Speed Stick Web short is Terry Tate redux

Someone passed AdFreak a link to this Speed Stick “Webisode” currently appearing at Maxim Online. It features a guy who takes hockey so seriously that he gets ultra-aggressive in his workaday office job, body-checking women into file cabinets, batting away mail as if he were a goalie, etc. It’s not that it didn’t make me laugh—it’s just that it’s so, so reminiscent of Reebok’s “Terry Tate” campaign of 2003 (see below), complete with the cut-away interview with the boss, who of course admires the guy’s take-no-prisoners attitude. No, this ain’t Apple/Lugz, and if you watch an earlier Webisode in the series called “King Pong” (also available on the Maxim site), you’ll see that, conceptually, the campaign goes in a different direction. Still, I have to wonder why no one at the agency or client realized, or cared, that the hockey short is so derivative.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is that Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man?

Standing outside AdFreak’s offices just now, we spotted none other than Rob Huebel, aka Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man from BBDO Atlanta’s old Cingular Wireless cinema ads. It made us want to see those old ads again—and we found a few of them here, here and here. About halfway through the first trailer, note that Huebel blurts out, “Mauled by a tiger?!” Shortly after the ad began running, Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy did get mauled by a tiger, and the line was quickly excised. Amid a random Huebel search on Google, we found this humorous Gawker Stalker entry from 2004: “Half King, 1:30 a.m. Standing outside, it’s Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man. I have no clue what his real name is. I was tempted to walk by him while shouting ‘Marty you’re a joker!’ into my cell phone, but I imagine he gets that all ... the ... fucking ... time.” We didn’t approach him either.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mozilla to launch 'Firefox Flicks'

Mozilla, maker of that little Web browser that could called Firefox, is asking people to send in their own promotional videos about Firefox as part of the launch of version 1.5, which is available for download as of today. We know there are a lot of Firefox fanatics out there, but we’re not quite sure how creative they are—last we knew, a bunch of them were painting an oversized Firefox logo somewhere at Oregon State. We’re just hoping that once the so-called "Firefox Flicks" are posted by Mozilla at spreadfirefox.com, they amount to more than people, hunched over their keyboards, getting all warm and fuzzy just because their browser has a really cool “Find” feature.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

With this beer, it's all in the belch

So there’s a guy—actually goes by the moniker “The Sound Guy”—in California who is selling the domain name and marketing materials to the product Belch Beer, though not the beer itself, if we’re reading this somewhat wacky press release correctly. The beer, said to be brewed by monks at Northwind Abbey in Belgium, brings on belching because the monks “have renounced all voluntary vocalization.” The brew’s tagline, "Belch Beer—so good, you'll want to taste it twice.” Hmmm ... would Anheuser-Busch contest the claim?

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Boone, Oakley exchange wedding vows

The holidays are becoming distinctly gay-themed in the ad world. First we got the TBWA\Chiat\Day party invite. Now, we’ve stumbled upon footage from John Boone and David Oakley’s wedding (click on “About” and then “The Wedding” to see the videos). Yes, the creative directors at Boone/Oakley in Charlotte, N.C., have tied the knot to celebrate five years in business together. “Oakley looked stunning in his formal gown, which his wife, Claire, helped him pick out and get fitted,” says the press release. “Says David Oakley, now David Oakley-Boone, ‘Today, with sadness, I close one chapter in my life. And I begin this new one with my beloved partner John, humbled by a deep sense of joy and wonder.’ ” We’re humbled, if that’s the word, by the video that shows Oakley, on a bathroom break, navigating his way around his wedding dress at the urinal.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Six Flags’ Mr. Six to get deep-sixed

Mr. Six memorabilia flies off the shelves. The look-alike contests draw hundreds. He has his own roller coaster, Mr. Six’s Pandemonium. All in all, Mr. Six has been a huge, if annoying, success. Despite this, Dan Snyder, who took control of Six Flags amusement parks along with two partners yesterday, plans to force the old spokesgeezer into retirement, the New York Post reports. Apparently, Snyder and his team want to shift the primary marketing focus from thrill-seeking teenagers to mothers with young children. Mr. Six did like to party, but the party’s over.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (29)

Kazakhs fight Borat with advertising

Not sure how we missed it, but on Monday the Kazakhstan government published a four-page ad section in The New York Times titled, “Kazakhstan in the 21st Century,” with the apparent goal of countering the horrid image of the country put forth by Borat Sagdiyev, the mock Kazakh TV personality played by Sacha Baron Cohen, also known as Ali G. The section had great things to say about Kazakhstan’s industries, its political and educational systems and its respect for women. This feud just keeps getting better and better. Earlier this month, Borat showed up at an MTV awards show in Europe, at which, among other things, he referred to Uzbeks as “assholes.” That drew sharp criticism from Kazakhstan, which in turn prompted Borat to write on his Web site, “Since the 2003 reforms, Kazakhstan is as civilized as any other country in the world. Women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats and age of consent has been raised to 8 years old. Please, I invite you to come to Kazakhstan, where we have incredible natural resources, hard-working labor and some of the cleanest prostitutes in all of central Asia. Goodbye.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Among lovesick New Yorkers, there’s truth in advertising

Maybe there’s something to this whole “I love New York” advertising campaign. In a new survey by Quinnipiac University, 61 percent of residents polled said they do indeed “love” New York, 22 percent said they “like” New York, 15 percent had mixed feelings, and 1 percent said they “hate” the city. That 61 percent is the highest “love” vote registered by Quinnipiac since it started asking the question in the late 1990s. (The previous high was 59 percent, set in November 2002.) Also, a total of 75 percent of New Yorkers said they are “very satisfied” or “somewhat satisfied” with the way things are going in the city, one point off the all-time satisfaction high, set in February 1998. (The lowest satisfaction rate measured was 30 percent in July 2003.) Also, the press release helpfully points out the proper way to pronounce Quinnipiac. It’s KWIN-uh-pe-ack.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Chairman Mao, spinmeister extraordinaire

Now that many people expect the 21st century to be the “Chinese century,” in the way that the 20th is seen as the “American Century,” we must confess to a profound ignorance of many things Chinese, including the cuisine, which a good friend who hails from Beijing assures us is 90 percent inauthentic here in America. Anyhow, we plan to become more Sino-aware in the coming years, which is why a new book about Chairman Mao has piqued our interest. The authors of Mao: The Unknown Story say the mastermind behind the Cultural Revolution was not only a murderer and torturer on par with Hitler and Stalin, he was also the ultimate spinmeister. Most Westerners know little about Mao beyond his Andy Warhol portrait and the Beatles warning (“And if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao/Ya ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow”). Anyone out there qualified or knowledgeable enough to weigh in on your main man Mao and/or a sort of Cliff Notes version of Chinese history for Americans who need to get up to speed?

—Posted by Kathleen Sampey

Published on November 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (7)

’Tis the season to be naked and buff

So, it’s time for TBWA\Chiat\Day New York’s holiday party! And the theme is ... hmmm. Gay love? Self love? Gerry Graf love? A strange yet intoxicating mix of all three? Please send us the photos from this one.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on November 29, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)