Deathbed chainsaw ad irks New Zealanders

This comical spot from DDB Auckland for Stihl chainsaws is harshing some people's buzz down in New Zealand. In the ad, which is pretty tame, a son misrepresents his father's final whispered dying wish in a plot to snag the prized Stihl machine. To some, that's simply no laughing matter. "I was really horrified," says Adrian Cooper of Media Matters in NZ, a group devoted to protecting kids from the horrors of television. "I thought, this is not good enough. It's simply not good enough, and it's not the New Zealand I know. ... I think that any mature, responsible, thinking adults looking at that would find it offensive." DDB creative director Toby Talbot shrugs off the controversy. "It's a shame, it's a pity some people feel that way," he says. "I think, generally speaking, a lot of people see it for what it is—it is actually quite a light-hearted ad."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Controversy, DDB, New Zealand, Nudd, Stihl

Blood-spattered refs always prefer Cheetos

A reader out in Los Angeles alerted us to these bizarre Cheetos billboards posted around town, showing a grim-faced soccer referee brandishing a red card while covered in what looks like chunky blood spatters. Non-Spanish speakers are particularly perturbed and speculating wildly about what the headline says. None other than Rob Huebel (the guy who played Inconsiderate Cell Phone Man in BBDO Atlanta's old Cingular Wireless cinema ads) speculates on his blog that the ads read, "New Cheetos, for people that like to bathe in human blood." The real translation is apparently something like, "Stain yourself with the flavor of the new Red Salsa Cheetos." Either way, be sure to give the homicidal referees a wide berth in the snack aisle for the time being.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Cheetos, Freaky, Nudd

Are Dunkin' Donuts better for you than TV?

Hill, Holliday calls this Dunkin' Donuts spot "Tractor Beam," but that freaky TV seems to be channeling (ha!) Poltergeist more than Star Trek, as it pulls the kids toward the screen. When Dad opens a box of Dunkin' treats on the kitchen table, the spell, or beam, is broken. The voiceover explains that it's all about "getting the family together with a tasty doughnut." That's an oddly Homer Simpson-esque sentiment that assumes eating sugary fried dough is somehow preferable to viewing televised fare. The proposition may hold true if the kids were watching Bill O'Reilly or that cinematic crap on AMC, but otherwise I'm not so sure. Consider the round-faced, solidly built (wink, wink) father in the spot. He should lay off the chocolate frosteds and serve up some salad. He should at least switch stations to an exercise show or, better yet, take those kids outside so they can work off all the calories he's stuffing down their throats.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Dunkin' Donuts, Gianatasio, Hill Holliday

Naming rights to agency stadium up for bid

With apparently way too much time on its hands, Charlotte, N.C., ad agency BooneOakley is auctioning off the naming rights to its in-house basketball stadium. Wait, BooneOakley has an in-house basketball stadium? How can it afford that? Did the shop win the Microsoft account and not tell anyone? Given the mediocre quality of the company's new "Laptop Hunter" ads, I can't discount the possibility. Kidding, BooneOakley's creative ideas rock, I'm sure. Example: They sent this picture with Preparation H signage Photoshopped onto the scoreboard. Um, hilarious! (See a larger photo here.) Anyway, the "stadium" seats about 35, and according to press materials, "the one-year package includes the customary scoreboard and sideline signage, as well as roof signage, visible from outer space." This agency really needs a few more paying clients to keep these cutesy self-promos at bay. Maybe they should rent out the facility to the Hornets for practice space.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9)
Filed under BooneOakley, Gianatasio, Naming rights, Self-promotion

Your Hotelicopter ride isn't going to happen

Want to enjoy the five-star hotel experience while noisily chugging jet fuel in the skies far above the plebian masses? Well, tough, because the Hotelicopter, the "world's first flying hotel," which began appearing in tech blogs over the past few days, was quickly outed as a fake. It's apparently a viral marketing stunt for Yotel, a premium lodging chain located inside European airports. But if you're still in the mood for high-elevation hoax lodging, may I recommend this North Korean monstrosity? Via Presurfer.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Griner, Hotelicopter, Viral, Yotel

iJustine is now selling out all over the place

Internet celebrity "iJustine" Ezarik, a Philly-based graphic designer who broke into e-stardom via her 300-page iPhone bill, is fast becoming a go-to pitchwoman. She's singing for Sanyo, and she's also done a bunch of spots for online storage site Mozy.com. The Mozy ads are pretty stupid—whoever wrote them went to the Seth MacFarlane school of absurdist humor—but "lifecasting star" Justine isn't out of place. In fact, she's the only thing about the campaign that isn't forced. As much as I'd like Internet celebrities to stay on the Internet, it would be funny to see Crying Wrestling Fan shilling WWE pay-per-views someday.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Kiefaber, Mozy.com, Sanyo

New CiCi's Pizza campaign is penny foolish

CiCi's Pizza is dropping a million pennies in streets near its restaurants nationwide as part of a promotion launched by ad shop Deutsch. Patrons who find the specially marked 1-cent pieces win free meals. The big negative, of course, is that you have to eat at CiCi's. I guess no one could afford, or was willing to pay, "five bucks and change," the price-point CiCi's extolled in its ads in November, so the chain drastically lowered the bar. Seriously, there's something a bit crass and mean-spirited about asking consumers to fish pennies out of the gutter for a few slices of pepperoni pie. What if a fight erupts over the tokens and someone winds up in the hospital, or worse? That's a PR debacle just waiting to happen. Worst of all is the imagery of schlubby looking patrons mounting pedestals to celebrate their penny-ante finds. Is that how CiCi's sees its customers? Maybe someone should take those pennies to the chain's corporate HQ and tactfully tell the marketing poobahs exactly where they can spend them.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (6)
Filed under CiCi's, Deutsch, Gianatasio, Restaurants

Hoops coaches strip for a 'Guitar Hero' spot

Here's the new Guitar Hero commercial with college-basketball coaching legends Bob Knight, Rick Pitino, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski yukking it up with Metallica. As Guitar Hero's Risky Business ads go, this one's a distant second to the Heidi Klum spot, though Knight is pretty funny, and Pitino's drumming is amusingly wretched.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Basketball, Celebrity endorsements, Guitar Hero, Nudd, Video games

Dell plays fashion accessory in Enfatico ads

In these times of austerity, people are skimping on fashion apparel. All the more reason, then, to buy a computer that can multitask and fill this role in addition to, you know, computing. A campaign by Enfatico certainly gives Dell's Adamo laptop the full fashion treatment. (The Web site adopts the manner of a runway show.) Looking at the larger ad from which this image was taken, you should be grateful to Enfatico for clueing you in that bell-bottoms have made a comeback—with cuffs, no less!

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Dell, Dolliver, Enfatico, Fashion, Technology

New Mars candy bar Fling plays hard to get

BBDO created this commercial for the U.S. launch of Mars' Fling candy bar. A guy and gal appear to get hot and bothered in a dressing-room stall, but all is not as it appears. This is supposed to illustrate the tagline: "Naughty, but not that naughty." Frankly, the spot's logical, but not that logical. At the end, the woman nibbles on the product and makes a "thinking-sexy-thoughts" face. Does the Fling bar turn chicks on? If so, shouldn't they market it to men? Then, a woman's sultry voice says the candy has "less than 85 calories per finger." Calling them "fingers" is weird, too. Are we supposed to wonder where they've been? I'd like to check out that groovy boutique, though, because they sure don't let the opposite sexes change right next to each other at Marshall's. Though you can find half-eaten chocolate bars in there sometimes.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (8)
Filed under BBDO, Candy, Fling, Gianatasio, Mars

Foreign ads with Obama continue to offend

Somehow we missed this Russian ice-cream ad when it hit the Web a few weeks ago. But we'll post it now anyway, in honor of foreign companies' continuing clumsiness and stupidity in their efforts to capitalize on Barack Obama's election. The company behind this ad claims to be "celebrating the fact there is a black president in the White House." Which is basically the same thing that the German company which made "Obama-Fingers" fried chicken said. See the full Russian ad over at Ads of the World. A cartoon Obama in front of the White House under the words "Flavor of the Month" is a bit coarse for us. And really, it's not like Russia is above suspicion in this regard. Via Ads of the World.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Barack Obama, Controversy, Kiefaber, Russia

Unknown numbers can fetch untold millions

This mobile-phone commercial from Finland, by ad agency SEK & Grey, puts a lot of weight behind the company's caller ID service, noting that "an unknown number could be the most important of your life." It's a powerful and impressive statement, but a tad melodramatic. Most of the unknown numbers that call me are asking for money, not offering any. Still, having my phone company identify the number for me would be swell. That way, I'd at least know which collection agencies I was ignoring.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Europe, Fonteca, Grey, Kiefaber, Telecom

New Baskin-Robbins ad a bit of a car wreck

Cliff Freeman and Partners scoops up (ha!) a tepid try at humor in this spot for Baskin-Robbins. During Dad's driving lesson, a teenage girl smacks into another car in the driveway. That's OK, Daddy will still take her to Baskin-Robbins. Maybe a few diction classes would cure her of that weird Valley Girl accent. Whatever. The spot's about as bland as a dish of the company's vanilla ice cream. It's a far cry from Cliff Freeman's classic Little Caesars "Pizza Pizza" spots of yore. Yes, it's unfair to judge an agency based on work it produced for a different client more than a decade ago. But given the expansion of my waistline during that same period, at least partly due to Baskin-Robbins and Little Caesars, it's tough to feel sympathetic.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Baskin-Robbins, Cliff Freeman, Gianatasio, Ice cream

ShamWow guy's ad future not looking good

There probably aren't many swifter ways to torpedo one's burgeoning career in infomercial superstardom than by getting into a punching match with a prostitute. That's allegedly what happened to Vince Shlomi, the fast-talking star of late-night commercials for ShamWow and (in retrospect, the unfortunately named) Slap Chop. The Smoking Gun has the details on Shlomi's arrest last month on a felony battery charge. (The charges have since been dropped.) ShamWow still has the Vince video up on its Web site; its unclear if the spots will remain on TV.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Controversy, Infomercials, Nudd

HP gets caught in crossfire of PC-Mac battle

This new Microsoft ad by Crispin Porter + Bogusky makes a pretty compelling case for the affordability of PC laptops versus Macs. But it has also riled Apple lovers, and they're taking out their vengeance on the HP Pavilion Notebook that "Lauren" ends up buying in lieu of a costlier Mac. "It is the epitome of what people dislike about PCs," writes Computerworld's Seth Weintraub. Specifically, he takes issue with the $699 laptop's processor speed, screen quality, wireless networking, battery life and nearly eight-pound weight. TechFlash's Todd Bishop wants to interview Lauren to see what she thought of the laptop in the weeks after making "one of the most high-profile purchases in the history of the PC industry," but he says Microsoft is turning down requests to talk to the office manager/aspiring actress. This spot is the first installment of a campaign featuring real people who didn't know they were involved in a Microsoft ad. For their sake, I hope Crispin's listing on Craigslist said: "Volunteers wanted for free computer and lifetime of second-guessing by every Apple fanboy on the planet." UPDATE: Oh, but wait. Did Lauren even really go into the Apple Store?

—Posted by David Griner

Published on March 30, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (12)
Filed under Apple, Crispin Porter, Griner, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Technology

Sears hops a ride on the un-site bandwagon

Since Agency.com's Skittles project got rapped for paying homage to Modernista's un-site, it's time to go after Izea. The company, which also brokers sponsored blog posts, has a program for Sears using the same approach. Bustedmoms.com is not really a site but rather a gaudy frame around a Sears Facebook page. There, down-on-their-luck moms are invited to tell tales of woe in hopes of getting a $2,500 "mommy makeover." My guess is that as this approach becomes more popular, people will stop crying "ripoff" each time it's done.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Izea, Morrissey, Sears

Samsung taking liberties with Welsh sheep

Hey, Wales got the Internet! About time. And they're already responsible for an Internet Sensation involving the only thing I've ever associated with Wales: sheep. Specifically, Welsh national sheep-herding champion Gerry Lewis was recruited to help a group of filmmakers with a video in which sheep in LED vests are "herded into astonishing shapes on a mountainside." The shapes include a giant sheep, a game of Pong, and the Mona Lisa. The video was made in celebration of, and using, Samsung's various LED products, which are also available in Wales now. For a first effort, this is pretty cool. In time, they'll reach Eagle Man levels of weird, for sure.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Electronics, Europe, Kiefaber, Samsung

Wieden and Honda try headlight animation

Here's another logistical wonder for Honda from "Cog" masterminds Wieden + Kennedy. This time around, the agency's Amsterdam office arranged a massive grid of cars and coordinated the headlights to create animation. While specifically an ad for the Insight Hybrid, the spot also launched Honda's environmental brand initiative when it debuted yesterday. Check out Eleftheria Parpis's writeup on the campaign at Adweek.com for details, and watch this behind-the-scenes video to see how it was done.

—Posted by David Griner

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (3)
Filed under Environment, Griner, Honda, Wieden + Kennedy

Pimp This Bum: salvation or exploitation?

Marketing specialist Kevin Dolan and his son Sean were looking for a way to test out a campaign to generate buzz for Ascendgence, their Internet marketing startup, when they approached a homeless man named Tim Edwards and paid him $100 a day to hold a cardboard sign advertising their Web site, Pimp This Bum. Now, the whole thing is making headlines for the Dolans, and thousands of dollars in donations for Tim Edwards. Corporate sponsors have even signed on, and Tim is receiving free rehab services from Sunray Treatment and Recovery in Seattle, airfare provided by Southwest Airlines. However, some homeless advocates are upset over the word "pimp" and are alleging that Tim is being exploited. If you listen to Tim when he asks you to consider his options and think again about labeling the site as exploitation, he makes it hard to get uppity about it—even though the name is reminiscent of tasteless YouTube spoofs like Pimp My Shopping Cart and MTV Cribs: Homeless Edition. When something makes us uncomfortable, there's a fine line between laughing at the situation and crying. With surprising tenderness to its subject, Pimp This Bum manages to walk that line.

—Posted by Rebecca Cullers

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Cullers, Homelessness, Self-promotion

Adman will eat shorts for solar-energy work

Ted Page of Boston's Captains of Industry is threatening to eat his shorts if his agency doesn't win a solar energy account. The guy looks like a cross between everybody's dad and Moby. Ted's got a blog and all manner of social outreach promoting the stunt, but why wait for a client to come aboard? I took up a collection here at AdFreak, and I'll give Ted $5 to eat those boxers right now. Note: $5 is roughly equivalent to the revenue he'd make off a solar energy assignment before those cash-strapped techno-hippies declare bankruptcy. I'm pro-rating the offer to $2.50 for briefs because they're easier to swallow, and times are tough all over.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Captains of Industry, Gianatasio

Help this creative genius settle on a job title

Jonathan Ressler is a smart, dynamic guy, and an overall creative genius. The only thing he can't do is come up with a good job title for himself. He's newly employed at marketing agency The Catevo Group, and he needs a title for his business cards. Which is where we, the faithful public, come in. Jon's Give Me a Title site has lots of possibilities for us to vote on, including "Lord of Space, Time and Dimension," "The Father of Every Child in This Room" and "Chief Growth Officer." (That last one must be a joke.) Also, he makes fat jokes about himself and hangs out with a monkey. Maybe he's replacing guerrilla marketing with something more literal.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Job titles, Kiefaber

A board game made for the economic crisis

Con Von Hoffman, who runs the fine Collateral Damage blog and used to write for Brandweek, was kind enough to bring "Crunch, The Game for Utter Bankers" to my attention. The game satirizes the current economic crisis, with players portraying greedy global banking CEOs. The game's manufacturer is British, so "bankers" would be a play on words, substituting for the derogatory slang term "wankers." The stateside equivalent would be the less obtuse but rather more descriptive "yankers." Still, I don't see the need for a new game. The themes have been played out countless times before. In the realm of monopolies, risk yields trouble, and players without a clue are left to go fish for themselves; chasing money's a sorry operation, truly one of life's trivial pursuits. Oh my, I wish the economy would stop playing games with my head.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on March 27, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (16)
Filed under Finance, Gianatasio

Did Mullen pioneer Twitter business model?

Tech and marketing blogs are having a feeding frenzy over how Twitter will make money. The fate of the economy—nay, the world—hangs in the balance. (On the flip side, Twitter is also being blamed for the economic meltdown, so maybe things will look up if it disappears.) What's interesting is the new front-runner moneymaking scheme involves constructing sponsored Twitter areas around themes and events. Federated Media has rolled out a pair of initiatives with Twitter's blessing. The latest is a site that scoops up Tweets related to the NCAA men's basketball tournament. It's an approach that's similar to one that ad agency Mullen has taken for a couple of side projects. It built sites, without corporate sponsors, that acted at Twitter hubs for the Super Bowl and the Academy Awards. The functionality of FM's March Tweetness is better, but the concept isn't that far off. Twitter investor Fred Wilson says the company is keeping an eye on things like the FM initiatives for ideas on how to make money. Sadly, there's no word of a finder's fee for Mullen.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on March 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Morrissey, Mullen, Twitter

Padma's hamburger ad redefines food porn

Well, here it is: the new Padma Lakshmi commercial for Hardee's/Carl's Jr. that we mentioned back in February, when it was being filmed. It certainly doesn't skimp on the sexual imagery, as the Top Chef beauty opens wide (really wide) to take her first bite of the Western-bacon monstrosity. Plopped down on an apartment building's front steps, she hikes up her skimpy dress and licks the burger all over until, in the heat of the moment, it promptly drips its sauce on her lower leg. Outside of the car wash, it doesn't get more food porn-y than this. Paris Hilton, please pack your knives and go. Via The Food Section. UPDATE: We've replaced the 30-second spot with the even-saucier 60-second version above.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on March 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (19)
Filed under Carl's Jr., Celebrity endorsements, Hardee's, Nudd, Restaurants

Four classic 'SNL' ads not on that Hulu list

Yesterday's list of the 10 most-watched Saturday Night Live commercials on Hulu brought some grousing from a few readers, who thought it lacked some classics. So, here's four more, including the apparently universally adored "Oops I Crapped My Pants." Part of the problem is that the Hulu collection, while pretty good, isn't complete. So, apologies in advance that there's no "Happy Fun Ball" or "Schmitt's Gay."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

"Oops I Crapped My Pants"
Let mother nature call... You're prepared!

Bassomatic
Mmmm.... Delicous bass milkshakes.

Colon Blow
Get your insides clean with the ultimate cereal.

The Love Toilet
For two people who love spending time with each other.

Published on March 26, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (9)
Filed under Nudd, Parody, SNL