Help or snub the poor with Campbell Mithun

Campbell Mithun has launched anti-poverty banners for the Greater Twin Cities United Way that feature impoverished people and buttons that read "Accept" and "Ignore." You're encouraged to choose one or the other. The word "Help" might make more sense than "Accept," but I suppose acceptance is the first step in combating the problem. It's the "Ignore" option, though, that makes the ads hard to ignore and proves irresistible to immature and jaded users like me. I clicked "Ignore" to find out where I'd be redirected for being so heartless. Google search results for "poverty"? Or maybe for "hell," my presumed destination for not helping my fellow man? I got a screen that said, "We understand not everyone is in a position to give," and I began to feel all guilty and ashamed. Well played, Campbell Mithun. Making folks loathe themselves enough to consider a donation is the second step in combating the problem.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on August 4, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (7)
Filed under Campbell Mithun, Gianatasio, United Way

What are colives, and should you eat them?

The bar for wacky cow ads has been raised foolishly high of late. From Wieden + Kennedy's purified Cravendale cow (certified not racist!) to Draftfcb's talking-teat Oreo temptation, we've feasted on some bloody breakthroughs in bovine. Enter Campbell Mithun's "Colive" commercial above, touting Land O'Lakes Butter with Olive Oil. The setup, showing what happens when you cross a cow with an olive, would seem to present possibilities. A giant green heifer spurting pimento-flavored milk sprang to mind. (Though with me, that often does. Rough childhood, etc.) What we actually get is a cow-colored olive that rolls around a tabletop. It looks like a marble or a rodent dropping, not that appealing. At least they had the good sense to make it moo.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on June 29, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Animals, Campbell Mithun, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Land O'Lakes

Gods and monsters tend to pick H&R Block

H&R Block is flooding the zone with commercials this tax season. Its Super Bowl spot from Campbell Mithun starring the Grim Reaper is just one of a raft of new ads. Others include "Cyclops," above, in which some one-eyed friends, presumably myopic on more than one level, marvel over getting a "second look" at their taxes; and "Cupid," below, in which the cherubic god of erotic love gets audited, and fails to warm the heart-cockles of the bean counter assigned to his case. There's a whole bunch more over at the company's YouTube page.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on February 11, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Campbell Mithun, Freaky, H&R Block, Nudd, Tax preparation

Twin Cities urged to be nice to Republicans

While all political eyes are now on the Democrats in Denver, the Twin Cities are getting ready for the Republican conclave next week in St. Paul. And Minneapolis agency Campbell Mithun is getting into the act with a campaign developed with Hungry Man Productions, and launched via the UnConvention Web site, that urges the locals in this traditionally Democratic state (or, more precisely, Democratic-Farmer-Labor state) to be gracious hosts. Republican delegates who check out the Web site's video and the posters may wonder how sincere the welcome is. But after the treatment their party is getting in Denver, anything short of open hostility may seem like a warm embrace.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

Published on August 27, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Campaign '08, Campbell Mithun, Dolliver, Political ads, Print