Dockers' man-ifesto gets a kick in the pants
(Click image to enlarge.) Dockers has decided to revamp its image as the preferred pants of prissy, pleated desk jockeys by issuing a "man-ifesto" on manliness, encouraging men to "wear the pants" once again, and creating a big ad campaign with print, outdoor, radio and, yes, its first Super Bowl spot since 2002. Vp of global marketing Jennifer Sey described the potential of the campaign so well in Brandweek. And I agree that "Wearing the Pants" could have been a movement. It could have been an answer to our current crisis of masculinity, a call to responsibility, decisiveness, anti-manchildness and upright citizenship. It could even have been a call for both men and women (since Dockers sells khakis to both). But looking at the manifesto and the print work, the whole thing falls flat, as they associate manliness with trite clichés. Is it any wonder they've been accused of sexism over the "wear the pants" thing? According to The New York Times, they tested the campaign to make sure women weren't offended. But if it was supposed to be "less about 'Don't eat quiche' and more about being chivalrous and mature," as Draftfcb creative director Desmond LaVelle put it, then why make fun of salad bars and lattes? I say, it's time for us all, men and women, to step up and wear the pants. But not Dockers. Let's go forth and buy Levi's other pants. You know, the manly ones that aren't khakis. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on December 16, 2009 | Permalink
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NYC subway system full of squandered food
It's irritating when you wait 15 minutes for the subway, and then a train shows up and it's full of apples. Draftfcb and The Mill enlisted half a million CGI apples for this anti-hunger PSA on behalf of City Harvest. They also supposedly shot the live-action footage on an iPhone, for even more Apple. The point is to remind New Yorkers how much food is wasted every day in the city, and ends up aimlessly riding the 7 train all day and night. —Posted by Tim Nudd
Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Ads reveal danger of fruit-flavored condoms
These three ads from Draftfcb in Vienna suggest that Condomi's fruit-flavored condoms "taste like real fruit." So much so, in fact, that the wearer might have a reason to fear his (unseen) partner, who might suddenly forget where she (or he) is. One wonders: Who is the target consumer here? Women, I suppose, wouldn't make an overly literal interpretation of the ads. (For God's sake, ladies, don't take it literally!) Men might also laugh and shrug it off. But for some guys, this might be an instance where less succulent flavors are preferred. |
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Published on November 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Keep depressed food alive so you can eat it
Hinting at suicide in ads is always risky, even when the potential building-jumper is an animated head of depressed cabbage, as in the Draftfcb spot above for RescueFood.org (an initiative of City Harvest, which helps feed New York's hungry). But what's the worst that could happen if it did jump? The corned beef would need therapy? Besides, the cabbage is just going to get devoured by that family, so any "rescue" will be temporary at best. The campaign also includes a poker-playing tuna that goes fishing for danger (below) and a tough-talkin' tomato primed to be tenderized in the electric chair. These fairly amusing clips have been around for a little while, but expect a big push as holiday food-drive season begins. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on October 23, 2009 | Permalink
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Toilet-advertising firm hopes for flush times
How often, really, does one combine the words "wow" and "toilet"? (If you have recently, I don't want to hear about it.) Well, say hello to the WOW Toilet Tank. It's a snazzy new toilet tank that can display ads. It's not just the urinals that are having all the marketing fun anymore! The company behind the new contraption is already playing the capitalization card, even though they don't seem to have secured a client yet. Well, it's just a matter of time, I'm sure, before the accounts roll in, though I'd guess companies like Taco Bell and their ilk will probably pass. Pepto-Bismol wouldn't be a bad fit. (The P&G brand is featured in one of the mock-ups on the Web site.) But the WOW Toilet isn't even the strangest toilet-related marketing initiative this week. That dishonor goes to Draftfcb's print ad for French magazine Chronic'Art (see the full ad here), showing a zombie on the can. (The pop-culture magazine promises to reveal "everything you ever wanted to know about zombies.") Judging from that guy's expression, the last human brain he ate disagreed with him. No matter how much he flushes, it'll still smell like something died in there.
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Published on October 8, 2009 | Permalink
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Talking teats teased by child's Oreo cookies
We'll sign off this week with this lovely commercial featuring a set of moaning, frustrated udders that are craving Oreo cookies about as badly as you're craving that happy-hour cocktail. Courtesy of Draftfcb, which always has such a way with animals. |
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Published on June 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Lite's mafia campaign sleeps with the fishes
Draftfcb's campaign for Miller Lite in which Sopranos star Frank Vincent offers "protection" to bartenders and convenience-store clerks has been yanked off the air because some Italian American groups claim it's offensive. And I suppose it is. I wouldn't want my people associated with Miller Lite. But comparing the ads to minstrel radio show Amos 'n' Andy is a little much. And really, where have these groups been for the past, oh, 20 years or so? Almost every portrayal of Italians I've ever seen casts them as loud, abrasive, ethnic sidekicks or violent mafioso. Not that there's no reason to be upset, but it's hard to see what made these particular ads so offensive. It's no worse than the Denny's ads with Paulie Walnuts, or the Goodfellas-esque Braun commercial, or the Godfather homage from Pepsi, or this Hardees ad for an "authentically Italian" chicken parm sandwich. The offended parties should go back and watch those, and Miller should go back to using hot girls and bad jokes. Deal? —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on June 4, 2009 | Permalink
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Qwest ads seduce penny-pinching Luddites
Draftfcb has launched some new ads for Qwest that tout the company's high-speed Internet service as both cheap and great for data protection. (Those two message are widely kept separate, as "cheap data protection" doesn't sound reassuring.) In one ad, a young woman explains she's working on a farm because she lost her thesis on "medieval cooking rituals" to a computer crash. Was she really going to get a better job with that major? The actress gives the best performance so far this year by someone pretending to stick his or her arm inside a cow. In another spot, a cost-cutting homemaker sucks up the dregs from a ketchup packet. Soon she'll move on to the hard stuff: mustard. Overall, the campaign implies that Qwest sees its potential customers as technologically inept cheapskates. I happen to fit that description, but since I don't appreciate companies pointing it out when they're soliciting my business, I'd probably go with Comcast instead. |
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Published on April 27, 2009 | Permalink
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New KFC ads give us a lot to unthink about
KFC wants its customers to be stoopid. Thick as bricks. The dimmer the better. Of course, that's not really the message of Draftfcb's "Unthink" campaign for the fast feeder, but it might as well be. The real message is that it's time to unthink preconceptions about KFC by using a word that isn't actually part of the English language. Isn't KFC always clashing with PETA over hen torture or something? Unthink about that for a while. Errol Morris apparently directed the TV spots. The guy won an Oscar a few years back. He was last spotted lensing ads for Depends. And now KFC. Errol might want to unthink his career trajectory. The worst element of all is the goofy dancing chick wielding drumsticks in both hands on the unthinkfc.com site. So awful, it's unthinkable! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on April 22, 2009 | Permalink
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Draftfcb casts a global problem in miniature
This Canadian World Wildlife Foundation spot by Draftfcb Toronto, directed by OPC's Woods + Low, is filled with plastic performances. But that's the idea. No actual humans appear, and most of the machinery and vehicles are models. The commercial shows these detailed miniatures in real locations, and has a hauntingly childlike theme and hypnotic pacing, with soft yet eye-catching visual cues. The resulting clip is slightly surreal and makes a quietly compelling statement about pollution and conservation. The bright pink "product" seen throughout is the only element that's not grimy, dreary or soot-smeared. See if you can guess why. Maybe the light bulb will come on above your head before the final frame. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on January 7, 2009 | Permalink
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Qwest exploring new levels of pain, anxiety
There's something disturbing and just off about these Draftfcb spots for Qwest. The work tries to be "edgy" by likening competitors' cable price hikes to bee attacks and late cable-guy arrivals to airline horror stories. The tone of the (unspeakably overused) faux-news-footage technique is what causes the effort to misfire. It should've been way more over the top. Instead, it's just convincing enough to be upsetting, especially the clip of the guy who gets "stung 300 times." The forest footage made me cringe, and his swollen-face makeup job was repellent (pun intended). The panicked passengers trapped in the close confines of the plane cabin were equally unsettling. Yes, Qwest is drawing the comparison between those situations and its rivals' business practices. Still, it's the Qwest name I'll associate with the images of panic and pain. Why not just link the brand to disease and death? Oh, because CiCi's Pizza is doing that already. But at least you can get a CiCi's pie for about $5. Beat that price, Qwest! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 6, 2008 | Permalink
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