Old Navy's suddenly full of Christmas cheerSo, this is the Old Navy spot that placated the American Family Association? The one that convinced the group not to boycott all Gap-owned stores for downplaying Christmas themes in holiday ads? Can anything really placate the AFA for long? The spot, which promotes the retailer's Holiday Hoodies, shows the insufferable Supermodelquins ice skating at Rockerfeller Center and calling out, unmistakably and with ample good cheer, "Merry Christmas!" when their out-of-town friends show up. With all due respect to everyone's beliefs, they're mannequins. How strong can their yuletide spirit be? Still, they do seem more like real people than those hyperactive cheerleaders in Gap's holiday spots. Talk about dummies. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on December 10, 2009 | Permalink
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BK $1 Holidays, for when you care that little
As a person who loved getting those $5 McDonald's coupon booklets from my more estranged relatives every year, Burger King's latest dollar-menu promotion is right up my fast-food-giving alley. At BKDollarHolidays.com, you can pay $1 to send a card with an actual, genuine U.S. dollar inside to the people you care the least about. (That's not just me saying that. The site says the card "lets them know you almost care.") There's even a commercial with a creepy guy in a turtleneck (posted below). It's quite a deal, considering a card itself usually costs more than a buck. I'd send them to all my friends, if they didn't come with a dose of BK attitude. It's hard to find someone who wouldn't be upset to get the "Happy holidays, what's-yer-face" card. Fortunately for BK, every acquaintance of mine who seemed appropriate for this fits squarely within the young, male target demographic. In fact, I just sent a card to both of my bosses! Here's hoping I'm still employed by at least one of them in 2010. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on December 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Pair of CP+B interns hired live on Web show
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is all into live Web events, which are newly in vogue. It even has its own weekly Web talk show on Justin.tv, FearLess Q+A, hosted by Alex Bogusky. On Thursday's show, Bogusky and creative director Omid Farhang were joined by two of the shop's many interns, Dil and Jeff. (See the video posted below.) They answered questions about what it's like to be the low man on the totem pole. The show was pretty uneventful, until Bogusky and Farhang surprised Dil and Jeff by offering them jobs at CP+B. At a time when so many are losing their jobs, it's actually quite nice to see two people get their shots. There are, of course, other CP+B interns still available. As Jeff mentioned on the show, via coffee-cup product placement, CP+B's slaves have set up their own site to hawk themselves at PleaseHire.Us. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on December 4, 2009 | Permalink
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Drive someone nuts with Gap holiday cheer
The holiday season keeps moving up. We're already seeing the rollout of holiday "viral" campaigns. Gap is out with an early contender for most annoying with "Cheer Factory," courtesy of Crispin Porter + Bogusky. It features Gap-clad cheerleaders doing chants like "Good luck with that bird" and "You office party hardied." You can, of course, personalize the cheer for an unlucky friend. The cheerleaders will hold up letters in the friend's name. Recipients are sure to hold this against you for years to come. |
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Published on November 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Latest book by Alex Bogusky gets roasted
Not everyone in the media is grooving on Alex Bogusky. The creative chief at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who was likened to Our Lord just 18 months ago in Fast Company, has, along with now ex-colleague John Winsor, produced a load of tripe with his new book, Baked In: Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves. At least, that's according to a Los Angeles Times reviewer. Dan Neil performs a good old-fashioned evisceration of the book, shredding its premise as obvious, its tone as clichéd and arrogant and its conclusions as wrong, or at least impractical. Bogusky (who previously wrote The 9-Inch Diet, which advocated losing weight by eating off smaller plates) finds himself chuckling and giving a hat tip to the LAT for its use of "half-baked" in the headline of the Baked In review. Neil even looks down his nose at the book's literal thinness, noting it is a mere 150 pages of large type. Thank God he never got a hold of a Kevin Roberts book. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink
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No lie, Tony Stewart does love the Whopper
Today, Crispin Porter + Bogusky rolled out a 50-minute Web show for Burger King at TheTruthAboutTony.com. The brand promoted the show heavily during sports games over the past few weekends, saying it would prove once and for all that Nascar driver and BK endorser Tony Stewart really does love the Whopper. The setup mimicked the old TV show Lie Detector, with Stewart hooked up to a machine and asked questions. The site had a Digg-like system to collect questions from fans, who could vote them up or down. Stewart was deemed to be telling the truth when asked whether he's done a doughnut on public property (yes), whether he likes musical theater (no) and whether he's read a book in the last two years (nope). He was caught lying when he said he's never gone commando under the fire suit, cried after a movie of the week, had a special blanket or toy as a kid or checked out hot chicks during races. Burger King showed admirable restraint not making it all about burgers. There was a BK bag on the set and a logo on Stewart's shirt. Of the 30-odd questions, five came from the brand. The entire program led up to asking Stewart whether he really loves the Whopper. He does! All in all, it was pretty entertaining, even for someone who has never watched a Nascar race in his life, though it probably lasted a bit too long and at times seemed contrived. No doubt there's a novelty factor at play here with the live Web video, so I'd guess we'll see more. If you missed it, BK is replaying it tonight at 9 p.m. ET. —Posted by Brian Morrissey
Previously on AdFreak:
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Published on October 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Alex Bogusky has a Facebook impersonator
Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative chief Alex Bogusky has become quite the social-media star. After swearing off Twitter, he's become quite prolific on the service, not to mention popular, with more than 15,000 followers. He's waded further into the oversharing waters with a Posterous blog (he says it isn't really a blog, but it has all the elements of one) that's featured some interesting posts, although his interview with himself understandably rubbed some the wrong way. It turns out Bogusky also has quite a burgeoning following on Facebook with a fan page at Facebook.com/BoguskyAlex. Only he didn't set it up. The page pulls in his Twitter feeds, videos of Crispin campaigns and a few different profile photos of the man. Bogusky posted on Twitter that the page "isn't me," but it's a nice fillip to be the only adman to have a Facebook fan page created for him. |
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Published on October 7, 2009 | Permalink
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Practically anyone can endorse Burger King
Burger King's new campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky is a goofy bit of meta marketing in which celebrity endorser Tony Stewart, the Nascar driver, explores the nature and reliability of celebrity endorsements. In the spot above, he gives Carrot Top and Erik Estrada tips at the Tony Stewart School of Endorsements. You come away from it mostly wondering what the hell happened to Carrot Top. It looks like he's been flavoring his coffee with the same poison that ravaged that Ukrainian guy. The spot below suggests that Stewart decided to endorse the Whopper rather than a contraption called the Sockmaster 2000. Both ads imply, somewhat comically, that Stewart himself—adviser to D-listers, would-be sock steamer—is pretty lame as celebrity endorsers go. Still, it should be fun on Oct. 20, when Stewart will submit to a live polygraph, broadcast online, that will determine once and for all whether he does actually like the Whopper. |
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Published on September 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Playmates give Hefner a 'Guitar Hero' show
Here's the new Guitar Hero 5 spot from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, in which 10 Playmates put on an air-guitar show for Hugh Hefner in the Playboy Mansion. "What? I like variety," Hef says at the end. Actually, the campaign could use more variety. This is the fifth spot in the Risky Business series. See the earlier ones here, with Heidi Klum, the pro athletes (A-Rod, Phelps, Bryant, Tony Hawk), the college-basketball coaches (Knight, Pitino, Williams, Krzyzewski) and the guys from Metallica. For the next spot, maybe let Pitino into the Playboy Mansion and see what happens. |
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Published on September 9, 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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Archrival interns stick it to the CP+B internsTurns out you don't need 38 interns to make a music video. You only need two, as long as they're handy with the Auto-Tune. The management at Archrival, a youth brand-marketing agency in Lincoln, Neb., say they saw the Crispin Porter + Bogusky intern video and challenged their own pair of summer servants (neither of whom was the subject of any pre-summer eBay auction) to make a better one. The results are above—not bad, though the one guy gets points taken off for claiming that he shits in the shower. Good thing there's no actual work to be done at ad agencies this summer. See also: |
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Published on August 20, 2009 | Permalink
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CP+B's interns capture plight in a rap video
Crispin Porter + Boguksy's 38 summer interns distill the humbling, often humiliating experience down to a tidy four minutes in this rap video. The interns (aka "the 38 tentacles") also work Brammo's Enertia electric motorcycle into the video. Brammo bought the interns' services for $17,000-plus in an eBay auction in May. Via The Denver Egotist. See also: |
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Published on August 4, 2009 | Permalink
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CP+B site becomes 'giant digital fishing net'
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the latest agency to revamp its Web site with an eye toward aggregating content and letting others around the Web tell its story. The site, now in beta, collects videos, Tweets, news headlines and blog entries that mention the agency or its work—"the good, the bad, the mildly unnerving," as a large-afro-ed Alex Bogusky says in the video above (which, given all his gesturing about the navigation, makes more sense to view over on the site itself). The effort is less experimental in form than either the Modernista! site or BooneOakley's YouTube channel, but does cede control of the message largely to outside parties, which connotes authenticity these days—particularly with all the Crispin haters out there. It's nice to see @BogusBogusky make an appearance, too. |
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Published on June 30, 2009 | Permalink
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What wouldn't people do for a job at CP+B?
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the belle of the ball in the agency world, judging by the stunts people pull to try to work there. Following up on Chris Kahle's successful Twitter-fueled campaign to get a job at the Boulder, Colo., shop, a pair of Miami Ad School grads put their heads together and came up with a clever reinvention of the cover letter: the snappy minute-and-a-half video above, giving an overview of their credentials and desire to work at CP+B. Bonus points to Brandon Kramer and Christy Pregont for including Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. This is a smart move. As Alex Bogusky says, CP+B is flooded with 2,000 résumés a month. The agency clearly favors the bold over those who are content to just hit send on an e-mail. Bogusky told Kramer "great job" in a Twitter message. Even if they don't get a shot at CP+B, they're bound to get attention from other shops at a tough time in the job market. AgencySpy asks a good question: Why aren't people going to the same lengths to lobby for jobs at other shops? |
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Published on June 9, 2009 | Permalink
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The King gets less gentle with dudes in bed
So, Burger King, possibly as a response to people calling their mascot creepy, now have him ambushing strangers in their beds in the middle of the night, as ominous horror-movie music plays. Look, we understand BK is open late now, but air-horning us back into consciousness is a dick move. What if we'd gotten a Whopper earlier that afternoon or something? The King has certainly turned into a real tosser since those days when he lovingly served us breakfast in bed. BK ads have established a pattern lately wherein the consumer is inconvenienced or assaulted by something representing the product, and aside from a cheap laugh or two, we're not sure what they've gotten from it. Perhaps it will all eventually culminate in Ashton Kutcher getting kicked in the balls by a giant BK Stacker. That would redeem all of their efforts up to now. |
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Published on May 29, 2009 | Permalink
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Crispin interns get lunch money via auction
The Crispin Porter + Bogusky Intern Auction has concluded after drawing 44 bids over 10 days. The winning bid: $17,655, from an undisclosed bidder. The winner gets the labor of Crispin's class of summer interns. The agency is passing on the proceeds to the low-paid help, which nets out to $465 for each of the 38 interns, or about $39 a week. That should get them lunch in Boulder. It must be noted that the auction proceeds are on top of what Crispin is paying the interns already and represents a nice bonus, all things considered. It's pretty impressive that the Crispin mystique was able to get this high of a a bid for work that doesn't include any production costs. Could any other shop net as much for its intern labor? If so, why don't they do it? UPDATE: The winner is Brammo, a maker of electric-power motorcycles, according to @bogusky. |
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Published on May 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Crispin selling off interns to highest bidder
The rap against Crispin Porter + Bogusky is they work you to the bone. For those interning there, it gets worse: They sell you to the highest bidder. Well, not exactly. The Boulder, Colo., shop is using eBay in an unusual attempt to auction off three months' worth of services from its interns to clients. The idea is that Crispin interns have been involved in some great work for Burger King, Microsoft and Volkswagen, although the description doesn't detail exactly what role they played. Crispin will funnel the proceeds from the auction directly to the interns, promising bidders that "world-class advertising can be yours for a fraction of the going rate." Alex Bogusky tells us: "We always split the intern time between the agency accounts and a pro bono account that they really dig into. We thought it would be fun to throw it open a bit and at the same time get them paid. The internship pays minimum wage but why not a little bonus too? Our hope is all of this will continue to raise the profile and the value of the internship. With over 40 summer interns it's like getting a mini CP+B." The fine print says what clients will get is a presentation and strategy, not actual production or any, you know, ads.Bidding ends May 27. As of Tuesday morning, there had been 22 bids, raising the price to $4,250. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on May 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Has Microsoft paid for your new laptop yet?
Here's yet another new "Laptop Hunters" ad by Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Microsoft. It shows soon-to-be law student Lauren (a different Lauren than the one in the first ad) and her mom Sue, who want something fast and portable, with a good battery, for less than $1,700. Given that they're looking for the most basic possible elements of a laptop computer, finding one shouldn't have been hard. But again, they were turned off by the Mac's steep price. After somehow passing up on a pink computer, Lauren ends up with a Dell, which is quite portable, as she'll find out when the hard drive and memory cards give out and she needs to send it back for repairs. |
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Published on May 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Crispin's Facebook app finds your ideal VW
The last time Crispin Porter + Bogusky released a Facebook app for a client, it stirred some controversy. It was Whopper Sacrifice, which encouraged people to trade friends for a free sandwich. The agency is back now with an app that's much less likely to offend. Meet the Volkswagens purports to match users with the right car model based on data from their Facebook profiles. After you install the application, it churns through information like your date of birth and educational history. It then spits out two matches. There's no explanation for how these are generated. For me, an unmarried male in New York City, it recommends a Passat station wagon—or a GTI. Those are kinda different options. I sent a note over to Crispin asking what data it uses for the matches. I'll update when/if I get an answer. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on May 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Burger Kingons torment bachelors of EarthA partnership between Burger King and Star Trek seems valid, seeing as how their audiences probably overlap about 90 percent. Apparently, the love child of this unholy union is the Kingon, a new race of plastic-faced freaks who raid bachelor pads for collectible glasses and disinterested girlfriends. You can get a sneak peek of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky commercial (and a pre-roll ad) above, via The Wall Street Journal, which reports that BK will be a marketing partner to three summer blockbusters: Star Trek, Transformers 2 and G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra. Can't wait for BK's G.I. Joe ads, which will surely have killer taglines like "Now you know, and knowing is half the Whopper," or simply, "Eat like Cobraaaaa!" —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on May 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Denis Leary joins the Hulu parade of aliens
The latest spokesman in Crispin Porter + Bogusky's ongoing alien-invasion series of commercials for Hulu is Denis Leary, in this Rescue Me-themed spot. His contribution to the cause involves advising us to embed Hulu videos on our "bliggity-blogs" and "facey-spaces." Not exactly a robust command of Web jargon, but to be fair, Denis has never been big on that sort of thing. After all, Bill Hicks wasn't. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on May 4, 2009 | Permalink
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Q&A: Alex Bogusky on his return to Twitter
Alex Bogusky began using Twitter again last night after almost two months away. He spoke with Adweek's Brian Morrissey about his return. |
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Published on April 28, 2009 | Permalink
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U.S.-Mexico relations strained over BK spot
This European ad from Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Burger King's Texican Whopper is honestly pretty harmless, but it has Mexico up in arms about its people being portrayed as tiny luchadors who wear their flag like a cape. It's the first cross-border advertising dispute since that infamous Absolut ad from Mexico City. We've seen worse stereotyping of Mexicans, though. And Consumerist is right to ask what kind of cowboy can't open his own jars. But it's worth pointing out that chaps are buttless by design, so that's not insulting, either. At least he wore them over pants. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on April 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Domino's set to take a social-media beating
These are wonderful times for social-media outrages. Some come like a bolt out of the blue, like the Motrin Moms fiasco. (For the life of me, I can't see what the hysteria was about. Sorry, mommy-blogging elite.) Others, like the Amazon glitch/conspiracy to remove the sales ranks of gay-themed books, are ripe for the fury of social-media channels like Twitter. And now we have Domino's. Let's face it, everyone worries what goes on behind the scenes at fast-food places. Some Domino's employees posted a video yesterday that apparently shows one of them putting snot on a sandwich and generally acting gross around food. (My favorite move, if only for its unconventional approach, the farting on the salami.) The video includes the narration, "That's how we roll at Domino's." (Maybe that's an homage to the Agency.com Subway pitch video.) The original was removed, but a copy is still on YouTube. This is not Abu Ghraib, but it's sure to strike a chord. How long before this bounces around Twitter and blogs before The New York Times weighs in with a chin-scratching 1,500-word article a week later? What's Crispin Porter + Bogusky's response? Some more "taste stimulus" ads may not counteract the cheese-up-the-nose scene. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on April 14, 2009 | Permalink
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More Microsoft laptop hunters on the prowl
In its ongoing effort to rehabilitate the nerdy, bureaucratic image cemented in consumer minds via the Apple ads, Microsoft has released a couple more "Laptop Hunters" commercials from Crispin Porter + Boguksy. (The first one starred "Lauren" and took place mostly on a grassy knoll.) The spot above achieves its everyperson vibe by featuring an 11-year-old boy whose mom calls him "dude." Well, at least he's a wholesome-looking kid with a healthy aversion to "cute" laptops that have software compatibility issues. Normally, anyone under 17 who's seen asking about a good gaming computer does so in between calling people "fags" over his Xbox Live headset. I can't see little Jackson behaving that way. I still feel bad for him, though, because middle school can't be easy when your mom's that hot. |
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Published on April 13, 2009 | Permalink
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