We figured Corey Haim had hit rock bottom when he and Cory Feldman launched a reality TV show to cash in on their status as VH1 nostalgia punch lines. But fate, as it often does, threw Haim a shovel and told him to keep digging. The result is this full page ad in Variety, in which the Haimster signals that he’s ready to get back to work and “make amends.” Dotting the “i” in his name with a heart really caps off his New Age smarm. Not sure if he’ll get any work from this, but having never seen anyone grovel to such a degree, we can’t help but be entertained. Via Defamer. —Posted by David Kiefaber
As if the country's official tourism slogan, "Welcome to Scotland," weren't underwhelming enough, now the Scottish film industry has developed a questionable campaign of its own, promoting the nation as a great place for filmmaking—because it’s such a grim and cheerless slab of land. “If we keep promoting Scotland as a country with lovely views and landscapes,” says Scottish Screen location manager Belle Doyle, “we are not going to rank too highly, because there are many other countries which are completely stunning.” A plan to celebrate one’s urban/industrial blight is so superficially dumb that it must be secretly genius (hey, it worked in Trainspotting), so it’ll probably make fools of all the naysayers. Knowing that, we’re prepared to jump on their bandwagon and call for Scotland to extend the idea and present its inhabitants generally as inarticulate, kilted louts who drink too much and make eyes with the livestock. Or worse, suggest that these guys are your average Scots.
Ogilvy & Mather's work for Dove has found another fan: Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. Speaking at a Columbia University panel, Newmark said the “Campaign for Real Beauty” campaign works because it tells a simple truth about the beauty industry. He even has a suggestion for an ad: buy a placement in Vogue that would simply read, “This magazine is a lie.” Mike Hemingway, the global managing director at Ogilvy who was on the same panel, wasn’t quite ready to take him up on his idea. Questioned about the possible hypocrisy of one Unilever brand acting high and mighty while another, Axe, gets down and dirty, Hemingway admitted it’s a “fair question.” At the same time, he pointed to the scoreboard: Dove’s uplifting videos got about 14 million views, while the backlash got 14,000. But actually, the figures are a little different—the backlash video has 103,000 views.
Earlier this week, we posted this Reebok commercial, in which Eli Manning sends the 1972 Miami Dolphins a gift after keeping the New England Patriots from completing a perfect season. Naturally, they had another version ready to go, in the (then seemingly likely) event of a Patriots victory. Via Deadspin.
Two quick notes of disclosure: I sometimes write ads for a law firm, and the ads (print only) usually have some dry wit to them. But that’s as much as I should say, because apparently jokes don’t go over so well with legal disciplinary folks. The Wall Street Journal had a front-page story this week about how New York and Florida are cracking down on crash-landed UFOs, Godzilla-sized attorneys and pretty much anything more interesting than a mahogany desk in legal ads. Here’s a telling excerpt from the article: “In 2006, the bar struck down (personal-injury) ads on the grounds that they contained improper content, including the sound of children bouncing a ball. Other impermissible sounds, according to the bar: a computer turning off, a light switch turning off, and footsteps.” The Florida rules even go on to list what you can show in an ad: gavels, eagles, columns, “a plain unadorned set of law books,” etc. Someone should make a protest spot where a lawyer defends his client by hurling gavels and unadorned books at a flock of bloodthirsty eagles.
In case Google was having second thoughts about its $3.1 billion bid to acquire DoubleClick, the latter’s Performics unit proves its worth with a timely report on Valentine’s Day gift-shopping trends. This summary is provided for the media: “Respondents plan to purchase the overall most popular gifts for men and women, flowers and candy, offline.” Flowers and candy are big on Valentine’s Day? Stop the presses. That part about offline purchases isn’t so good for Google or DoubleClick, of course, but never fear, the survey says: “No matter where consumers intend to make their purchases, online is proving to be the springboard and a key influencer for much of their purchase activities.” One wonders if the survey gauged the popularity of a romantic getaway to San Antonio, deep in the ... Oh, right. Never mind.
Since Sunday, many sports-marketing "experts" have been talking up Giants QB Eli Manning as the next big endorsement name in the business. (“Manning poised to storm Madison Ave. after big win,” says a typical Sports Illustrated piece.) On the other hand, people who have actually seen Eli speak wonder whether he’s up for the job. One AdFreak reader points to this Giants.com page, for example, where Manning pops up and says a few awkward words about the Toyota Tundra, as evidence that he should stick to football. (“Even I think Eli should limit his acting to drawing ‘roughing the passer’ penalties,” says the reader.) But while Eli may never master the macho-jock role, he’d be right at home in goofier comic roles—of which there is no shortage in sports marketing. In related news, yes, Eli Manning is going to Disney World.
J.G. Ballard is the greatest science-fiction writer of all time, simply because the futures he predicted came true. We’re living in the Ballardian Age, where ad-driven obsessions, petrol-fueled fantasies and “fictions of every kind” comprise the true reality. Ballard understands that inner space is the final frontier, that the intersection of psychology and advanced technology dictates everything humankind might become. “The Subliminal Man” is the best story ever about advertising and consumerism; its mountains of discarded household appliances are potent symbols of modern life. His controversial novels Crash and The Atrocity Exhibition are intense deconstructions of the cluttered media landscape; released in the early 1970s, both are still way ahead of their time. Ballard just published his autobiography and disclosed that he’s suffering from advanced prostate cancer. I hope he recovers and continues to share his insight and imagination. If you work in any aspect of the media-marketing-entertainment web, familiarize yourself with Ballard’s work. He’ll show you where you’re going, because he’s already been there. From the mind of Ballard: “We live in a world ruled by fictions of every kind—mass merchandising, advertising, politics conducted as a branch of advertising, the instant translation of science and technology into popular imagery.” “Sex x technology = the future.” “In a completely sane world, madness is the only freedom.” “Does the future have a future?”
The city of love is ... surprise! San Antonio, Texas! I always thought it was Paris. And not Paris, Texas, either. Scorpions and ZZ Top (the band in one case, but not the other) spring to mind on those rare occasions when I ponder the Lone Star State. But a press release from Bromley Associates set me straight. There’s a new campaign about all the things there are to love in San Antonio, but it will remain largely under wraps until Feb. 14. “We’ve already begun running teasers in the media and via direct mail, so it’s the campaign name and logo that are embargoed.” Fair enough. We won’t print the logo or divulge the slogan, though if some clever reader figures it out, well, that’s just the luck of the draw. Think Texas ... love ... Valentine’s Day. Man, this campaign will break Nicolas Sarkozy’s —. I also think of chili when I think of Texas. But it gives me —burn. OK, I’ll stop now, I’m in way too deep. What, what’d I say? I’m just —less.
As a coda to one of the most reviled sets of Super Bowl ads, the CEO of Salesgenie.com has apologized for using stereotypical ethnic accents in the “Panda” and “Ramesh” spots. With the token comment that “we never thought anyone would be offended,” InfoUSA chief executive Vinod Gupta said he will stop running the panda ad. In defense of the spot, he told The New York Times: “The pandas are Chinese. They don’t speak German.” By that logic, shouldn’t they be speaking Chinese? As for “Ramesh,” Gupta says he loves when people make fun of his own Indian accent, so he’s going to keep the spot in rotation. (Though you have to wonder if that one would have slipped by unscathed if it weren’t for the “I have seven kids” line.) One uplifting tidbit for copywriters everywhere: Gupta says he wrote both ads himself.
With a name like Staines, it has to be good. Except actually it's crap, according to the city of Adelaide, Australia, which pokes fun at London’s most sadly named commuter town in this ad, aimed at attracting British immigrants. This isn’t the first stain on Staines. Sacha Baron Cohen settled on Staines as the hometown of his dimwitted character Ali G, for the same reasons M&C Saatchi is targeting it here. “We went for Staines because it sounds nasty,” an M&C executive admits. (Other ads in the series carry headlines like “Sod London house prices,” “Stuff London traffic” and “Bugger it, I’m off to Adelaide.”) But the constant jokes may be taking a toll on Staines, whose long-suffering residents are beginning to bite back. A city-council spokeswoman tells the West Australian: “All places have plusses and minuses, and there are a lot of plusses about Staines,” adding, “I certainly wouldn’t wish to be derogatory about Adelaide.”
This ad from U.K. child-protection agency NSPCC is truly unsettling. Of course, so is the issue. The NSPCC also protects children from pedophilia and human trafficking, and those topics wouldn’t lend themslves to images of puppies or rainbows, either. Still, maybe next time they can put their celebrity ambassadors like Kylie Minogue or Catherine Zeta-Jones to work, if only to spare us the heebie-jeebies. See two more ads after the jump. Via Marks Arthole on Flickr. UPDATE: The NSPCC tell us they didn’t do these ads.
"Keep it in your pants." If I had a dime for every time I've heard that around the AdFreak office! I wish HR would get a sense of humor. Anyway, if I had said collection of dimes, I’d be able to pay off my creditors. Which segues seamlessly into a discussion of the Keep It in Your Pants PSA competition targeting credit-card “debt disease.” The Service Employees International Union and the League of Young Voters sponsor the contest. There’s a $5,000 first prize for best homemade debt-awareness video. I probably don’t qualify to enter, but if I did, I’d film an average tear-filled day in my debt-ridden life, punctuated by pithy dialogue like, “What petty cash? You can’t prove nothin’ ” and “Can I borrow $1,000 for a cup of coffee?” I’m a little short on funds, so I’d use my Discover Card to finance the project. Next year’s corporate tie-in is a no-brainer: “Keep it in your John Deere Jeans!”
John Deere is getting into the apparel business with a line of jeans. It's a move I've long dreaded and prayed would never come to pass. Oh, I’ve got nothing against “trousers made especially for people who work the land,” as Brandweek puts it, in a line John Steinbeck might have coined after falling off a tractor following a long day in the hot sun. No, I fear it will be like 1993 all over again: a Clinton in the White House ... and Joe Diffie on the radio, croaking out pro-pants platitudes to the tune of his country-crap classic “John Deere Green.” Reworked, of course, as “John Deere Jeans.” It writes itself: “They were farm kids who needed pants/For the Dixie harvest dance/They’ll sure look good in John Deere Jeans.” As for a Mr. Green Jeans tie-in, well, the brand would have to move a little upmarket for that.
Since everyone loved the grody Lost Jaw campaign from Canada so much, here are a few more anti-chewing-tobacco ads. These ones are from Sukle Advertising + Design in Denver. (It looks like chew can be particularly dangerous if it’s comprised of scorpion and spider carcasses.) Sukle also handles the Denver Water account, which always has fun ads, like this spot with the drunk flowers. And who doesn’t like an ad agency that titles its blog Lunchmeat Underpants? Via AdPulp.
Yesterday, my home state of Alabama was an exciting battleground for Democrats and Republicans alike. But looking back, it’s hard to believe that Huckabee and McCain didn’t get a better run for their money from this guy. Alabama native Hugh Cort bought up some local TV time for the spot above, in which he explains how he’s the only “counterterrorism expert” who can stop Osama bin Laden’s “American Hiroshima plan to blow up 10 cities with nuclear devices.” Kinda makes Tom Tancredo seem like a wuss for only promising to protect our shopping malls. Sadly, Cort pulled in a disappointing 0% of the vote, so it looks like we’re all doomed.
This Ford Focus spot from Ogilvy London makes the arguable point that your car could be stolen and stripped for parts in pursuit of something classy. Either that or they’re ripping instruments from the hands of professional musicians and building cars out of them. That would be more in line with Henry Ford’s original vision, methinks. Either way, the results are classy enough to keep YouTube trolls under their bridges, which is no mean feat. AdFreak wonders what the response would be to a bluegrass band playing instruments made from an F-Series.
Marc Andreessen, a co-founder of Netscape, has started a "deathwatch" for the New York Times Co. on his blog. Could this be revenge for the Times at some point misspelling his name? Three e’s, two s’s and that tricky “re” where one expects an “er” ... very stressful for overworked journalists in the age of media cutbacks and closings. Actually, he’s pissed off that the paper hired William Kristol as an op-ed columnist. Look on the bright side: At least they didn’t give Billy Crystal a column. I hereby inaugurate a deathwatch for Netscape! Oh, March 1 is its last day. Adding insult to injury, I Googled via Firefox to find the date. Sorry, Marc. Oh, and before I forget: Happy deathwatch!
Though largely forgotten in recent years, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was a major media star in the 1960s and '70s whose lasting impact on Western popular culture is both subtle and profound. He captured the covers of national magazines for playing guru to the Beatles, putting the moves on a then-groovy Mia Farrow at a meditation retreat and inspiring songs by the Fab Four, Donovan and the Beach Boys. More significantly, he helped introduce several generations to key aspects of Eastern spirituality and set the stage for the proliferation of everything from meditation and mind-body health to veganism. He once said, “The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.” Maharishi Mahesh Yogi did just that on Tuesday at age 91.
If you categorize everything in the world as either Mac or PC (and why not?), you’ll feel in sync with a New York Times article this week that declared Hillary Clinton a PC and Barack Obama a Mac. In part, these classifications derived from analysis of the candidates’ Web sites. We’re told barackobama.com is stylistically reminiscent of Apple’s iTunes site and of the Mac aesthetic more generally. The article is less specific in the connection it draws between hillaryclinton.com and PC style, though it does quote one Web-design expert as saying Clinton’s site is “more regal” while Obama’s is “more youthful.” While “regal” is not a quality one associates with a republic (as opposed to a monarchy), the article questions whether “aligning with the trendy Mac aesthetic is good politics.” After all, it notes, the Mac “is still a niche computer” in a PC-dominated world.
OK, this is my last Twitter post for a while, promise. But if you want a new way to “watch” Super Tuesday unfold, visit this Google Maps-Twitter mashup, which shows the power of location-based microblogging. The application is a Google Map that posts Twitter messages from people whenever they use voting-related keywords like “vote,” “election” and “Super Tuesday.” After a few minutes, you can imagine how powerful apps like this can be as a way to digest information.
The NFL doesn't waste much time. Immediately following the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the league put up a billboard in Phoenix that read, “See you in Tampa Bay.” That’s the site of Super Bowl XLIII a year from now. Then, last night, the Super Bowl XLIII logo (shown here) was unveiled on NBC, which will broadcast the game. According to the NFL: “The Super Bowl XLIII game logo was created to reflect the natural elements of Tampa Bay, including the blue and green hues of the regional waterways and landscapes. The design showcases an abstract representation of a stadium and field. The stars on either side of the logo symbolize the AFC and NFC Conferences, a tradition that began with the Super Bowl XL logo. This represents the first time this color green has been used in an official game logo.” And a lovely green it is.
With Bobby Knight's surprise resignation from Texas Tech, and hints that he might be done with coaching for good, you have to wonder what’s next for this colorful firebrand. Personally, I hope he considers a full-time career in advertising. Between his recruiting work for the U.S. Marine Corps (wear your headphones, office people) and his proven ability to act like a decent human being for 30 seconds, he’s more than ready to be a spokesman. Is there a trade association for the F-bomb?
Memo to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Take a cue from the characters in those ’70s Britcoms you’ve run day and night for the past 20 years and keep a stiff upper lip! Quit whining, OK? Sure, Bush’s proposed budget cuts would halve your funding from $820 million to $420 million over the next two years. Maybe you could cut back on tote bags. Or Barney. Or Elmo. Hit up those law firms and private endowments that run ads—er, that sponsor your programming. And be glad you still get that nearly half-a-bil handout, because we in the private media sector sure don’t. And why am I never invited to appear on Greater Boston or Beat the Press? Whose kid do I have to be—Andy Rooney’s? That was a cheap shot, and I’m sorry. I miss Carmen Sandiego, that’s all. I play my Rockapella CD every day. (And please, disregard that headshot I e-mailed a while back. The Rogaine’s changed everything.)
Up the punx! ... sutawney. Feb. 2 was the day of the annual epic showdown between Phil the groundhog and his shadow, and ad agency Red Tettemer and Pennsylvania’s tourism board documented it with Groundhog Duel. It’s quite an endearing look at one of our nation’s more ludicrous pastimes, and a slick Web site to boot. It’s just a shame that there wasn’t really, you know, a duel. Phil and his shadow rode to Punxsutawney on the same bus, did some weird mirroring routine that looked like the Hokie Pokie, and that was it—six more weeks of winter. Of course, they could have been conserving their energy for Feb. 5.
