Do HP webcams not recognize black faces?
Let's hope Hewlett-Packard has the PR-crisis book handy. The video above, which is making the rounds online, shows that HP facial-tracking software has a very unfortunate bug: it doesn't seem to track black faces. There's fairly compelling evidence in the video, in which two co-workers—a black male named Desi and a white female named Wanda—show how the camera-tracking feature doesn't work for Desi but operates just fine for Wanda. The worst part, according to Desi, is he bought the laptop for Christmas. HP says it's aware of the video and is working on gathering more info about the issue. Check out the company's statement here. As of 2 p.m. Monday, the video has 75,000 views on YouTube, a number sure to jump since it's featured on Buzzfeed. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Severed elf ear always such a wonderful gift
Elf ears. That's the seasonal gag gift from Providence, R.I., agency Nail Communications. It says they've been "hand selected and carefully severed just for you!" Hey, it beats the socks I usually get. (Maybe wedge a crowbar into your pocketbook this year, Mom?) Nail didn't bother to send me an actual ear, just a photo, so they might be fishing for free press without really mailing these disgusting, shriveled pieces of aged, pointy cartilage out. You know what they say: Believe elf of what you see and none of what you ear. Sorry, I couldn't elf myself. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Bethenny's PETA ad turns heads, stomachs
PETA has gotten Bethenny Frankel, one of Bravo's Real Housewives, to be its latest nude model. Click here to see the full ad. Frankel is an inspired choice. She's old enough (39) that everyone is wondering if the photo was airbrushed, which is giving the ad much more play online. (Frankel says it wasn't, or at least not much, and even sent an untouched version of the pic to Us Weekly to prove it.) Also a bonus: When you get one Real Housewife to pose nude, chances are always good that another Real Housewife will step up and admit that she "threw up a little in my mouth" upon seeing it. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Power lines can kill you and that giant lizard
Giant-monster send-ups rarely fail to please, and this Canadian power-line safety pitch by Wonder Communications (video posted below) is no exception. The message: No matter how invincible you think you are, live wires can kill you. They're more likely to do so, of course, if you're a laser-shooting dinosaur who can actually reach overhead power lines. (Actually, the campaign is aimed at contractors who use tall equipment that could get snared in such cables.) Note how the hardhats, instead of trying to help out, just stand around and gawk at the creature's rampage. Typical union types. And we're clearly dealing with an inadequate defense plan here: Instead of tanks and planes, a couple of cops try to hold off the prehistoric fury with police specials! They're lucky the lizard lumbered into the lines, or they'd all be extinct. Via Ads of the World. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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People with disfigured faces really like Twix
Nothing communicates the carefree joy of candy quite like a disfigured face. AlmapBBDO in Brazil created this odd spot for Twix (posted below), in which a guy takes his girl out for a nice evening of shopping, cinema and karaoke, and they end up munching Twix on the beach. It's all happy-go-lucky, except you can't help but notice that the guy's face is all deformed and twisted to the side. In the end, it turns out he's "invented a pause," which explains everything. Except why anyone thought this was a good idea. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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Santa joke has this ginger family seeing red
Just as redheads (particularly those of the stepchild variety) are often the brunt of American jokes, they get their fair share of British gibes, too. Only there, they're called gingers. Davinia Phillips, a ginger mother of three small gingers, recently took offense to one such joke on a card she spotted at her local Tesco. (Check out the video at that link. It's worth it.) The card has a picture of a ginger boy sitting on Santa's lap and says, "Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones." "If that had been about an obese child, or a child with glasses, or braces, or a colored child, then there'd be a massive uproar," she complained to the chain. To Tesco's credit, they immediately apologized and removed it from their stores, leaving Davinia with little to complain about, really. The card, however, was not made by Tesco, and is stocked in plenty of other stores. The card maker, Quitting Hollywood, which has the card in its Bad Santa line, gave no comment to the BBC. In a way, Davinia is quite right. But it does make one wonder why people only seem to pipe up when large companies like Tesco with enough money to throw at a potential lawsuit do stuff like this, and not the other stores in the area. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on December 21, 2009 | Permalink
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The Pope thanks you for not driving buzzed
Holiday safe-driving PSA season is in full throttle. First, we had that great ad from New Mexico. Now, here's a spot from Mullen for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Ad Council. It shows a gal next door, Rachel, receiving honors from the Pope and the Dalai Lama for not driving buzzed. (Arnold Schwarzenegger is in the 30-second version, though standing so close to him seems more like a punishment to me.) In the big picture, do we really want to be grandiosely rewarding folks for not driving while intoxicated—i.e., for not behaving like selfish assholes? Maybe people should refrain from driving buzzed because, I dunno, it's the right think to do? Also, this high-powered talent might be put to better use. Seeing the Terminator all remorseful after getting drunk and mowing down several of the world's top spiritual leaders? Now that would be a PSA! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on December 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Dismal holidays reasonably priced at Target
I was not a fan of Target's scary 2-Day Sale commercials from Wieden + Kennedy that appeared around Thanksgiving. And I am so not a fan of the latest holiday Target ads that Wieden is now running on heavy rotation. (Neither is Barbara Lippert.) One spot is posted below; check out six more here. There's just something about having your neighbor accuse you of being ostentatious, Mom and Dad fighting about money on Christmas morning, a little girl whose Christmas is ruined by worrying about money, and that moment when you realize your girlfriend is just not that into you—it all makes me want to strike my whole Christmas list and wonder why I even bother trying. Sure, the spots are well acted and well written, but what's the point of breaking through just to bring me down? Two of the spots—one about that awkward moment when you unwrap something crappy, the other about making fun of Dad's giant ass—are harmless. But who's the target, Target? I'm sure these ads are talking to some people. Disillusioned people whose friends and family suck. People who realize the important thing to remember when Grandma gets plowed and disowns you is that at least you didn't spend a lot of money on your gift for her. But of course, you probably would have spent even less at Walmart. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on December 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Reality-TV show comes to Brooklyn agency
With the success of Mad Men, it's no surprise that the reality-TV industry would start knocking on the doors of ad agencies. Sure enough, an MTV show called Hired is in the works and will track a handful of applicants trying to get a job at a hot New York agency. But, perhaps in a sign of the times, the agency isn't Saatchi & Saatchi or BBDO but digital agency Huge in Brooklyn. The shop's careers page has a new listing for an associate product strategist, noting that the interviews will be filmed for a TV show and applicants must meet with a "career coach" as part of the process. Huge wouldn't talk much about the program (they're positioning it more as a "documentary" style show), but I'm told it's slated to air on MTV in the spring and will feature executive creative director David Skokna (above) and a couple other Huge execs putting applicants through the paces. Considering the excitement generated by Jersey Shore, let's hope Huge has some tricks up its sleeve to spice up the interview process. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on December 18, 2009 | Permalink
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AdFreak selects the 30 freakiest ads of 2009It's the most wonderful time of the year—time to look back at the oddest, creepiest, quirkiest and downright freakiest commercials that we covered on AdFreak this year. Click here to see the list and watch all the spots. —Posted by Tim Nudd
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Published on December 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Labatt ad does not condone drunken Santa
A holiday-themed ad for Labatt Blue which says, "Leave one out for Santa. He's driving," has stirred up residents in Ontario who didn't realize it's an ad for the non-alcoholic version. Admittedly, I raised an eyebrow, until I spent another two seconds with the ad, and things fell into place. But some are unconvinced. "Children see that, and they think we'd better leave beer for Santa instead of cookies and milk," one woman tells the Toronto Star. "I have grandchildren and great-granchildren, and I don't approve of it. Maybe I'm an old fuddy-duddy." To keep the fuddy-duddies off the ledge, they could have made more of an effort to emphasize that we're talking about a non-alcoholic beer, I suppose. Otherwise, we'll just cross our fingers and hope Santa hits Canada before Ireland or Germany. |
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Published on December 17, 2009 | Permalink
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In drunk-driving spot, there's no going backThe blood and gore of a thousand Australian PSAs can't match the intensity of this anti-drunk-driving spot by VWK in Albuquerque for the New Mexico Department of Transportation. This is almost a can't-miss category: The subject matter lends itself to powerful messages and stirring imagery. Yet, so much has been done, it's difficult to find a fresh approach. Well, we've found it here! Director Sean Broughton brilliantly shifts into reverse, starting at the story's end—which, in another twist, is not the accident itself. This method is jarring and unexpected enough to force us to consider the too-familiar car-crash scenario in a fresh light. Placing the bright party scene at the end deepens the sense of loss. The dead girl's palor is all the more upsetting because she seems sweet and almost shy as she speaks a single word to her father and sets the quick-cut flashback in motion. There's no hope of reversal. Her face will haunt his nightmares—and perhaps ours. Sobering. Via Ads of the World. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on December 17, 2009 | Permalink
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KGB hitches its wagon to 'Sherlock Holmes'
Info-by-text service KGB underscores its status as an anachronism of near-Victorian proportions by doing all manner of cross-promotions with the new Sherlock Homes film. Above is the TV spot from the Brooklyn Brothers. Gone are the sexual and racial stereotypes of the client's ads from the recent past. That's good, but why couldn't they take those two geeky blue-garbed answer-drones with them? That's my question for KGB, but I doubt if they'd text back an answer. When I want misinformation, I'll try Google, Bing, social media and that guy who works in the mailroom. They answer questions for free, so at least I'll be getting my money's worth. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on December 16, 2009 | Permalink
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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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Church billboard questions Christmas story
Not about to let the pushy atheists hog the spotlight in New Zealand, a progressive Anglican church has commissioned this billboard just in time for Christmas. Designed by M&C Saatchi for St. Matthew in the City, the ad shows a morose Joseph in bed next to a disappointed Mary, with the headline: "Poor Joseph. God is a hard act to follow." The idea is to question the literalness of the conception story, and bring some more critical thinking to the tenets of Christian fundamentalism at Christmastime. "Is the miracle a male God sending forth his divine sperm, or is the miracle that God is and always has been among the poor?" asks priest Glynn Cardy. Of course, the real miracle will be escaping censure from the ad watchdog. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on December 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Biz & Andy's TuneUp ad is truly automagical
Rappers Biz Markie and Andy Milonakis have come together to promote TuneUp, a little program that helps fix missing cover art and track names in your music library. Markie is getting a lot of commercial biz this season — he's also in a fantastic spot for RadioShack (the second one down on that page) — most likely because he's hilarious. In this one-off spot (posted below), he stars as Captain TuneUp, whose superpowers include cleaning your music library "automagically" and making little sound effects. In a way, though, Milonakis is also a superhero. It's just that his only power is looking like a 14-year-old when he's actually 33. Don't laugh, it's a birth defect! No really, it's a hormone growth disorder. Anyhow, the point is, the spot is great not in spite of the low-budget effects but because of them. Plus, they used the word automagical! What more do you need? Via Boing Boing.
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Jeff Goodby's holiday rap for young and old
"New school, I'm sick of your shit." So begins Jeff Goodby's rap in this Goodby, Silverstein & Partners holiday video (posted below), as he squares off against a young employee in a battle of old and wise ("I kern my type") versus young and foolish ("We get naked and Skype"). Yes, the white-rap thing has been done, and Goodby's played the old-guy card before. Still, the ("whacked-ass") rhymes are amusing, and it's nice to see one of our Agency Executives of the Decade willing to slum it in a doughnut suit. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Jamie Jungers not an overly gifted endorser
As BrandFreak just mentioned, alleged Tiger Woods mistress Jamie Jungers has been hired by BidHere.com to be its "holiday spokesperson." As part of her duties, she filmed the clip above, which is both pathetic and awesome and an instant classic in the world of comically bad promotional videos. She can't even read the script off the screen, much less memorize it. And does BidHere.com not even have a real video camera? —Posted by Tim Nudd
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Who wants their own personal iPhone app?
Social media can often seem like little more than egomania run amok. It should come as no surprise, then, that the newest fad emerging from the dingiest corners of Silicon Valley is the personal iPhone app. So far, the trend is confined to the tech/social-media punditocracy, with the likes of Altimeter Group's Jeremiah Owyang, PR 2.0's Brian Solis, author Tim Ferris and serial entrepreneur Guy Kawasaki rolling out their own self-branded apps, so their many fans can have their heroes with them at all times. I don't doubt this will soon jump into the ad world. The only question is who will take the leap first. Vote below. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Life lessons from Finagle a Bagel's workers
Foul-mouthed bagel makers banter in this online spot (posted below) for regional chain Finagle a Bagel. The counter help swears all the time in their bagel shops, too. Plus, they pour scalding coffee in your lap. It's how we warm up in New England. (Kidding, of course. The coffee's lukewarm, at best.) "Schmears" is one of four Webisodes from Mike Goldberg and Kenny Lee of Mason Street Creative. The clips, built around the antics of five Finagle factory workers, were shot at the client's baking facility in Newton, Mass. Mikey's Boston accent is spread on as thick as any schmear, though the jokes wear a bit thin once the bleeping profanity disappears. The team doesn't seem to be wearing sanitary gloves, either, and they're constantly touching the bagels. If their hands are a fraction as filthy as their mouths, I think I'll do breakfast at Dunkin' from now on. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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Duffy & Shanley having Xtranormal holidaysRhode Island agency Duffy & Shanley used Xtranormal's text-to-movie software (one of the breakthrough gimmicks of 2009) to create this animated holiday card featuring two agency staffers droning on and on … about what they should do for their holiday card. An incessant laugh-track punctuates the conversation. Ha ha ha! The employees skewer industry trends like crowdsourcing and struggle, Gap-like, with the proper holiday greeting. It goes on so long, and with such stifling stupidity, it's kind of mesmerizing. And best of all, they didn't dress up the staff like the cast of Mad Men. So, in keeping with the spirit of the season: Ho ho ho! —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on December 15, 2009 | Permalink
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NYC unveils even more repulsive anti-fat ad
New York City's health department grossed people out this summer with anti-obesity ads on the subway showing globs of human fat being poured from a soda bottle. Now, they've managed to one-up themselves with a video version. Dr. Thomas Farley, the city's health commissioner, tells Gothamist: "This video is playful, but its message is serious." Playful is possibly the last adjective I would have come up with. Via AgencySpy. —Posted by Tim Nudd
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Published on December 14, 2009 | Permalink
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Suggestive Toyota ad gets a good pounding
"I'm here to take Jennifer's virginity out tonight." "She can take a good pounding in any direction." "I'll have her on her back by 11." "I'm ready to blow." This innuendo-laced online Yaris spot won a short-film contest held by Saatchi & Saatchi and Toyota Australia but has been pulled after angry protests that it's sexist and even incestuous. It probably does cross a line when the kid demonstrates what he plans to do with the airbags. The spot was created by production house Play TV in Brisbane. The director, Frazer Bailey, seems a bit baffled by the uproar. "I thought it was funny—a bit of a boy's joke," he tells the Sydney Morning Herald. "And then my mum read it and she laughed out loud." Via Jalopnik. —Posted by Tim Nudd
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Published on December 14, 2009 | Permalink
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Publicis London lip-synchs holiday greeting
It is a bold agency that does a lip-synch video for its holiday card. Publicis London is just such a courageous shop. It shot a video of staffers lip-synching to "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas. The results are mixed. I'm sure plenty of people will see it as self-indulgent amateurish crap. The cringe factor can get pretty high at times. On the other hand, it sure beats those e-cards many shops send. —Posted by Brian Morrissey
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Published on December 14, 2009 | Permalink
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Colorado brewer avoiding local spring water
Colorado ad agency Cultivator Advertising & Design makes fun of Pete Coors in this new spot for craft brewer Breckenridge. In the commercial, Breckenridge head brewer Bob Harrington stands beside a steam in his flannel shirt and says his Lucky U IPA is brewed with real Colorado water. "Well, not this water," he clarifies. "Do you know what bears do in there?" I was hoping he'd tell us, but no such luck. And I wish there'd been a guy in a bear suit standing by the stream, waving a paw. Maybe that Boston Bruins bear could put in a cameo next time. The Coors parody feels a bit dated, as old Petey hasn't appeared in a commercial in quite some time. But what can you expect from an agency that just sent out a holiday greeting with its staff decked out like the cast of Mad Men? That is so 2008! —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on December 14, 2009 | Permalink
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