Prostate cancer gets a proper street beating
TBWA\Chiat\Day goes the high-testosterone vigilante route in this pair of anti-prostate-cancer PSAs. The guy in the cancerous-mass suit looks like an alien from '70s Dr. Who or the grotesque but misunderstood Horta from Star Trek. Sure, it strikes the first blow in the spot above. But the thing was cornered by that gang of scruffy toughs with their "Movember" men's-health-month moustaches and was basically just defending itself. And the dudes are so ... unlikable. It's unfortunate when PSAs drum up sympathy for the diseases they're battling against. Contrast this approach with last month's New Zealand breast-cancer campaign. Same basic concept, but the NZ effort quietly generates menace by simply allowing the deadly growth to expand, just like it does all too often in real life. |
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Published on November 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Big Tobacco ad interviewer meets his match
I'd grown weary of American Legacy's fake-job-interview "Truth" spots from Arnold, but the latest iteration, this Web-only clip called "Nostradamus," ranks among the campaign's best. The phony Big Cig exec almost gets one-upped by a guy who frankly comes off more like a professional actor or repressed psychopath than a job seeker unaware he's being filmed for an anti-smoking commercial. Anyway, he challenges the notion that the tobacco business will cause 1 billion deaths around the world this century, pointing out that the world could end on December 23, 2012, at least according to Nostradamus. If the 16th-century French apothecary and reputed seer is correct, the guy says, that's when "all the planets align ... it'll throw off the gravitational force, we'll go out of orbit, we'll leave this galaxy, and we'll just go into oblivion." The interviewer replies, "Um ... why are you lookin' for a job, then?" More to the point: If the world really will end in three years, now's the time to start smoking. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Vodafone ads show sad face of text bullying
It's not such a g'day Down Under when text-messaging bullies go all Qwerty on your ass. That's the basic thrust of this Colenso BBDO print campaign for Vodafone in Australia and New Zealand. The work effectively (if somewhat derivatively) plasters frowny-sad emoticons on the faces of school-age victims. Of course, if they actually look like that—bright yellow disk-shaped heads with no ears or noses—then they do have something to cry about and they will get teased. But seriously, this is a legitimate mobile-age problem that's generated its share of tragedies, so kudos to client and agency for confronting the issue, um, head-on. Via Ads of the World. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Nap with the Payless kitties on Black Friday
Martin/Williams encourages Payless customers to sleep in on Black Friday, and still get discounts via a special text coupon, in this video, which features an annoying "You're getting sleepy" hypnotist voiceover and, oddly, dozens of snoozing kittens. "We've decided to turn the Black Friday tradition on its ear this year and do it in a manner that's really fun and totally unique," says Tom Moudry, the agency's CEO and chief creative officer. I'm sure plenty of consumers will love the yawning kitties. Still, the clip drones on for a long 1:35, and some viewers might nod off before its conclusion. Given the run-of-the-mill stuff they sell at Payless, however, even if folks slip into catnaps and neglect to take advantage of the offer, they won't be missing much. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 19, 2009 | Permalink
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VW driving rival engineers to seek new jobs
These Canadian Volkswagen ads from Palm + Havas use understated humor to tell the tales of auto engineers driven from the business after being unable to compete against the VW Golf. The model's back, much to the dismay of these type-A personalities. Yurie (above) seems a bit unbalanced at the hotel she opened in Japan, obsessively arranging colorful origami cars, one of which she angrily crumples up as she glares at a Golf that tools by. I'd check in somewhere else, just to be safe! Also bearing grudges: Enzo (below), who sails tourists around Italy, and Nigel, who owns a bookshop in England. Look, these sore losers all have saner, lower-stress lives since leaving the car business, so they should be thankful, not bitter. And frankly, if their designs couldn't beat out that middling machine, they must've been crappy engineers! Via Ads of the World.
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Published on November 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Alaska Air chases the gold with Apolo Ohno
"Stewardess, there's something outside the plane! It could be a gremlin, but it sort of looks like Dancing With the Stars winner and champion speed skater Apolo Ohno!" WongDoody's "Follow Apolo" campaign for Alaska Airlines features a plane wrapped in Ohno's image, billboards, banner ads and a Web site, as the carrier sponsors the skater's quest for Olympic gold this winter. They should work Bill Shatner into this. His histrionic yet credible Twilight Zone freakout over a destructive creature on an airplane wing is legendary. It'd be sweet to watch the big ham chew the scenery and hyper-annunciate lines like, "Good Lord! It's ... Apolo ... Oh-NO!" —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Orbit's roaming mouth is bit of a clean freak
Two campaigns with disembodied mouths in one week—what were the chances? First, we had Virgin Mobile's gabby gum-flappers. Now, Wrigley's Orbit gum sends a faceless mouth cruising around a neighborhood in this 90-second stop-motion video (posted below) by graffiti artist Goons and ad agency EVB. Unlike most taggers, Goons's work consists of temporary paper creations that "appear," guerrilla-style, on Chicago streets every now and then. Hey, we've all got time to kill, right? Folks can "clean" away the artwork if they so choose, so I guess there are some synergies with the brand's familiar commercial message. The clip was directed by Partizan's Ace Norton, who used handheld still cameras to tell the story of a civic-minded mouth that cleans a dilapidated house. The brand presence is kept to a minimum (just an end logo). And the soundtrack, "Keep It Clean" by Camera Obscura, is catchy. Best of all, tired brand platitudes like "Dirty mouth? Clean it up" never pass these particular lips.
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Published on November 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Oxfam's holiday PSA asks you to give a sh*t
This bleep-happy PSA (done by 15 Ideas in Chicago) for Oxfam America's Unwrapped gift-giving program plays like a South Park gag before revealing that the "Give a sh*t" line is actually meant literally as well as figuratively. Yes, you can indeed buy manure ($12) in the Unwrapped gift shop. ("This green gift transforms waste into power—agricultural power.") It's one of scores of presents you can purchase this holiday to help people in need around the world. The actress's performance is right on, too—her squeaky delivery on "Why the hell wouldn't you?" at the end is priceless—and the ad's impossible not to like. It's bracing to reflect that for some, a stocking full of manure would be greatly appreciated. Probably not by the girl in the spot, though. She probably wants a bike, or a Droid phone. Brat. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Fred Willard gets in holiday spirit with Alltel
Fred Willard and the nerdy Alltel sales guys in a rhyming holiday spot? You're not tripping on eggnog—it's true! Fred amiably narrates the proceedings in the ad below, reclaiming some of the dignity he lost by appearing in those FedEx mock-infomercials. Much of the Alltel action takes place on a stage—an attempt, perhaps, to evoke an aura of festive yuletide pageants. Or maybe it just saved Campbell-Ewald some bucks on location filming. Do I detect some heat between Chad and Heather at the store? Oh yeah, they'll hook up—thanks to the free LG Touch with a one-year contact. The nerds, as always, are left standing out in the cold. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Humane Society won't eat breakfast at IHOP
When the e-mail arrived with the subject line, "Humane Society Ad Campaign Targets IHOP," my first thought was: C'mon, the service isn't that bad. Kidding, of course. It's another save-the-chickens-from-cramped-cages plea. (In this case, it's the chickens that supply IHOP's eggs.) Sure, it's a noble cause, but the approach here seems tired. The faux-newscast bits are sleep inducing, and the cage-farm footage, while tragic, probably isn't horrific enough to generate the requisite levels of guilt in PSA-weary viewers. That butcher sequence in last week's Rammstein clip was more visceral. Plus, the band's music droned in the background: talk about inhumane! Maybe the RSPCA got it right by dressing a guy in a chicken suit and having him annoy folks around town to teach them about personal space. Though come to think of it, that campaign actually makes a far better case for caging its subject and throwing away the key. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 17, 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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U.S. Marine makes intense anti-poverty plea
This nearly five-minute clip by newly formed humanitarian group Nuru International might be the most compelling PSA you'll see this year. It fuses animation and news footage with a story line provided by Jake Harriman, the group's founder and CEO. He's a U.S. Marines Special Ops veteran who saw combat in Iraq and took part in aid missions around the world. A shot of the burning towers on 9/11 shows up early, as Harriman makes the case that desperate people do desperate things, and that eliminating extreme poverty and hopelessness is key to fighting terrorism. That's not a new idea, but it resonates here, in part because the storytelling and pacing are so strong. But Harriman ultimately sells it. The guy's articulate but not slick, compassionate but no bleeding heart. By simply stating what he's experienced and felt, he transforms and elevates his plea from a purely emotional appeal to a credible call to action. In the war on despair, this former soldier's savvy use of media is a potent weapon.
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Published on November 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Caribou Coffee not catering to unreal people
The talking gourd and pumpkin from Caribou Coffee's fall-flavors ads have apparently gone into hibernation. In the chain's latest spot from Colle+McVoy, we get faux hipsters. And they're really faux, portrayed by animated marionettes. These kinds of creations haven't been big since the short-lived '60s Thunderbirds craze. And even then, they weren't that popular. Still, the couple chillin' at the mall seem like real dolls (ha!), noting that they never get coffee from Caribou because they're not "real" people (literally or figuratively). That's almost certainly a jab at Starbucks. No one's ever called the Seattle super-roaster's brew bogus—just overpriced and generally vile. Its patrons, though? That's another story. Still, I'd rather hang out with these marionettes than most iPhone-tethered, Gucci-clad Starbucks customers. At least the dolls have enough self awareness to admit they're faking it. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Quentin Tarantino to appear in Softbank ads
Quentin Tarantino threatens to single-handedly set U.S.-Japanese relations back to pre-Godzilla days in an upcoming Softbank commercial. The clip above, screened by the bank at a conference, shows the director hamming it up during rehearsal. He joins the popular "White Family" campaign, which features a talking-dog father and an older brother played by American comedian Dante Carter. Tarantino will play "Uncle Tara-chan," and it looks like he's channeling John Belushi's old "Samurai Night Fever" routine, but Belushi was actually more restrained. Brad Pitt, who starred in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, appeared in some Softbank ads this summer, playing the personal assistant of a Sumo champ. There's no humongous wrestler in Tarantino's spot, as far as we can tell. But this is an Asian commercial, so the presence of a talking dog as the head of a mixed-race (and breed!) family should come as no surprise. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 13, 2009 | Permalink
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Illinois Lottery joying people at the holidaysMaybe I'll take the advice of the Illinois Lottery "Joy Someone" spot posted below (by EnergyBBDO and Spank Music, directed by Aaron Ruell) and give the deserving folks in my life scratch tickets as holiday gifts. Neighbors, workmen, local merchants, business colleagues. Well, not Fred from accounting, who insists on coming to work with a cold, but everyone else. I'll hand each one of them a ticket, plus a dime to scratch with. That's class! Their faces will light up as they throw their arms around me and scream: "I'm rich! I'll buy a new house! I'll buy a new car! I'll date supermodels from Beliz!" I'm sure they'd share some of the money. On second thought, I'm handing out candy canes again this year and keeping the lottery tickets for myself. No one's getting rich on my dime but me. Via Adland.
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Published on November 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Smokers are weirdos in BecomeAnEx spots
Although its youth-targeted "Truth" anti-smoking ads are better known, American Legacy also has an "Ex" initiative, designed to convert adults who smoke into ex-smokers. GSD&M Idea City has a couple of new "Ex" spots airing now, including the one above, in which a shopkeeper takes an uninvited spin in a delivery truck on his cigarette break because he so intensely equates driving with smoking. A couple of knee-jerk reactions: 1) The guy's got a bad haircut. 2) He's a rugged individualist who plays by his own rules, living out the fantasy of all those sad smokers huddled in office doorways. He'll become their hero, and they'll keep smoking as a sign of admiration and support. 3) Most delivery guys I've met would've punched out his lights. Now that would've given him "a new way to think about quitting." In another new "Ex" spot (unavailable online), a woman blends a frozen drink at work. What, Legacy's got a problem with alcohol now, too? She'll be tons of fun at the office Christmas party! —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 12, 2009 | Permalink
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S&M, butchery set mood for German albumWarning: Clips are graphic and NSFW. The guys in German dance-metal band Rammstein probably think they're so kinky/naughty/dangerous with the two überdark promos above, hawking a new album called Love Is for All. The porn-ish "Sado Mas" harkens back to early Cronenberg or Lynch. It plays like an outtake from Twin Peaks. I kept expecting a dwarf to show up and speak backwards. Then there's the "Butcher" clip, in which a dead animal's head gets hacked up. Oddly, the Beatles employed a similar (though less graphic) concept when they posed with hunks of raw meat and broken baby dolls for the infamous and withdrawn Yesterday and Today album cover. Maybe Rammstein should enter the Foxwoods "Wonder of It All" contest. That version of the jingle just might merit a listen. Oh, the "Sado" clip is probably NSFW. I watched it a few dozen times, just to make sure. No need to thank me. Meanwhile, Germany has banned displays of the album in stores, likely stirring up even more interest in its murky goth/Teutonic beats. Via Adrants. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 11, 2009 | Permalink
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PACT underwear worth showing co-workersPACT underwear heats up a drab workday in this "Office of Eden" video. Clothing simply flies off the bodies of two white-collar drones. Whoa, that guy must run the mailroom, judging by the prominence of his package. And forget the secretarial pool, Little Miss Bra-Less belongs in a hot tub! The online apparel firm makes environmentally friendly, organic cotton garments, noting in its tagline: "Change starts with your underwear." That's true—but for me, only on Fridays, and sometimes on holidays. At the end of the clip, the PACT-bottomed pair rush out into a sun-drenched Edenic garden. Note the wall clock: It's the middle of the afternoon. Along with all the sexiness, they get to take a half-day! Also, I can't help but wonder: If the underwear's organic, does that mean it's edible, too? —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Foxwoods brings back 'The Wonder of It All'
Foxwoods is reintroducing its once-ubiquitous and oft-maligned ad theme song, "The Wonder of It All," and you could be the one singing it in upcoming commercials. The casino explains: "Anyone with even the slightest clue about pop culture throughout the 1990s could likely sing a few lines." True, but we've been working so hard to scrub those schmaltzy brass notes from our collective memory. Why make us relive the nightmare? Foxwoods says it wants to "find a new voice" for the song through a contest that invites artists to upload their own MP3 versions. Jeez, instead of sub-Sinatra rendition by John Pizzarelli (who?), there'll be dozens of renditions floating around the Web! Good lord, Dokken could give it a go, with harmonies from the chicken. I'm betting that no matter which version wins, the jingle will still sound like craps. |
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Published on November 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Cigarette-butt mosaics reveal smoking's toll
It might seem clichéd to compare deaths caused by smoking to those caused by guns, drugs, poison, fires and suicide. Still, it's not what you do, but how you do it. And this memorable poster campaign by Indian agency 1-Point Design is certainly a breath of fresh air (ha!) that puts a different spin on familiar anti-smoking themes. Or does it? Well, it turns out there's a different sort of smoking gun, as the work resembles a campaign by the Cancer Society of Finland. Sure, it's the same basic concept, but for a good cause, and this kind of overlap is inevitable in a creative business. There's no such thing as a new idea—no ifs, ands or butts about it! Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Droid phone will enthrall and/or enslave you
Mix the totalitarian subjugation of 1984 with the sinister cybernetic intelligence of 2001, and you get mcgarrybowen's launch spot (posted below) for Verizon's much-ballyhooed Droid phone. (I swear that's HAL 9000's all-seeing red eye about 22 seconds in.) It picks up the dark and industrial vibe from the tail end of the otherwise goofy and lighthearted teaser spot, which got lots of attention, particularly from Apple fans. The new spot stars intimidating robots who crush rocks and punch holes to assert their metallic superiority. And unless I've missed the point (unlikely, as I never have on AdFreak before, at least not that I'd admit), humans will do these droids' bidding once Earth is enslaved, toiling in factories and slugging it out in bloody boxing matches for their overlords' amusement. This isn't a smartphone, the ad warns, it's a robotphone. You don't talk to the boss on a Droid, the phone is your boss. Droid doesn't relay orders, it gives them. On the plus side, Justin Long will be among the first to go in the man-vs.-machine struggle. John Hodgman, a robot passing as flesh and blood, will probably get to run Cleveland. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 9, 2009 | Permalink
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McCann's gamers highly stimulated by Xbox
The dude's enraptured look toward the end of this U.K. spot (posted below) by McCann Erickson for the Xbox 360 is, to cop a phrase from another McCann campaign, priceless. One might say even call it orgasmic. At any rate, he's clearly enjoying himself as he strums on his Guitar Hero mini-guitar. Note also, if you will, the position of said instrument. I'm not panning this approach or the spot by any means. On the contrary, such a take on gaming is more honest and compelling than most of the effects-crazed entries in the genre. Video games today are all about immersion. This guy, if nothing else, looks pretty darn immersed. His geeky pal off to the side playing DJ Hero seems awfully happy, too. You could interpret their looks as signs of near-euphoric digital satisfaction, which surely casts the product in a glowing light with much of its target audience. Casual gamers and those who don't indulge, of course, will smirk and assume the guys are just wasting time playing with themselves. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Ads tout sushi for that Rocky Mountain high
TDA Advertising & Design has served up this map-style ad for Hapa Sushi in Boulder, Colo., noting the proximity of the chain's four restaurants to 60 local medical marijuana dispensaries. Just in case, you know, anyone gets the munchies. According to The New York Times, the number of medical marijuana stores in Colorado has grown to more than 60 in Denver and Boulder alone, from just two dozen a year ago. Hapa likes to latch on to current events like this for its advertising. "By creating ads that people want to talk about, that are creative and maybe controversial, then at least they are talking about our ads and Hapa is top of mind," says the owner. The media buy includes alternative paper Westworld, which recently blew some smoke about interviewing people to write reviews of each of the dispensaries. I wonder if the restaurant serves pot stickers. Ha ha! Oh dude, I am so hungry right now. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Simian shoppers love Banana Nut Cheerios
Supermarket + guy in a gorilla suit + Banana Nut Cheerios = blah. This Publicis Modem spot aims to be goofy and outrageous, but it's mostly just dull. The background muzak doesn't help. It sounds like the stuff they played in grocery stores when I was a kid about 1,000 years ago. Today, we're tortured by classic rock and '60s pop. Surely the Monkees theme can't be that costly to use in ads. Look, the ape-costume bar has been set quite high since Cadbury's drumming gorilla. This simian has better manners than most grocery shoppers. How about a rampage in the aisles, with mini-Kong carrying a checkout gal to the pinnacle of a package display, clerks rushing to her aid with pricing guns? Letting the ape go bananas would've heightened his appeal. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Are we laughing with eBay or at eBay here?
Would you buy a snowmobile on eBay because Jim Gaffigan tells you to? The answer, of course, is no. Could you enjoy his attempts to persuade you in a TV commercial? Well, yes ... in theory. In practice, however, viewers might hit the fast-forward button. Sadly, the same is true of much of this new campaign from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for the fading auction powerhouse. See a whole bunch of ads here. eBay crested during Web 1.0, and this effort seems hell-bent on delivering old-hat, mostly unfunny schtick from a who's-who of cable-comedy refugees in set-ups that go nowhere. Even the stuff with the younger performers feels dated. It's so ... '90s. The absurdly annoying Michael Ian Black in a tattoo parlor? There's only one way that works: jam a needle in his neck. Alas, he escapes unpoked. Other featured comics include Michael Showalter and Kevin Hart. Overall, the campaign generates more yucks than yuks. These spots perfectly mirror the advertiser: mired in the past and outbid for fresh ideas by a new generation of socially minded Web rivals. |
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Published on November 6, 2009 | Permalink
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