James Lipton's beard protecting teens' junkLG and Young & Rubicam have enlisted James Lipton, and his great and powerful beard, for some amusing PSAs urging young texters to "give it a ponder" before spreading hurtful gossip and/or pics of their junk across the interwebs. The Inside the Actors Studio host literally lends his beard to each troubled youngster to get them to do the right thing. One spot is posted below. See all four here, along with four print ads. They're all hair-larious. It's just really fun to hear Lipton say things like, "The last thing he needs is tweets about his beets." Over at the Web site, JL's talking beard will guide you through the standard social-media components. Will these ads break through to jaded teens? My husband happens to have a whole class of 9th graders who saw the ads during homeroom. What did they say? "Why does she have a beard? I don't get it. That's retarded." But you have to know how to read a 9th grader. Apparently, they hate everything. The important thing is: They didn't say it was gay. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers
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Published on December 2, 2009 | Permalink
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Talking food is well done in U.K. TV promos
Talking food is everywhere in advertising, but it doesn't get much more strange or awesome than this. These short, comical clips from RKCR/Y&R in London show healthy food items chatting with their unhealthier alter egos (e.g., a grilled sausage and a fried sausage, veggie pizza and pepperoni pizza, etc.) to promote Family Supercooks, a new U.K. show about eating familiar foods in healthier ways. It's hard to pick a favorite from among the motley cast of characters, though the sadistic ketchup is well up there. Adland has more, including the fun fact that some of the characters are loosely based on people at RKCR. |
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Published on October 29, 2009 | Permalink
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Tiny cars cut to the chase for LG cell phone
This charming ad from Y&R New York might be one of the better car commercials of the year. But it's not a car commercial. The tiny vehicles race around in service of the LG enVTouch smartphone. The best detail: when the white foam packaging puffs go flying in the alley. If some of the sequences seem familiar, like you'd screened them somewhere before, that's part of the build-up to the cinematic punch line. The phone becomes a drive-in movie in the final scene, OK? Sorry to spoil the surprise (which is pretty minimal), but given the themes here, it made sense to cut to the chase. Via Ads of the World. See also: |
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Published on September 18, 2009 | Permalink
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Are these guys in a beer commercial or not?
This Quilmes beer spot from Young & Rubicam in Argentina is a pretty funny bit of meta marketing. The two guys have an impressive eye for detail, particularly in noticing that all the beer glasses have the same amount in them. But clearly it's a commercial, because these two dweebs would never get into a club full of hot chicks any other way. In fact, Big Nose's buddy should thank his lucky stars he's in an ad, because otherwise he'd be stuck playing the pervert neighbor in a Lifetime Original Movie. |
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Published on August 21, 2009 | Permalink
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You'll be roasted alive, but still earn interestAt last, some bank advertising that tells it like it is! No vanilla platitudes here! In ads from Y&R Lima, Banco Financiero faces the truth about the world today: that we are (or might as well be) under assault from rampant meteor strikes and roaming dinosaurs, terrible storms and rising sea levels, and/or even vicious alien attacks. We're all basically screwed, though even if the world ends, that 8.5 percent rate from Banco is rock solid. This is exactly the tactic more banks should try, though naturally, no U.S. bank would have the guts or absurd sense of humor. The details of the illustrations are awesome. In the dinosaur ad, in one of the exposed apartments of the ruined building on the right, I think I can see a saurian chomping down on some guy's head. And in the space-attack ad, that's either a chortling alien one of the balconies, lovin' it all, or a pitiful human bemoaning the fate of mankind. Hey, it works both ways! Note to our new Martian overlords: When the attack begins, please zap Bank of America first! Via Ads of the World. |
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Published on March 11, 2009 | Permalink
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Risking life and limb for the Boursin cheese
This ad from London's RKCR/Y&R for Boursin cheese takes the brand's classic, long-dormant "Du pain, du vin, du Boursin" campaign into potentially grisly territory. The lovers' cornfield picnic is nauseating enough to make one almost anticipate the "rather unexpected interruption" at the end of the spot. Boursin shows good sense in letting the ad go black before that pivotal moment, though. No sense associating its product with too much blood and guts. |
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Published on March 6, 2009 | Permalink
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Slithery little man angry you had unsafe sex
The slippery, shrimpy, inconsiderate imp in this safe-sex PSA from the Israel AIDS Task Force is meant to personify the doubt you won't be able to shake after having unprotected sex. "With any unsafe sex, a new doubt is born," says the on-screen copy, meaning there's an Orc-like army of these guys around somewhere. The actual birth at the beginning of the spot could be less squishy sounding, but I guess that's meant to set the unsettling vibe. The creature looks a bit like the second evil head from the old Mike's Hard Iced Tea commercial, another ad character who's a drag to be around. "Avoid the doubt," says the line at the end. "Use a condom." The agency is Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R Interactive in Tel Aviv. Via Osocio. |
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Published on February 12, 2009 | Permalink
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Listen to your slug-like friend: drink juiceAustralian juice company Spring Valley's latest campaign from George Patterson Y&R takes an educational turn, as they aim to help people recapture their "Sensibles." The full history of Sensibles is explained at their Web site, but they're basically little symbiotic Hutt broodlings that kept primitive man from doing anything too stupid. Unfortunately, humans have been neglecting their Sensibles lately by doing things like listening to German trance music. (I must say, it's nice to have a consumer product agree with me on that.) Thankfully, drinking Spring Valley can nurse your Sensible back to health. And not a moment too soon. If you think your own personal Sensible is in bad shape, you should also consider seeing Captain Sensible. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on September 2, 2008 | Permalink
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Read a book, or risk a nasty shrunken headThis "Read more" ad from Young & Rubicam for Israeli bookstore Steimatzky (see a larger image here) may appear to champion literacy. But the image, which could have been pulled directly from a Tom Piccirilli novel, simply shows non-readers that they have lucrative careers ahead in carnivals, freak shows and Rob Zombie movies. Dabitch at Adland points out another problem with this ad: "Most men I know always want a little head." Still, AdFreak is officially in favor of reading, at least until we get that vlog started. |
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Published on August 18, 2008 | Permalink
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Ghost pig horrified by all your BBQ eating
—Posted by David Kiefaber |
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Published on June 13, 2008 | Permalink
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A little small talk with your barbecue dinner
We can't imagine a situation where the grillside friendship between a man and a soon-to-be-cooked chicken wouldn’t be a bit awkward. This Barbecues Galore spot from Young & Rubicam is no exception. What can you say to your dinner when he asks you to hook him up with a girl just as you’re marinating him? The chicken is conflicted, though, drawn to the marinade and the sizzling grill like a moth to the flame. Another case of Suicide Food, it seems. Via Advertolog. |
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Published on June 10, 2008 | Permalink
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Gay people are just as annoying as you are
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on February 27, 2007 | Permalink
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Love means not having to share your soda
In honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s this amusing old Dr Pepper ad from Young & Rubicam in which the guy will buy tampons for his lady, he’ll wash her underwear, he’ll practice yoga with her, but he has to draw the line somewhere. The ad is also noteworthy for its use of Meat Loaf’s “I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” a song that confuses and frustrates some people, who believe (wrongly, it seems) that Loaf never reveals in the song exactly what it is he won’t do. Here, at least, the lyrics make obvious sense. |
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Published on February 14, 2007 | Permalink
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PSAs gone wild on World AIDS Day
—Posted Catharine P. Taylor |
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Published on December 1, 2006 | Permalink
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Y&R’s ‘Stand Up’ U.N. effort is rolling on
Young & Rubicam and the United Nations already got LonelyGirl15 on board for the Stand Up Against Poverty campaign, but there’s lot more where that came from, including the short Dave Matthews video above and an energetic effort from Mister Raja. The campaign, which has a healthy viral element, is aimed at getting people to organize and attend rallies this Sunday and Monday. According to the Stand Up Web site: “Six years ago, 189 world leaders sat down and agreed to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. On October 15 & 16, people across the world will stand up to remind them of this promise.” You can find Stand Up’s official YouTube home here. |
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Published on October 11, 2006 | Permalink
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Summer reading, courtesy of ex-Y&R ecd
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on June 8, 2006 | Permalink
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Creepy birds descend on Burger King
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on April 13, 2006 | Permalink
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Trash talking in the soccer world
—Posted by Tim Nudd |
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Published on November 15, 2005 | Permalink
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Y&R setting up shop on Catalina Island?
—Posted by Gregory Solman Photo: Martinez/La Opinion Photos/Newscom |
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Published on April 1, 2005 | Permalink
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