Ad execs and their celebrity doppelgangers

Genealogy is probably as titillating a hobby as, say, stamp collecting. But genealogy website MyHeritage.com has lent itself a little more sex appeal by tapping into our obsession with celebrities. A free program allows users (after free registration) to upload their own photos and find what star they most resemble. It is amusing, confusing and definitely not to be taken seriously. (Race, gender and age do not apply here, so the results are hit-or-miss.) In the interest of time-suckage, I decided to run a few of the ad industry’s more famous faces through the database and my results were, um, interesting. For example, Alex Bogusky and actor Johnny Depp appeared to have been separated at birth and Paul Woolmington did bear an odd resemblence to James Earl Jones. Lee Clow registered as most closely resembling Tom Waits. Donny Deutsch, despite being on TV, must not be included in the database of 3,200 celebrities, because his portrait brought up a photo of Christian Bale. Some results were even farther afield. The software paired Jeff Goodby (ponytail, glasses) with Winston Churchill (bald, jowels). Even less flattering: Ann Hayden’s funky glasses earned her comparisons to Peter Sellers and Elvis Costello. Linda Kaplan Thaler most resembles hip-hopping Eminem, according to the computer, although hip-swiveler Shakira was a close second. And, not to be left out, a pic of Marian Salzman brought up Gilmore Girls' Alexis Bledel and Sarah Jessica Parker.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Memos fly at IPG but don’t quite add up

[This item updates an earlier post, which frankly we had to rewrite, given ongoing developments.] It seems that AdFreak has become AdLeak over the past few days. It all started with Adweek.com’s story about a possible merger of Draft and Foote Cone & Belding. In response to that story, IPG CEO Michael Roth (shown here) tossed off a memo admonishing the troops for leaking information to the press—a memo that was, of course, itself immediately leaked to the press. FCB CEO Steve Blamer and Draft CEO Howard Draft issued memos of their own to their staffs, which were also immediately handed over to our colleagues at Adweek. (You can read all three memos by clicking on the thumbmail images at the very bottom this post.) Let’s have a closer look. 1. ROTH: “During the past week or so, we’ve taken a real step back and lost our discipline—on matters ranging from Interpublic strategies to the very future of the group.” Since when has there been discipline over at IPG? The McCann boys can’t even count. 2. ROTH CONTINUES: “There will be no ‘takeover’ of any of our companies by another company.” OK, except the Adweek.com story didn’t use the word takeover. Getting the facts right may be as tough as balancing the books over there. 3. BLAMER: “Please understand that if we are to do anything of this sort it will be a merger of equals.” DRAFT: “We are firmly in control of our destiny.” Certainly sounds like Draft is going to end up on top. Some merger of equals. 4. ROTH: “We must stop talking out of school and putting individual agendas ahead of the common good.” If you don’t want something leaked, here’s a hint: You can start by not e-mailing it all over the company.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (6)

Your dog could be the next Old Navy pooch

Old Navy wants to know, “Does your dog have what it takes to be Old Navy’s next star?” The budget retail chain is asking dog owners to submit photos and “personality profiles”of their canines online. The winning pooch will replace Magic, Old Navy's last spokes-mutt, who appeared with the bespectacled “style icon” Carrie Donovan, actress Morgan Fairchild, and others in bizarre and campy Old Navy ads since 1995. His last commercial was in 2001, the company said, and his current whereabouts are unexplained. Is he picking through that big sale rack in the sky or just opting to "spend more time with family?" Either way, I wonder who could bear to enter their own beloved pet in this competition? Even if I still had my now-deceased Valentine—a tiny, white French Coton de Tulear—she would not be caught dead (pardon the expression, darling) hawking cheap-ass Old Navy clothing. Perhaps she would front D&G or Dior, but not a place that sells denim jackets and 6 for $10 cotton undies. Then again, Valentine was the most pampered dog ever. How else to explain why she lived until the ripe old age of 21?

—Posted by Celeste Ward

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (9)

You say mobisode, I say mobizine ...

One sign that digital media is hot again has to be the increasing frequency with which we see people coming up with cutesy new nouns to describe new media forms. Thus, it’s time to discuss what differentiates a “mobizine” from a “mobisode”, and what, if anything, either has to do with the Mafia, or for that matter, this guy. Anyway, earlier this week, we, and our sister pub, Adweek, covered the new “mobisodes” for the Honda Fit. Just now on business.com’s advertising and marketing news page, we see a reference to “mobizines” being offered in the U.K. to promote the Sony Ericcson Walkman phone. In Sony's case, the company is referring to a mobile music magazine. So what’s the difference? We’re going to jump right in and speculate that a "mobisode" contains episodic video, while a mobizine doesn't ... necessarily ... maybe. As for what a better authority—Wikipedia—thinks, the site says the term “mobisode” has actually been trademarked by Fox “for a broadcast television episode specially made for viewing on a mobile telephone screen” while no one has yet had the urge to define “mobizine.” The world—or some of it—is waiting, for anyone caring to take the plunge.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Monopoly evicting Boardwalk, Atlantic City fights back

You know Atlantic City has an image problem when Hasbro is taking suggestions on how to replace high-rent property “Boardwalk,” in its Monopoly game, via an online poll. Sure, it's only a special edition “Here & Now” version, but doesn’t that in itself suggest A.C. isn’t the prime draw it was at the turn of the last century? The Borgata Casino aside, anyone who has been to A.C. is sure to have noticed that the place is looking pretty tattered. The beachside gambling strip is surrounded by pawn shops and desperate-looking A.C. residents and the casinos themselves are clogged with cigarette smoke and white sneakered, sweatshirt-wearing day-trippers. Not to mention that the city’s slogan—"Always Turned On"—evokes a bus station pervert, not a glamorous, up-all-night party town. Getting kicked off the Monopoly board might be A.C.’s rock bottom, but with a lot of hard work, it might just claw its way back to the status of say, Baltic Avenue.

—Posted by Deanna Zammit

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apple advertising alert: man your TV sets

Some of our fellow blogs are reporting that we can expect an advertising blitz from Apple starting next week. CEO Steve Jobs mentioned the new campaign—but in typical Apple fashion declined to discuss details—at the company’s annual meeting. One can easily speculate that the new campaign will be the principal marketing push for Macs that—horrors!—use the Intel chip. At any rate, since Apple ads tend to stir up interest, if not controversy, we’ll be keeping an eye out. Also, since the "iPod + iTunes" advertising has come to represent the Apple brand in general recently, we’ll be interested to see if there’s any carryover in this new campaign now that Apple seems it’s getting back to advertising computers again.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Subliminal advertising: not total crap?

Maybe all the fear about the nefarious effects of subliminal advertising decades ago wasn’t paranoia after all. Researchers at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands believe there may be something to it. They asked 61 volunteers to perform a nonsense task of counting a string of letter B’s on a screen as a 23-millisecond message flashed. One group was shown the words Lipton Ice; the other was shown the meaningless words Nipeic Tol. After the test, among those who said they were thirsty, the majority of the people in the Lipton Ice group chose that drink over the popular local bottled water, Spa Rood. The majority of those who saw the jumbled letters chose bottled water. Eeen-teresting. Just when you thought it was safe to watch TV again.

—Posted by Jim Lovel

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Broadway marked with number of the beast

Sidewalk-graffiti marketing is off-putting in the best of times, and is often illegal. It’s even worse when it references Lucifer. We spotted these beastly stencilings on lower Broadway yesterday, close to AdFreak HQ. Is it part of the campaign for the remake of The Omen? Does it have something to do with spaceship Jesus? Does it actually read “999” and thus is nothing to worry about? Tough questions—ones that the city’s vandalism police may be asking as we speak.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: Manuela Oprea

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Sorrell bashes ‘wounded animal’ IPG

True to his chosen profession, WPP CEO Martin Sorrell knows how to turn a colorful phrase. Take his comments Thursday morning at the International Advertising Association New York chapter’s Global Marketing Summit. Asked about other advertising holding companies, he described Interpublic Group as a company that has taken to making “irrational acts of a wounded animal.” The comment came a day after word surfaced that IPG was in talks to combine its Draft and Foot Cone & Belding agencies. Sir Martin did not specifically cite which IPG acts he was referring to. But others have questioned the logic of the Draft/ FCB move, with one ad exec calling it “desperate.” Sorrell also had a response to recent public criticism of him by a person he didn’t name but who was obviously Euro RSCG CEO Ron Berger. Earlier this month at the 4A’s management conference, Berger, the outgoing chairman of the organization, accused Sorrell of being more concerned with his company’s bottom line and less concerned with the value of his agency brands and their service to clients. The criticism, said Sorrell, was made with “no research” and “no insight.” So back it up next time, Ron. Meanwhile, Joe Uva, worldwide CEO of OMD, was the lunchtime speaker at the IAA event Thursday and had the crowd roaring with his heartfelt appreciation for being invited to speak. But the thank-you was simply a setup for yet another slam on Sorrell. “It’s not so often I get to be the tallest,” Uva quipped.

—Posted by Steve McClellan

Photo: Jim Winslet

Published on April 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Campbell's picks new mama's boys

Am I out of the loop in never having heard about the Campbell’s Chunky Soup “Mama’s Boys” campaign? And I would think that, as the mother of an 8-year-old boy, I might be in the demo. But no matter, the campaign continues, with (can it be a coincidence?), the quarterbacks of the two Super Bowl teams being picked as the “boys.”—Ben Roethlisberger of the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers, and Matt Hasselbeck of the Seattle Seahawks. Alongside, of course, their mothers, Brenda and Betsy. According to this release, the campaign has been around for awhile. The Eagles’ Donovan McNabb, and his mother, Wilma, will be appearing in the campaign for the sixth year in a row. Actually, if you bother to read the fine print of the release, you'll  notice that the campaign isn't targeted towards mothers, but to grown men whose talents in the kitchen go only as far as opening cans of soup.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on April 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)