Intel eyes doomsday play date with humans

This banner ad, running on CNN.com and elsewhere and part of Intel's vaunted new "Sponsors of tomorrow" campaign, reveals the initiative for what it is: a fiendish plan by Intel-chip-powered robots to subjugate humankind by snatching kids from playgrounds. In the first image, we have some kids on a teeter-totter—bratty, perhaps, but flesh and blood just the same. There's some decidedly sinister copy about how Intel's playground "isn't like" ours. Then the youths are replaced by disembodied cybernetic arms. Intel's playground "isn't like" ours, all right. It's a heartless, high-tech holocaust where the machines rule and living beings wind up buried in a sandbox ... or something. Our fate's unpleasant, that's for sure. And now we know the real reason Intel used "actors" to portray its engineers in the TV spots: The real ones have been replaced by cyborgs. Dig behind the lab if you want proof!

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Published on May 12, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Gianatasio, Intel, Robots, Technology

Real or not, it's nice to see the faces of Intel

Intel's new "Sponsors of Tomorrow" ad campaign by Venables Bell & Partners puts a face, or several, on the technicians and researchers behind the company's many innovations. As it turns out, at least one of these faces is impersonated. Ajay Bhatt, who helped develop the USB, is portrayed by an actor in the "Rock Star" ad above, which takes place in a much trendier version of Intel's Hillsboro, Ore., office. It's probably safe to assume central casting sent over a couple of people for the crowd shots in the "Oops" ad below. While it's tempting to rake Intel over the coals for not delivering on its pledge to humanize its product, tearing employees away from important work to make silly ads wouldn't be the most effective use of their time. Besides, Intel's heart is in the right place. Guys like Ajay rarely get the praise or recognition they deserve, so why not give them their moment in the sun? It's not like there are any interesting actual rock stars left to reserve that spotlight ahead of time.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Published on May 7, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Filed under Intel, Kiefaber, Technology, Venables, Bell & Partners

You'll need 3-D glasses for Super Bowl XLIII

Exciting news in the perennially up-and-coming field of 3-D technology: Four marketers are teaming up to air two commercials in super-fabulous 3-D as part of a special "event" during this year's Super Bowl telecast on Feb. 1. The ads, which will run at the end of the second quarter (a big bathroom-break moment, unfortunately), will be a 3-D trailer for DreamWorks Animation's upcoming 3-D feature film, Monsters vs. Aliens, and a 60-second spot in 3-D for PepsiCo's SoBe Lifewater. The other two marketers involved are Intel, which has made 125 million pairs of 3-D glasses for the occasion (to be made available at various retail locations), and NBC, this year's Super Bowl broadcaster, which will also air a 3-D episode of Chuck the following day (to be promoted under the slogan "Don't Chuck your glasses"). The whole thing is ludicrous enough to get lots of attention, but don't expect the Lifewater ad to knock your socks off. It will feature "the SoBe lizards and stars from DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens [dancing] alongside current NFL stars."

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on January 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under DreamWorks, Intel, NBC, Nudd, SoBe, Super Bowl

Will designers rev their engines for Intel?

Everyone wants to get in on the social thing nowadays, and tech companies are often ahead of the pack, for obvious reasons. Here's Intel's new effort: To promote the company's Core i7 Extreme Edition microprocessor, Web shop Razorfish is looking for digital designers to build short videos in an hour, using the same materials, around one of the brand themes of speed, power or innovation. The so-called Digital Drag Race has the necessary microsite, blog, live event in San Francisco and YouTube channel. Razorfish told me the campaign would make microprocessors sexy. Maybe. What I wonder is: Who participates in this kind of thing? I imagine lots of students. Two finalists get a trip to Vegas during the Consumer Electronics Show to face off, along with an Intel-powered computer with Adobe Creative Suite software. In its first couple days, Intel's gotten only a trickle of entries. 

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

Published on November 19, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Intel, Morrissey, Razorfish