BK $1 Holidays, for when you care that little
As a person who loved getting those $5 McDonald's coupon booklets from my more estranged relatives every year, Burger King's latest dollar-menu promotion is right up my fast-food-giving alley. At BKDollarHolidays.com, you can pay $1 to send a card with an actual, genuine U.S. dollar inside to the people you care the least about. (That's not just me saying that. The site says the card "lets them know you almost care.") There's even a commercial with a creepy guy in a turtleneck (posted below). It's quite a deal, considering a card itself usually costs more than a buck. I'd send them to all my friends, if they didn't come with a dose of BK attitude. It's hard to find someone who wouldn't be upset to get the "Happy holidays, what's-yer-face" card. Fortunately for BK, every acquaintance of mine who seemed appropriate for this fits squarely within the young, male target demographic. In fact, I just sent a card to both of my bosses! Here's hoping I'm still employed by at least one of them in 2010. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on December 9, 2009 | Permalink
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Stunt buddha jumps Benihana shrimp buffet
Benihana was hot in the '70s when it was a novelty for chefs to prepare food at your table. That's not so special now, and neither is this "Big Jump" spot via Wieden + Kennedy and Matt Lenski of Epoch Films. They use tiki-mug figurines to tell the tale of a self-styled Buddah Knievel with a salad-cycle who leaps over a spread of shrimp. This isn't nearly as wild as a real Asian ad would be, and it's undercooked as a parody/homage. Now, if the cycle guy crashed into the condiment tray, à la Gary Wells, and played a dramatic death scene in a pool of soy-sauce blood, as tattooed salt-and-pepper-shaker Yakuza blew everyone away with chopstick machine guns … now you're talking! And a broccoli-stalk Godzilla wouldn't hurt. Maybe Japanophile director Quentin Tarantino could spice up the next spot.
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Published on November 24, 2009 | Permalink
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Sonic manager stages robbery during lunch
A manager at a Sonic in Missouri (no, not the person shown here) decided to "train" his staffers on how to handle a potentially violent situation by staging a mugging where an actor held a realistic toy gun to an employee's head. Thing is, he decided to do this at the height of the lunch hour, causing frantic customers to call police and report a hostage situation. Once the police arrived, they figured out what was happening, and "forcefully got the message across that's not expected behavior." Sonic's corporate executives agreed. The company said in a statement: "The franchisee who owns and operates the drive-in sincerely regrets any inconvenience or misunderstanding caused by the training event. Sonic believes in providing a safe atmosphere for our employees." I doubt a single soda slinger in the whole place learned anything from the ordeal. But let's look on the bright side: I'm sure Sonic's PR folks will get plenty of training. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on November 17, 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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Rap your McDonald's order at your own risk
It's generally a bad idea to try things you saw in a viral video, as four Utah teens learned this week when they were cited by police after rapping their McDonald's order. Personally, I think the only crime here is that they were re-enacting a 3-year-old YouTube clip that your in-laws have probably even seen (but we've included it below, just in case). Apparently they were also committing disorderly conduct by delaying the drive-through line and making an employee feel "her safety was at risk." So, as a public service, AdFreak would like give a nugget of advice to the teens of America: If Taco Bell's ad team has already beaten you to co-opting some lame white-boy Internet meme, it might be time to find a new prank. —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on October 30, 2009 | Permalink
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Jimmy John's fuels your cowboy threesome
Sub shop Jimmy John's has been hitting pretty deep into left field lately with new spots by The Ad Store. A few weeks back, the college-centric chain unleashed a flood of new ads that feature Jimmy John's as a vital component of childbirth, bomb defusing and extramarital affairs. But those were downright bland compared to the cowboy-themed threesome going on in the spot above. Still, they've done weirder. Via Adland. —Posted by David Griner Previously on BrandFreak: |
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Published on October 27, 2009 | Permalink
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No one really wants to be surprised at Uno's
Uno's "Fall of surprises" campaign from Full Contact Advertising (seven short spots above) isn't particularly surprising, because we've seen most of these concepts before in other food and restaurant campaigns. As for the "fall" part, well, that's more accurate, if only because the pizzeria has managed to sink below its past level of suckiness. The pumpkin's pervy "Hell-ooo, short ribs" catchphrase would make his fellow gourd in Caribou Coffee's spots blush. And the tart-tongued cranberries probably flunked the audition for this summer's Raisinettes brand-extension campaign. Those campaigns seem like One Show winners compared to this—though, as we've learned, anything can triumph in that competition. For those who assumed Uno's lobster promo plumbed the depths, trust me: This time, they've really gone to pot! "Hell-ooo, short ribs!" I'll be saying that all day. —Posted by David Gianatasio Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 21, 2009 | Permalink
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No lie, Tony Stewart does love the Whopper
Today, Crispin Porter + Bogusky rolled out a 50-minute Web show for Burger King at TheTruthAboutTony.com. The brand promoted the show heavily during sports games over the past few weekends, saying it would prove once and for all that Nascar driver and BK endorser Tony Stewart really does love the Whopper. The setup mimicked the old TV show Lie Detector, with Stewart hooked up to a machine and asked questions. The site had a Digg-like system to collect questions from fans, who could vote them up or down. Stewart was deemed to be telling the truth when asked whether he's done a doughnut on public property (yes), whether he likes musical theater (no) and whether he's read a book in the last two years (nope). He was caught lying when he said he's never gone commando under the fire suit, cried after a movie of the week, had a special blanket or toy as a kid or checked out hot chicks during races. Burger King showed admirable restraint not making it all about burgers. There was a BK bag on the set and a logo on Stewart's shirt. Of the 30-odd questions, five came from the brand. The entire program led up to asking Stewart whether he really loves the Whopper. He does! All in all, it was pretty entertaining, even for someone who has never watched a Nascar race in his life, though it probably lasted a bit too long and at times seemed contrived. No doubt there's a novelty factor at play here with the live Web video, so I'd guess we'll see more. If you missed it, BK is replaying it tonight at 9 p.m. ET. —Posted by Brian Morrissey
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Published on October 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Quiznos ads becoming just one big gay joke
Quiznos kills two birds with one stone—gay people and poor people—in this new ad from Siltanen & Partners, showing a pair of Southern gents sharing a "hillbilly hot tub" (which is apparently just a regular tub propped up and heated by a wood fire). The Quiznos oven, which has some experience in homoerotic relations (the "Put it in me, Scott" commercial), narrates: "Hooo, that hillbilly hot tub looks dangerous. And hot. But not as hot as Quiznos's new double-cheese cheesesteak!" Quiznos's young male target apparently loves this kind of stuff, however bizarre the product comparison. Almost anyone else will find the spot unappetizing—including The Denver Egotist, which somewhat humorously is bothered mostly by the fact that the Colorado-based account continues to be handled outside Colorado. —Posted by Tim Nudd Previously on AdFreak: |
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Published on October 19, 2009 | Permalink
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CiCi's pizza better than fast-food greasebag
After setting a commercial in a morgue and dropping pennies onto our nation's filthy streets for the hungry masses to collect, CiCi's Pizza turns things around with some decent new ads from Deutsch/LA. A wisecracking spokesbag tells it like it is in a hoarse, Borscht-belt-style delivery that works way better than it should. The bag has a real in-your-face attitude, and it rants so much about beef and pickles and cheese, I was hungry for an Angus 1/3-pounder by the end of the second spot. So, congrats, CiCi's, for the best McDonald's campaign I've seen all year. —Posted by David Gianatasio
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Published on September 17, 2009 | Permalink
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Cereal will resent your Dunkin' Donuts habit
I haven't been a big fan of Hill, Holliday's recent Dunkin' Donuts work, but this latest "Where's Dan?" ad strikes just the right chord. There's a cube-jockey workplace setup, and I figured we were in for some more stale Office-style banter. Not so! The real action's back home in Dan's cupboard, where animated cereal-box characters bemoan their former breakfast mate's newfound love of Dunkin' food. It's a cute idea done well, and it resonates with me, because as a kid I'd hold entire conversations with Toucan Sam, Cap'n Crunch and the Trix rabbit at the breakfast table. But that was 30 years ago, and today I know better. The Cap'n's evil and just wants to escape his cardboard frigate and embark on a bloody quest for world domination. Tony the Tiger's the only one I listen to now. What's that, Tony? I should buy more Frosted Flakes because they're grrrr-eat? —Posted by David Gianatasio See also: |
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Published on September 11, 2009 | Permalink
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Practically anyone can endorse Burger King
Burger King's new campaign from Crispin Porter + Bogusky is a goofy bit of meta marketing in which celebrity endorser Tony Stewart, the Nascar driver, explores the nature and reliability of celebrity endorsements. In the spot above, he gives Carrot Top and Erik Estrada tips at the Tony Stewart School of Endorsements. You come away from it mostly wondering what the hell happened to Carrot Top. It looks like he's been flavoring his coffee with the same poison that ravaged that Ukrainian guy. The spot below suggests that Stewart decided to endorse the Whopper rather than a contraption called the Sockmaster 2000. Both ads imply, somewhat comically, that Stewart himself—adviser to D-listers, would-be sock steamer—is pretty lame as celebrity endorsers go. Still, it should be fun on Oct. 20, when Stewart will submit to a live polygraph, broadcast online, that will determine once and for all whether he does actually like the Whopper. |
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Published on September 10, 2009 | Permalink
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Men with small parts always welcome at BK
The guy with the tiny hands is back in a couple of new Burger King ads from Crispin Porter + Bogusky. He first appeared in this 2007 spot, where he was reluctant to eat a BK double cheeseburger because it made his already-small appendages look even smaller (and was taken aback by his friend's offer to "hold it for you"). In the new ads, it's the Whopper Jr. that fuels his feelings of embarrassment and inadequacy. His bitter father (above) and his friends (below) try to convince him that Burger King is the place to go even for those who have tiny parts. See also: |
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Published on August 31, 2009 | Permalink
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Quiznos oven now driving guys into therapy
We haven't seen the talking Quiznos oven since it was propositioning an employee in this ad. But it's come back to haunt another guy's therapy session in this spot for the Toasty Bullet sandwich. This guy's obsessed with the six-inch sandwiches, which I guess is more respectable than the previous dude's foot-long meat-tube habit, but still. Both men need to start setting some serious boundaries with the oven, before there's too much psychological damage to undo. Unless, of course, Quiznos is paying their psychiatric bills, in which case it all comes out in the wash. See also: |
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Published on August 20, 2009 | Permalink
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Caucasian idiot hypes McDonald's in Japan
A controversy is brewing in Japan over the latest McDonald's ads there, which feature a nerdy white foreigner who speaks in broken Japanese and generally acts like a moron. The character, named Mr. James, loves Japan and its people but reserves his true excitement (as seen in the ad below) for McDonald's food. Cardboard cutouts of Mr. James are everywhere, and the character is touring the country and posting about it on his blog. The campaign is only a few days old, but already there is backlash from those who think it's anti-white and anti-foreigner—and backlash to the backlash from those who think the West's depiction of Asians tends to be a lot worse. (Long Duk Dong's been mentioned.) We don't recall any U.S. McDonald's ad being anti-Asian, though of course Burger King did the questionable "Eat Like Snake" spot a few years back. Via Consumerist. See also: |
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Published on August 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Is 'kick-ass' appropriate for a press release?
It can be hard to tell when an obscenity becomes so mainstream that it's safe to use in the corporate vernacular. That seems to be the case with "kick-ass," an adjective that PR blogger (and sometime journalist scold) Lauren Fernandez was surprised to see in the first line of a TGI Friday's press release. "I ran it past both seasoned reporters and newbies," Fernandez writes, "and most said the same thing: 'It grabbed our attention, but we don't know how professional it is to use that.' " Coincidentally, there's a movie due out early next year called Kick-Ass, so you can expect to hear this debate again when the posters start going up. The difference, of course, is that movie posters are for the whole world to see, while press releases are aimed at journalists, who presumably have a higher threshold for colorful language (and have cause to use it often when hanging up on PR flacks). I think Friday's should push the envelope harder next time and just say, "Here's some more kick-ass fodder for you, assuming your dipshit rag is still in business tomorrow." —Posted by David Griner |
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Published on July 27, 2009 | Permalink
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Sultry French maids go on tour for Hardee's
Just when relations between France and the U.S. were showing signs of improvement, along comes this promotional campaign for the new Hardee's French Dip Thickburger. If a cross-country tour by four "Hardee's French Maids" (slogan: "French Me") doesn't rub France the wrong way, Hardee's is also offering instruction in French pick-up lines. —Posted by Mark Dolliver |
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Published on July 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Lobsters resigned to their fate in Uno spots
No one's going to think of Uno's when they're in the mood for seafood. Hell, I don't even think of it when I want pizza. (Their pies are so dense, it's like they baked a chef inside each one.) Having turned bad pizza into an art form, the chain ventures into uncharted waters (nice metaphor!) with a summer menu that, according to publicity materials, features lobster-inspired dishes. Lobster-inspired? What are we talking here, shredded haddock and expired mayonnaise? I don't know, and I don't want to know. TV commercials from Full Contact Advertising in Boston feature talking lobsters. The ads would be better if the clawed freaks were shown eating their own, like Boost Mobile's cannibal hogs. Still, one short vignette stands out: A panicked crustacean shrieks at the top of its brine-filled lungs: "Uno has lobster! Run for your lives!" I couldn't have said it better myself. —Posted by David Gianatasio |
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Published on July 16, 2009 | Permalink
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Evil children can't wait to get to McDonald's
DDB Stockholm remains king of the weird McDonald's commercials with new spot above, in which the prototypical childhood car-trip question takes on a sinister aspect. "Not there yet? Stop at McDonald's!" a bird screams at the car at the end. In terms of weirdness, it's up there with some of the agency's other creations, including the cliffhanging french-fries eater and, below, the two dudes with the same nose. |
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Published on July 1, 2009 | Permalink
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Hardee's commercials dig even deeper hole
We already wrote about Hardee's new Biscuit Holes ads, where the words "hole" and "balls" get repeated a lot, but missed this particular spot, where people just come out and say "A-hole" over and over. In a taste test, regular donut holes are marked A, and Biscuit Holes are marked B. People side with the B-holes because "the A-hole seems kind of small," "the A-hole is nasty" and "the A-hole tastes funny." The campaign is by Mendelsohn Zien, which also did the Paris, Padma and Audrina burger spots. |
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Published on June 30, 2009 | Permalink
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What 'hole dreamed up these Hardee's ads?Hardee's takes a seat on the innuendo bus with the campaign for its new Biscuit Holes menu item. In the video above, a guy solicits other names for the product, which they might as well call Groaners, a term that applies to the suggestions they got. "Puffy Nuts"? Really? "Yayholes" sounds like New England slang for out-of-towners. The ad below shows a fornlorn Biscuit Hole wandering aimlessly and asking various objects, "Are you my hole?" It eventually reunites with its fellow Holes and feels happy, which is more than can be said for the viewer. |
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Published on June 26, 2009 | Permalink
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Spot any suggestive imagery in this BK ad?
Also not the subtlest ad ever made: this Burger King poster now making the rounds online, for something called the Super Seven Incher. Copy: "Fill your desire for something long, juicy and flame-grilled." It's from Singapore. It's not from Crispin Porter. And it's not competing for a Lion at Cannes. Source: Flickr's joezandstra, via @michaelGregoire. |
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Published on June 24, 2009 | Permalink
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Audrina's Carl's Jr. ad not wholly off-putting
One of my biggest fears in life is that I will stain my gold lamé bikini with teriyaki sauce while eating a big fat burger on the beach. So, I'm really feelin' for Audrina Patridge (of The Hills fame) here. This latest Carl's Jr. spot is about as real as her popular "reality" show. But shockingly enough, I don't hate it. I appreciate that it's a somewhat more natural setup than having Paris Hilton hose down a luxury car while sucking and licking the burger on all fours (although she is the Einstein of that act). Plus, I was repelled by watching the smart and beauteous (and ex-Mrs. Salman Rushie) Padma Lakshmi indulge in similar sucking and licking, which I found kind of an icky, desperate sellout. Padma, we know you're sexy—you don't have to do this! (On the other hand, wouldn't Lakshmi be great in an ad for Kashi?) But back to Audrina, who more than holds her own while scarfing down the sloppy, fruit-infused meat sandwich. "To look this good in a bikini, I have to eat a lot of fruit," she says in the shorter, better version of the commercial. Then she delicately removes the pineapple ring from the top of the Hawaiian-style burger and pops it into her mouth. The tagline, perhaps an attempt at justifying all the sexism that proceeds it, is, "More than just a piece of meat." It's certainly a new way to stuff a wild bikini—but for mere mortals, you might want to place a napkin over your mid-section. —Posted by Barbara Lippert |
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Published on June 23, 2009 | Permalink
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El Pollo Loco has a beef with KFC's chicken
The Los Angeles Times has the scoop on KFC's next potential PR fiasco. It turns out the marinade for KFC's new grilled chicken contains beef. So, not only isn't it grilled (it's cooked in an oven), it's not even completely chicken. PR reps for KFC claim the marinade, which contains beef powder and beef fat, is only 0.2% beef, but that doesn't help anyone who keeps beef out of their diet for either religious or ethical concerns. The chain's competitor, El Pollo Loco, has decided to play up that fact in its next ad campaign, after learning about it (get this) through a customer's Tweet. Check out their surprisingly boring opening spot, where EPL's president stands in a cow pasture, and the BeefyChicken.com site. Last month, EPL accused KFC of prank calling them, and KFC had to apologize for its Oprah distribution boo-boo. What's up with KFC? Is it just a cry for help or a legitimate attempt at brand suicide? —Posted by Rebecca Cullers |
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Published on June 19, 2009 | Permalink
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Jack in the Box cooks up stupid new dance
If the chicken dance ever had a trace of cultural dignity, I think we can safely say it's been flushed down the commode by this Jack in the Box ad for the Mini Buffalo Ranch Chicken Sandwich. I suppose you have to give the advertising team credit for turning such an obnoxiously long product name into an unshakable earworm. And there seems to be quite a bit of YouTube evidence that this dance is, in fact, sweeping the nation. It's been attempted by a few kids, Jack in the Box's interactive marketing team and at least one stormtrooper with a girlfriend soundly out of his league. |
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Published on June 18, 2009 | Permalink
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