U.K. billboards take the piss out of U.S.

This will get some Americans good and red-faced heading into the weekend. The billboard shown here is one of several currently running in England. It’s a teaser from a U.K. TV network called Five, which is launching a digital channel that will focus on American programming. In the second phase of the campaign, the ads will be changed to read, “Who says nothing good ever came out of America? The new channel from Five showcasing the best of the U.S.” It’s unclear if Bush will order an invasion in the coming days. Photo by Flickr’s Daniel X. Morris.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (16) | TrackBack (0)

Crunch time for Kazakhstan in ‘Borat’ spat

Say you’re a beacon of nuclear disarmament, a ray of public education, a breadbasket of exportable grain and a veritable gush of oil. The brand image you’re hawking is “corridor of reform.” But along comes a TV sketch and a major motion picture that peg you as rabidly anti-Semitic, fiercely backward and unspeakably kinky. What’s a country to do? If you’re Kazakhstan, and the movie is Borat, you do what anyone with a GDP of $124 billion would do: you call in a brand marketer. As Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev visits the White House today, he might heed the words of East West Communications president Thomas Cromwell (whose Kazakh account far predates the Sasha Cohen flap). “It’s probably a mistake to respond with a heavy hand to any humor,” Cromwell tells AdFreak. “It would be a bad strategy. ... It’s a question of how to respond in a way that shows that you’re bigger than the barb and that you can absorb the barbs of humor without being hurt.” The nation-brander laments, “Borat is coming in a vacuum at a time when Americans don’t know the country’s real identity and there’s nothing to operate in counter to that cynical view.” But wait! Doesn’t this very vacuum make Borat a boon, of sorts, for the Central Asian petro-state? Didn’t The Donald teach us there’s no such thing as bad publicity? “Whether or not Khazakhstan could benefit from the publicity is another matter,” Cromwell says. Roman Vassilenko, spokesman for the Embassy of Kazakhstan, adds his own two tenges: “It’s an opportunity, but I don’t know how welcome it is.” Vassilenko adds, “What the movie represents is not so much Kazakhstan as Boratistan, and we think that people will understand that Kazakhstan has nothing to do with all those shenanigans.”

—Posted by Laura Blum

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

N.C. politician’s attack ad borders on parody

Vernon Robinson, who’s running for Congress in North Carolina, doesn’t hold back. In this spot (the video is kind of jumpy), the announcer says, “Instead of spending money on cancer research, Brad Miller spent your money to study the masturbation habits of old men. … Brad Miller even spent your tax dollars to pay teenage girls to watch pornographic movies with probes connected to their genitalia.” Ouch. The voiceover adds: “If Miller had better priorities, you wouldn’t be having to hear this.” If Vernon had any sense of restraint, we wouldn’t either. Also check out Vernon’s ad about illegal immigrants.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

New Ikea commercial contains not a single human penis Photoshopped onto a dog

In advertising, you can only play the “dog with a grafted-on human penis” card once. Thus, Ikea Canada is moving in a different direction. In this newest TV spot, a daughter threatens to shave her head if her mom doesn’t shut up about the furniture. You can imagine what happens next, even without the visual. Zig in Toronto is the agency. Via ’boards.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Ikea

Grey’s Subliminals win Battle of the Bands

It isn’t new business or a creative award, but Grey has won something for a change: the Fluid Battle of the Ad Bands IV. Its band, The Subliminals, beat six other competitors: The Igniters (Brushfire), The Music Department (The Vidal Partnership), TBD (Kirshenbaum Bond), Macho Grande (Foote Cone & Belding), Crankdaddy (MRA) and Space Shuttle Ants (Mullen). The Grey kids play a mix of funk, rock and soul; they have a trombone, drums, two guitars, keyboards, plus a bunch of vocalists. On Wednesday night, they played “Moondance” by Van Morrison, in a big-band jazz arrangement; “Hard to Handle” by Otis Redding, in a Black Crowes style; and “The Weight” by the Band, in gospel-soul version. “That’s where it really paid off to have such wonderful vocalists,” says trombonist Josh Rabinowitz.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Photo: Tear-n Tan

Published on September 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Would you shake your junk for a job?

No matter how bleak my current job search gets, at least I’ll never be asked to dance to Village People records during my interview. That’s because I’m not applying for a job at the Philadelphia Park Casino. The casino “is pleased with the response to its unorthodox hiring method,” but some interviewees beg to differ. “I walked out,” says Mary Lou Bentivegna, who was eyeing an accounting position. And “I was talking about going to [work at] the casino for years,” she tells the Bucks County Courier Times. The purpose of all this chicanery is simple. “Every single person at Philadelphia Park Casino needs to know that we’re in the entertainment business,” says a rep, “and customer service here demands outgoing, team-oriented people with truly positive outlooks.” In a charmingly insensitive moment, she even claims that “senior citizens and those with disabilities are applying and participating in the audition process by showing their enthusiasm as best they can, just as the other candidates are.” I imagine paraplegics popping wheelies to the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack. All joking aside, Mary Lou Bentivegna got off easy. Some applicants were asked to play air guitar to Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer.” Now that’s cruel. [Photo by Flickr’s Jana Mills.]

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Kiefaber

Stop hiding and start living, with tequila

This is the best mock pharmaceutical ad we’ve heard in a very long time. (Click Play below; it’s running a bit slowly but usually loads within 10-15 seconds.) Do you feel shy or awkward in public? Do you suffer feelings of inadequacy? Tequila may be right for you. In fact, throw caution to the wind, tip back that bottle of booze, and get the party started. Includes great side effects. Just don’t ask your doctor about it.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)

Stoners go apeshit for Domino’s brownies

We first encountered (though did not eat) Domino’s new brownie squares a few weeks ago, when they gave them away for free one morning. Since then, we’ve seen the ads for them, which involve a brownie named Fudgems (who has his own Web site) going around talking gibberish and giving people hugs—leaving them smeared in brown stuff in the process. None of which seemed that appetizing. But maybe they are tasty. In North Carolina this month, a young man and woman were arrested for breaking into a Domino’s Pizza after hours and baking up a batch of the brownies, according to The Smoking Gun. “Additionally (and not surprisingly),” the story says, the woman “was found carrying a marijuana pipe, for which she was hit with a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia count.” The next commercial writes itself.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (1)

At least you don’t do this for a living

You may sit slack-jawed at that Advertising Week panel, drooling all over yourself and regretting every choice you’ve made, but at least you don’t earn minimum wage handing out fliers while dressed as a cushion that simulates fart noises. The mascots at the Parade of the Ad Icons would beat this character to death with sticks. Photo by Flickr’s Thadeus Maximus.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Breaking up isn’t really that hard to do

A guy in Germany has started a company that can help you break up with your spouse or lover. In our growing spirit of offering ideas for ads, here's my take on what these guys need: Grassy meadow, light breeze, a few puffy clouds. (This whole scene can be accomplished digitally.) Camera pans slowly to a couple on a blanket, as a soft classical suite plays. (Nothing cliché. Maybe we get McCartney to write something.) As the man moves in, the woman subtly moves away. Cut to: his apartment. He watches TV. She gazes out the window. Close-up on her. Something is amiss. Cut to: fancy restaurant. Champagne. The man bends down on one knee. The woman is shocked and embarrassed. Suddenly, Shannen Doherty is there. “Dude, you just don’t get it, do you? It’s over.” Tagline: “We’ll be your strength.” Maybe a cross-marketing deal with the He’s Just Not That Into You authors?

—Posted by Aaron Baar

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Will the Irwin death tape ever be seen?

ABC aired a Barbara Walters interview with Terri Irwin last night on 20/20. She’s the widow of Steve Irwin, who was killed this month by a huge stingray while filming a segment for a program called Ocean’s Deadliest. Walters sure knows how to get to the heart of the matter. She asked Irwin if the video that captured her husband’s death will ever be shown on TV. And how much do you want to bet that Walters and her producers were also wondering whether they’d have access to it for the 20/20 special? Let’s face it: death by stingray = ratings gold. Terri Irwin says the footage will never see the light of day. But unless it has already been destroyed, I have my doubts. In today’s digital age, not much money has to change hands for someone to look the other way, and presto, it’s all over the Web. “What purpose would that serve?” Irwin asks Walters. Well, the film does serve as a harsh lesson on how not to pursue stingrays, no matter how innocuous the intent. Ideally, that lesson could be taught in classroom, while the Irwin family’s privacy is respected. But don’t hold your breath.

—Posted by Steve McClellan

Published on September 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

T.O.’s classic ‘Monday Night Football’ promo

So, this report about Terrell Owens apparently trying to kill himself is weird. Here is T.O. in happier times, pissing people off in that infamous 2004 Monday Night Football promo with desperate housewife Nicollette Sheridan. UPDATE: Also, here’s a cool Nike commercial starring an animated Terrell Owens and Michael Vick. Also, Owens is about to hold a press conference. Hopefully this whole thing isn’t another publicity ploy. // Owens, as expected, says he didn’t try to kill himself.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Hey, hey, Neil. This post’s for you.

So, Neil, we were just sitting around wondering if you’d like to be in an ad. Or let us use your songs in an ad. Or maybe you’d like to write a jingle for one of our many fine products. C’mon ... you know it’s just a matter of time. Everyone eventually sells out. McCartney and Dylan paved the way. Now, we’ve got Johnny Mellencamp. He was all sincere and self-righteous, but it’s been a looong time between hits, and the bills keep piling up. Look, Neil, you’ve already got a song about how you won’t do ads. Let’s use that, but modify the lyrics: “I love singin’ for Pepsi. I love singin’ for Coke. … This Bud’s for you,” etc. You can say it’s an ironic commentary on artistic integrity ... whatever. Or mumble incoherently, that works for Dylan. Even if you hold out, we’ll get you in the end. We put dead celebs (and their work) in ads all the time. P.S.: Santa Monica, ’79: Great show, man. You rule! P.P.S.: Seriously, Hallmark really wants to use “Heart of Gold” for Valentine’s Day. And the Army’s got dibs on “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (13) | TrackBack (1)

Chevy cuts nuclear bomb from Silverado ad

Jalopnik previewed Campbell-Ewald’s upcoming campaign for the Chevy Silverado this week, and saw some interesting imagery in it. Using the tagline “Our country, our truck,” the launch spot featured a new John Mellencamp song played over images of America in the past half century: shots of Vietnam, the towers of light from the World Trade Center site, dirty hippies, etc.—and a mushroom cloud, with kids cowering under their desks. Jalopnik received cleaned-up versions of the ad later in the week, with the mushroom cloud and the 9/11 imagery cut out. Not a bad decision there, considering how they feel about nuclear bombs over in Japan. Jalopnik wonders if the imagery wasn’t “a subconscious reference to a certain rival from the land of the rising sun, which just happens to be launching its own new pickup at the beginning of next year, perhaps?”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Are nutrition labels too damn confusing?

Marketers of packaged foods fret about the ghastly disclosures they must make on product labels—all that salt, all those trans fats, etc. A new study, summarized on the HealthScout Web site from the report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, suggests the marketers needn’t worry so much. It’s not that people ignore the labels. But they often fail to understand the significance of what they’re reading. The research project used 200 people as label-comprehension guinea pigs. “Most participants said they used food labels and found them easy to understand,” but tests of their comprehension showed otherwise. One example: Just 32 percent could figure out the amount of carbohydrates in a 20-ounce bottle of soda that had 2.5 servings. The HealthScout article quotes one expert in the field as noting that a combination of reading skills and math skills is needed for interpreting label data, and each of those abilities “is in short supply.” AdFreak infers from all this that the nation’s obesity epidemic is (partly) a side effect of its literacy and numeracy deficit. If current efforts at educational reform are successful, could a tapering of the American waistline be an unexpected bonus? [Photo by Flickr’s powerbooktrance.]

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

Half pepperoni, half grammatical errors

Shouldn’t “leftover” be one word here? It’s not as egregious as this, but still. Mistakes like this tend to annoy certain people.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Hood gets sinking feeling as blimp crashes

People in Boston love the Hood Blimp, which hovers over Fenway Park during baseball season and has probably gotten more exposure for the New England dairy company than any other advertising it’s done. (To see the kind of devotion it inspires, check out this car’s nifty Hood-Blimp rooftop ornament.) But yesterday was a sad day for the blimp, as it crashed in a wooded area northeast of Boston. The pilot is fine, but Red Sox Nation could have been spared the metaphor at this stage of the season. The blimp will basically just sit there, Manny Ramirez-like, until state police can figure out a way to remove it.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Deep down, Burtch Drake is an urban youth

I don’t have much to share about last night’s Advertising Week opening gala at the Bryant Park Grill and concert at the Nokia Theater, except that I’m very hung over right now. Ron Berger’s tribute to Ken Kaess—asking for a moment of uproarious celebration rather than silence—was cool. And O. Burtch Drake grooving to Gnarls Barkley—you don’t see that every day. Here, Burtch is seen checking out the one black woman in advertising.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Tie me up. Tie me down. Feed me booze.

“I’m over 21,” say the banner ads with this image, leading to SV Supreme Vodka’s Web site. But given the theme of the ads (and the site itself), you might think they should read “I’m over 18” instead. Alcohol and blindfolds: another solid combination.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

No in-game advertising in these babies

How many of you remember classic videogames like Defender, Defender II, Joust or Robotron 2084? Hopefully none of you. Those games should be boxed up and hidden under the stairs like a deformed Olsen triplet. Nevertheless, you can play them and other pedantic titles at Midway Arcade, itself a promotional extension of Midway’s Arcade Treasures series. After all, why spend $50 on cutting-edge graphics and nonlinear gameplay when $20 gets you a boxload of 8-bit exercises in frustration? Speaking of which, I’m gonna squeeze in some Rampage before work.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Kiefaber

Vote for Richardson, or he will shoot you

Here’s a humorous Western-themed campaign spot from Gov. Bill Richardson, who’s running for re-election in New Mexico. He is running some more typical ads, too.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Kramer, Bartlet get Shakespearean for NEA

I’m not sure if these are official ads, but here’s some cool footage of Michael Richards, Martin Sheen and Michael York doing Shakespeare—with a message about the NEA tacked on to the end. The footage appears to come from Lawrence Bridges’ 2005 film Why Shakespeare. 

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Every party could use a beer cannon

Here’s an epic video montage of the wanton destruction visited upon everyday objects by the Milwaukee’s Best Light beer cannon. Beer and cannons: always a good combination.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Alcohol ads suddenly awkward for Paris

New rule: If you’ve been arrested for DUI, stay out of alcohol advertising for a while. Paris Hilton’s DUI bust earlier this month is a sucker punch to Italian wine-maker Prosecco, which hired the heiress to endorse its Rich line of sparkling wines. (See some photos from her ad shoot here.) Road-safety advocates in Italy say Paris isn’t worthy of the endorsement job. Says one: “She has just been arrested for drunk driving and a few days later she is promoting an alcoholic drink. What sot of image is that?” Back in May, Prosecco’s CEO was giddy upon welcoming Paris to the Tyrol ski resort in the Alps for a grand press event. “Paris Hilton was very pleasant and uncomplicated,” he said. “I found her to be completely different from the way she is usually portrayed. Nobody else currently embodies carefree lust for life as convincingly and glamorously as Paris Hilton. That’s why she’s matches Rich Prosecco so well.” Paris returned the compliment, but with fewer words. Of the sparkling wine, she said, “It’s yummy.”

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on September 26, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (1)

Hummer conquers land, moves on to sea

You know, I’ve spent the past three months hoping that a Hummer H3 would take a long dive off a short pier. Just my luck, then, that the guy in this ad pimps his Hummer into a submarine. What makes it worse is that Hummer probably offers this option, and someone may have already taken them up on it. Perhaps in the next ad we’ll see an H3 converted into a working tank, so the driver can go get his own damn oil. Via ’boards.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on September 25, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)
Filed under Kiefaber