Manwich ads yanked for slapping girly men

You can strike a man a thousand times in the crotch in your commercial for being a moron. But don't slap him in the face for being effeminate. That's the lesson learned by Leo Burnett in Toronto, whose trio of Manwhich ads (which we first saw on Adland) have been yanked from YouTube following complaints of homophobia. In each spot, a guy talks eagerly about something that typically excites women—his hair, the theater, shopping—and then gets slapped suddenly by a phantom hand. "It's called a Manwich," a manly voiceover then points out. The spots were getting lots of attention on YouTube last week, but ConAgra quickly pulled them after complaints. (A petition on Change.org argued: "Violence against gender non-conforming men and women is a serious problem in our country and should not be used for lazy jokes in advertising. Every year thousands of men and women are victims of hate crimes because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This commercial series glorifies those crimes.") You may argue that it's just a little harmless slapstick humor—and that is what it's meant to be. But it's hard to deny these ads would be hard to watch by anyone who's suffered anti-gay bullying. Two more spots after the jump.

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Filed under Canada, Controversy, Food and drink, Leo Burnett, Manwich, Nudd
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Be extra manly with bacon-scented cologne

Are you American? Are you a white male between 18 and 30 who loves taking jokes way past the point where they're funny or interesting? Do you want to smell like bacon? If you answered yes to any of these questions, and preferably all three, then Fargginay's Bacõn cologne is for you. If it's real, that is. We don't know either way. It's not entirely virgin territory—Burger King did come out with its Flame body spray, infused "with a hint of flame-broiled meat." But this is bacon. And given that you can't order a sandwich anywhere without bacon in it, and that Denny's just introduced a bacon sundae, there's a decent chance this is legit. There's even bacon tea now. Seriously, stop it.

Filed under Food and drink, Fragrances, Kiefaber
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Dipping Quiznos sandwiches isn't this hard

Quiznos keeps putting out weird ads that make its food look unappealing with a delightful series for the Chicken Bacon Dipper, which comes with cheese sauce for dipping. In this case, the food is already unappealing, at least. Each ad focuses on a high-level sandwich dipper and his or her technique; there's a Russian gymnastics coach, a cowboy who eats food out of his beard, a yogi with a lizard neck, and a neurotic Southern belle. This is a step up from ovens making crude sexual innuendos, I guess, but not much of one. Kind of getting a molester vibe off that cowboy, too. Three more ads after the jump.

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Filed under Food and drink, Kiefaber, Quiznos, Restaurants
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French Tropicana ad is powered by oranges

If you've ever been to a high-school science fair, you probably know that citrus fruit can produce electricity. DDB Paris put that knowledge to clever use recently with an electric Tropicana billboard that was completely powered by oranges. Working with London production house Unit9, DDB attached 2,500 oranges to two big slabs of wood fitted with spikes of zinc and copper. The acidic juice of the oranges dissolved the metals, causing their electrons to react with each other and create an electrical current. That current powered a light panel that read, "Energie naturelle," making the point that oranges have natural energy that can spark your own personal human circuits as well. So as not to appear wasteful, the agency said it would recycle the oranges "either by composting or by anaerobic digestion," the latter surely being a curious science-fair project all its own. Check out a video below, and a few more images after the jump. Via Stratégies.

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Filed under DDB, Europe, Food and drink, Nudd, Tropicana
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Mac & Cheese will turn your tweets into ads

On Monday, Crispin Porter + Bogusky began holding quick-fire Kraft Macaroni & Cheese contests, in which anyone who tweeted about Mac & Cheese had a chance at getting his or her tweet turned into a commercial. So far, they've made three spots—one of which (below) aired on TBS's Conan and Lopez Tonight last night, with two others (after the jump) getting posted to the brand's Facebook page. It looks like more Twitter-inspired spots are on the way, with the brand reaching out to people as we speak (and promising a national spot, so the TBS tie-in might be a daily thing for the time being). The brand is really into Twitter lately, having also made the cool Mac & Jinx game. And these new ads are pretty good (if rather non sequitur) for being whipped up in just a few hours. They've got decent humor, and the world's most famous homeless man is still voicing the slogan. Plus, this kind of quick content goes perfectly with the brand. Don't most people only make Mac & Cheese when they're lazy and want something fast?

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Filed under Crispin Porter, Cullers, Food and drink, Kraft, Social media, Twitter
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Tom Colicchio camps out in HBO food truck

HBO's Game of Thrones has hired celebrity chef and Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio to be the bread to its circus. All this week, Colicchio is serving free food (including meats like rabbit, duck, squab and venison) from trucks in NYC and LA. Each day's cuisine is based on a popular type of food from a fictional region in the medieval-fantasy series, which premieres April 17. Yesterday, it was Kings Landing, which meant crispy tout with almond butter and cumquat chutney, roasted rabbit with preserved lemons, honey, scallions and braised pistachios, and lemon-cake dessert. The only way to find out the menu and truck location is to follow the Game of Thrones Twitter feed. Food trucks are all the rage now in promotional marketing. But while I wasn't tempted by Air France's offer of free airline food, or the History Channel's Swamp People food truck, this stunt has me wishing, for once, that I lived in New York and not Atlanta. Of course, if this were super faithful to the Game of Thrones series, a couple of the portions will be poisoned.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Cullers, Food and drink, HBO, TV
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JWT pressing the barbecued flesh at SXSW

JWT wants to satisfy your cravings for saucy cow and pig flesh at SXSW Interactive this year. To do so, the agency will be hauling tangy, basted animal carcasses (from Texas favorite Salt Lick) all around Austin in two special trucks—and showering free barbecued meat on the masses. You can even requisition the trucks for a special delivery by appealing to @jwtbbq on Twitter. The Web site, JWTbbq.com, has a "Truck Finder" Bing map to locate the trucks and a "Threat Meat-er" that lets you know when they're running low on BBQ. To get your mouth watering, watch the ultraviolent animation below—in which pigs and cows slice and dice each other in inventive ways, all for your gustatory pleasure.

Filed under Food and drink, JWT, Nudd, SXSW
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Jinx, give me some free Kraft Mac & Cheese

Crispin Porter + Bogusky has developed a fun new Twitter game called "Mac & Jinx" for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It's based on the old children's game of Jinx, which is played when two people (usually unintentionally) say the same thing at the same time. (Typically, the person who's then first to say "Jinx!" jinxes the other person, who is subsequently barred from speaking until he or she is released from the jinx.) Mac & Jinx works similarly—it uses an algorithm to monitor people who utter the phrase "mac and cheese" on Twitter, randomly selects pairs of them and sends them @ messages and a link offering free Mac & Cheese to the person who responds first. It's a great little game—simple, fun, not too intrusive, and just right for a brand that's decided to be all friendly and smiley lately. ("Have a supremely awesome day," the bot tweets to its players.) Plus, it takes brand control of a game that been associated for way too long with buying someone a Coke. Via Mashable.

Filed under Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Kraft, Nudd, Twitter
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Jennifer Aniston starring in ad, not sex tape

The luddite Jennifer Aniston turns in a winning performance in this new Glacéau Smartwater spot, even though the premise is pretty stale. She is joined by Keenan Cahill, Paul "Bear" Vasquez, dancing babies and other Internet stars—who are on hand to help her make the video go viral (or in her words, "turn it into a virus"). In the interest of goosing video views, Aniston also agrees to kick a guy in the balls and to call the video "Jen Aniston's Sex Tape." (Unfortunately, they don't follow through on the latter, maybe because YouTube doesn't allow it.) It turns out Keenan Cahill and Jennifer Aniston are an even more outlandish pair than Keenan Cahill and a singing unicorn—though of course, a Keenan Cahill/Jennifer Aniston sex tape would indeed out-traffic them all. Agency: Zambezi.

Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Food and drink, Nudd, Smartwater, Zambezi
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Arby's 'Good Mood' song fails to create one

Is it a bad thing that the new Arby's song, "It's good-mood food," just put me in a terrible mood? The one saving grace is that it's not the Oven Mitt leading the senerade, though the guy here has his own off-putting qualities. It's frustrating, because the Arby's menu of curly fries and cheap sandwiches made with recognizable meat could almost sell itself to your stomach. This mostly just turns it. By BBDO New York.

Filed under Arby's, BBDO, Food and drink, Kiefaber, Restaurants
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Bananas finally fitted with plastic packaging

In what would seem to be a major packaging fail, Del Monte has come up with individual plastic wrappers for bananas! The banana skin itself—robust and biodegradable—has finally been deemed insufficient, apparently, despite proving its worth over many thousands of years. The new plastic pouches feature "controlled ripening technology," which supposedly extends the fruit's shelf life—and which the company claims could actually reduce the carbon footprint by cutting back the frequency of deliveries and the amount of waste going to landfill. (The plastic is also recyclable.) Even if true, convincing people that Del Monte itself hasn't gone bananas will be a challenge. Via The Awl.

Filed under Food and drink, Nudd, Packaging
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The lesser Doritos flavor must be destroyed

Frito-Lay Canada needs an ending for its new Doritos commercial. The scenario is already set—there are two new flavors, Onion Rings N' Ketchup and Buffalo Wings N' Ranch. But the disturbing, Tim Burton-y "Flavour Master" has ruled that only one may survive. It's up to you, Canadian resident, to write how the other flavor will be destroyed. If you offer the best ending, you'll receive $25,000 Canadian, they'll shoot your scenario, give you 1 percent of future sales and literally destroy all remaining packages of the other flavor. BBDO Toronto created the campaign, and they expect a whole lot of entries. Just type your half-baked ending into the site, and hope you win. Frankly, that sort of effortless content submission suits my snacking lifestyle. And if you don't want to enter, you still have to vote for the flavor you love or risk its demise. That's right, you're nothing more than a pawn on their snacking chessboard. Well played, Flavour Master, well played.

Filed under BBDO, Canada, Cullers, Doritos, Food and drink, Frito-Lay
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Cats with thumbs will fight you for that milk

This ad for Cravendale milk, from Wieden + Kennedy London, imagines a hellish alternate reality in which cats have opposable thumbs and military organization. The moment where they're snapping their new fingers like the opening of West Side Story was hilarious, and I wish they'd done more with that idea instead of rushing into confrontation, but you can only fit so much into 56 seconds. Besides, their leader, Bertrum, has a Twitter, so I can always offer advice that way. Call it sucking up all you want, but it could be my ticket into a government job with the League of Incredible Thumbcats while the rest of you hapless bipeds are slaving away in the catnip mines.

Filed under Cravendale, Europe, Food and drink, Kiefaber, Wieden + Kennedy
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Dr Pepper Ten appeals to non-woman crowd

Dr Pepper Ten is not for women. This is because only the 10 manliest calories survived the move from regular Dr Pepper. Check the ad below, from Deutsch/LA, where they say women don't enjoy action movies, and tell us to keep the romantic comedies and lady drinks to ourselves. I understand, on an intellectual level, why this campaign has come about. Diet-soda makers, concerned with the perception that diet drinks are only for women, are expanding their market to our nation's many obese men by making diet soda cool again for dudes. PepsiMax and Coke Zero (which I happen to drink) have both gone with this marketing strategy. But on an emotional level, I want to punch the next guy I see drinking a Dr Pepper Ten. I know it's possible to celebrate manliness without denigrating women. I've seen it done many times before. What's sad is when the best thing you have to say about being a man is, "Hey! At least I'm not a woman!" Even sadder, I can see how this is going to appeal in the same way that a "No girls allowed" sign on the clubhouse door appeals to a 7-year-old boy afraid of catching cooties. There is a manchild out there for whom this branding will work. But watch out, manchild. Bring that can near me, and you're cruisin' for a bruisin'.

Filed under Cullers, Deutsch, Dr Pepper, Food and drink, Soda
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Employees offer impartial Taco Bell defense

Taco Bell keeps swearing its seasoned beef is 88 percent real meat, and its latest ads—touting the Crunchwrap Supreme, on special this week for 88 cents—feature employees who were ground up and served in chalupas to prove it. Kidding, of course. Subsisting on their meager hourly wages, team members are far too scrawny to satisfy most healthy American appetites. Anyway, the company's been under fire over its ingredients for some time, and it's the target of a class-action lawsuit that alleges its meat is only 35 percent beef. Who better to refute such detractors than folks whose livelihoods depend on their continued employment at Taco Bell? Their testimony is unimpeachable! I guess their assertions aren't utter bull—just mostly bull, with some filler. The lettuce is styrofoam, by the way. Taste it and tell me I'm wrong!

Filed under Food and drink, Gianatasio, Restaurants, Taco Bell
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Bitchy old women promoting Kraft hummus

Droga5 is stirring up some mild controversy with its new campaign for Kraft Foods's Athenos hummus. The brand's new spokeswomen are a bunch of cantankerous yiayias (Greek for grandmother) who enjoy ridiculing their grandchildren. In the first spot below, one of them calls her granddaughter a whore for wearing a pretty tame dress. In a second spot, another yiayia tells her granddaughter she's "going to hell" for living with a guy before marriage. Yiayias are apparently renowned for this kind of malevolence, and their descendants love them for it! Jill Baskin, director of advertising at Kraft, says the brand means no offense. "While these ads may be controversial, for the most part people will see them for the light-hearted fun they are having," she says. "Any Greek Americans we ran them by thought they were really funny." They apparently did not run them past Maria Anagnostopoulos, program director at The Greek Institute, who says: "These commercials are not appropriate from a Greek perspective." Two more spots after the jump.

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Filed under Athenos, Droga5, Food and drink, Kraft, Nudd
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Miracle Whip ads: Love them or hate them?

It's a renegade brand, see? It throws up video showing people trashing its product and takes out full-page ads admitting it's not for everyone. Except this new Miracle Whip campaign, from ad agency mcgarrybowen, seems fairly disingenuous, given the almost lyrical jabs that some of its fans (and non-fans) are throwing its way. Example: James Carville opines that "Miracle Whip is America," while an unnamed man-on-the-street says it "tastes like spreadable disappointment." Amy Sedaris says it's "great in the bedroom," and I can believe she's really freaky like that. But Jersey Shore's Pauly D wouldn't eat it or use it on his 'do—and we're supposed to believe he wasn't paid for that anti-endorsement? The first commercial in the new campaign hit during this week's episode of the Fox musical Glee, and a full-page ad in newspapers followed, pointing people to the video snippets on a YouTube page where the "lovers" vastly outnumber the "haters" (10,400 to about 600, at most recent count). This is all a continuation of earlier Miracle Whip ads meant to portray the brand as hip, wild and anti-establishment, if such descriptions can even be applied to a condiment. Not to mention, it's a rip-off of Marmite's "Love it or hate it" campaign in the U.K. You be the judge. Do you buy Miracle Whip's "Keep it tangy, bro" posture? Or does it leave a weird taste in your mouth?

Filed under Food and drink, mcgarrybowen, Miracle Whip, Stanley
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Hacienda's Jonestown billboard snuffed out

Following a fairly predictable public outcry and drubbing in the press, Hacienda Mexican Restaurants is ending a two-week-old billboard campaign in Indiana that featured a red cocktail and the headline, "We're like a cult with better Kool-Aid." In case anyone missed the allusion to the 1978 mass-suicide tragedy at the Peoples Temple in Jonestown, Guyana—where the cyanide was actually served in Flavor-Aid—the Hacienda signs promised that the establishment's food is "To die for." A restaurant chain bold enough to associate itself with poison, misery and death? Yum, I'll have seconds! Client marketing chief Jeff Leslie explains: Our role is not to be controversial or even edgy. We want to be noticed—and there's a difference." He realized, a bit too late, that 33 years on is still too soon for this kind of humor. "It went the wrong direction, hit a nerve, and we have come to realize we should not have done this billboard," he says. They sure made themselves look like huge asses—about the size of this prodigious posterior in New Jersey.

Filed under Controversy, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Hacienda, Restaurants
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Oreo chases world record of Facebook likes

This is genius. Beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oreo will attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for most "likes" to a Facebook post within 24 hours. Of course, it's also the first official attempt at such a record. (NOTE: Actually, it's not. See the update below.) Talk about conjuring customer engagement literally out of nothing. Humorously, Oreo didn't even see the point of researching this. "Let's go for over 50,000 Likes," the cookie somewhat cavalierly urges its 16.6 million fans in a post from earlier today (which itself has already been liked more than 10,000 times). But it may take more than 50,000. About three hours ago, Justin Bieber wrote "Happy Valentines Day" on his wall. With 21 of his 24 hours left, he's already gotten 54,853 people to like that. Photo above by JanetandPhil. Via Brainstorm #9. UPDATE: So, it turns out that "Most likes on a status update" is an official category for a Guinness World Record, once set by a Dirty Dancing fan-page post. It's one of seven Facebook categories outlined by Guinness here (in a post that has a paltry 207 likes). Also, you have to apply for the record, not just set the high mark—so perhaps Oreo is on to something here. Still, Lady Gaga could get her 28 million Facebook fans to eclipse any Oreo record in a matter of hours with a few clicks from inside her eggmobile. UPDATE 2: In the end, Oreo was trounced by a different celebrity, Lil Wayne, though it's unclear if he registered his attempt with Guinness.

Filed under Facebook, Food and drink, Nudd, Oreo
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Fauxbama endorses KFC sandwich in China

It's tough to gauge the impact this KFC China spot—featuring a Barack Obama look-alike chowing down on a fish fillet sandwich—will have on Sino-American relations. On the one hand, it's kind of disrespectful, with Fauxbama's thumbs-up endorsement ("Mmmm ... change is good") coming a bit too close for comfort to the rah-rah vapidity of real American political advertising. Even so, using Obama here makes more sense than, say, Chinese leader Hu Jintao, who probably wouldn't touch that deep-fried processed crap even if he were stuck in Times Square without access to Yelp. Now, Sarah Palin in a swimsuit licking hot wings? That would be a crowd pleaser beyond my own patriotic, fast-food-oriented dreams. (I bet she likes them skinless.) Bottom line: I think this commercial falls short of an international incident, because at least KFC for once had the good sense not to show a black person smacking his lips and getting all excited over fried chicken. Via Foodbeast. UPDATE: KFC has sent us a statement which reads, "The ad was created in Hong Kong for the Hong Kong market only. It was meant to be a spoof and no disrespect was intended. It is no longer airing and will not be re-aired."

Filed under Barack Obama, China, Food and drink, Gianatasio, KFC
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Wheat Thins nabs ad hater in latest ambush

When Wheat Thins went after people last summer who were talking smack about the brand on Twitter, there was understandable skepticism about whether the whole thing was a set-up. The ad, done by The Escape Pod, was the real deal, agency founder Vinny Warren insisted. That led to the inspiration for this next installment, a 30-second spot in which the Wheat Thins crew doorsteps Derek Tzeo, a Portland, Ore., dude who dared to question the authenticity of the first spot, calling it "uber-fake." He's left with a pallet of Wheat Thins that are, in fact, "uber-real." As recently departed Euro RSCG creative chief Stefan Postaer notes on his blog, the candid-camera bit isn't very new, but the melding of social media with broadcast spots is certainly a fertile area to explore. Over on YouTube, the top comment is from another doubter, with the next being from Derek himself insisting he's real.

Filed under Escape Pod, Food and drink, Morrissey, Wheat Thins
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Chester Cheetah now generally being a dick

Chester Cheetah used to encourage Cheetos eaters to mess with other people. Now, he'll screw with anyone, including the Cheetos eaters themselves. In the "Piano" spot below, from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the English-accented cool cat helps one music-store clerk annoy another—the latter of whom just wants to get orange grit all over his fingers in peace. This revelation—that Chester is a dick regardless of what snack food you eat—is refreshing in a way. It's nice to see the mascot abusing the customer instead of the other way around. Cheetos might be terrible for you in every earthly respect, but they may restore your karmic balance. Two more new spots after the jump.

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Filed under Cheetos, Food and drink, Goodby, Silverstein, Kiefaber
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Caribou Coffee turns up heat at bus shelters

Here's a pretty hot idea. Colle+McVoy in Minneapolis introduced Caribou Coffee's new hot breakfast sandwiches by making bus shelters looks like ovens—with actual heat coming from the coils. (Minnesotans are known to crave warmth more than most in wintertime.) We're told the biggest technical challenge was how not to singe people's hair. Timberwolves players, better to stay away.

Filed under Caribou Coffee, Colle + McVoy, Food and drink, Nudd, Restaurants
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Seattle's Best Coffee really goes down easy

What is it about Seattle's Best Coffee showing up in strange, frequently awkward situations? First, it turned baristas into stalkers in that cross-promotion with Burger King. Now, in new spots from ad agency Creature, it's being hand-delivered at moments that range from opportune to inappropriate. (The yoga spot below is creepy enough in concept, but the last few seconds seem to indicate that the woman really, really appreciated that iced coffee.) The spots are meant to convey that Seattle's Best offers coffee whenever and wherever you need it. "You might not be stuck in a tree and need coffee," Creature president Robson Grieves tells Forbes, "but you might be stuck in the office or traffic, and we're aiming to build a conversation around that." The bigger goal is likely to position Starbucks-owned Seattle's Best as a "fun" brand with a playful vibe not unlike that of rival Dunkin' Donuts. Call it foreplay. Via SeattlePI's Big Blog. Two more ads after the jump.

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Filed under Creature, Food and drink, Griner, Seattle's Best Coffee
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Listen to Ted Williams' Mac & Cheese debut

Ted Williams, the homeless man with the golden voice, merits sincere kudos for escaping life on the streets and attaining a measure of media stardom. As we mentioned last week, his reward includes hawking Kraft Macaroni & Cheese—and below is the first spot to feature his voiceover. The man's smooth tones espouse a vapid, feel-good Americana that's as gooey as the product being advertised. The guy's got great pipes, and his sensuous delivery of the word cheeeese makes me want to roll around naked in the stuff (though this is a recurring dream of mine anyway). Williams' involvement spices the project with unintended irony and social commentary. In the ad, by Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Mac & Cheese saves the day as a suburban family serves the slop to a business contact whom dad unexpectedly brings home to dinner. (Way to impress a big client!) That story line is followed by Williams' pitch. It's jarring to think that the lines are delivered by someone who just months ago couldn't afford a helping of the stuff, and would've had to mug Kraft execs to get their attention. Now, instead of living in junk, he gets paid to shovel it to the masses. It's an American Dream come true ... or something. Could these be the final 30 seconds of Williams' 15 minutes of fame? Not so fast. At least three more spots are on the way. UPDATE: Williams has also reportedly been offered a five-second cameo in a Super Bowl commercial. No word on who the advertiser might be.

See footage from Ted's recording session after the jump.

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Filed under Celebrity endorsements, Crispin Porter, Food and drink, Gianatasio, Kraft
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