Auto-tune the ads

Auto-tune is used in so many songs these days, why not auto-tune the ads?

Live every week like it was Shark Week

Hahaha...this is really cool, and here I was thinking these are dumb and not creative. Well it's finally Shark Week again on the Discovery Channel and in celebration they've been following a group of sharks swimming right off the coast. Hit the plus symbol to zoom in. Check it out!

Jeff Goodby Raps

Hahaha, Jeff Goodby raps (and dresses in a donut suit) in Goodby, Silverstein and Partner's 2009 Christmas video:

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid14146668001?bctid=57446915001

Seth Godin Free eBook

check out this free ebook by Seth Godin

What Matters Now, by Seth Godin

View more documents from Toscana Enterprises Corporation.

Michael Bay's Victoria Secret commercial

A new Victoria Secret commercial just came out directed by Michael Bay. Ofcourse it wouldn't be complete w/o what? That's right, explosions.

ice cream, old people, and eroticism

Commercial for Science World:

Dancing for Breast Cancer Awareness

This video made me smile...dancing for breast cancer awareness featuring the staff of St. Vincent Medical Centre in Oregon:

Evolution: The Eight Stages Of Listening

View more presentations from jeremiah_owyang.

TrendyMinds on Twitter

Here's an interesting excerpt from the Indianapolis Star a few weeks ago interviewing Elizabeth Friedland from the ad firm Trendy Minds about importance of social media trends:

Biz Buzz
Tuning into social media

Account exec says online pursuits can bring payoff

By Daniel Lee
daniel.lee@indystar.com

Elizabeth Friedland, account executive with Indianapolis ad and PR firm TrendyMinds, is into social media: She Tweets, blogs and Facebooks (Is that a verb?).

Friedland took time from her online pursuits to stop by the Biz Buzz studio Wednesday to chat with Star business writer Daniel Lee about social media and its role in work and personal life.

Below are edited excerpts from the conversation:

Question: Have you seen any payoff from using Twitter? Any new deals for Trendy Minds (@trendy minds)?

Answer: With Twitter there are certainly some people out there talking just for the sake of talking.

As far as Trendy Minds is concerned, we've had three clients recently who we've connected with, or who have followed us on social media, and have approached us to do an RFP or to consult with them. So, there is business to be had.

Q: You Tweet both socially and professionally. How do you balance that?

A: Social media is all about authenticity. People want you to be real and authentic. I want my clients and friends or people who are in between to get a consistent picture of myself. I don't have a separate account for professional and personal use; I kind of integrate it all in there.

Q: What are your biggest do's and don'ts on Twitter?

A: No. 1 is to be authentic. It's important, also, to realize your audience. There are some people on Twitter who seem to have a very business-minded focus, and then there will be a Tweet that seems out of place where they talk about something extremely personal. So it's important to know your audience.

Top Gear Ad Men

I love "Top Gear" and I love advertising. That said, ofcourse I love James May and Jeremy Clarkson trying to be Ad Men for the VW Scirocco. Quite hilarious!

Part 1:


Part 2:

Hit the Bitch

So initially when I saw this I chuckled and was like "What could this be?" This social campaign from Denmark allows the user to hit the girl time and time again. The interactive PSA on abuse is very disturbing, and while the girl speaks Dutch, the message is easily understood and oh so powerful. I feel terrible...

Football Hero, Guiness and Men vs. Women

This is a really cool website for Trivial Pursuit. It's time to put your wits to the test to see who is the smarter of the two genders. It's Men vs Women for the Trivial Pursuit Experiment. Go play. The men are currently losing so time to step it up guys! Oh, also, I got my question correct, so I've made my contribution. Time to make yours!

This is awesome, much better in my mind than the Guitar Hero bike...This time it's with soccer players:


Also, here's the new Guiness ad, they're always amazing:

Christopher Walken sings "Poker Face"

This has absolutely nothing to do with advertising, but, I haven't posted in a while and this is classic, enjoy!

People get angry over the dumbest things

It's a great movie and a great scene...Enjoy it already!

"Bills fans buy billboard to advertise discontent"

With the Buffalo Bill's history of terrible seasons, one fan rallies the troops and raises enough money to put a billboard urging to fire headcoach Ralph Wilson reading: "It’s time to clean house, RALPH"

Read the full article here.

1000 pageviews

Yay! This blog just hit 1000 pageviews! Thanks guys who read this. I hope everyone finds this fun and interesting. Please leave comments and suggestions.

Hand from above

This is silly, and I like it!

Hand from Above from Chris O'Shea on Vimeo.

From droop to Don Juan

Here's a fun creative site that informs people of erectile dysfunction. While it's not a funny subject, the way it's handled is presented humorous yet well-mannered. It features short cartoons where a man discusses his problem and as they continue he soon conquers it. This is quite a fresh way to tackle the subject of ED. Check out the videos here.

Alex Bogusky on "The Big Ad Gig"

This is a cool video interview with Alex Bogusky of CP+B (as if you didn't know, ha!) talking about his thoughts on "The Big Ad Gig." For those who don't know it was a competition where 8 finalists presented a campaign to a group of judges to win 4 30-day internships. The brief was for "Hands Free CPR" and the winning campaign went to a kid named Avi Truzman for his "100% Saliva Free" campaign. Not only did he win an internship at CP+B, his campaign will be produced by the American Heart Association and the Ad Council.

While he has some thoughts on the contest, he also has some great insights and advice for those of us still looking to land our first job. Even being one of the forerunners of modern advertising, he's still down to earth and just another guy who loves advertising.

Bacardi Mojito ft. Matt and Kim

I stumbled upon this Bacardi Mojito commercial while looking up Matt and Kim music videos (It is physically impossible to be down while listening to them! They're so upbeat and fun). As I watched it, the video became quite magical. As the man walks through the club, he is taken aback through different time periods. Watch what I mean:



Then there's always this Mojito classic (I Cha-Cha'd what the song is and as it turns out it's the underlying beat to Pitbull and Lil' Jon's "Krazy"):


And here's the official Matt and Kim video for "Daylight":

CCTV Ink commercial

Beautiful commercial for CCTV:

CCTV Ink TV Commercial - Directed by Niko Tziopanos from Troublemakers.tv on Vimeo.

What is "Generation A?"

I was surfing Adrants and came across some spots for a book called "Generation A" by Douglas Copeland. I was left confused...and interested. Perhaps these will have the same effect on you.

Teaser

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"Color Samples"

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"The Tragic Death of the Channel 3 News Team"

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I must learn more...

Who is Sophie Merry?

This is the story of an unknown girl turned fashion star. Remember the groovy dancing girl?


Well, her name is Sophie Merry, and she was picked up by Etam, a major fashion brand for a marketing campaign. Here is the story.


The campaign itself is amazing. Taking the same strategy she used and allowing viewers to create their own versions? Check out some of the submissions:

Networking Online

Networking is great for anyone looking for a job in any industry. One of the best ways to do so is through social networks. I'm sure you've already heard of LinkedIn (if you haven't, I highly suggest creating one. It's like Facebook, but much more professional), there are others that prove very beneficial as well.

I was surfing AdGabber the other day and came across a post about a new one called "Young Talent in Advertising." As it turns out it is a Ning site created by a young advertising graduate such as myself who is out looking for a job. In doing so, she created this website to help further her knowledge and meet new people. For those who don't know, Ning is a website where anyone anywhere can create their very own social network. It's a pretty neat idea, and a great tool to consider for those already in the industry for smaller clients to use to better their brand's interaction.

For those who blog, I've been a part of another Ning network called "20 Something Bloggers."

Update: Fan Woody - SUCCESS

Well, as of 20 seconds ago, the Fan Woody TGI Friday's campaign succeeded in getting 500,000 fans.

Woody Wow, We did it!!!!!!!! 500,000 fans in 12 days! Unbelievable! Thanks for your support, comments, and pics everyone. Free burgers, here we come! Now stay tuned for how to get your coupon for a free burger.

TGI Friday's Fan Woody Facebook campaign

Dare I say I was actually watching television last nite (crazy I know). Anyways, during the 10 mins I was watching it, the commercial for the new TGI Friday's Facebook campaign, Fan Woody, came up. Sure this has been done before, but this one, unlike another *cough cough Angry Whopper* seems far less offensive. It had a guy named Woody who bet Friday's that if he could get 500,000 fans by September 30th, everyone would get a free Whopper, I mean, Jack Daniels Burger. Personally, it's my favorite thing to order from there, so why wouldn't I sign up? Regardless, if they don't get 500,000, everyone wins a $5 off coupon just for signing up. Not too shabby if I do say so myself.

We did a similar campaign during my internship for a restaurant called Spaghetti Warehouse. Getting people to further their connection through Facebook is an important challenge that has strong benefits to be sought after. When done correctly, it can be a powerful ally.

For more information, go to the Facebook site here: http://facebook.com/fanwoody

PS: Does this remind anyone else of the "Dude, your gettin a Dell" guy at all?

We are ODST

Halo 3 ODST is coming out soon and along with it is another amazing commercial. This would make for an awesome full-length feature (can only hope the movie is as well executed if and when they make it).

"We are ODST"


I'm sure many of you remember the award winning ad campaign, "Believe" by McCann Erickson.
"Museum"


"Gravesite"

Germans are crazy

Here's a German take on Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" done for a promotion.

30 Seconds

With the rise of "Mad Men" and the fall of "Trust Me" comes a new comedy series in Australia called "30 Seconds." This show was written by various advertising professionals such as Three Drunk Monkeys’ Justin Drape and Scott Nowell as well as Prodigy’s Tim Bullock. It's got all the key players, from...

The CEO:

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The Creative Art Director:

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The Account Manager:

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And ofcourse the client:

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Have it your way

Here's a really creepy yet cool promo for "Night of the AdEaters."

a laptop so thin...

Now here's a viral video for you. Apparently this laptop is soooo thin, you can catch it w/ your butt...

Keep Walking

This is a cool video. It's the story of Johnnie Walker in a video entitled "The Walk (The Man who walked around the world)" This was created by BBH London Agency and stars Robert Carlyle. Keep Walking.

Brand extensions have gone too far

This is a prime example of brand extensions gone too far...come on, really? Ed Hardy hand sanitizer?


Oh, I'm sorry, I guess I'm just not hip and trendy enough. This isn't just ANY hand sanitizer we're talking about here. It's the this beautiful plastic wrapper with a gaudy tiger on it. I was blown away when I saw this at TJ Maxx where I work part-time. I personally can't merit spending $50-$100 on a shirt, but an MSRP or $8 for this stuff!? Sure Ed Hardy has shirts, hats, belts, bags, shoes, etc...but just wow. Sometimes brands need to take a step back and think for a second, is this really a good idea? Sure some people will buy anything, and with N1H1 out there, I can sort of understand, but this just doesn't work. I hear more negativities about this stuff than people purchasing it. I'm going to say this was a bad idea, think before you develop marketers.

Building up for Tron 2

So the new Tron: Legacy (Tron 2/Tr2n) movie was just released at the San Diego Comic Con..and it looks AMAZING! Full of Light Cycle goodness!

Well, upon further research, a neat viral campaign went along with it. Here is the excerpt from the wikipedia entry:

On July 21, 2009, several movie-related websites posted they had received via mail a pair of "Flynn's Arcade" golden coins along with a flash drive. Its content was an animated gif image that showed CSS code lines. Four of them were put together and part of the code was cracked, revealing the url to Flynnlives.com, a fiction site mantained by activists who believe Kevin Flynn is alive, even though he's been missing since 1989. Clicking on a tiny spider in the lower section of the main page leads to a countdown clock that hits zero on July 23, 2009, 9:30pm PDT. Within the Terms of Use Section, an address was found. It lies in San Diego, CA, near the city's convention center where the Comic Con 2009 is taking place and some footage/info on the sequel is expected to be released. Flynn's Arcade was re-opened at that location, with several Space Paranoids arcade machines and a variety of '80s video games. A full-size light cycle from the new movie was on display.
A second viral site, homeoftron.com, has been found. It portrays some of the history of Flynn's Arcade as well as a fan memoir section.

Pretty cool way to countdown and get buzz about the unknown premiere for the trailer.

Non-humans Banned!: District 9 Ad campaign

I love it when ad campaigns for movies or games or anything really does their campaigns like this. Taking the story, and making it a reality. As they did in the Command & Conquer campaign with the presidential race, the upcoming movie District 9 is doing the same. Think Starship Troopers, but in real life.

Essentially a race of aliens (or non-humans) had landed on Earth, and our planet is keeping them captive and not letting them leave. A culture of proud to be human and racism towards the extraterrestrial race has been created. The website for the film follows this too, working as a sort of neighborhood watch and alert system for aliens.


Trailer:


There is even a separate microsite for one of the companies in the movie, complete with a careers listing page (I'm looking for a job, maybe I'll apply!)

Accompanying PSA's were created as well to further ground the campaign in realism. They even have user submitted psa's for further engagement. Here is one of them:


Overall this campaign is dynamite, and I hope more campaigns follow this approach. This is what an interactive campaign should be. It really makes for a deeper interaction with the movie and the brand.

T-mobile ain't got nothing on the Samsung Jet!

Check out this stunt. The T-mobile dance ain't got nothing on this! Introducing the Samsung Jet:

NSFW banned German Sprite ad

This is probably NSFW, probably not even if you're in advertising. But, here is a banned commercial for Sprite from Germany. It's hilariously inappropriate...enjoy!


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Real or Fake?

One of these commercials is real, one is not. Can you guess which is which?

Red House Furniture:


Jones' Big ASS Truck Rental and Storage:

Snoop v. Heineken

Here's a pretty funny take on the Heineken Walk-in closet ad. Snoop Dogg is promoting his new tour:

Advertising Propaganda

Here's some cool retro posters fitted for today. They are from a guy named Brian Lane Winfield Moore. Prints will soon be available for purchase, and his flicker feed can be found here.






View the rest here: http://chunnel.tv/art-design/925/Potential-WWIII-Propaganda

Voluntary Engagement

There was a term in the June 29th issue of AdAge that I found quite fitting for the way advertisers will have to reach their consumers. David Lubars, chairman-chief creative officer of BBDO North America said, "The way the world is heading is voluntary engagement. The work has to be like a magnet."

Consumers just don't care about your generic advertising message anymore. Their must be more. Some external driving force that interests them to go out of their way and search for it. It is here however that a deeper connection can be reached, for they are already interested in finding out more, and are heavily involved in the entire process. They will continue to return to learn more or show their friends, and this is all because you've created something they want. It's not just about throwing a creative message out in hopes of someone hearing it and it resignating. It is important to create this offering, that in the end, will pay off in ways unimaginable to previous conventional methods.

Read more about my thoughts on this previous post: http://insidethetoybox.blogspot.com/2009/04/future-is-now.html

The Eternal Moonwalk

Michael Jackson is all over the news and all over the internet. Here is an amazing tribute website called the Eternal Moowalk. This is similar to the Uniqlo site I showed a while back, where various shots from different people around Tokyo passed clothing from one video to another and streamed eternally. For this, people from all over the world perform their own version of the moonwalk, from right to left. Some aren't very good, but some are legit, while others are just creative in their own way. This is powered by a company called Studio Brussel. It has a really cool social media tie-in also, allowing you to view each person's websites and add them from the site itself. Go ahead guys, submit your own version of the moonwalk and join the movement.

Check out the website here: http://www.eternalmoonwalk.com/

Vote for me if you want to live

I work at Gamestop part-time (and by part-time, I mean 3-6 hours a week, ouch), and recently played Command and Conquer Red Alert 3. It was fun, but while watching the extra features, I found out they had done a really cool atie-in advertising campaign. The American president in the game is played by J.K. Simmons, who also played J. Jonah Jamison in the Spiderman movies. He's a gun-slinging Commie hater like none other. Shoot first, think later sort of guy. Well, to advertise the game, they decided to do a presidential campaign for his character, President Ackerman. It's a satire of both the Obama campaign and the game itself.

"Yes we can"


A new candidate:


On illegal immigration:


On healthcare:


Red Alert 3 Trailer:

Why must learning be so expensive!?

I love reading, well, I love the idea of reading. I try to read, I really do. I'm probably in the middle of about 5 different books right now, and I keep buying more. Though, within the last year, I've hit the trade publications hard. Subscribing to AdAge, Creativity, and Communication Arts. These are really cool and should be required reading if you are a student of advertising. Throughout my college career though, we've been given books to read, great books, like Al Reis and Jack Trout's "Positioning" and "Hey Whipple, Squeeze This!" by Luke Sullivan. I love reading advertising and learning more from the masters of the industry. But, I'm out of school, doing an unpaid internship, working 21 hours for free, holding down two other part time jobs just to make it to the northside and back and pay some bills. Not much left at the end of the week.

So now to the problem, learning does have a price...why are marketing books so damn expensive? 150-200 page paperback costs about 20-25 dollars! This is crazy and insane. Don't even get me started with the graphics arts and logo design books, 50-100 there, jeez. "A Tale of Two Cities," "Canterbury Tales," "Great Expectations." The greatest literary stories ever told, for a low price of $6.99. I know everyone wants to make a buck, but come on. Why must learning be so expensive!?

There are a few solutions however if you're in the same boat as me. One idea you're already doing. Blogs. Blogs are where great minds speak their minds on many topics. If there's something you're interested in, chances are, there's a blog for it. If you're an advertising person, check the links to the right for more great blogs. Another way to learn for free is newsfeeds, rss or signing up for email blasts. AdAge has them and most other publications have them. It got me through college, until I decided to drop a ton of money for the hardcopies. So, who says reading is dead? It's just expensive, so onto the internets we go! Feel free to comment if you have any other suggestions for you readers out there. Hope this helps.

Life's a pitch...and then you die

Life's a pitch...(and then you buy)

What is going on around here? Now Billy Mays died? The world of Direct Response will be forever changed. :/

Read more here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obit_billy_mays


ESPN360.com:


Billy Mays orders fast food:

Coffee Talk

This is an amazing guerilla tactic. To not only use students, but to use them in presentations? Amazing. If only they were doing it in the US. It's for a Netherland's brand called the Coffee Company. See more at http://www.freecoffee4students.nl/


Video in action:

The King of Pop, pops

(distasteful title? probably) Michael Jackson died...so sad :(

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_michael_jackson

Farrah Fawcett passed away too...

Bad food, bad dog

Check out these awesome ads from Y&R Santiago, Chile.
"Bad food, bad dog. All the vitamins, all the flavor."

Ed McMahon travels the golden road to heaven

Ed McMahon passed away. What a way to go. The last great thing he did was the Cash 4 Gold Super Bowl commercial.

Twitter Tag

Ok, so I’m an advertising guy, and, I’m just still not convinced that Twitter is as amazing as everyone says. Sorry, I just don’t get it. So, in hopes of turning to the dark side, I’ve devised a little experiment.



This will be a game of Twitter Tag.
The idea is to see how the connections through followers works and can explode among cyberspace and the Twittersphere itself.

Here’s how it’ll go down:
I will begin by sending this message to just one person.
Tag, you’re it! Join the experiment: http://insidethetoybox.blogspot.com/2009/06/twitter-tag.html
The message will hopefully be read by that person, as well as show up on his feed, then each of his friends will see it and do the same. Everyone who sees it only needs to send it to just one other person. Important note: they must also click the link, because that’s how I will be tracking its effectiveness, through the amount of hits this particular post gets. Not only that, but if it actually does work, then naturally everyone’s statuses will have the message and be tagged.

Good luck, and Tag, you’re it!

**Edit** I JUST found out this was already done, damn. Whatever, this is a learning experience for me. So, please help out anyway. I still think it’s a good idea. (Ach, and only a month ago too! http://tweetcrunch.com/2009/01/05/the-twitter-tag-project/)

Where are they now? Commercial edition

Here's a little treat for you all. I found an article on Yahoo! that discusses the characters in some of our favorite ads. Who they are, where they came from, what else they've done. It's sort of the "Where are they now?" of the commercial world. From the legend himself, Mr. Whipple, to Fred the Baker of Dunkin' Donuts, there is info on each. I'll post the a few, and you may continue reading more here. (On the site you can view the commercials for each) The article begins with none other than "The most interesting man in the world" for Dos Equis.

Who is "The Most Interesting Man in the World"? According to Dos Equis, which introduced the hugely popular character in 2007, "his reputation is expanding faster than the universe." So how could we not be intrigued? Personally, we need to know more.

But Dos Equis isn't giving up the ghost. Jonathan Goldsmith, who plays the suave older gentleman has been unavailable for comment, no doubt at the behest of the company that hoped to preserve the mystique of their pitchman by casting an unknown actor.

We were hoping we could seek Goldsmith out during the Dos Equis-sponsored 14-city multi-cultural circus road show called "The Most Interesting Show in the World." But according to a company spokesperson, "Unfortunately, he has been detained, counseling tribal mystics in Swaziland, and cannot attend the tour." Clearly, this will not be our opportunity to find out more about the sophisticated man.

Inspired by the king of carpe diem himself, we chose to push forward on our own to get the facts. We weren't surprised to find out that Goldsmith is an actor, but we were giddy to uncover the treasure trove of bit parts he played in the cheesiest TV shows from the '70s, '80s, and '90s. Goldsmith made guest appearances on over 45 series throughout the last 30 years, including "Hawaii Five-O," "Eight Is Enough," "The Rockford Files," "Barnaby Jones," "Charlie's Angels," "CHiPs," "The Fall Guy," "Dynasty," "T.J. Hooker," "Knots Landing," "Hardcastle and McCormick," "Knight Rider," "Magnum, P.I.," "MacGyver," and "Murder, She Wrote." No wonder "even lucha libres remove their masks in his presence." Yet his longest run on prime time was a 13-episode stint on "Dallas" in 1989. Want to see what he looked like as a sniveling thug and much less interesting character actor back in '85? Check him out in this classic "A-Team" episode.

And yet, that's all we could find. No date of birth. No tales of a childhood in some exotic land. No accounts of a swinging singles apartment building in the '70s or a string of bad marriages and paternity suits. So we've decided to let it ride, just as he would want us to, and enjoy the fact that "his beard alone has experienced more than a lesser man's entire body." If you're still yearning to find out what makes T.M.I.M. tick, you can ask him yourself… if you dare. Naturally, he has his own Facebook page because, of course, he's interesting.

The Most Interesting Man is just the latest fictional character we've grown to love over the years. Wonder what happened to your favorite pitchmen, -women, and -children from the '60s, '70s, and '80s? Read on to find out who made the list and where they are today.


Mr. Whipple for Charmin
The actor behind this American TV-commercial icon actually had quite an international background. Dick Wilson was born Riccardo DiGuglielmo in England to an Italian father (also a vaudeville performer) and an English mother (a singer). When Riccardo was still a baby, his family moved to Canada, where he landed his first radio role at the age of 15 and changed his name to avoid typecasting. He took time out from his comic dancing career (you heard us) to fight for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Battle of Britain in World War II (yes, we're still talking about the toilet-paper guy). When the war ended he moved to the U.S., where he worked in TV on shows like "Maude" and "Fantasy Island" and in the films "The World's Greatest Athlete" and "The Incredible Shrinking Woman." But Wilson's true success came as Charmin pitchman Mr. Whipple. From his first commercial in 1965 (filmed, appropriately enough, in Flushing, N.Y.) to his 504th spot some 30 years later, Wilson begged curious customers, "Please don't squeeze the Charmin." He worked just 12 days a year and raked in $300,000 annually. Not a bad gig.

Clara Peller for Wendy's
In 1985 retired character actress and manicurist Clara Peller made a huge mistake: she found the beef. Worse yet, she found it in a jar of Prego Plus pasta sauce. Her bosses at Wendy's were not pleased. They had given the 81-year-old her big break just one year earlier. It was a short run, but it had a big impact. Clara's “Where’s the beef?” catchphrase even found its way into Walter Mondale’s lexicon during the 1984 Presidential campaign. Clara made a few appearances in films like "Moving Violations" and on specials like "Wrestlemania 2," before passing away in 1987.

Read the full article here: http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/the-most-interesting-pitchmen-in-the-world--379

That's one tasty burger

This just in, apparently the new spokesperson for Carl's Jr. (the spots are for their Teriyaki Six Dollar Burger...which doesn't even sound good) is none other than that one girl from that one show that nobody watches. Er, um, sorry, Audrina Patridge from MTV's "The Hills." You know, the one who didn't really meet what's her face (LC) and was casted onto said "reality" show. Here's a picture from a Malibu photo shoot:
"We made sure my bikini was reversible, in case of any ketchup or teriyaki mishaps! It was a great experience, and being on the beach in Malibu was an added perk."

Oh burgers and hot women. Seems to be the new trend. Oh well, no complaints here.

Padma Lakshmi for Hardee's:


Here's a new Spanish Big Mac ad from McDonald's:
McDonalds Commercial - Craving (Spanish)

Good Lordy that's a lot of money!

Kudos to Zune for this awesome interactive internet ad. I was listening to music on Pandora and the ad to the right read: "A 120gb iPod costs $30,000 to fill." It then asked me to calculate mine. I chose that I have a 16gb iPod and that it's filled to about 13gb, apparently I have $3,200 in music on mine. Good lordy that's a lot of money! After revealing the shockin total, it then follows up with an offer that looks hella good afterwards for "Zune Pass," costing only $14.99/month. Play with it here and see how much yours is (or should be, you pirate you).

kids in advertising

Why are children in commercials about advertising just so damn funny? Here's a new one from the UK for a Panasonic contest "Next Generation Talent" in which contestants enter their own user-created commercial spots.



Then there's this Monster.com classic "Why I want to work in advertising":

Japanese Fashionista

Ever wanted to know what was fashionable in Japan? Well, maybe not, but I do. Even if you don't, check out this little gem from the clothing company, Uniqlo. It's called the "Uniqclo Tokyo Fashion Map." This online interactive catalog has videos of Japanese citizens trying on various pieces of clothing, posing, then passing it along to the next person, where he or she tries on a new piece. There is also a neat feature that allows users to locate where exactly each picture and video were taken. I could watch this forever. There are so many different types of people in this, reaching a myriad of targets. The music is really damn catchy too! It might take a while to load, but it's worth it for sure.

Drinking is soooooo cool

Sorry I missed yesterday. Here's some more alcohol ads. I find it rather humorous the way some campaigns are run for drinking. In particularly, making drinking seem like the coolest thing ever through having the coolest people in the world drinking it. That was worded terribly, but, you'll see what I mean.

Ketel One:


Tony Sinclair on moderation:


And for the Most Interesting Man in the World, for Dos Equis:


Most Intersting Man in the World, on rollerblading:


More on the Most Intersting Man in the World (On himself):


See more hilarious Dos Equis videos at staythirstymefriends.com

Wii come to play, with the Queen of England

Why do we keep giving the Queen of England dumb shit? She's the friggin Queen of England for cryin out loud! First it was the iPod, now it's a Wii...but not just any old $250 Wii. THQ gave her a golden Wii..


Meanwhile, Geek.com writes that the gift is actually meant to build awareness for the upcoming game, Big Family Games. An ulterior motive? What?!? As the geeks put it, "for a game that is meant to include the whole family from kids to grandparents what better family to send it to than The Royal Family in England."

Read more here.

Heineken follow-up

Here are some funny follow up ads to the Heineken walk-in fridge ad. For those who haven't seen it, here is the original spot:



The follow up ad to Heineken's Walk-in fridge spot:


Also, a hilarious competitive ad for Bavaria spoofing the Heineken's:

Controlling Explosions of Creativity

This project is amazing! It's called the "Blast Studio" and is done by Fallon London. It is an interactive project that has a live stream of the "Blast Studio" and what you do determines what happens in real time. The footage will then be used to create commercial spots. More information can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/

Link to the actual project: http://www.blastgetcreative.co.uk/

Behind the scenes footage:

Comics are art.

Another funny campaign that's recently come out. This is by JWT Italia for the Comics Museum in Luccia. The campaign is entitled "Comics are art. Just Funnier."

Fun up your home

Here's Y&R's new campaign for Windows Vista in New Zealand. These are so fun (well, I suppose hence the name):

In-house v Outside

A new article about Career Builder just came out from AdAge. For those of you who don't know, I had done a media plan for CBCampus for a class project and presented to the client. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot too. We were talking to someone from CareerBuilder and she told us they had ended their relationship with Weiden and Kennedy. Shocking seeing as how great their campaign was last year, beating out Monster in accordance to Antony Young, CEO of Optimedia USA. Anyhow, the AdAge article talks a little about how Career Builder has decided to go in-house, as well as some pros and cons for each.

Five reasons to establish an in-house agency
1. TO CUT COSTS Lots of companies use an in-house facility to handle functions such as collateral development and video production as a way to save. Long gone are the days of the typesetting machine, and thanks to technology many other capabilities from direct mail to website development may be executed by the marketer. And who knows? If you're really good, you might find yourself sitting on a new revenue stream, like Condé Nast and other publishers that have designed print executions and more for big retailers.
2. TO ALIGN YOUR BRAND MESSAGE Global brands that work with several marketing partners in far-flung places run the risk of a fractured brand message. Hyundai's desire for a consistent brand image worldwide and control to remain with its South Korean parent is what drove the carmaker to recently ditch its highly regarded U.S. agency -- Goodby, Silverstein & Partners -- and churn all work out of its in-house creative shop dubbed Innocean.
3. IT FURTHERS SPEED TO MARKET Nobody understands the marketer's business better than the marketer itself. Try as they might, ad agencies often aren't as familiar with the ins and outs of complex businesses like airlines, banks and health insurance. Not to mention that in a crisis, an in-house shop can turn on a dime to respond with communications.
4. IT KEEPS THE MARKETING FUNCTION TIED TO THE C-SUITE Working via an in-house agency could mean more involvement in the marketing process from the highest levels of the company. Forrester Research data show that nearly 60% of in-house shops report directly to the company's CEO or CMO.
5. IT LOWERS TURNOVER Ad agencies are known to have revolving doors that can take a toll on the client-agency relationship. In contrast, in-house agencies are known for keeping their departments stable; the average annual turnover rate of staff at an-agency is less than 5%, according to Forrester.

Five reasons to use outside agencies
1. TO CUT COSTS If you don't already have a strong in-house capability, setting out to build one from scratch could mean steep overhead costs that -- particularly during these tough times -- could unnecessarily strain on your company's resources.
2. TO TAP THEIR EXPERTISE Agencies have a leg up by being out in the marketplace and in touch with a rapidly changing business environment. "For a marketer to be on top of that as well as innovation within their own marketing departments means they have to be a jack of all trades," said Lisa Colantuono, managing partner at consultancy AAR Partners. For example, fewer than 10% of in-house agencies have social media or ethnic marketing capabilities, according to Forrester.
3. TO GET AN OUTSIDER'S PERSPECTIVE Having an outside agency can prevent your company from being too insular, and can also be motivating. Nancy Hill, president-CEO of the 4A's, puts it likes this: "An agency works with a marketer much like a trainer works with an athlete, pushing her to perform better. It's true you could do it alone, but your results will vary."
4. TO GET ACCESS TO TOP TALENT Any recruiter will tell you that getting top creative types to focus solely on one client's business is a hard sell; they desire the variety of daily challenges offered by the opportunity to craft campaigns for a big retailer one day and a pharmaceutical giant the next.
5. IT CAN BE FUN Many marketers will say that their interactions with outside agencies are the most fun part of their work day. You may have to stomach a big ego or two, but the chance to work with an award-winning creative director is an exciting one for many.