A Valentine's Day song for me? Awwwww ...

In grammar school, I was one of those oddball kids who watched on Valentine's Day as the cool kids traded heart-shaped love notes and chocolates while my misfit friends and I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. High school was about trading red carnations and having awkward Hallmark moments, but I was never one to buy into it all. Now, if I had only received a Valentine as unique as the video above, maybe my romantic history would have charted a different path and I'd be happily married with a brood of kids by now. Alas, it's taken decades, plus YouTube, to receive the best Valentine ever. So what if it's a publicity stunt for the creative director at Ignited in L.A. who made it? I now have my very own song! And it's catchy, if a little bit disturbing. And it also makes up for the fact that I could never find any of those glittery trinkets my pals toted around that had their names on them. Never could find an Eleftheria keychain, or even an Ellie. Thanks, "Thad," for all the love!

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on February 6, 2009 | Permalink | Comments (10)
Filed under Parpis, Valentine's Day

Apple back with more animated holiday ads

Nothing gets my holiday spirit going like watching the children's animated holiday specials: Rudolph, Frosty, the Grinch and the Peanuts gang (to name just a few of my DVR'd favorites). So, of course I appreciate it when an advertiser like Apple so skillfully pays homage to the holiday stop-motion classics. Two new spots broke Monday night during ABC's broadcast of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown (remember Snoopy's brother Spike?), and whether you're a Macbook-toting Apple aficionado or not, they have to make you smile. PC, dressed in a cheery red holiday sweater, and Mac, in his spindly jeans, attempt to put aside their differences in the name of merrymaking, decorating a Christmas tree together in one ad and celebrating the freedom of an animated world in another. But of course PC can't help adding a little latent aggression to the proceedings. This is the second year in a row that Apple has produced holiday-themed animated "Get a Mac" ads. And just like the shows they honor, they feel like special holiday gifts that just keep giving.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on December 17, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Filed under Apple, Holidays, Parpis, TBWA, Technology

Green groups air clean coal's dirty secrets

Some environmental groups have teamed up as the Reality Coalition to set the record straight about "clean" coal. Echoing a recent New York Times op-ed by Al Gore, a new TV, print and online campaign claims there is no such thing as clean coal. The spot above, from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, gives viewers a tour of a "state-of-the-art clean-coal facility." (It's non-existent.) The tone is sarcastic and injects some humor in an otherwise serious subject. But the timing feels a bit late. This campaign is an interesting counterpoint to the endless messages from the American Coalition for Clean Coal that we heard on CNN before the election. The Reality Coalition is a comprised of the Alliance for Climate Protection, League of Conservation Voters, Natural Resources Defense Council, National Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on December 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (4)
Filed under Crispin Porter, Environment, Parpis, Politics

See the darker side of Aardman Animations

If you thought Aardman Animations was only good at cute and cuddly, this new YouTube channel from the British animators behind Wallace & Gromit shows that its dark side can be just as entertaining. See the trailer for the channel here. The animation styles vary, and while the shorts definitely have a surreal sensibility, they are far from sick and twisted. "Stuff vs Stuff" pits household items against each other; "Pib and Pog" is a parody of children's programming; and "The Adventures of Jeffrey" stars an always-bare Australian. If you prefer Aardman's classics, the company also has its regular YouTube channel. But judging by the fan comments, though, the darker stuff is going over particularly well. Maybe before long we'll get to see Wallace & Gromit Go Postal.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on December 2, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Design the official T-shirt for Cannes 2009

Uniqlo, the Japanese apparel company that swept the advertising award shows this year with its entertaining blog widget, is teaming up with the Cannes International Advertising Festival for a contest to select the official T-shirt of next year's festival. The company, which won Grand Prix honors in both Titanium and Cyber, is inviting people to submit designs for review by the 2009 judges. The design, of course, must be original and include a lion, the symbol of the festival. While only one design will honored as the "official T-shirt" of the event, 10 entries will be sold as T-shirts next summer in Uniqlo stores. Past festival T-shirts usually only got worn out of necessity (lost luggage and blazing heat topping that list). Maybe these will actually make their way back home with the attendees.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on December 1, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Filed under Award shows, Cannes, Parpis, Uniqlo

SuperAdFreak to host live Super Bowl chat

After unleashing a 22-headed blog monster during last year’s Super Bowl, this year we’ll be trying something a little different on the big day: a live chat. Beginning around kickoff time, a handful of industry creatives, as well as Barbara Lippert and Eleftheria Parpis of Adweek, will be discussing the Super Bowl advertising as it happens over on our pigskin blog, SuperAdFreak. Those scheduled to participate include: Steve Bassett of The Martin Agency, William Gelner of 180, Todd Grant of Cole & Weber, Eric Hirshberg of Deutsch/LA, Jason Karley of DDB Chicago, Bob Moore of Publicis, Ted Royer of Droga 5, and Rob Schwartz of TBWA\Chiat\Day. So, please join us on Sunday afternoon at SuperAdFreak.com as our crack team discusses, in real time, the best and worst of the day’s commercials.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

Published on February 1, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1)
Filed under Nudd, Parpis

One day you’ll learn to love the Hummer

Instead of guzzling gas, a future Hummer could help the environment rather than hurt it. Last week, General Motors won a design contest at the Los Angeles auto show for presenting this “algae-infused, oxygen-exuding buggy that would open up like a flower.” Challenged to create a vehicle that would have a lifespan of five years and could be fully recycled, the GM design lab came up with the “Hummer O2.” The car, powered by a hydrogen tank and fuel cells, would have an algae-filled body shell that coverts CO2 into oxygen. So where does the “flower” part come in? The shell would open up like leaves when parked to absorb the sunlight. The design team said they chose the Hummer for the contest to get it back to its roots. “These types of vehicles—the SUVs and early Jeeps—were for people who worked outdoors, environmentalists, naturalists and outdoorsmen. This is just us coming full circle.” Well, at least GM seems to be trying. This week the company also aid it would bring back a plug-in electric SUV, the Saturn Vue. But for now, the breathing Hummer lives only as a sketch.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on December 4, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Even drugs lords appreciate advertising

If only Tony Soprano had tried this. The Associated Press reports that a Mexican drug gang known as “The Family,” which is believed to have dumped five severed heads into a bar, took out a half-page ad in local newspapers in order to show its good side. In the ad, the gang claims to be an anti-crime vigilante group, driven by its love of the state, and takes swipes at its rivals. It also sets the record straight on its feelings about methamphetamine, declaring it “one of the worst drugs, doing irreversible damage to our society.“ Will the next hit be explained in print? No rivals have taken out any response ads, yet.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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Do we really need a car that parks itself?

You may have noticed Lexus advertising the arrival of the new LS: the car that can park itself! Yes, for those still sweating 30 years after their driving tests, Lexus offers an “advanced parking guidance system” with its $60-70K car. I’m all for bonus features, especially anything that keeps you safer (shouldn’t all cars have those perks?) and helps you navigate unfamiliar places. But auto parking? Sounds interesting in a “gotta see how that works” way, but so unnecessary. I guess that’s part of luxe living—buying stuff you don’t need because you can. One of the ads (which isn’t online) opens with a close-up of a dear elderly woman explaining that “way back when, we had the horse and carriage.” Then we see people talking about calculators that keep getting smaller, rabbit ears you had to adjust, needles you had to drop onto records, and finally to a shot of a man inside his car. Staring off in front of him, he is in awe. “I used to have to parallel park myself,” he says, as he lifts his hands off the wheel, which automatically turns the car into the parking space, as the copy says: “Unprecedented.” Until that final shot, I was enjoying the personal-technology tales. They seem genuine, and make the Lexus man look even more pretentious than his tricked-out car does. (By the way, that seems like an awfully big parking spot to need help with.) The car also has other advances, like eight-speed auto transmission, so you can one-up all those Mercedes drivers who still have (gasp!) only seven.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 6, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
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Travelocity gnome steps out for Halloween

Anyone catch the Travelocity gnome in New York’s Halloween Parade last night? The gnome may be missing from Travelocity’s latest advertising—check out gnomewatch.com—but it sure looks like he’s having a blast during his time off. Last night, he rode down New York City’s Avenue of the Americas like royalty, as the unofficial grand marshall for the 33rd Annual New York Village Halloween Parade. (The official grand masters were Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of Kiss.) Carried by two men who were supposed to look like they were bare-chested, the Gnome sat perfectly proud in his propped up chair with a clear view of his fans. Wonder where he’ll turn up next. Our money’s on any of the gay bars in Chelsea.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 1, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
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Did Argentina’s ‘Truth’ spot deserve more?

It’s ironic that the film jury at Cannes last week questioned the authenticity of an ad called “Truth.” (See it here, on the Cannes site.) The spot, for an Argentine presidential candidate, won a silver Lion. But sources tell AdFreak that it might have won a gold—if there weren’t some question about what language it aired in originally. The 135-second ad, for the campaign of Movimiento Federal Recrear, endeavors to tell the “truth” about the candidate and what change could mean for the Argentine people. A gray bar follows copy lines down the screen, and a voice reads the words, which paint a pessimistic picture of the country. But when it reaches the bottom, the bar begins scrolling back up; in reverse order, the same sentences remarkably deliver precisely the opposite message—an optimistic one. Cannes delegates found the ad to be powerful and cleverly written, yet the question lingered: Wouldn’t it have run originally in Spanish, not English? Apparently troubled by the notion that it might have been altered for the show, the judges awarded the ad and its agency, Savaglio\TBWA in Buenos Aires, a silver. “That’s probably why it didn’t win a gold,” noted one juror. For it to remain in the show at all, the juror said, “we had to assume it was the same as we had seen it.”

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on June 28, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)
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Pixies’ Santiago goes commercial

Pixies fans, rejoice! Everyone else, prepare to hear commercial music that just might make you scratch your head. Pixies lead guitarist Joey Santiago has become “a featured artist, working exclusively in the realm of television commercials," for EliasArts. The sound and music house last night sponsored a screening of loudQUIETloud, a documentary, also playing at the Tribeca Flim Festival, about the band’s 2004 “sellout tour.” Santiago, who is shown in the film working on a documentary score, summed up his reasons for tackling commercials with the line, “I enjoy making music,” before adding that “Dave has his magic. I have a studio, and I want to keep working it.” Pixies drummer Dave Lovering also appeared at the screening, warming up the crowd with a spot-on mind-reading schtick. It was the perfect prelude to an intimate, bittersweet portrait of the band members as they tour and experience life on the road together again, more than a decade after their acrimonious split. The camera follows the musicians as they grapple with life after their music-darling days and relive the fan frenzy that initially surprises. While the band will be playing European festivals this summer, fans shouldn’t hold their breath for new Pixies tunes. The question of a new album goes unanswered by the film, which shows the bandmates working on their own projects during down time. AdFreak won’t give too much away, but guess which member is newly sober and which one relaxes with self-affirmation tapes? The filmmakers, who shot about 700 hours of footage while on tour with the band, said they expect to release the film on DVD later this year.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on May 5, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Cult theater or commercial crap?

The debate over whether advertisers can ever truly create art has kicked up on Twin Cities’ mnspeak.com over Carmichael Lynch's "Porsche Fast Films." The 11-short-film series, inspired by the German sports car, has been running during the Independent Film Channel's Thursday night Cult Theater program and on the IFC Web site, but some indie film fans aren't buying it. "Commercials are not 'films,'" says one anonymous mnspeak comment. Others defend the series, arguing that while some of the films are "commercial-like," others are "much more expressive." See for yourself here. My favorites: Fingerwalk, a daydream filmed out the window of a moving car; The Masochist, a man who races to his parked Porsche to indulge in his punishment of the day, driving at a crawl; Speak German, in which a guy shows his friend that if you suck in the air from a Porsche tire, you slip into its native tongue; and Combustion, a dark, animated look at the meaning of burning rubber. Ads or art? Who cares? I'd take any of these over your average car ad any day.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on February 13, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (3)
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2005: A pretend space odyssey

Having exhausted every possible indoor and outdoor method of making people as uncomfortable as possible while the world watches, reality-TV producers are heading to space. Well, sort of. Producers of a new British reality show are fooling nine civilians into thinking they’ve been launched into space. The producers of the show are in the process of selecting the (un)lucky nine, who will train with the Space Tourism Agency of Russia before heading to the great beyond—or actually, unbeknownst to them, into a model space shuttle from the Clint Eastwood movie Space Cowboys, parked at an unused airbase. Three actors will join the group to keep the charade going. Remember when The Truman Show seemed like a scarily quaint idea? Didn’t he crack up in the end?

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Image: MGM DVD

Published on November 22, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Snoop, Bowie ham it up for XM Radio

Looks like Snoop Dogg and David Bowie are getting tight. Four years ago, both fell from the sky in launch ads for XM Satellite Radio. Now, they play DJ in a new spot breaking tonight. In the commercial, a distressed Snoop rambles around the XM studios looking for something. He asks Ellen DeGeneres, who is there doing her radio broadcast, if she’s seen his necklace, as he gestures around his neck. But behind the glass wall, all she hears is something about a beard. “You want to be Amish?” she asks. Next he taps on Bowie’s studio, and the singer, who is on air, just shrugs. But once Dogg’s out of sight, Bowie slyly pulls out the glittery “Snoop” bling from under his jacket. The spot closes with Bowie’s 1979 hit “DJ” and the tagline, “Listen large.” For those who can’t get enough of the pairing, check out the upcoming Luc Besson animated film Arthur and the Minimoys. Bowie provides the voice of Maltazard, and Dogg is Max. Other celebrity voiceovers include Madonna as Princess Selenia and Mia Farrow as Arthur’s grandmother.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 14, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (9)
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New Zealand braces for another tourist influx

Just when New Zealanders may have finally seen the trail of hobbit lookalikes trekking through the scenic locations of The Lord of the Rings trilogy waning, Walt Disney Films and Walden Media's production of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is sure to bring another gigantic wave of movie-inspired tourists to the “Land of the Long White Cloud.” Like Peter Jackson, who filmed his Rings trilogy (and the upcoming King Kong) in his homeland, director Andrew Adamson chose the country's majestic landscapes for Narnia, which opens in the U.S. next month (yeah!). Woodhill Forest, about an hour from Auckland, becomes the camp of the White Witch and Flock Hill, in the Southern Alps of South Island, becomes the site of the "Great Battle." (Tours begin in January.) But movie fans looking to rub noses with satyrs and centaurs may be better off with a ticket to Orlando, Fla. Disney will open a new attraction next month called "Journey Into Narnia: Creating The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe."

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 9, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Health by chocolate?

Mars Inc., the company responsible for my M&M’s and Snickers addictions, is trying to rebrand chocolate as a health food. According to an article in The New York Times, Mars is rolling out a new line of chocolate products under the name CocoaVia to be sold in health-food not candy aisles. Touting the health benefits of flavanol-rich cocoa (which is said to lower blood pressure and help prevent heart disease), the company is recommending two servings a day, which would add about 300 calories to your diet. In the article, Jim Cass, Mars’s vp of marketing explains, “Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the world, and chocolate is the No. 1 favorite ingredient in the world. When you put those two giant macro trends together, we know this is a big idea.” Of course it is. And it’s only going to make us bigger. I’ve read about the health benefits of dark chocolate before. As a chocoholic, any news telling me my addiction is a benefit not a hazard is welcome news. But giving me a health-sanctioned reason to indulge in two bars a day will only send me looking for another product to undo the damage. Could a Mars-marketed chocolate-based weight loss product be next?

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on November 1, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Do we want JetBlue joking around?

Anyone notice that JetBlue commercial that’s been running lately? You know, the one that features tongue-in-cheek interviews with JetBlue employees about customer service? It’s a mockumentary-type spot that tells TV viewers how JetBlue can “make your trip as easy as possible.” Employees talk with deadpan, no-frills honesty about how they help get customers get where they’re going. “When the plane is ready to board, I usually say something like, ‘The plane is ready to board.’ ” Another says, “A lot of people ask me what gate they are leaving from, so I tell them.” I appreciate the attempt to lend humor to airline advertising, and the tone works wonderfully for JetBlue’s alterna-air personality. But the timing seems awfully unusual to me. Consider the opening line: “We take off, fly around for a while, and then we land. Somewhere else.” The spot was on air last week, hours after a New York-bound JetBlue flight was stuck circling around Southern California with malfunctioning landing gear. A day later, another JetBlue plane had problems with its wing flaps. Will consumers ignore the irony, or will they see it as validation that JetBlue is not a serious airline? I’ve flown JetBlue many times, and as much as I love the blue chips and the DirecTV, when it comes to flying, I’ll take boring over buffoonery.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on September 30, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (3)
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Kangaroo shoe has activists hopping mad

Animal rights group Viva! is targeting David Beckham for wearing Adidas soccer shoe Predator Pulse. Apparently, the pulse is coming from kangaroo leather! The activists are staging protests around the globe in the hope that Adidas and soccer stars like Beckham will change their practices. According to Viva, Adidas is the largest buyer of kangaroo leather, which is described as light and supple, making it ideal for soccer shoes. However, Adidas isn’t alone. Other shoemakers using the leather include Nike, Umbro and Mizuno. Viva says that red kangaroo numbers have fallen from 17 million to under 8 million and eastern greys have dropped from 30 million to 11 million. The group has been campaigning against Adidas and Beckham for years to no avail.  The Sunday Times in London yesterday reported that a representative for Beckham said “he was guided by Adidas on the humane killing of kangaroos but would consider evidence compiled by Viva!” Maybe this story about Lu Lu the life-saving Kangaroo will help warm their hearts.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on August 15, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (5)
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PETA putting monkeys out of business

Chimp-actors may soon be protesting PETA after the animal rights organization recently launched a campaign that may put them out of work. PETA is urging TV and movie viewers to look away when those adorable primates pitch products. The animal rights group says on its site, “in doing so, they are also promoting a cruel industry that rips baby animals away from their mothers and trains them to perform, using tactics such as electric shocks and beatings with steel bars wrapped in electrical tape. Chimpanzees and orangutans who are too old to perform are not given sanctuary, as the industry would like consumers to believe, but are sold to biomedical research facilities or to tawdry roadside attractions—ensuring continued suffering.” The organization urges consumers to write to companies like Capitol One and E*Trade that have used primates in their ads. The site shows several of the ads, most of them years old, and includes a heartfelt endorsement from Jane Goodall. But one commercial that is noticeably absent from that hit list is a spot for HBO that starred Goodall and her famous chimps. The ad, which was titled "Chimps" and won the first Emmy awarded to a commercial in 1997, was set in a remote jungle setting and features chimps quoting famous movie lines, using the original movie audio. One quotes Marlon Brando in The Godfather. Another repeats Forrest Gump’s “mama says stupid is as stupid does.” Even Star Wars and Animal House references make it into the spot. Then it cuts to Goodall, who is looking at the chimps through her binoculars from her cabin as she narrates her diary entry in the voiceover. “Their inexplicable behavior continues.” HBO is playing on her TV set behind her, as she leaves her diary to go watch Braveheart. The spot ended with “Dr. Jane Goodall. HBO viewer since 1978.” At the time, she told newspapers that the commercial brought desperately needed funds to her research center and that trained chimps were not used. But who would know that from watching the commercial? Seemed like a pretty good endorsement for apes in entertainment to AdFreak.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on August 1, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1)
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Nike almost promotes running barefoot

Nike’s latest ad campaign recommends “run barefoot.” Huh? After all these years hearing you need all that pricey, high-tech support and cushioning to put a spring to your step, it turns out that running barefoot is actually good for you, helping to strengthen muscles and prevent injury in training. But before you start pounding the pavement barefoot,  you should read up on the details.  Or head to the nearest Nike store. To recreate that oh-so-liberating, running-barefoot-on-the-beach feeling, Nike offers Nike FREE, a lightweight shoe with a flexible design that simulates running barefoot. Nike last week began advertising the shoe with a commercial that recreates the famous beach-running scene from Chariots of Fire. Only this poetic jog following a group of runners on a beach gets increasingly cluttered with urban items—a parking meter, a man on a park bench, a taxi—before a bus roars in front of the lead runner and the scenes switches to a city environment.  It seems FREE already has its fans, from Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong to rising soccer star Freddy Adu, which have lent their names to the product line. And if you fancy yellow or just feel like giving a little, try the Armstrong shoe, which gives $1 to the Lance Armstrong Foundation for each sold.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on May 31, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (2)
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Cows tip college student for Maryland lottery

Is there a cow uprising underway? Yesterday, cows invaded New York's Bryant Park on behalf of Nestlé, and now It seems at least one U.S. state has been experiencing strange bovine behavior in recent weeks. For the past month, cows (people dressed like cows) have been spotted playing tennis, grazing at restaurants and mooing at tailgate parties in order to spread a message of “bovine unite." A commercial that aired last week in the state caught the mad cows in action—tipping over a college student while asleep in his bed. Are cows finally getting their revenge for all those drunken disturbances? Nah, it’s just The Maryland Lottery using “Uddergate” to showcase its “Let Yourself Play” message. The campaign highlights the lottery’s new $250,000 promotion, its Bovine Bucks doubler scratch-off ticket and “Nascow” online racing game. Now, I’m not quite sure why cows are the way to go for a lottery promotion but they sure are cute (even the drooly one in the spot). What’s next? Will the cows rise up for their ultimate revenge? Somehow I doubt Millie The Cow (here's a link to her blog) is ready to take on the National Cattleman's Beef Council.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on May 13, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0)
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Levi's Web film goes to the dogs

An AdFreak reader, singing its praises, brought this Levi’s Web spot to our attention. “Punk” says “finally looks like there’s a real and timely strategy.” A dog rips an apartment to shreds while superimposed text talks about how complicated things have become with lines like “Movies became films,” “Mediums became grandes,” “Meat became soy,” before the text explains, “It’s enough to drive a good dog mad.” The black-and-white spot, driven by a punk-pop track by Welsh band My Red Cell, has a raw, homemade feel, especially when it gets to the final shot of the dog ending its tirade by lifting his leg and peeing on a magazine. It’s supposed to be a swipe at marketing with (wink, wink) marketing but all it makes me want to do is swipe the dog ...  I think he’s adorable. The film's not interesting enough to make me want to pass it around and "tell a friend" as the site suggests. I know logic isn’t everything, but why would a dog care about any of this stuff, anyway? He's just having fun while master’s away. I like the tagline, “Uncomplicate,” and the idea that marketing's just gone too far in trying to make products fancier, sexier or more wanted. Unfortunately, this ad didn’t go far enough. Just relied on a dog with old tricks. (Addendum: when we stopped by the site this morning, we discovered there's a second spot up on the home page now, at  501uncomplicate.com. It's a two-minute film called "World Gone Pretty" starring what looks to be a Ken doll and his friends in a think-piece on the horrors of metrosexualism. If you check it out, tell us what you think.)

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on May 2, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (8)
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Return of the King, with a PG rating

After reintroducing the Burger King by showing him in a man’s bed, inspiring claims both of homoeroticism and homophobia (considering the awkwardness when the King put his hand on the guy’s knee), it seems Crispin Porter + Bogusky is trying to portray a bit more of a wholesome image of the King, while keeping his oddball edge. In two recent spots, he makes just as an abrupt appearance but keeps his distance and pets only the dog. In one ad, he turns up on a doorstep with a Western Omelet Croissan’wich on a platter; in another, he appears at a window with an Enormous Omelet Sandwich. Both ads seem to feature gratuitous shots of the men’s female mates somewhere in the background. In “Dog,” after spotting the King lurking in his yard, a man turns with a puzzled expression to his wife or girlfriend washing her face in a bathroom in the distance. When he turns back around, the King is smack in front of him in the doorway. In the other, “Curtain,” a woman passes by in the hallway in the far background while a guy yucks it up with the King. The plastic-headed character still has an unsettling quality about him, but both spots end with exaggerated happy-go-lucky play—in one, the King rolls around the floor as the dog licks his face; in the other, he’s got all sorts of animals (a bunny, a deer, a squirrel, birds) flocking to him in a Snow White-like scene of purity. Last time we saw the King, wasn’t he pushing a bombshell in a swing at the racy David LaChapelle-directed “Fantasy Ranch,” starring Darius Rucker? Can’t wait to see where he’ll turn up next.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on April 18, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (5)
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The terrifying return of Mr. Six

It’s spring and that means? Aaahhh! He’s baaaack! Mr. Six—that freakishly festive old bald guy (actually, probably not old) with the oversized glasses and bad makeup is invading our televisions once again with his manic dancing and annoying “We Like to Party” song for Six Flags that inexplicably gets lodged in your brain. In a new spot heralding the seasonal opening of the theme parks, Mr. Six wakes up in a retirement home, realizes it’s spring and drives off in his Six Flags bus to get the parks ready. Some of us wish the tuxedoed toe-tapper had stayed in hibernation. Or better yet, that someone would have finally put him to rest. He’s not an appealing character, and he would seem to frighten some children. (He frightens some adults.) But somehow he’s getting the job done for Six Flags. The theme park reported brisk sales of Mr. Six memorabilia last summer, and the kids came out in droves for look-alike contests. This year, he even got his own roller coaster, “Mr. Six’s Pandemonium.” Looks like Mr. Six won’t be deep-sixed anytime soon. Go figure.

—Posted by Eleftheria Parpis

Published on April 4, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (13)
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