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similar (though less graphic) concept when they posed with hunks of raw meat and broken baby dolls for the infamous and withdrawn Yesterday and Today album cover.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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Kids would prefer you not destroy the Earth
Zig's cinematic spot for Moms Against Climate Change pits child protesters (shouldn't they be in school?) against cops (don't they have parking tickets to write?) to illustrate that if kids knew what was at stake, they'd take action. There's no denying it packs a punch. That said, something feels off. I think I was expecting a boffo climax to really drive the point home. Why not have the sides embrace, each kid finding one of his or her parents among the riot squad, to symbolize that we're all in this together? Conversely, acid rain pouring from above and "frying" every last person? That would make a strong statement! Sure, it's easy for me to second-guess—that's why I enjoy it so much. Still, using children is a form of hot-button emotional manipulation. And to stretch a metaphor, failing to turn up that flame delivers a lukewarm message on a globally incendiary issue. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 6, 2009 | Permalink
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HBO still taking shots at George W. Bush
The George W. Bush era is thankfully gone, but HBO and Venables, Bell & Partners channel the former president's less-than-lucid vibe and penchant for incoherent phrasing in this banner and billboard push touting the DVD release of the Will Ferrell special You're Welcome, America: A Final Night With George W. Bush. The election-poster-style ads include Bush-inspired slogans like "Never misunderestimate me," "Celebrate the era of strategery" and "Mission still not accomplished." The work's amusing, but the tongue-twisted ex-leader of the free world is such an easy target, attempts at parody are, as the man himself might say, akin to shooting fish in apparel. OK, he probably would've said something worse. He wasn't good with words, though his eight-year record of anti-achievement speaks for itself. |
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Published on November 6, 2009 | Permalink
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Liberty Mutual magically makes things good
Hill, Holliday employs arresting visuals to illustrate that "an accident doesn't have to slow you down" in this pair of Liberty Mutual spots touting new car replacement and guaranteed repairs. In the ad above, a guy convincingly plucks a "spare" vehicle from the trunk of his recently smashed-up car. The ad below follows the impact of a crash along the length of a car and shows the damage repairing itself almost as soon as it happens. The ads are impressively staged and memorable. Still, dealing with insurance companies after accidents can be a stressful, protracted, sometimes maddening experience—and these spots overreach a bit by making the process seem effortless, almost magical. It's probably wishful thinking to expect insurers' practices to be as special as the effects they use in commercials. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on November 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Actors bring ShareBuilder silhouettes to life
Ever want to step into an ad? It probably beats what most of us do all day. I'd like to enter an Apple poster and kick Mr. Long in the shins. But that's just me. If you'd rather kick Hodgman, that's fine, too. Unfortunately, it's not Apple but ShareBuilder that's letting folks "walk into" ads this week with window displays at the NBC Experience Store in New York's Rockefeller Plaza. It's a metaphor for walking into the world of personal investing. At the live installation, actors replace the silhouettes used in the client's new print campaign. Now, these aren't famous actors like Long or Hodgman, they're those off-Broadway types who make up about three-quarters of Manhattan's wait-staff and bartending ranks. Headlines promise that "anyone can invest and get a share of their favorite brands." Maybe those window actors can follow the advice, start "gradually buying up" chunks of Disney and Viacom and put themselves in some prime-time shows.
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Published on November 5, 2009 | Permalink
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Avis helping out baseball's abused mascots
McCann Erickson's "Billy the Bear" baseball mascot needs a "rental health day" in this Avis commercial. He bitches about his sweaty costume, the rude fans and his grueling work schedule. The Boston Bruins' guy-in-a-bear-suit would kick this wimp's ursine ass. Hockey: tough, unforgiving. Baseball: Waaaaa, we can't finish the game because it's raining! Actually, all baseball mascots, save one, are already home for the off-season. And the Phanatic will join the rest after the Yankees brush aside the Phillies in Game 6 of the World Series. It had to go six, people, so the Pinstripes could capture the title at home in the first year of the new Yankee Stadium. By the way, the Yanks don't have a mascot ... yet. One more torturous outing from Phil Hughes, however, and he might be demoted. Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 4, 2009 | Permalink
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You don't know who Sun Life is? Damn you
What's in a name? Nothing all that compelling, judging from the first glimpse of The Martin Agency's new integrated campaign for Sun Life Financial. It follows two unfunny guys who try to raise the company's profile by convincing brands with "Sun" in their names to add "Life" after it. The "humor" is DOA in the kick-off spot above, in which K.C. & the Sunshine Band are encouraged to become K.C. & the Sun Life Band. Still, it's good to know K.C. survived the '70s, even if most of his hair didn't. These days, he looks more suited for an endorsement of Sunsweet Prunes, which would actually benefit from adding some "Life" to its moniker. I'm kidding, sort of. K.C.'s forever cool (if not forever young). The campaign will also feature riffs on the Sun Life State and Cirque du Sun Life. Whoa, who wouldn't wanna follow this campaign's Twitter feed?! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on November 3, 2009 | Permalink
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'Modern Warfare 2' getting mixed bag of ads
Speaking of immersive video-game experiences, this co-branded promo by The Martin Agency for Walmart and Modern Warfare 2 relies on great performances and a well-scripted war of words to carry the day—until the end, when things get a bit too immersive for one of the gamers. Though a bit clichéd, these characters seem real, and their exchange of put-downs captures their passion for the game more convincingly than an arsenal of CGI explosions would. It's a lot better—or at least, less homophobic—than another Modern Warfare 2 spot, which has just been pulled from YouTube. That one was a faux PSA for a group called Fight Against Grenade Spam, urging players not to indiscriminately lob missiles in online multiplayer games. The acronym F.A.G.S. didn't sit well with the Internet. Oh, it also starred Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. Embarrassing all around. |
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Published on November 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Strap on your video game for extra pleasure
Hill, Holliday group creative director Tim Cawley describes gaming device Immerz this way: "The 'headphones' send low-frequency vibrations into your chest cavity ... and jangle your nervous system. Somehow, you actually 'feel' the game. The slope of the ground underfoot. Danger lurking just out of sight. Bullets whizzing overhead." Here's the thing: If I want my nerves jangled, I'll head to Starbucks. And if I'd like to get caught in a crossfire, I'll enlist. The Boston agency's launch video for the product features a typical violent gaming hero challenging users to feel what he feels during alien battles and such. Hey, tough guy, cork up that cake-hole, OK? Experiencing the terrifying intensity of combat is your job. Mine's reaping the glory of a high score. Plus, you just know someone will claim they got a heart attack using this thing. |
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Published on November 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Living with a gross cancerous blob is tough
An expanding, grody pink blob that takes over a suburban home and eventually smashes through the windows in this spot by Colenso BBDO for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. The agency also created an installation in downtown Auckland, with an initially tiny blob growing so large it blocked the street. Local white-collar types didn't seem to mind, and the well-intentioned stunt made the nightly news, drawing attention to the cause. The generally light tone dovetails with other recent category efforts, like "Musical Butts" and "Save the Boobs," though it's less over the top than Grey's NSFW PSA. The New Zealand campaign successfully treads the middle ground: It's "wacky" enough to catch viewers' attention and slightly sinister, emphasizing that early detection can avert problems before they grow out of all proportion. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Ogilvy ad breaks through against prejudice
Ogilvy & Mather in Istanbul presents a quietly powerful metaphor for prejudice in this effort for the Zaman newspaper in Turkey. We get surreal scenes of average folks who literally run up against their ignorance in the form of unseen, transparent barriers that inhibit their progress. They become trapped, unable to move forward or connect with others. In effect, they are no longer full and active participants in daily life. They've exiled themselves to a no man's land where they're on the outside looking in. The ambient soundtrack works with the bleak visuals to evoke a mood of sad isolation. The climactic "breakthrough," though predictable, provides catharsis and hope. "Our prejudices. Our invisible walls. Isn't it time to demolish them?" says the copy. At 1:45, this is the director's cut (there's also a :60), but the length allows for an almost hypnotic effect to take hold. Those who think the spot's too long should watch without prejudice. |
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Published on October 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Hold on to your hairpiece with Stimorol gum
This spot by Ogilvy in Cape Town, South Africa, for Stimorol "Air Rush" gum manages to transcend its hackneyed office-humor setup through sheer unabashed silliness. The new employee's finger-pistol bit as he quips, "I'll see you cats later" and walks away, is almost a misstep. But then he does it again! Once = bad idea. Twice = brilliantly stupid! And a bit creepy, as the move vaguely suggests he might return later with mayhem in mind. Still, it channels just enough Monty Python-meets-David Lynch to work. I'm not sure what the big deal is about his hairdo. My hair usually looks like that even when I'm not chewing the gum. Via AdPunch. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on October 29, 2009 | Permalink
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MFS's new commercials great for Halloween
Take the platitude-spitting talking heads of the new Edward Jones campaign, and throw in the "I am" certitude of Microsoft's PC ads. Then add the creepy "glowing eyes" effect of horror films like Village of the Damned. What do you get? Oddly enough, it's Allen & Gerritsen's latest TV spots for investment house MFS. They almost make the frigid Edward Jones commercials look warm and fuzzy by comparison. Here, their eyes eerily alight with blocks from the MFS logo, folks deliver lines like, "I am an MFS fund" and "I am an MFS investment." What they are is possessed, and one guy's admission that "I'm all about the alpha" underscores the "alien" feel. At the end, they seem to "beam" the retinal images toward viewers in an effort to bend our minds to their investment-driven will. Good lord, they're inside my brain! I understand now, and I obey! |
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Published on October 29, 2009 | Permalink
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ABC cancels toxic 'V' skywriting campaign
Air-traffic controllers can breathe easier now that ABC has scrapped plans to promote V, its upcoming alien-invasion series, by skywriting giant V's above 26 popular U.S. landmarks. We can all breathe easier, actually, as a Washington Post columnist pointed out that the stunt would spew 800 grams of lead into the atmosphere. One of the proposed flyover sites, Boston's Fenway Park, is still recovering from all the hot air generated by fans about the Red Sox making it back to the World Series this year. The Statue of Liberty was also marked for a flyby, but New Yorkers wouldn't have noticed, because they're bedazzled by the post-season run of the soon-to-be world champion Yankees (Wednesday night's bump in the road notwithstanding). Unfortunately, we might still be in for some noxious emissions. If the "reimagined" V is anything like its stink-bomb '80s namesake, the stench will start to rise as soon as the series (for lack of a better word, and to stretch the metaphor to its very limit) airs. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on October 29, 2009 | Permalink
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Dogs with Internet-porn habits need daycare
This ad by Jung von Matt for a doggie daycare in Sweden (full ad here) could be a spec piece, award-show fodder created for a local business ... or just a flat-out phony. Life's too short to waste time finding out: It's just a dog-wanking-off ad, after all. The headline is: "What's your dog up to when it's home alone?" Nothing good, it seems. It's easily the most suggestive piece of marketing involving an animal since Ikea Photoshopped a human penis onto a dog in 2007. Though let's be honest. The visual could be worse. And just try watching today's bandwidth-hogging hard-core on a Mac Classic. There's no way! Or so I hear. Via Ads of the World. |
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Published on October 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Saatchi's fight for the last beer ends meekly
This Malaysian commercial for Tiger beer from Saatchi & Saatchi has such a visually arresting buildup, I never felt like I was being primed for a punch line until the trap sprang at the end. Two faux-macho goobers try to one-up each other for the last Tiger on the table, transforming into imposing characters ranging from a robo-Stormtrooper type to Tarzan and a gorilla. The latter steals the show, and of course calls to mind Cadbury's drumming simian, but this guy seems more intent on delivering a beat-down than keeping the beat. (Oh man, that's clever writing!) The "twist" ending is predictable, but I didn't see it coming. You might ask: They're in a bar, why not just order more beers? Answer: They're men. And in fact, I've seen this kind of scenario play out similarly in real life. Complete with Stormtrooper and Gorilla. We had way too many that night. |
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Published on October 28, 2009 | Permalink
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'Family Guy' now gives Microsoft the willies
Who doesn't like jokes about the Holocaust, incest, feminine hygiene and deaf people? Microsoft, apparently, as the software giant has pulled out as exclusive sponsor of Fox's upcoming Family Guy variety special, which reportedly includes such potentially offensive material. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, it sounds like a fairly typical Family Guy episode, and the show's been a hit for years, so it's tough to take Microsoft at face value when it claims to have just realized "the content was not a fit with the Windows brand." Now, if this is part of Microsoft's marketing strategy, it's almost inspired. The company gets lots of free pre-show press without paying millions for the airtime. Plus, it gets to enjoy an in-show plug, also free, when Seth MacFarlane retaliates with a dream sequence of a devil-horned Bill Gates commanding Peter to slaughter his family and bury the parts in Windows 7 boxes. Or maybe the gibe will be more subtle. Lois could ask Peter why he "pulled out prematurely," and he could respond: "I got the idea from Microsoft." Actually, the show will probably be funnier without Microsoft's involvement. Laughing at this particular company is always more satisfying than laughing with them. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 27, 2009 | Permalink
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