ever stronger and more creative campaigns in the future. Because, as every one knows, the perfect line, is a curve."

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by Steve Hall    Sep- 6-11    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Opinion



Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony Bring Hilarity to Kohl's Campaign

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Now this is funny! It's always a crap shoot when a brand selects a celebrity to represent it in an ad campaign. Mostly because it's never believable the celebrity would actually purchase the product or service they're representing. Not that that's any different with Kohl's and Jennifer Lopez but they way these new McCann Erickson-created Kohl's commercials link Lopez and the brand, it's mostly irrelevant.

The campaign, promoting new clothing lines from Lopez and Marc Anthony was conceived prior to the couple's split. In one commercial, Lopez is blocked by a security guard from entering Kohl's headquarters because he doesn't know who she is. Thankfully Lopez doesn't throw the predictable celebrity hissy fit, rather subtly tries to remind the guard of her fame. It doesn't work. But the low key humor does.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-31-11    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Creative Commentary



Hip Hop Hamsters Jump the Shark

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It's really no surprise this latest Kia Soul Hamster ad from David & Goliath is getting a bad rap. After all, sequels rarely live up to the original. The first two outings in this campaign where original and amusing. Looking back at the first spot in this campaign, you can sense the originality in the concept.

Upon viewing the second spot, you can sense the progression of the campaign and the central characters from early onset hipsters to full blown hip hop stars of the hood. Sadly, the third outing has reduced the hip hop hamsters to caricatures of themselves. They've become the comic relief in a video game.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-30-11    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary



Velveeta Does Hamburger Helper

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Apart from the product's similarities to Hamburger Helper and the commercial's similarities to the Old Spice campaign, we guess Wieden + Kennedy has put an acceptable new spin on selling people Liquid Coronary...uh...excuse us...Liquid Gold, otherwise known as Velveeta cheese.

In these new commercials, which pimp Velveeta Cheesy Skillets, we have a blacksmith type, played by Lost character David S. Lee, which WK has borrowed heavily from the Isiah Mustafa Old Spice character to create. The man is all knowing when it comes to the fine art of creating easy-to-prepare, horribly unhealthy meals lazy parents can serve their families.

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by Steve Hall    Aug-12-11    
Topic: Campaigns, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Strange



Gratuitous Booty Ruins Graceful Finish

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We had our hopes up. Our fingers crossed. Our mind optimistic. And that happy mental state lasted all the way to :52 in this new Adidas Iconics commercial. We were like wow! An ad with Snoop Dogg, skaters, rap, hot cars, superstars...and no gratuitous booty! No booty! We thought, this breaks new ground! This is creative nirvanna! This deserves its own Cannes Lion "Assless Rap" category!

Sadly, like a first timer trying to make it to the finish line without...ahem...prematurely finishing, this ad shot it's wad with less than eight seconds to go. Bam! Pow! Booty! All up in our face! And here we thought we could finally write the headline, "Adidas Alienates Ass. Leaves Snoop Dogg Drooling."

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 9-11    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Racy



15-Year-Old Mentality + Naked Cheerleaders = Beer Ad

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Let's be clear right up front. This is a terrible ad. Not because it pokes fun at the wandering attention span of men when faced with the choice of listening to one's spouse prattle on about paint colors or ogling hot women in bikinis teasingly caressing each other. No. But because it looks like it was produced inside the mind of a 15 year old boy in heat peeping through a hole into the girls locker room where the cheerleading squad is in various stages of undress suiting up for their football game appearance.

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by Steve Hall    Aug- 1-11    
Topic: Bad, Commercials, Creative Commentary, Racy



Summer's Eve Says The Vagina is the Center of Civilization

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In a decision to focus on the fact women 18-34 go to the movies a lot during summer - as opposed to the supposed fact a cleaner, fresher smelling vagina will improve their chances of getting hired - Summer's Eve, with help from The Richards Group, is out with a new campaign that celebrates the vagina.

A new TV spot which will also show in National CineMedia's FirstLook movie theaters entitled "The V" stars Cleopatra and other female heroines gets all epic and basically comes to the conclusion the human race would be nowhere without the vagina so we had best take care of it, preferably with Summer's Eve products.

Of the shift away from the typical approach to selling feminine hygiene products which include featuring women in white pants frolicking freely in fields of blowing grass and flowers, Summer's Eve Director of U.S. Marketing Angela Bryant said, "The whole category has been talking to women the same way since feminine hygiene products have been in the marketplace, and ironically, many media outlets won't even allow the use of the word vagina in advertising. We are way past-due for a change. Hearing from women on our listening tour last year cemented that now is the time. This campaign is about empowerment, changing the way women may think of the brand, and removing longstanding stigmas: Summer's Eve is not a means to confidence, rather it's a celebration of confidence, of being a woman, and taking care of their bodies."

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by Steve Hall    Jul-18-11    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Creative Commentary



Levi's Explodes It's Way Into (Wannabe) Cool

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Really. What's a brand to do anymore? Every last tactic used to appear cool and hip and all connected and shit has been used. And used. And used. Over and over. And over again. And again. But, apparently, a good explosion is always worth a minute or two of your time. Or at least that what Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdamn thinks.

The agency, which hooked up with Portuguese artist Vhils, created murals of local artists on portions of the Berlin wall...and then blew them up...in, of course, slow motion.

All to sell a few pairs of jeans. Or something like that.

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by Steve Hall    Jul-15-11    
Topic: Commercials, Creative Commentary, Video