Check out Uma Thurman’s severed head

A blog called Ironic Sans is feeling sorry for Uma Thurman after she seems to have had the same headshot grafted onto two different bodies in these movie posters for My Super Ex-Girlfriend. “If they weren’t going to do a good job, couldn’t they at least make it less obvious that it’s the exact same head?” the site complains. “And I think her (body double’s?) breasts are bigger in one shot than in the other.” (They go into the breast issue in greater detail, including an animated video comparing them.) I believe the poster on the right is the official one; perhaps the one on the left is an earlier version.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)

Coke’s ‘Happiness Factory’ has a dark side

Goovy new animated spot here from Wieden + Kennedy and Psyop that imagines all sorts of fantastical goings-on inside a Coke vending machine. All the little creatures seem happy and bubbly ... except for the snowmen, who appear to be getting slaughtered en masse as part of the bottle-chilling process. For the full effect, see a high-res version of the spot here. Spotted first at Beyond Madison Avenue.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (11)

Now back to the Cuervo guys in the studio

Cuervo has a new Web site, Cuervo Season, that parodies SportsCenter, with two doofuses sitting around talking about partying as though it were a professional sport. The guys promise to go over “all the X’s and O’s that go into having the perfect Cuervo season.” That means games, drink recipes, rules and equipment for sloshing back tequila—almost too much stuff. Which is why, dumb as it is, the best part might be the idle banter of the hosts—along with the occasional downing of shots or frozen margaritas—as they wait for you to make a selection.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Bender vs. Al Gore, the environment debate

Movie Marketing Madness tipped us off to this clip in which Bender from Futurama discusses An Inconvenient Truth with Al Gore. This video is apparently part of the Paramount Vintage’s official marketing effort for the documentary.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Red Bull. For your least fun afternoons.

A jigsaw puzzle of 1,000 white pieces? Sounds like misery. Will a can of Red Bull help get you through it in one piece? Maybe. But it’ll still be an upsetting experience. It’s becoming ever clearer why Red Bull bought the MetroStars. It’s fast becoming the official drink of things that suck. This example of “ambient advertising” is brought to you by 10AM Communications in Singapore, via Ads of the World.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Is Priceline a bit unsure about Shatner?

Priceline has posted this new ad with William Shatner on YouTube, apparently to see whether people like it or not before spending actual money to air it on television. That seems odd. These days, if something has Shatner in it, you just have to believe in it. In fact, the only thing wrong with this ad is that it doesn’t have enough Shatner. You can’t go halfway with Shatner anymore. Via ClickZ News Blog.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 30, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Don’t leave home without your Condom-On

Condoms aren’t that hard to use; any flight attendant would be happy to demonstrate. But for men who just can’t seem to learn, here’s an infomercial for the Condom-On. “Using technology developed by NASA for the Mars Lander, the Condom-On has been aerodynamically optimized in wind tunnels to prevent air drag and ensure that your condom arrives at its destination ASAP,” says the Web site. There. Problem solved. Via Boing Boing.

—Posted by Tim Nudd 

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)

Fordboldmoves.com offers Ford 360°

Ford has begun to put its footage where its “Bold Moves” slogan is, releasing the first in a series of documentary-style short films meant to illustrate the company’s attempts to move forward. We’re sure most of the focus in the blogosphere/media will be on the films themselves, but the site is actually more intriguing when analyzed from the perspective of whether this advertiser “gets” new media or not. And Ford does. Not only has Ford made it easy to embed its video on blogs, as seen above, but the site presents a surprisingly unvarnished perspective on the state of the company. There are point/counterpoint posts on whether there is still such a thing as an American car, complete with some painful commentary from outsiders on the state of the company. (“I don’t own a Ford because Ford offers absolutely nothing like the car I purchased. The worst part? My family owns a Ford/LM dealership!”) It also includes a news feed from Yahoo! about Ford, which, when we stopped by the site this morning, was trumpeting that Standard & Poor's has downgraded the company’s credit rating. This site is a bold move indeed. A shout-out to to I-Boy for making sure this was on our radar screen.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (4)

In Boston, ride with Charlie at your peril

Boston has the oldest subway system in the nation. Paul Revere may have taken the Green Line on one stage of his ride. But the transportation authority is trying to move into the 21st century. This week, they introduced “CharlieTickets” on the midtown line I ride almost every day. Charlie, of course, is the hapless straphanger immortalized in a ditty four decades ago by the Kingston Trio. The lyrics begin: “Let me tell you the story of a man named Charlie. On a tragic and fateful day, he put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, went to ride on the MTA.” But Charlie’s journey goes awry: “Did he ever return? No, he never returned. And his fate is still unlearned. He may ride forever ’neath the streets of Boston. He’s the man who never returned.” Always quick to embrace and celebrate failure (see Red Sox, 1919-2003), Boston’s subway honchos have dubbed 2006 “The Year of Charlie.” They’ve even emblazoned his visage on the new high-tech tickets. It’s a disturbing image: half a face, no nose. He’s hanging precariously out a subway-car window (which must be illegal; it’s certainly unsafe), holding out his ticket in an attitude of anguish and despair. Even allowing for artistic license, the concept is flawed. The guy got lost and is doomed to ride around forever. He is NOT a satisfied customer. The Web site promises that with a CharlieTicket, “you’ll be good to go!” Fare enough. But what a long, strange trip it will be.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (9)

Watch our network, or be eaten by rodent

As media continues to fragment, how do you get people to watch your shows? You tell them that if they don’t, an evil guinea pig will ravage their kidneys while they sleep. This campaign, from the twisted wreckage of Eric Silver’s brain at BBDO New York, advertises G4’s Midnight Spank block of late-night shows. See two other executions here and here. UPDATE: As Eddie points out in comments, the guinea-pig spot may have been inspired by a Masters of Horror episode called Dreams in the Witch-House. Here’s the trailer for that episode; it also features a murderous rodent (a rat, this time), and there’s even a shot of it sitting on the guy’s chest. Also, one of the other Midnight Spank spots linked above has a deer with a woman’s voice. Was that inspired by the Masters of Horror episode Deer Woman?

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (9)

Canadian town greases poles to stop ads

The city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, has found a way to keep its city poles and signs free from ugly fliers: spray a non-stick oil on them. “I was sitting in the intersection and I saw all this stuff and said, ‘That's enough, we have to do something,’ ” says one not-very-busy city councilman, who may have chosen this project over playing a game of Tetris. The substance being used is a mysterious product simply called The Solution. It’s reportedly non-toxic, non-flammable, non-hazardous and approved by Ontario’s environment ministry. The project is being referred to informally as the “Pam for spam” initiative. It’s unclear how Pam cooking spray feels about that.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Something’s fishy in new Comcast spots

Mermen are extremely prone to strong emotions. Theirs is the deep mystery of the ocean, and the terrible fury of its storms. This is according to this merrmen Web site, which includes at least one humorous nerd-porn photo (safe-ish-for-work). In Comcast’s world, though, mermen are hipstery bowlers who discuss the company’s $99 phone/cable/Internet deal—while also pondering the question of how, exactly, they became mermen. (There’s pathos in those flippy tails.) In other new spots, the same two actors are made redundant by robots, trapped in a chaotic German submarine movie and suddenly huge in Japan. These ads kick the pants off what Time Warner Cable does in New York. The work is from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners; Traktor directs.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)

When you’re sick and tired of eating right

Every Thanksgiving I temper my appetite by looking up some of the world’s grossest recipes. (One for White Castle stuffing stands out.) Now, with swimsuit season heartily upon me, here’s comes this winner: The Twinkies Cookbook. That’s right, one Theresa Cogswell has compiled 50 different recipes utilizing Twinkies, ranging from the truly stomach-turning Twinkie Burrito and Twinkie Lasagna to the berry-filled, red, white and blue Patriotic Twinkie Pie. Can’t wait for the 4th. And for those of you who want to make Twinkies themselves from scratch, you can find recipes for homemade ones here and here. (The latter recasts the Hostess Twinkies name as Hopeless Twinkles.) We can’t make any guarantees about the shelf life.

—Posted by Aaron Baar

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Adam Morrison sells out the ’stache

We’ve talked about Adam Morrison before, not in a while though (not since March, when the motto “You can’t stop the ’Stache” proved to be far from true). But he’s in the news again—he was chosen as the No. 3 pick in last night’s NBA draft by the Charlotte Bobcats. The ’Stache may not pick up opponents who drive to the basket, but he is picking up endorsement deals. The ad here is part of EA Sports’ current campaign for NBA Live ’07. It shows Morrison talking about how he’ll take the NBA back to the “glory of the mustache days.” He mentions Kurt Rambis, which is nice. But using the ’stache as a cash register like this is sad. Check out all the ads here. 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on June 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Did Argentina’s ‘Truth’ spot deserve more?

It’s ironic that the film jury at Cannes last week questioned the authenticity of an ad called “Truth.” (See it here, on the Cannes site.) The spot, for an Argentine presidential candidate, won a silver Lion. But sources tell AdFreak that it might have won a gold—if there weren’t some question about what language it aired in originally. The 135-second ad, for the campaign of Movimiento Federal Recrear, endeavors to tell the “truth” about the candidate and what change could mean for the Argentine people. A gray bar follows copy lines down the screen, and a voice reads the words, which paint a pessimistic picture of the country. But when it reaches the bottom, the bar begins scrolling back up; in reverse order, the same sentences remarkably deliver precisely the opposite message—an optimistic one. Cannes delegates found the ad to be powerful and cleverly written, yet the question lingered: Wouldn’t it have run originally in Spanish, not English? Apparently troubled by the notion that it might have been altered for the show, the judges awarded the ad and its agency, Savaglio\TBWA in Buenos Aires, a silver. “That’s probably why it didn’t win a gold,” noted one juror. For it to remain in the show at all, the juror said, “we had to assume it was the same as we had seen it.”

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on June 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Parpis

Capitalism: alive and well in Mother Russia

After our post yesterday about seeing the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign in Russia’s Metro, a reader asked if we were “amazed by the incredible amount of billboards” in Moscow. Well, we were, and even though most of us have heard about that, the overlay of commercialism on a still ample supply of Communist-era symbolism is kind of stunning. If Lenin is still, indeed, buried at Lenin’s tomb in Red Square, he’s rolling in it. Click on the image below for a brief tour of commercial Moscow.



—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Russia

Help these idiots find their Cannes Lion

“Swedish agency Farfar just won a gold Lion in Cannes. And then they lost it.” That’s the email we just got, along with this link: farfar.se/lostlion. The site has the same video as the one above, showing a bunch of Swedes digging furiously in the sand, along with a regretful typed message from a Farfar employee. “Just return something resembling a golden Cyber Lion and I’ll happily hand you a thick wad of cash,” he writes. Despicable PR stunt? Probably. If they’d lost their silver Lion, which they won for this, maybe it would seem more believable.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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

Ketel One advertising, with a twist

Brandspankin has some funny Ketel One spoof ads posted. Here’s one. (We’ve tweaked it slightly, changing the font to Bradley.) See two more executions here and here. Spotted at Advergirl.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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

Titus cleans up ‘Arousing technology’ theme

Titus Cycles have something called titanium/carbon fiber weave construction, which we’re told is very exciting to bike nerds. Thus, the tagline: “Arousing technology.” TDA Advertising & Design in Boulder, Colo., has some fun with that theme, imagining, in the print ad above, a Titus ad in the escort-services section of the Yellow Pages. It would be cooler if the ad were actually placed in the escort-services section of the Yellow Pages, but maybe that wasn’t possible. The campaign also includes mock erectile-dysfunction ads with headlines like, “How has Titus changed my life? Ask her.” (That one was rejected by Mountain Bike Action magazine.) This new work may not be earth-shattering, but it’s better than the older Titus ad shown here (click to enlarge), which seems to warn of unexpected diarrhea attacks in the shower.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

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

World Cup soccer: little ado about nothing

With Americans deeply divided on so many issues, let us give thanks for the unifying influence of World Cup soccer: An overwhelming majority of adults in this country share a common disinterest in the whole shebang. A Rasmussen Reports poll found 78 percent of respondents saying they’re paying little if any attention to the action. Conversely, just 9 percent of men and 3 percent of women said they’re following it very closely. (And since the polling was fielded before the U.S. team got knocked out, you can bet that even fewer people are paying lots of attention now.) We’ve heard for decades that interest in soccer would increase as more Americans played in youth leagues, but it never quite seems to happen. The survey found 14 percent of respondents saying they’ve played soccer in an organized league at some point in their lives. But given how few are keen on the World Cup, we can guess that lots of them didn’t especially enjoy the experience.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

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

Drama at ‘The View’ as Star is sent packing

Say it ain’t so. Star Jones Reynolds is leaving The View after serving as a co-host on ABC’s girl-talk chat-fest since its debut in 1997. (Where does the time go?) It’s too bad. I was looking forward to fireworks with the arrival of Rosie O’Donnell as co-host in the fall. (O’Donnell replaces Meredith Vieira, who’s replacing Katie Couric, who’s replacing Bob Schieffer.) Rosie has had some not-so-nice things to say about Star. She basically called Star dishonest for talking up the benefits of diet and exercise after shedding 100 pounds while downplaying her gastric-bypass surgery. And apparently, Star’s not thrilled to be leaving. She told People, “I feel like I was fired.” But she made the announcement herself on yesterday morning’s telecast. According to the AP account linked above, Jones said, somewhat cryptically, “I’m not sure what the future holds, but I’m absolutely sure who holds the future.” Um ... what? But the most curious comment came from Barbara Walters, who said the timing of the departure surprised her. Babs, you’re the executive producer. Try to stay a little more in touch, OK?

—Posted by Steve McClellan

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

More old-school deceptive selling from CRN

CRN, the company that will do anything to avoid admitting they simply sell publicly available real-estate foreclosure listings, is either ignoring our wrath or pleased by the publicity, because their latest radio spots dust off yet another nostalgic deception technique: The reverse-psychology sell not seen since, oh, a couple of years ago, when a weight-loss junk-product maker warned us NOT to try it if we only have 5-10 pounds to lose! (Our telemarketers will thoroughly investigate and won’t sell it to you!) Devoted readers of the more arcane AdFreak items will recall CRN’s earlier campaign: using an Emergency Broadcast System-like squawk at the top of the spot to imply that for some reason, the government had to make this life-and-death announcement about foreclosures (counting on listeners to equate “public announcement” with a governmental “no vested interest” information dump). Then they tried the chatty “we interrupt this broadcast”-style con (followed by an inelegant transition to an announcer making sure we got the phone number, and giving away the whole thing). The latest commercial tells some listeners they can’t call right away. Only people whose last names begin with A through O can call today—the rest of the alphabet must call tomorrow. That, apparently, may seem “governmental,” too—to one or two naive listeners. If the technique works, maybe a gas-station chain can say gas rationing is back—only drivers with license plates ending in an even number can visit Exxon today; the rest of you, get in line tomorrow.

—Posted by Gregory Solman

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

McCann goofs again. Sorrell’s a comedian. Just another year at Cannes.

No one can accuse Michael Roth of free spending with IPG money. The holding-company CEO ordered a “special meal” at Howard Draft’s annual Hotel du Cap lunch, but it isn’t as precious as you might think. Instead of the fancy French cuisine and wine that the rest of the crew was gorging on, Roth, explaining that he’s more of a meat-and-potatoes guy, chowed on a cheeseburger and fries. • McCann recovered from one gaffe only to stumble into another. Ditching the extravagance of a yacht party on the Christina O, which they got shit for last year (following IPG’s billionth restatement), the agency hosted a more subdued party this year that raised money for Doctors without Borders to boot! Nice touch, boys. But then the chuckleheads didn’t invite one of their biggest clients who were in town (yeah, all together now) to spend time with their agencies. We know this ticked off said client, because they complained to us about it. Note to McCann: Whip out your client list, remember who was in Cannes, figure out who you dissed, and start doing a little of this. • Some clients have impressive stamina, but wield it for different purposes. The cool ones, like the Adidas client, were hanging out at the Carlton Terrace until the wee hours. The pain-in-the-ass clients, like Diamond Trading Co., chose to torture their agency by having a nine-hour meeting. Nine hours! In Cannes! And then some of the poor bastards in the meeting got dragged out to dinner afterward. That’s just mean. • Speaking of Adidas: Unlike the ingrate Richard Branson of Virgin, who practically put his account into review on stage while accepting his Advertiser of the Year award a few years back, Ulrich Becker of Adidas not only thanked his agencies (including TBWA and 180) by name but cited some key agency execs, also by name. It made the acceptance speech a bit longer, but for good reason. I may hang up my Nikes. • Martin Sorrell has a sense of humor. Who knew? During a nearly seven-minute presentation at WPP’s “Evening of Pecha Kucha” (which means “chit chat” in Japanese), Sir Martin poked fun at his own reputation by declaring his hatred for everything, from clients to creatives to Shelly Lazarus to WPP board members to “something called the work/life balance.” His ideal board? Poodles. Specifically, “two executive poodles, two independent poodles and me.” His ideal creative department? A machine into which clients would feed briefs and receive a campaign. But his ultimate dream, he anounced, was to pool all clients and all accounts into one giant global campaign with the slogan, “Buy more stuff.” Naturally, he said, “it’s a WPP account.”

—Posted by Team Cannes

Photo: Eric Tu

Published on June 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Martin Sorrell

What is real beauty in Moscow?

I just got back from a trip to Russia, where my husband and I were able to experience the country's commercial awakening firsthand. It is not always a good thing, but it is always intriguing. One day while we were in Moscow, we took the Metro from Red Square to the apartment where we were staying and, on a train, came across this woman's image from Dove’s "Real Beauty" campaign. My mastery of Cyrillic isn’t too good, so I couldn’t figure out if the people of Russia got to vote over the important issue of her pulchritude.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Russia

BMW drives TEDTalks

We've been invited to lots of cool things in our day, but one event that has always, understandably, passed us by is the TED Conference, the annual Silicon Valley think-a-thon where everyone from Al Gore to Tony Robbins to Hans Rosling (OK, that one was obscure—he's director of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, the medical university and research center) has taken the podium. So, good to hear we will get to experience TED (which stands for technology, entertainment and design) vicariously, through a BMW-sponsored video and audio podcast series called TEDTalks. The series of 18-minute speeches forms a "Best of TED” group, encapsulating some of the highlights from speakers at the conference over the last few years. Starting today, interested parties can download them here and here. Sadly, even though we plan to subscribe, this still doesn't elevate us to the right demo to buy a Beemer.

—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor

Published on June 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)