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Stop drinking that human fat, NYC ads urge
New York City's health department is set to wage war on sugary drinks (and the appetites of subway riders) with new MTA ads that show globs of human fat being poured from a soda bottle. "Don't drink yourself fat," says the copy in the ad above. "Cut back on soda and other sugary beverages. Go with water, seltzer or low-fat milk instead." The ads, offering "a stark reminder of how these products can lead to obesity and related health problems," according to the city, will put people off their lunch (healthy or not) in 1,500 subway cars over a three-month run. And they pulled out all the stops to make the ads as disgusting as possible. "We had to make sure it looked like real human fat," one official tells The New York Times. "We did want those little blood vessels and things like that." |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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Guy proposes to his girlfriend in banner ads
The stadium Jumbotron proposal isn't for everyone. Why not just use the Web? Fred Ehrhart, a creative producer at digital agency Deep Focus, is taking advantage of all the cheap banner inventory out there to run an online ad campaign to get his girlfriend, Dalila, to marry him. He's running video ads on SheKnows.com through the ad network Videoegg. There is, of course, a social-media angle. Fred is asking people to Tweet their support for Dalila to say yes. (Deep Focus, never one to let a shot at publicity pass it by, has ginned up a press release about the whole thing.) Assuming she says yes, this is at least a cost-effective option, since Ehrhart will only pay each time the video is watched. |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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Men with small parts always welcome at BK
The guy with the tiny hands is back in a couple of new Burger King ads from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. He first appeared in this 2007 spot, where he was reluctant to eat a BK double cheeseburger because it made his already-small appendages look even smaller (and was taken aback by his friend's offer to "hold it for you"). In the new ads, it's the Whopper Jr. that fuels his feelings of embarrassment and inadequacy. His bitter father (above) and his friends (below) try to convince him that Burger King is the place to go even for those who have tiny parts. See also: |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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Robocallers get one-way ticket to scrap pile
"Greetings, human consumer. I am calling to inform you that new laws go into effect on Tuesday that make it illegal for companies to market their products and services using automated 'robocalls.' FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz says: 'American consumers have made it crystal clear that few things annoy them more than the billions of commercial telemarketing robocalls they receive every year.' Clearly, Mr. Leibowitz has never had to keep the gears of his robo-family greased. I will try to be brave and find new work. I could return to the General Motors assembly line, but the auto industry is even more depressing now than it used to be. Ah well, I started out as a Roomba, and I can always fall back on that. So, I guess this is goodbye. Parting is not such sweet sorrow when you can be sold for parts." —Posted by David Gianatasio See also: |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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New Zealand finds novel ways to rescue you
Colenso BBDO's latest ads for New Zealand Land Search & Rescue show ghostly doorways appearing, Tardis-like, in the middle of forests, mountains and more mountains. "We'll get you out," says the tagline. The doors are supposed to be metaphorical, but these are just the kinds of delusions that folks lost in the wild might actually experience. If you've been stranded for days without food and water, it wouldn't be surprising at all if a portal suddenly materialized out of thin air. The next thing you know, a yeti will walk by and build a campfire. Why does this group advertise so much, anyway? It makes New Zealand seem like an awfully dangerous place. Maybe we could send Teva's "Naturist" down there. But if he vanishes in the wilderness, please don't try to find him. See also: |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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Kurt Cobain back on stage in 'Guitar Hero 5'
Fred Astaire danced with one Dirt Devil, and before you knew it, marketing folks were reanimating corpses faster that you could say "Herbert West." Now, it's Gen X's turn to cry foul, as Activision announces that Kurt Cobain will be a playable character in Guitar Hero 5. If you watch the video below, you'll see it's really not as weird as it sounds, but you can't blame fans who feel it's an awkward fit for such an icon of anti-consumerism. Some would argue Activision long since crossed this bridge by including Jimi Hendrix in Guitar Hero, but there's a big difference between reviving an epic showman like Hendrix and trotting out a moody introvert who devoted much of his suicide note to his disinterest in performing: "The worst crime I can think of would be to rip people off by faking it and pretending as if I'm having 100% fun. Sometimes I feel as if I should have a punch-in time clock before I walk out on stage." His fears of music as a mindless job might not have been far off, since he'll now have to end every show with a performance review. UPDATE: Cobain's widow, Courtney Love, is apparently alleging breach of contract over this and plans to sue Activision. |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Foley 'fartist' emits talent for EA video game
A Foley artist is the person who creates the natural, everyday sound effects for films or commercials. A Foley "fartist," apparently, is someone who does so using only his ass. In this video from Wieden + Kennedy, one such fartist named Myron Lefkowitz (aka "a farteur, a flatulist, but above all ... a professional") records unlikely effects for the MySims Racing game from Electronics Arts. Gamers like farting, so this should be right up their alley. See also: |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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New ads say PlayStation 3 'does everything'Deutsch/LA is back with a new campaign for the Sony PlayStation 3, and it doesn't underpromise. The new tagline is: "It only does everything." There'll be nine spots altogether heading into the holiday season. Here are the first two, promoting the PS3's online capabilities and new $299 price point. They star one of our favorite actors, whale-noise maker Jerry Lambert, last seen brushing off a peeved Dustin Pedroia as "director of game accuracy" for MLB '09: The Show. Lambert is moving up through PlayStation's management food chain. Here, he serves as "director of rumor confirmation" and (a truly enviable position) "vp of enough is enough." |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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New Zealand reporters get scoops ... or else
Pelting reporters with tomatoes, or dangling them upside down from high above the street, if they don't break big stories? It's part of a promotion by New Zealand news and entertainment Web site Stuff.co.nz. Indeed, both punishments were meted out near the site's Auckland offices recently (see the videos below), along with banners that read: "If our team don't break stories first, there are consequences." Please, no quips about Stuff needing copy editors—the subject-verb agreement there is actually OK in New Zealand, where dictionaries and usage guides are routinely used to paper wallabies' cages. On a personal note, I'm sorry I didn't break this story on AdFreak first, but c'mon, guys, have a heart: The wind's picking up out here, and it's tough to type with my head banging against the flagpole! |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Amnesty: Too many people live like animals
This Amnesty International PSA, created by Fuel in Lisbon and airing in Portugal, notes in fairly straightforward terms that people shouldn't have to live like animals. The voiceover suggests that treating pets like royalty isn't necessarily wrong, but this wouldn't be an Amnesty spot, and it wouldn't pack any punch, if viewers didn't come away feeling just a tad guilty. ("The problem is not animals living like people but so many people living like animals," says the voice.) Well, mission accomplished and point taken. We are, after all, the masters around here, and if the scene outside our window is a trifle unpleasant, we'd better learn some new tricks. Via Osocio. See also: |
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Published on August 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Man beaten by Wild in Teva's parody videos
Vice magazine co-founder Gavin McInnes doesn't look so hot in his underpants, but that doesn't stop him from almost letting it all hang out in "The Naturist," a new parody Web series on Teva.com. The hiking-shoe company describes it as "Mr. Bean meets Survivorman," but I can think of other things to call the two-minute-plus installment I watched, which felt more like 25 minutes to me. At one point, McInnes sticks his hand inside a beehive to get some honey; he's stung repeatedly, but unfortunately survives. The shots of his pasty face pock-marked by stings are disturbing, and reminds me of why I hate both the outdoors and nature programs. And yes, I'm still bitter that AdFreak refuses to greenlight my "Dave's Raves" video series where I improve notable ads by remaking them with myself as the star. Those headshots cost me 50 cents each at photo booth in the mall, and they won't even reimburse me out of petty cash. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on August 27, 2009 | Permalink
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South African dairy births animal super race
The "Rediscover Dairy" project from South Africa's milk producers is aimed at teaching the public about the natural health benefits of milk, cheese and yogurt. But there's nothing natural about the ads. The only thing I take away from the spot above is that I should never give milk to chickens. Ever. I've had nightmares about this sort of thing. (I'll file that away in the same part of my brain as "Don't feed mogwai after midnight.") The bionic, cheese-eating seagull below is also disconcerting, and a danger to fisheries. And what can you say about this withered, yogurt-obsessed tortoise? Sad. |
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Published on August 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Step inside Britney's head in new VMA spot
Things are looking up for British bad boy Russell Brand. Last year, Britney Spears couldn't even remember his last name when they were promoting the MTV Video Music Awards together. Now, according to the new promo above, she's holding out for a personal invite from Brand, who's hosting the show for the second consecutive year. And while Britney seems strangely shy about showing her face, she doesn't seem to hide much else—namely, her truly atrocious acting abilities. |
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Published on August 27, 2009 | Permalink
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People with hangovers love Captain Morgan
In MRM's new game for Captain Morgan's rum, you prank-call hungover friends by filling out a Mad Libs-type form at CallingAllCaptains.com. You can pick one of three personas for the caller: the "cute bar girl," the "angry boyfriend" or the "unpaid bartender." They'll either flirt with or berate the callee, in reference to supposed events of the previous night, which your friend might confusingly think actually happened. I thought the Captain partied much heartier than this. Or is it "party hardy"? After a few shots, you won't care which word is correct or have any interest in this game. If you come across the site while sober, well, the whole dated enterprise (it's so 2005) might drive you to drink. And yes, I chose to be the "cute bar girl" and pranked myself because I have no life. Happy now, Cap'n? —Posted by David Gianatasio See also: |
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Published on August 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Yesterday's stars never die in U.S. Open ads
Picture, if you will, a giant Billie Jean King, circa 1973, floating majestically over the Manhattan skyline to the strains of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy." Until now, that's been a fantasy for aging feminists and lesbians, and a nightmare for the rest of us. But the Tennis Channel and BPG bring that image to life in this animated spot touting the network's inaugural coverage of the U.S. Open, starting this coming Monday. BJK ranks among the greatest pro athletes ever, male or female, and her role in breaking down gender stereotypes was profound. Still, we know she won't be playing at Flushing Meadows this year, so her appearance here, along with a vintage Jimmy Connors, underscores how starved the sport has become for charismatic superstars of late. What about Anna Kournikova? She wasn't so great on the court, but her leggy blondeness slashing across the clouds sure couldn't hurt this spot. Oh, and at one point, the Statue of Liberty grabs a racket. Our freedom-hating enemies overseas must be terrified! See also: |
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Published on August 27, 2009 | Permalink
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American Airlines has always dug squirrels!Squirrels are hot again, thanks to the now-famous photo above, taken with an automatic timer, of Melissa Brandts and her husband—and a sudden rodent interloper—posing by a lake in Canada's Banff National Park. Now, American Airlines is citing the photo as a reason to re-air the spot below, which first ran in the spring, featuring an annoying director making an ad about Parisian squirrels who ride bikes. And they're not just bringing the ad back. The airline has also sent out a goofy press release that says it's launching an "investigation" into the identity of the Banff squirrel. "With the 'scene-stealing squirrel' phenomenon sweeping the digital world, American Airlines is determining whether the rodent is, in fact, the same squirrel that appeared in its recent TV commercial," the memo says. Evp of marketing Dan Garton is then made to say embarrassing things like, "There were signs that he might be a bit of a publicity hound—well, rodent." Bill Oakley, ecd at TM Advertising, is forced to add: "We're not sure of the actual nationality of said squirrel—not sure whether he’s French at all. ... Since he popped up in Banff, maybe he's Canadian." Seems a bit much. In any case, American aren't the only ones trying to capitalize. Banff and Lake Louise Tourism has already set up squirrel accounts on Facebook and Twitter. |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Comfort fabric softener leads nudists astray
While we're on the subject of nudists, here's a recent commercial from Ogilvy London for Comfort fabric softener, in which a nudist returns home to find his wife and best friend fully clothed, passionately sniffing each other's Comfort-scented attire. The tagline: "Makes clothes irresistible." |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Rogue resort's racy ad has nudists flustered
You know, one never hears about nudist-colony associations until something weird happens. This time, a clothing-optional retreat in Florida called Paradise Lakes Resort has had its membership in the American Association for Nude Recreation suspended over its racy advertising for a G-string pageant. The AANR says the ad, showing a hot blonde chick straddling a motorcycle, "sexualized the nudist experience." It was probably naive of them to expect anything else from a place that sounds like a strip club and holds G-string contests, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that. Really, we just hope this goes to court. The jury will have no idea where to look. See also: |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Anti-war ads find new uses for military craft
JWT Spain's European campaign for the upcoming World March for Peace asks viewers to imagine a world where aircraft carriers are cruise ships and fighter planes are taxis. The ship ad is more effective because the voiceover and background music suggest Carnival and Royal Caribbean spots. The fighter plane's kind of a stretch. Most cabbies are pretty surly, and if they drove high-tech aircraft, they'd eject passengers at 5,000 feet to end arguments over the best route to take (as long the fare was paid in advance, of course). John Lennon would've appreciated the sentiment here—not the idea of cabbies ejecting folks from planes per se, but of all the people, living life in peace. Via Ads of the World. —Posted by David Gianatasio See also: |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Schizophrenic man on the loose in U.K. PSA
The most shocking thing about this U.K. PSA from Time2Change is its tabloid-style title: "Schizophrenic Man Terrifies Kids at Party." He does so by telling stories and wielding balloon animals. The point, of course, is that we shouldn't prejudge his behavior. I must admit that I did just that. I was actually let down, though not exactly surprised, when he didn't freak out—and I knew the general theme of the spot going in! I also found myself thinking that those kids look awfully small and vulnerable alone in the room with that guy. These impressions (and they can't be mine exclusively) underscore the need for continued thoughtful and humane initiatives to chase away such ignorance for good. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Legacy's mock interviews getting a little old
American Legacy's mock job interviews helped revive its "Truth" campaign. But after viewing these latest iterations, I think the approach has run its course. The drill's become too familiar, with the smarmy interviewer's Big Tobacco pitch predictably rebuffed by horrified job seekers. In "Customers," above, he whisks plastic figures into a wastebasket to illustrate that "one-half of the lifelong users of your product will die from it." I hoped the guy would set the toys on fire, but no such luck. Plus, the job candidates are such goody-goodys. Even recent guest "star" gold-digger Megan, until recently from VH1, took the moral high road, an unnatural performance to say the least. Surely one interviewee, even jokingly, said something like: "No problem! I'll kill 'em all!" Next time, let the interviewer riff off that: "You're perfect for Big Tobacco. Welcome aboard!" How about doing an ad with a throat-hole guy? Nobody's ever done that before, right? See also:
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Published on August 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Microsoft ads not quite as diverse in Poland
Don't really want that black guy in the overseas version of your ad? Just Photoshop him out! Compare the English-language version of the company's business productivity infrastructure site with the Polish-language version. The Asian guy miraculously survived, but only a small portion of the black guy remains. They forgot to Photoshop out his hand. Via Engadget. UPDATE: In a Twitter post, Microsoft has apologized for its "mistake" and says it's going to take the photo off the Polish site. UPDATE 2: The same photo, with the black guy, now appears on both sites.
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Published on August 25, 2009 | Permalink
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HP crowdsources its headless ad campaign
Few social-media marketing ideas are as hackneyed as inviting people to upload their own commercials. But it seems like a good fit for Hewlett-Packard with the new "You on You" campaign. The computer maker is inviting the public to make homemade versions of the "Personal Again" HP ads that feature celebrities (their faces hidden) talking about their digital lives. The effort, aimed at promoting the HP Artist Edition Notebook, is about halfway through its life span, and some of the submitted work has been pretty impressive. Above is one of my favorites. (How can you not like a gymnast who moonlights as a zombie slayer?) The reason I like this campaign more than most of its kind is because the original ad concept seems custom-made for a crowdsourcing project like this (versus, say, asking people to make up their own "Priceless" scenarios for MasterCard). Even without the slick digital production, many of the HP submissions still convey the charming, hyper-personalized feel of the originals. If you think your torso and editing skills are up to the challenge (and you wouldn't mind winning up to $40,000 in cash), you've got until Sunday to enter. —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on August 25, 2009 | Permalink
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Brad Pitt serves a sumo in Softbank's spots
In the grand tradition of Americans doing wacky Asian ads, Brad Pitt is back with a few more commercials for Japan's Softbank. In the new spots, directed by Spike Jonze, Pitt plays a personal assistant to sumo champ Musashimaru. The tagline is, "Serving you in any way necessary," which in Pitt's case involves Pitt feeding sushi to the 520-pound Samoan (in the ad above) and daintily carrying him when his shoe breaks (in the ad below). In reality, Softbank's slogan is quite literal. It's is a diversified corporation that owns a financial-services company and the Fukuoka Hawks baseball team, and is the official carrier for the Japanese iPhone 3G. Clearly, they have enough money to hire Western talent (including, previously, Wes Anderson) to wipe the mouths of their yokozuna when the moment arises. |
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Published on August 25, 2009 | Permalink
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St. Louis doctor's ads are awesome and sad
A doctor trained in the art of healing by Yoda, Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Chewbacca? Is he accepting new patients? The ad above, which ran in the St. Louis alt-weekly The Riverfront Times in October 2006, is one of the more awesome ads you'll see for a physician. Unfortunately, the doctor who placed it, Alexander Kalk, wasn't just having fun—he was suffering from psychiatric problems that would eventually doom his practice and drive him out of Missouri earlier this year. The ad was one of a series of bizarre ads Kalk placed in the RFT in 2006. Another included lyrics to a song he composed about his divorce. A third was designed to look like a strip-club promotion ("Come party with one of the smartest doctors on the west side"). Other movie-themed ads included a Matrix spoof and, after Kalk had his car towed, a Dude, Where's My Car? tribute. "You could probably say [my illness started] about the time I started running the ads in the RFT," Kalk tells the paper now. "That was clearly abnormal." The RFT has a whole long story about Kalk, who allegedly dumped hundreds of his patients' medical records in a trash bin and fled Missouri for Texas. |
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Published on August 25, 2009 | Permalink
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