The top 10 AdFreak stories of 2005

Who said bloggers don’t like lists? With a few hours left in the year, we are pleased to present the 10 most popular AdFreak stories of 2005, based on number of reader comments. We’re not quite sure how we became a second home for Gastineau Girls fans (or rather, foes). That post has drawn three times as many comments as any other story we’ve ever done. But we’re not complaining. We’d like to thank everyone who visited our site this year, and everyone who submitted a comment. Happy New Year, and we’ll see you in 2006.

No. 10: VW suicide-bomber viral spot a hoax

No. 9: Does this mean Ty-D-Bol makes a good baby name?

No. 8: What’s with the sexist ‘Got milk?’ spot?

No. 7: Exclusive photo from the Donny-brook!

No. 6: Ad space for a penny per pixel

No. 5: David Spade keeps just saying no

No. 4: Check out this Coca-Cola spec creative!

No. 3: Is Eminem/Apple ad something we've seen before?

No. 2: Why are cows planning to invade New York?

No. 1: Those ghastly Gastineau girls

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: George DeSota/E! Networks

Published on December 31, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Philips having a ball with 2006 New Year’s

Chevy, Korbel champagne, Panasonic, MSN and Coke are all official sponsors of the Times Square Alliance’s New Year’s Eve party this year. But as usual, it’s Waterford who’ll take center stage at the zero hour with its massive New Year’s ball. And piggybacking on the huge crystal ball is Philips, which has been lighting the sphere for the past five years. This year is particularly special for Philips—it’s the last time it will be lighting the ball exclusively with incandescent lighting. By 2007, it’ll outfit the ball completely with LED lights, making it even brighter and more expensive-looking. Philips is celebrating with a special “Next year is brought to you by Philips” ad campaign. It’ll be auctioning off light bulbs from this year’s ball and has created a microsite where it’s asking you to post your New Year’s resolutions. Also in ball news, the New York Sun has a fun article today about the guys who are in the stressful position of being the “keepers of the ball.” Says one of them: “Our entire year truly boils down to this moment.” 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: Times Square Alliance

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

Mac owners wary of Intel stickers, even redesigned ones

Intel has unveiled its new logo, doing away with the lowered “e” and adding an oval swirl. (Also, the “Intel inside” line is being ditched in favor of “Leap ahead.”) In looking for reactions to this news around the Web, we did stumble upon one group that's particularly passionate about Intel logos: Mac owners. They're worried that Intel stickers will start appearing on Apple products once the computer maker switches to Intel chips. A typical opinion: “I would not accept a sticker on the machine. I want the simple clean design and lines that Apple makes. People can stick their own stickers on if they want but no ads on mine. Apple does that and they're going to lose customers over style.” Kind of funny, coming from people who love to plaster Apple stickers everywhere.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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

Catholics fight back against episode of ‘South Park’

It hasn’t been a great month for the Virgin Mary. First, a Catholic magazine inadvertently ran an ad showing Mary wrapped in a condom. Then Comedy Central aired an episode of South Park titled “Bloody Mary,” in which a statue of the Virgin Mary is believed to be bleeding out of its rear end but is eventually determined to be menstruating and not worthy of special attention. (The Pope shows up in the episode and clarifies the situation by saying, “A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.”) Obviously, Catholics are pissed, and this time their protests may be having some effect. E! Online reports that the Catholic League may have succeeded in getting “Bloody Mary” banned from future broadcast on Comedy Central or inclusion on DVD. A scheduled rebroadcast of the episode has disappeared from the Comedy Central schedule, as have screen shots of it from the network’s Web site.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (18)

Can’t drive 55? In this car, you don’t always have to

I remember reading somewhere that the average person spends six months of his life waiting for red lights to turn green. That may be a myth, but it’s certainly true that any company that could develop a popular and practical diversion for people sitting at red lights (besides radio listening) would stand to make a killing. Maybe Nissan has done it. The automaker said this week that it will unveil a concept car that comes loaded with a built-in Xbox 360 and the videogame Project Gotham Racing 3. Now that doesn't sound unsafe at all. Drivers will be able to use the steering wheel and gas and brake pedals to play PGR3 on a seven-inch screen that folds down from the roof. Nissan says the idea came from an Internet survey of 2,000 young people—many of whom it admitted were in junior high school. 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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

Satire sends up Gladwell’s ‘Blink’

Malcolm Gladwell’s hugely successful Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking now has a worthy satirical companion, Blank: The Power of Not Actually Thinking at All, now out from HarperCollins. As others scramble to determine the real identity of Mr. Tall, we’ll reprint the humorous blurb from the publisher: “Stop! Don't think! You already know what this book is about. That is the power of Blank: The Power of Not Actually Thinking at All. Using what scientific researchers call ‘Extra-Lean Deli Slicing’ (or would if they actually bothered to research it), your brain has already decided whether you’re going to like Blank, whether its cover goes with your shirt, and whether it will make you look smart if somebody sees you reading it on the train. Chances are you and your shirt are both liking it a lot, you’re going to buy several copies, and you don’t even know why! That’s why you’ve absolutely got to read Blank: to find out why your brain keeps doing these wacky things without your permission.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 29, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Paying for your fun on New Year’s

Planning on ringing in the New Year in style? It will cost you—or the average American, at least—around $172, according to a new survey. The “Shopping in America Holiday 2005” survey, conducted by real estate investment trust Macerich Co., found that those of us who live in the Northeast will outspend those elsewhere in the country. We’ll spend an average of $256 each. Midwesterners will be the most thrifty, spending an average of about $119 each. Americans in the West and the South will spend $169 and $159, respectively. The survey also polled consumers on their top New Year’s resolutions. No surprises among the top three: lose weight (Jared might help you there), save money and get a new job. Happy New Year!

—Posted by Mae Anderson

Published on December 29, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

GoDaddy’s Bob Parsons goes off on Pepsi

Bob Parsons is a piece of work. The president and founder of GoDaddy.com knows how to stir up controversy, and profit from it. He did it with GoDaddy's 2005 Super Bowl ad, and now he’s doing it again. On his blog (which in general is priceless), Parsons is stoking the fire by discussing just how hard a time he’s having in getting a new GoDaddy spot approved by ABC for the 2006 Super Bowl. “The challenge isn’t to simply get an advertisement approved. The challenge is to get an appropriate ‘GoDaddy-esque’ ad approved,” he writes. Actually, Parsons has been talking about the 2006 Super Bowl since July or so—and how boring the ads are going to be, and how great and “polarizing” a GoDaddy spot would be, and how “GoDaddy-esque” is just such a wonderful adjective. Now, in a new post, he really hunkers down. Responding to a recent Mediaweek article which suggested that Pepsi complained to Fox last year about the GoDaddy spot, Parsons writes: “Pepsi is no white knight when it comes to advertising. I found it more than a little interesting that a firm with a checkered history like Pepsi would hold GoDaddy accountable for its advertising.” He goes on to rip Pepsi for its supposed hypocrisy—citing its association with Ludacris, Britney Spears’ navel and Bob Dole. At the end of his admittedly good-humored diatribe, he tacks on this paragraph, which really sums up what Bob Parsons is all about: “Should I switch? When I drink pop (or soda depending upon which state you’re from), I like Coca-Cola for the real stuff, but when I drink diet pop, I’ve always liked Pepsi. I may just threaten to switch to Diet Coke—but I’ll probably stick with Diet Pepsi.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 29, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)

What Donald Trump and penis patches have in common

Some say Donald Trump has jumped the shark, but he’s still on top, along with penis patches, in the world of spam. AOL has released its list of the top 10 global spam e-mail subject lines from 2005, as measured by its spam filters. They are: 1) Donald Trump Wants You—Please Respond; 2) Double Standards New Product—Penis Patch; 3) Body Wrap: Lose 6-20 inches in one hour; 4) Get an Apple iPod Nano, PS3 or Xbox 360 for Free; 5) It’s Lisa, I must have sent you to the wrong site; 6) (xx)Breaking Stock News(xx) Small Cap Issue Poised to Triple; 7) Thank you for your business. Shipment notification (77FD87); 8) (IMPORTANT) Your Mortgage Application is Ready; 9) Thank you: Your $199 Rolex Special Included; and 10) Online Prescriptions Made Easy. In 2004, the top spam subject line was, “We carry the most popular medications.” In 2003, it was simply, “Viagra online.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: NewsCom

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

Dunkin’s Fred the baker dead at 83

Michael Vale, aka Fred the baker from the old Dunkin’ Donuts commercials, has died at 83. Vale first uttered his sleepy refrain, "Time to make the doughnuts," in ads from Ally & Gargano in 1982, led by creative director Ron Berger. The chain figured that Vale played Fred in some 200 spots before switching to a PR role in 1997 as the “Dunkin’ Diplomat.” “The first time he said, ‘Time to make the doughnuts,’ we were hysterical,” Berger told the Boston Herald in 1997. “We knew the importance of the role. It was such that you want someone that people are going to like and definitely relate to. Michael was it.” A Dunkin’ rep told the Boston Globe around the same time: “Fred reflects that Dunkin’ Donuts is for everybody. That’s why you can look in one of our parking lots and see a Mercedes parked next to a Ford pickup truck. 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on December 28, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)