Crowdsourcing leads to an ill-advised tattoo
Crowdsourcing is not everyone's cup of tea. Some find it a little insulting to advertising professionals who hone their craft only to see the unwashed masses debase themselves coming up with ideas for next to nothing. A new low may have been reached with a crowdsourcing logo contest run by Veer, a stock-photography brand owned by Corbis. Veer put a twist on its contest (the winner gets a Macbook Pro) by asking people to "re-create the Veer logo using real-world objects or materials." One eager beaver decided to use his arm and a tattoo needle. His submission is the video below. The best comment comes from the tattoo artist: "I ain't got to live with it." The fact that this dope is walking around with a stock-photography company's name on his arm alarms me. There's still time to top the tattoo, if anyone wants to literally get branded. The contest ends today. Thanks to @ijyoung. UPDATE: OK, it's a "faux" tattoo. |
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Published on November 5, 2009 | Permalink
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GU student ripped for personal-assistant ad
Georgetown University sophomore Charley Cooper is taking a lot of flak for putting out an ad seeking a personal assistant. The ideal candidate will attend to tasks like organizing his closet, scheduling haircuts, managing his electronic accounts and doing laundry. It didn't take long for haters to begin hating. The Georgetown Voice accused him of "premature self-importance," and others complained that he was perpetuating the stereotype that Georgetown students are rich, helpless brats. I'd be joining in, but someone in Cooper's family has cancer, and that will earn my sympathy more than his full load of classes and part-time job will. Plus, he's paying $12 an hour, and I don't live too far from GU. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on October 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Bills fan's billboard aims to get coach fired
Ryan Abshagen, an unemployed 18-year-old from New Freedom, Pa., might have a future in the ad business. Or fundraising. Or media consulting. He sure won't be working for the Buffalo Bills after raising $1,400 on the Web to buy a week's worth of time on a digital billboard, which he'll use to demand the ouster of Bills coach Dick Jauron. Starting Monday, Abshagen's message will be flashed 3,000 times a day on a billboard over I-190 south of Buffalo. It also calls for the dismissal of the team's pro personnel director and chief college scout. According to the Associated Press: "He's now begun a second campaign to raise another $1,125 to extend the rental for one more week or rent a second billboard." Surely Crispin or PBS could find an internship for this guy! If nothing else, he could run the office football pool. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on October 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Man proposes to girlfriend with bus-stop ad
We recently saw a guy propose to his girlfriend with online banner ads. But for Eric Anderson of Chicago, that's too high-tech. Anderson placed his own ad last week asking his girlfriend, Rachel Clark, to marry him—but he went with old-school media, plastering the message on the bus shelter where Clark catches her ride to work each morning. See the ad here. The copy reads: "Rachel! I love you! Let's be a team forever! Will you marry me? xoxo Eric." Thanks to a kind-hearted rep at the outdoor company, Anderson got a discounted rate on the ad, which featured, along with the big question, the symbols of a heart (for love), the scales of justice (Clark is a lawyer), a cog (Anderson is an engineer) and a knot—which will indeed be tied, as Clark said yes. "At first I was afraid it wouldn't be very romantic—it's a bus station," Clark tells the Chicago Tribune. "But I mentioned it to her sister and my cousin, and they were both excited about it. I had two women who liked it, so I went with it." —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 7, 2009 | Permalink
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British man denies affair in newspaper ad
The local newspaper ad is often the last resort for the wrongly accused. That appears to be the case with British man Patrick Byrne (not the Patrick Byrne who runs Overstock.com, a different one), who was recently kicked out of his home by his wife after a young female colleague claimed she'd had an affair with him. Byrne denies any infidelity, and decided to place an ad in the Sutton Coldfield News declaring his innocence and undying devotion to his wife. "I Patrick Byrne love my wife Sue Byrne and have always been faithful and will love you forever," he wrote. Byrne tells the Sunday Mercury: "It was my way of saying I didn't do anything wrong. The Sutton Coldfield News is our local paper, and I thought that would be the best place for it to go. When I get home from work I am dead on my feet, and I just wanted to do something nice." The ROI seems solid, as Sue has allowed Paddy back in the house. She still has "massive trust issues," but puts most of the blame on the younger woman. She tells the Mercury: "As far as I am concerned, she is a little slut." —Posted by Tim Nudd See also: |
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Published on September 24, 2009 | Permalink
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Holy crap, a Wisconsin man is out of work!
Man, what is it with people and billboards? It seems like every couple of months, someone commandeers one to broadcast his or her personal needs all over their communities. This time it's Mark Hauer, a Wisconsin guy who's looking for work. Hauer "hasn't worked in six months" (that doesn't really set him apart, of course), and his work experience includes "sales, service, production and procurement management." More specifically, it includes "assisting U.S. troops in Iraq for a contractor in a detainee camp," which sounds vague and ominous enough to scare a few employers away right off the bat. Perhaps Hauer, who seems like a nice enough guy, should spend a few months as a Volunteer Kitten Hugger or something to lighten up his image. He can add pictures to his Web site, while he's at it. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on March 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Man's ad to sell nagging wife draws suitors
We're pretty certain this Englishman who put his wife up for sale in a classified ad was kidding, because we're also pretty certain that sort of thing is illegal. But that didn't stop hordes of strange men who saw the ad from actually calling Gary Bates to inquire about his wife Donna, who was described in the ad as a "nagging wife" who is "very high maintenance" and has "some rust." Gary wasn't really going out of his way to advertise Donna; he was already there to sell some fishing tackle. But we have to question Gary's salesmanship here, not to mention his decision to show the ad to his wife. Perhaps he should get some marketing advice from Dr. Tran's elderly neighbor. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on March 13, 2009 | Permalink
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It's looking bleak for Super Bowl Single Girl
Oh good, more desperate singles pulling undignified advertising stunts! This time it's Amy Borkowski, a New York comedian who's been trying to raise $3 million to air her own personals ad on the Super Bowl. With two days to go, she's raised $6,205. (Where's David Armano when you need him?) "Dating is basically a numbers game," Amy says, "and I figured getting myself in front of a captive audience of 60 million men would increase my odds of meeting Mr. Right." As opposed to, you know, developing hobbies and interests through which she could meet like-minded people. Yes, we know it's a joke. Via Deadspin. |
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Published on January 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Google's TV-ad system: everyone's a player
Valleywag has the story of Ariel Schneller, a 24-year-old Internet poker player who placed the homemade commercial above, which advertises his FoxwoodsFiend.com blog, in front of 330,000 Dish subscribers for just $500, thanks to Google's nascent TV-ad-buying program. Schneller explains that his roommate works for Google in its ads division and tipped him off to how easy the whole process could be. "It's half egomania and half dedication to comedy," he says of the commercial, which ran on Oxygen, ESPN2, and WPT. Maybe slightly more of the former than the latter. |
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Published on December 17, 2008 | Permalink
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Jason Sadler would love to wear your shirt
Is your ad budget a little crunched for 2009? Just call Jason Sadler. On Feb. 24, for only $55, he'll wear a shirt with your logo on it and do whatever you want him to do—and blog about it. Not feeling it? On April 20, for $110, he'll wear a shirt with your logo on it and do whatever you want him to do—and blog about it. If you have some real cashola to spend, you might consider sending him your shirt to wear on July 4 ($185), Halloween ($304) or Christmas ($359). Advertising is simple at IWearYourShirt.com. Sadler wears your shirt and does what you want, for a price determined by the numerical day of the year—$1 on Jan. 1, $2 on Jan. 2 and so on, until Dec. 31, which costs $365. (According to our rudimentary math, if he sells out the whole year, he'll make $66,796. Not bad.) Want him to climb a tree? He'll do that. Want him to show up at your office with video cameras to chronicle the event? No problem. Want him to go shirtless for a day? No probl ... er, I'll have to look into that. —Posted by Jeremy Greenfield |
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Published on November 20, 2008 | Permalink
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