Feline's epic dreams come true in lottery adBy Rebecca Cullers on Fri Apr 8 2011In this unexpectedly sweet Russian lottery ad, a cat gets the Laika treatment, blasting off into space. Ignoring the whole problematic issue of Laika's actual demise, the cat happily lives out its dream of space flight, thanks to GosLoto and an understanding owner who needs only to look deep into the cat's yearning eyes to see how important space travel is to the animal. Frankly, it's nice to see a lottery commercial that focuses on how you could make your real dreams come true, as opposed to showing you rolling about on the floor as money ejaculates all over you. Cute cat in a space suit and a story of impossible dreams? This thing is going to be big! |
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Filed under Animals, Cullers, Lotteries, Russia
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Russia's anti-alcohol squirrel back on sauceBy David Gianatasio on Fri Apr 8 2011Last year, Russia's health ministry scored a huge viral hit—to the tune of 3 million views—with a PSA (see below) starring a psychotic, alcoholic squirrel manically raving about shooting someone's wife, warbling ethnic folk songs and battling invisible spiders in its cell. His eerie vow to viewers: "I'm coming for you." Watching the rodent literally climb the walls in the midst of an intense, pop-eyed breakdown, one question stuck in my mind: What's that gnarly dude been drinking, and where can I find some, because I really want to get that hammered. Now, Russinvest is marketing a 40-proof vodka with a picture of a crazed "hell squirrel" on the label. The marketer's goofing on the earlier PSA and riding its bushy coattails to generate massive attention—for free. Mighty capitalistic of those sloshed Ruskies. I've been sampling some product for the past few hours, and I can vouch for its potency. I wish I understood Russian, because that's the language I hear from the voices inside my head. And … are those spiders crawling all over my face and head? Oh god, get 'em off me! |
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Filed under Alcohol, Gianatasio, Russia
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Parasailing ad donkey dies of a heart attackBy David Kiefaber on Tue Feb 8 2011Sad news from Russia (like there's any other kind): Anapka, the donkey that was forced to parasail last summer for an advertising stunt, has died of a heart attack at the Strely Yarily animal farm. The grim spectacle of Anapka's terrified braying as it soared over a Russian beach angered animal activists and veterinarians, one of whom said the stunt "border[ed] on bullying and unequivocally leads to severe stress, if not death." Frankly, it's a wonder Anapka didn't have the heart attack then! Despite this, Anapka led a long life, making it to 40 years old, when most donkeys cash in at 25 or 35. Since there's no way to end an article about the death of an abused animal with a joke, I'll just raise a glass to Anapka and honor its memory by never, ever going parasailing. |
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Filed under Animals, Kiefaber, Russia
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Russian drunk-driving billboard is awesomeBy Tim Nudd on Mon Jan 31 2011Seriously, how awesome is this billboard? It's a holiday PSA (thus the guy's Santa hat) from Russia. According to Copyranter, the headline reads, "It could be your body." That's a bit of a stretch. It would take an impressive series of events to be propelled from one's car, thrown skyward and driven halfway through a billboard—while still holding the steering wheel. And yet, if anyone can accomplish it, it's a Russian driver, probably after having "one for the road." Via Adme.ru. |
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Filed under Alcohol, Nudd, PSAs, Russia
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Drunk squirrel warning Russians off alcoholBy David Kiefaber on Tue Dec 7 2010This Russian anti-alcoholism PSA is very ... well, Russian, in its handling of the subject. But unlike most tragic Russian humor, people actually seem to enjoy this ad—to the tune of 1.5 million views on YouTube so far. Evidently, the drunken jabbering of a psychotic, red-eyed squirrel is more entertaining than I'd assumed. (The squirrel apparently yammers on about chasing spiders up a wall and a friend's wife who died because she is a devil. He is not voiced by Mel Gibson.) The ad was commissioned by Russia's health and social development ministry because alcoholism kills around half a million Russians every year. Indeed, it's such a problem there that they finally got around to banning drunk driving. It figures they'd be late to that party if they're only now catching up to the angry-squirrel craze we've long since discarded.
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Filed under Alcohol, Animals, Kiefaber, PSAs, Russia
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Rainbow-eating giraffe is milked for SkittlesBy Tim Nudd on Fri Aug 13 2010More crazy Skittles work, this time from SapientNitro in Russia. Here, a guy milks a rainbow-munching giraffe and happily ends up with a bucket of Skittles. (Copy: "Drain the rainbow. Taste the rainbow.") Skittles has done the milking thing before, with the notorious milked man who won't stop eating the sour Skittles. Via Copyranter. |
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Filed under Candy, Nitro, Nudd, Russia
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Russians torture donkey to hype parasailingBy David Kiefaber on Wed Jul 21 2010Something bad happened in Russia. No, I mean worse than usual. A group of Russian businessmen terrified vacationers by parachuting a donkey over a beach along the Sea of Azov, reportedly as a stunt to promote parasailing trips. Why they didn't think of offering this opportunity to a person who might actually enjoy it is unknown at this time, but what we do know is the poor donkey was even more freaked out than the public was. According to a local police official, "the donkey screamed and children cried" before the animal landed awkwardly in the water. Sheesh. And we thought Richard Branson's nude suit thing was in poor taste. |
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Filed under Controversy, Kiefaber, Russia, Tourism
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Dirty girls clean up Russian carrier's aircraftPosted on Thu Jun 17 2010Paris Hilton's car-wash spot for Carl's Jr. was alright, but it pales in comparison to this plane-wash spot for Russian airline Avianova, in which a bunch of bikini babes lather up one of the carrier's planes—and then themselves. Avianova is a low-cost airline, but they're clearly willing to pay a little extra to get the cleaning done right. Via Copyranter. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Filed under Airlines, Avianova, Nudd, Russia
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We haven't seen the last of 9/11-themed adsPosted on Tue Sep 8 2009In the wake of the WWF/DDB fiasco, Adland has posted a bunch of other 9/11-themed ads done over the years. Many of them are also pretty tasteless—in particular, the one with the oblivious pilots reading Humo magazine while heading straight for the towers. Adland also points out this 2003 MTV campaign, which similarly compared the death toll of 9/11 with that of other tragedies—in this case, AIDS, famine and poverty. If we've seen this stuff before, Adland asks, why did the DDB ad cause such a backlash? Who knows. It was probably the slow news week and the image of multiple planes, which was particularly upsetting. Whatever the reason, we surely haven't seen the last of 9/11 imagery ads. The visual shorthand of the century's defining image is just too tempting. In fact, there's already a new 9/11 advertisement out—the one above (click to enlarge) from BBDO for the English-language Moscow News. "Things hard to explain, in a language you understand," says the tagline. (There's also a Hiroshima version.) It's pretty harmless, though it does seem more exploitative than it would have a week ago. With future ads, that kind of awareness is probably the best we can hope for—along with a reminder that the total annihilation of New York is never a great advertising theme. See also: |
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Filed under 9/11, BBDO, Newspapers, Nudd, Russia
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Let's blame the economic crisis on 'Forbes'Posted on Wed Apr 1 2009Forget about the sub-prime mortgage meltdown and Wall Street greed. The real cause of global economic turmoil? Underpaid journalists and the capitalist tool they wield at Forbes. That's the view of Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev, who is suing the magazine for reporting that he lost $2.5 billion in the current financial crisis. "I am positive that Forbes magazine, which has repeatedly posted wrong information about me and some others, must be held responsible for the world financial and economic crisis," he says. "The magazine had been inflating the false bubble of billionaires for too long. The bubble blew up and struck a blow to the finance and economy of many developed countries." OK then, the former KGB officer may have found one way to make money in these dismal times: He is demanding "compensation of material and moral damage caused by this defamation." Lebedev appears to be in good company. Forbes estimates that Russia has lost two-thirds of its billionaires, with oligarch-heavy Moscow being replaced by New York as the city with the world's most billionaires. (What Wall Street meltdown?!) Lebedev is no stranger to the cause of free speech. In January, he bought London's loss-making Evening Standard for a whopping £1. He now owns a 75 percent stake in the publication and wants to add politicos like Mikhail Gorbachev and Tony Blair to its editorial board. He also owns a 39 percent stake in Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. —Posted by Noreen O'Leary |
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Filed under Finance, O'Leary, Russia
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Foreign ads with Obama continue to offendPosted on Mon Mar 30 2009Somehow we missed this Russian ice-cream ad when it hit the Web a few weeks ago. But we'll post it now anyway, in honor of foreign companies' continuing clumsiness and stupidity in their efforts to capitalize on Barack Obama's election. The company behind this ad claims to be "celebrating the fact there is a black president in the White House." Which is basically the same thing that the German company which made "Obama-Fingers" fried chicken said. See the full Russian ad over at Ads of the World. A cartoon Obama in front of the White House under the words "Flavor of the Month" is a bit coarse for us. And really, it's not like Russia is above suspicion in this regard. Via Ads of the World. |
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Filed under Barack Obama, Controversy, Kiefaber, Russia
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Sign of the times at Russia's Millionaire FairPosted on Tue Dec 9 2008It's been only four years since the first Millionaire Fair in Moscow, and already we're getting nostalgic for those heady early years of petrodollar excess, as falling oil prices and the global economic crisis take their toll on Russia. This year's fair, a three-day testament to hyper-luxury "must-haves" like diamond-encrusted hubcaps, wrapped up on Nov. 30 with a thud, as men in suits and women in gowns searched the exhibition hall for any hint of the Laurent-Perrier champagne that flowed so freely in previous years. The over-the-top event, imagined as only the nouveau riche could after years of Soviet deprivation, was described by Pravda, in its first year, as offering "goods that wealthy people need in their everyday lives: gold-plated coffee pots, marble angels, jewel-encrusted pens, Lamborghinis, yachts and helicopters. There was even a live tiger on a lead near the stand filled with gold suitcases." Most of it was still there this year. The only thing missing were the roubles to finance such gilded lifestyles. Turns out those mega-rich Russian oligarchs are more like us than we knew, cutting back on everyday necessities in tough times! —Posted by Noreen O'Leary |
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Filed under O'Leary, Russia
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Make a baby and win a brand-new SUVPosted on Wed Sep 12 2007
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Filed under Russia
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They're lovin' the Big Mac song in RussiaPosted on Mon Oct 2 2006
—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor |
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Filed under Russia
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Counterfeit flag flies high over RussiaPosted on Mon Oct 2 2006
—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor |
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Filed under Russia
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Capitalism: alive and well in Mother RussiaPosted on Wed Jun 28 2006After our post yesterday about seeing the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign in Russia’s Metro, a reader asked if we were “amazed by the incredible amount of billboards” in Moscow. Well, we were, and even though most of us have heard about that, the overlay of commercialism on a still ample supply of Communist-era symbolism is kind of stunning. If Lenin is still, indeed, buried at Lenin’s tomb in Red Square, he’s rolling in it. Click on the image below for a brief tour of commercial Moscow. |
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Filed under Russia
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What is real beauty in Moscow?Posted on Tue Jun 27 2006
—Posted by Catharine P. Taylor |
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Filed under Russia
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Times Square's got nothing on MoscowPosted on Fri Dec 2 2005
—Posted by Jim Lovel |
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Filed under Russia
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