Sorry. I meant Madonna family pic. She’d never exploit them in an ad or photo-op like that, would she?
Hmmm. Rush a donation, or rent Scary Movie 4.
Like leaving the Giants. The recent Cadillac spot has Tiki saying one thing and doing another in real life though. See spot run here. I actually like its understated tone where he talks about always being ready, and then one day getting that shot as a starter.
Forget McGuire’s open locker downfall. I came across this shot of Maris in The Mag with the guy who caught, then later returned the record-setting 61st homer. (For Cubs fans, Sal Durante was a fan who actually waited until it was out of reach before grabbing it. Even got a ball with his own sig for his efforts too.)
Finally, a bold move as the last Taurus is produced. Now Ford can start work on the next in a long line of classics.
But are they. I came across that while Googling for something about something and came across... something. It’s a page full of feedback about ads and what students dislike about them, from persuasion analysis classes taught by Dr. Hugh Rank. Many responses reiterate the usual slant against marketing and advertising, which is basically: next to politicians, lawyers and car salesmen, advertising is as trusted as John Mark Karr is babysitting your kids.
• What about a video messing with Home Depot (from these guys)
Literally. According to Drudge, At least there’s one thing candidates can agree on – their hand sanitizer. Judging by the tone of most political ads these days, hands aren’t the only dirty things to worry about. Purell. YouTube. Hurry. C’mon, mock political spots with subliminal product flashes, candidates denying ever using it, etc. This stuff writes itself.
Back before The Matrix there was this old-school claymation intro for Chiller Theatre, a late-night movie show from WPIX in NY, circa, um, way back in the seventies. Click on the image to see clip on YouTube.
Coming up this Tuesday, Ricky Gervais is offering free downloads on his site of the first of three special edition podcasts. If you haven’t already checked him out, now’s the time. Especially those people into The Office who don’t know the real origins of the American version of the show, this is the guy who started it all.
Now that I’ve crossed over into official blog-obsession by reading all the blogs I can, I’m curious how many blogs people read each day. (And that can include visiting the actual blog or reading it via RSS feed, and also reading either the posts or comments on same, doesn’t matter).
Ok, maybe a few of you will be going to Halloween parties this weekend or over the next few days. Losers like me will be home watching scary flicks like The Dukes of Hazard remake. So for lost souls likely to rent The Break-Up because everything else at Blockbuster is gone, here’s a list of alternates in the horror category you may not have ever heard of that are worth a look.
Agency called Crayon launched today in virtual world Second Life. Started by Joe Jaffe and a few others, it’s positioned to take his new media approach and apply it to an agency setting in that fast-growing online community site.
Elmo’s dead. Ok, now you’re ready. If you grew up with Sesame Street or any Saturday morning cartoons, this David Lynch meets Pee-wee’s playhouse is a reincarnation of those Saturday mornings past. Albeit a more sick, twisted, perverted and funny-ass past. Check it out on MTV2 here and also YouTube. As the warning says, this show is definitely not for real kids.
You kids need a timeout. Apparently Harold Ford’s political :30 spot on YouTube is too nice for his opponent Bob Corker. Was John Murtha right when he said the scumbags are at it again? Maybe so, since the RNC ran their own version of the ‘truth’ on Bob’s behalf. (Found via racialicious.) This is the same RNC who sent me that nice mailer last week.
$50 for four people is reasonable in Giants stadium right? I mean, it’s not like we went nuts and each had, a dog, fries and soda is it?
Ah. Virals, virals, virals. The wave continues. I subscribe to viralmonitor which means basically, I get emailed a ton of different viral things as they’re released. Still, I have yet to find much of anything that’s better than what you see on adrants or adfreak. The typical stuff I get is like this game that I got today. (Click on image to play.)
In the future, everyone will be Carrot Top for 15 minutes. Calling all future movie stars, actors and directors on YouTube: you may already be scouted by Hollywood. Hey, why not. Worked for LonelgirlImNotReally15. While I’m having fun with the idea, it is the next logical step for talent searching. Carson Daly has already scoped out talent this way for his show. Maybe even legal too.
Take Freelance Fred’s pop quiz that asks the all-important question: wtf? Certainly not as wtf-ish as Rosey Grier with a second head, but close. After watching 17 times, I’m still not sure what the real message is, but damn, the spot’s sure got great production value though. (If you play it backwards you can hear narrator Scott Glenn say “I don’t even know what the message is.”)
As long as the lot of these English-looking prep school keep flocking through grassy fields in Newport, it won’t be catching on anytime soon. Who are these brave lads, these, these new faces of the 
Let those among you who have never punned cast the first syllable. (Ok, guilty as charged.) In an ad copyranter would approve of, I came across this timely Halloween gem. Note the value-add of the scary, gravity-defying horizontally dripping blood.
Hollywood Video now offers a Play Guard deal for .25¢ on every game or movie rental. Problem is, it only covers scratches or damage to the disc, nothing else. Wondering who is damaging rentals so much that they decided to offer this? And if so, wouldn’t you think if someone has oh, like 17 damaged rentals on their account, maybe Hollywood shouldn’t rent to them anymore?
Funny parody in this latest one. (View here.) What else is there to say? The spots are in a solid groove now. Way this character keeps going, why not just throw him in a movie? Hey, if CP+B is considering getting into film, this skit is definitely something Martin could run with. (With a few exceptions, it wouldn’t be any worse than most movies from former SNL cast members would it?) More importantly though, it might finally help purge my memories of Ringo’s attempt at prehistoric humor.
Man did my mom ever need that way back. Cool feature on a car. Next to Preston Tucker’s turning headlight, this seems like a pretty major advancement in the automotive world. Although you might not see it right away on the Lexus website. And, they have two different :30 second spots touting it. The first one has people remembering past obsolete technologies like rabbit ear antennas, 45 records, etc. The payoff line shows the Lexus driver remembering “when he used to parallel park”. Nice payoff. Second spot though is routine and almost like the demo on the site of how the tech works. Nod to the first one as it has the same spirit of their previous ‘ice cream truck’ spot.
Like most creatives I know, sports is a close second to, well, sports. Speaking of, I came across some good old-fashioned sports phraseology this weekend the likes of which would make Bob Uecker proud:
That’s just me adjusting things again around the old blogstead. Wider and smaller to serve you better.
Well, time for more primary fun. Looks like both parties are upping the ante as time runs out. What to do, what to do. The Republican party of NJ, (not affiliated with any specific candidate), sent me a large 4-panel DM piece that doesn’t leave anything out in its bid to scare voters. Basically, I’ll be killed in my sleep by border-crossing illegal terrorists if I don’t vote GOP. (Click on image to see front/back.)
When I go, I want to be in the NASCAR-themed casket with the logos of my choice on the rear quarter panels. (Still working on which ones but if any brands want to contact me, I can work out a special blog rate for you.) For the capper, check out the inscription on the inside of the lid: “The Race is Over”. Yes it is, isn’t it.
...or my neighbor’s yard. (I’m half-joking about the latter.) Investigators were sent out to examine this Halloween ‘crash site’ because it looked too real. Eh, I’d probably torch some stuff here and there, add a few bloody sheets. But a nice first effort. (Via Drudge)
How else to describe the funky sculptural work by artist Nancy Rubins. (Thanks to Jo.)
To offset the release of the clip iPod Shuffle from Apple, Microsoft® today announced a breakthrough in personal music enjoyment and social media. MyShoe®©™ is half-shoe, half-MP3 player. A spokesperson says that while it’s a step forward in the category, current users can only walk or listen to songs on it, just not do both at the same time.
Schick direct mail piece came for the better half the other day. Looked cool. Buy a lot of stuff at Shoprite and eventually they send free stuff. Nice little brand awareness reward. Now, I like the humerous tone of the writing, but the only thing is, it can’t seem to figure out which headline to go with. Maybe one for every blade? Click to enlarge image, or if that’s too much, then here they are:
On behalf of unhip old-school white guys everywhere, I apologize now. Jon doesn’t speak for all of us. Next up for Subway: Jared the ‘playa’.
Who knew? See the Make A Difference campaign here at Dawnsaveswildlife.com. Thanks to Jo over at doych. (Not that one ad bitches.) Interesting because Dawn is something rescuers have apparently been using for 25 years to help clean penguins and other wildlife of environmental damage.
This post is approved by the Iranian Blog Ministry: 
(It was a pun. I went for it. Sue me.) More fun with keywords and text advertising. This article on Bill Murray incorporates in-text advertising. (Keywords bought by advertisers in stories you read. Standard stuff for news services.) Except for the one special keyword ‘actors’ in the last sentence of the fifth paragraph. 
This AP shot ought to make Rummy’s day of THE GLORIOUS WELL-LIT PEOPLES OF THE NORTH. Well, we wanted Lil’ Kim out of power.
Score one for Lars and the boys. Saw this on Drudge:
I would be so fired, even with the duct tape fix. (via Drudge)
That I’d be an art director? When my 7.6 in the 40 and 3” vertical wasn’t quite good enough to play pro ball. Oh, wait. I thought you meant...nevermind. I mean the recent Reebok campaign When Did I Know? NFL players talking about when they knew they’d be good enough. Supported by TV and print. This one may have gotten lost in the shuffle of Reebok’s larger “I Am What I Am” campaign, but check it out. It’s honest and direct.
So CBGB is closing. For good. No, really. This time they mean it. It’s moving to Vegas. Which means like everything else there, it’ll turn into another theme restaurant. “Look kids, the Joey Ramone booth. Don’t worry though, it’s not real vomit. It’s just a mousepad we have for sale on the way out. Oh, and don’t forget the syringes that are really pens.”
Ok, not that I’m currently looking for either, but having been through Flanders, this recent ad on Drudge is really stretching things. It’s an example of geotargeting that misses the mark, especially given the product.
There’s lists for everything: Best sports team. Best actor. Best agency. Why not one for brands? The ones that are doing it right, doing it better, doing it longer.
Everyone’s got a little parody in ’em. New :30 and website for Captain Morgan Rum warns of the danger of bad costumes for Halloween. So Captain Your Halloween with funky music and funky costumes. It also pokes fun at those typically obnoxious, in-your-face spots that run late at night for any Ronco-type slicer-dicer product, not to mention spots that SNL used to nail – when it was funny. (To view the :30, just click on the ‘As seen on TV’ link at the upper right once there.)
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