Where the cheats are to blame.

Bono owes me a fucking iPod. I click on the answer like and it takes me to Brandarama to then take part in a survey. I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. No mention of my iPod I just won. I WANT MY FUCKING IPOD. Then, I’ll have a beautiful day. I already ‘completed the participation requirements’ like it says when I clicked on the right answer in the first place. Edge better be at FedEx right now because I feel a bloody Sunday coming on as I bullet me some blue sky.

Tags: U2, Bono owes me a fucking iPod, iPod

Go Meat! WHOOP!

Real Women need meat, part two. Hillshire Farms has a microsite and TV campaign with possibly the most college cheers rollovers I’ve ever seen this side of a Dick Vitale promotion. It’s totally safe for work, just crank up your speakers and WHOOP!

Tags: Hillshire Farm, Go Meat

Thinking Creatively conference.

If you have time and you’re in the NY/NJ area this Friday and Saturday, check out the NJ Art Directors Club Thinking Creatively conference at Kean Univeristy in Union, NJ. Lot of different speakers covering the field of design and marketing.

And by day, I’m a wiseass.

Wired has some solid articles and writing. So why do the ads in it suck? It’s like the ones you see in the back of a tech conference 12-page program. Sexy. Anyway, found one I’m taking to Funky Noun: brand name as verb. As in, do you Zappos? I Zappos actually. Ordered stuff a few times. No problems. Except with this ad.

Tags: Zappos

JACK BAUER VS. JULIE ROEHM.

I REALIZE IT’S UNUSUAL TO BREAK MY WEEKLY SILENCE LIKE THIS, BUT IT’S COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT SEVERAL QUOTES FROM JULIE ROEHM HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO ME. I WILL LEAVE IT UP TO MY FANS TO DECIDE WHO ACTUALLY SAID THE FOLLOWING. ANSWERS WILL FOLLOW SOON.

1. This office demands results. That’s what I provide.
2. I’m not for sale.
3. I’m done talking with you, you understand me? You’ve read my file....
4. I’m tired of putting my ass on the line for nothing...
5. What do you want me to say? I did drugs to get in with these people...
6. You betrayed me too, I’m just better at it than you.
7. Listen everybody - this is our time, get it right.
8. If you want to do this job well, you have to stay detached....
9. I’ll do my job, you people better start doing yours!
10. Make no mistake about it, I will do what I have to do.

UPDATE/ANSWER: I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SAID THESE THINGS. THERE, I SAID IT.

TAGS: JACK BAUER, 24, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON, JACK BAUER MEANS DEATH, KIEFER SUTHERLAND GRAVITAS, JACK BAUER FACTS, JULIE ROEHM

Texas hold ’em.

Do politicians just have too much free time? First was crazy iPod law guy, now a plan to pay women $500 to carry a baby to term and give it up for adoption. Did the senator stop to think that maybe, just maybe, if a woman was going to be enticed into carrying the baby full-term for money, she might sell it on her own for a lot more? I really wish our senators would focus on more important things, like the giant comet headed our way. Geez, I mean it’s going to be here in less than a year.

From that to this.

From the complicated French Germans posted below to old-skool American Lego ‘first time every time’ know-how, mister. Ben Thoma has this video game/Lego mashup that is simple and funny. Ben’s a freelance AD I worked with briefly who was definitely too cool for the place we we’re at. His story includes a stint as YoUDee, the Fightin’ Blue Hen mascott for the University of Delaware. I will speak of this no more. However, he might. Check him out.

(Side update: I was reminded that Lego is not American. True, I only reference the simplicity of the animation. I still give props to the Danes who ‘play well’ and invented them.)

“Evil? In.”

The ILP* continues. Scamp posted this clip from mrdeity.com. I hate saying “It’s LOL! funny” anymore because well, if it isn’t, you people give me grief. But what if I say it’s ‘clever in an amusing way,’ would that work?

Tags: Mr. Deity

*Incestous link party

Animational fun.

Props to Zeke for turning me onto some amazing pre-After Effects/Final Cut Pro animation work found in these two shorts circa 1990. The first one, called Gisele Kerozene by French director Jan Kounen, looks like any chase sequence only sped up. What makes it interesting is that the forward motion was actually created by the characters kicking their legs up in place and then moving forward. No other effects. Those whacky French. Which leads me to freaky Germans. The Oscar-winning short Balance from West Germany is kinda out there. Pick your metaphor in this one, but two that definitely come to mind are the ideas of teamwork and survival. The characters also made me FF >> to the work of Chris Cunningham and Tim Burton, two more animation freaks.

Tags: Gisele Kerozene, Balance, Jan Kounen, Tim Burton, Chris Cunningham

Bravo show update.

Posted a few weeks ago on Chappelle on Inside The Actors Studio. Looks like since then Bravo streamlined their links to all shows. Check out clips from the upcoming April 5th show at 12:00 am. (Also, they have the Simpsons cast episode on April 28 at 9:00 am. Totally worth it if you’re into that show just to see who makes what voice. Sample clip here.)

Tags: Dave Chappelle, Inside The Actors Studio, The Simpsons

NOBODY MAKES OUT ON MY WATCH, UNLESS IT’S WITH THE FLOOR AFTER I KNOCK THEM OUT OR SHOOT THEM. AND LITTLE RICKY SCHRODER IS STARTING TO ANNOY ME. TOUGH? HE’S NOT TOUGH. HAS THERE EVER BEEN ANYONE REMOTELY NAMED SCHROEDER ON TV WHO WAS? OH YEAH, THAT’S RIGHT. HE PLAYED PIANO FOR A DOG. I REST MY CASE. IN FACT, I’M GOING TO START SPELLING HIS NAME THIS WAY:
Little Ricky Schroder.

TAGS: JACK BAUER, 24, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON, JACK BAUER MEANS DEATH, KIEFER SUTHERLAND GRAVITAS, JACK BAUER FACTS, Little Ricky Schroder

I just don’t know where this fits.

I collect a lot of marketing materials, clips, ads, etc., and I’ve seen a lot of funky stuff, but this one just moved to the front of the line. Moreso because of where and when I got it. Yesterday, I met with a rental agent about a possible apartment. Problem was the place had already been rented days before I got there–something they forget to tell me when I set up the apt. Ok, no problem, shit happens and what’s one more wasted hour, right? So I said thanks and got up to leave. That’s when along with his business card, the agent said he had something else for me.

So he went over to his brochure table and pulled from a stack this two-sided gem of a pamphlet: 101 of the World’s Funniest One Liners. (I think it’s an $8 value too. At least the newer ones in book form are.) As if somehow “Take My Wife Please!” would somehow ease the sting of my leaselessness. Thing is, they’re not even one liners, they’re bad sayings you’d see on the desk of any hapless DMV worker:

24. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.

I now feel bad for the cat clinging from a tree, trying to just, well, hang in there baby.

Commenting fixed.

Ah, the joy that is Blogger. Commenting enabled now, flame away.

Rocketboom may charge for shows.

“It’s frustrating that we haven’t worked it out by now...”

Reap what you sow. I’m sick of the love for all next-gen dot.com v2.whoa restart-ups like this. I hated Rocketboom when it came out and I hate it even more now. Charge for content? Good luck. They have that model already—it’s called iTunes and the content I get for free there. Or cable. Why would I pay RB when I can get the vastly superior Daily Show With Jon Stewart. It’s not my problem their gravy train left to try and be taken seriously over at ABC. Advice? Call Hooters about a full sponsorship of the program and write content for some of their future Amanda 2.0 hopefuls to sit behind the desk. (Just not the ones who might sign their name with a heart over the ‘i.’) At least it’ll be fun watching them read the prompter. (There’s also this guy. He’d be good too.)

(And just to avoid crap for forgeting certain readers, here’s some hunkage to even things out.)

Tags: vapid, Rocketboom, The Daily Show

Acceptable.tv

YouTube 2.0 meets SNL mixed with product placement and a consumer-generated chaser. Acceptable.tv is but one of the next steps in integrated/branded entertainment. Props to the agency who pulled it off. “Hey, what if we take YouTube and have people vote on our SNL-style skits. We’ll have people who can actually write and perform though. (But we’ll also let the public upload their stuff.)” I like the concept. Vote on skits that didn’t suck so they would return next week. On second thought, Lorne Michaels couldn’t do this–nothing would make it through to week two.

Overall, the skits were ok. Jack Black is an executive producer, but his appearance is more for show. Homeless James Bond was good, probably as funny as anything on SNL lately. As for product placement integration, Amp’d Mobile sponsored this week’s show. Not unusal, but what is is that one of the videos they created featured the product openly, almost to the point of absurdity. And I would’ve liked to see a trackback to the show from amp’d’s website, but that’s small.

Coupla two, three things else though.

First, with product placement so openly on display, does it interfere with the skit too much? Mike Meyers did a great spoof on this n Wayne’s World by holding up a series of products while breaking the fourth wall and talking to us about each one. Funny there, but will a steady diet of it here be overkill? Gimmee some entertainment, light on the hardsell, even if it is over-the-top on purpose. Trading Spaces and all the other Lowe’s/Home Depot-sponsored shows on TLC pull this off smoothly.

Secondly, how much has time compressed now with regard
to how far we go back in mining pop culture and media, (such as myspace and YT). Used to be we’d go back 20 years for those funky ‘retro’ references. Now we go back six weeks, if that. Like the kid at Christmas who can’t wait to move on to the next present before opening the one in front of him, have we’ve seemingly replaced YT before it’s reached its full potential? In a way, the show format also compresses the time it takes to measure success. Sitcoms go how long before being judged by ratings, six shows, a full season before changes are made? Here, it’s during the show with people voting online up to three days after.

Another cool thing is that ATV lets you download their clips. Who does that? Copyrighted material on YT is a major problem. People grab a clips with a third-party app or Tivo something and upload it illegally. Here, they’re saying go ahead, download it, mash it up, upload it again. We don’t care. Even though the skits need to be more consistent and the cast looks a little too much alike, a nice template has been set up for brand integration with this thing.

Tags: Jack Black, Acceptable.tv

Campaign for suicidal dark comedy is overkill.

Suicide prevention groups are now against the campaign for a new film called Wristcutters: A Love Story. Ads are one thing, but it’s a film. It’s the one medium where anything goes, no? Stopping ads won’t stop the film and its suicide theme, something which I thought they opposed in the first place. All they’re doing is giving it more PR. Besides, after watching the trailer? They should run the controversial spots to get people interested. Comedy? This thing looks dreadful. Looks like Y tu razorblade también for the French cafe crowd, and I HATE French cinema. (Exception made for Jean Reno, their Sam Jackson–a bad motherfucker). More free advice for the protestors: let the hoopla die. The film will soon follow.

Tags: Wristcutters: A Love Story, Jean Reno

Verike.

I love how Verizon is starting to sign-off in their TV. Original.

Tags: Verizon, Nike

Sydney’s global warming blackout power hour.

To raise global warming awareness, Sydney, of the Australia Sydneys), killed power Saturday for an hour. (Anybody not heard of global warming at this point? Thanks to Gore’s Alfomercial, I doubt it.) They also got businesses to join in as well. Nothing new here in the states. Con Ed’s been sponsoring NYC blackouts for decades now. (via Drudge)

Tags: global warming

I have a gay car.

I think. In checking Technorati and the links of commenters posting here, it’s interesting to see where people arrive from. One of those lead me to a blog that displayed an Edmund’s ad for ‘top gay cars.’ Ok, didn’t know they got that specific in their reviews, but I thought, let’s just see what the hell they’re referring to. And there it was:

2. Toyota Camry.

Now, for the record, I’m pro-heterosexual, and this is not a commentary on anyone’s preferences. To each his or her own. But I’m wondering if that’s true about Toyota, do I need to maybe butch up the car a little? Grinding wheel across the hood? Maybe kick a door in? Or should I just trade it in for an F-150 and a rifle rack.

Tags: Toyota Camry

Confusing Clorox.

Clorox has a couple of spots running worth noting. Kids getting dirty while playing. Simply photographed, straightforward message similar in tone to Pedigree’s Dogs Rule campaign. They also have radio out for Clorox disinfectant wipes that compliment this campaign with a mom reading to her child or another with her playing with one of the little bastards. And that’s all you hear. It’s real, unscripted and just feels right if you’re a parent. (Next to the perennial award-winning Real Men of Genius or Dinner, it’s the first decent radio I’ve heard in some time.)

But the wtf? moment happens before it though. They run this :30 as part of a :60 that leads off with ‘Julie Edelman–The Accidental Housewife.’ She apparently likes to sponsor a lot of things. It’s the usual Ann Landers-type flyover country home tips bullshit thing that major brands run and that I despise. It totally undermines the second spot. Scary thing is, she sounds fake, but isn’t. (Just how do you become an accidental housewife anyway. What, you’re walking down the street, trip and fall into an arranged marriage?)

Brands have multiple demos and voices, but running both almost at the same time here hurts the cause. The crowd that appreciates the mom reading should be insulted by Julie. Speaking of vapid, I came across a clip of a fictional character called Jeannie Tate a few weeks ago. Clorox could just have her in a skit for the brand that would be 100 times better. The satire in this case would play well and people might actually respect Clorox for ‘lightening’ up a little. (Who said puns are dead.)

Tags: Clorox

Yo, lemmee get a badonkadonk butt and a #6.

Subway, Subway, Subway. You owe Tracy some royalties. It was cute when Jon Lovitz screamed “Holla!” but the urban thing here rings so false. I thought the campaign idea had promise–get people thinking about all the combos they eat and the poor effects of eating this way. First there was the spot with a kid on a couch playing videogames. But how does playing a videogame that involves eating fast food address the problem? At least tell the kid to get off his ass and run to Subway. Now come spots with a couple ordering the typical drive-up combo meals by how they will affect your body. The guy’s delivery is normal on radio and TV, but the drive-up woman in the radio spot hits the ‘badonkadonk’ note like she was all ghetto n’ shit. Not to mention the uptight princess in the passenger seat on the TV. Might as well ask J-Red to start rapping. (Apologies, but I can only find a partial clip of it on TV, no radio yet. TV is not as over the top as the radio spot, but you’ll still get the idea.)
Tags: Subway

So simple.

VIA has a cool find. It’s one of those things where you ask why hasn't it been done sooner.

PS3: Fellini edition.

Trailer for the UK launch of the PS3. Only thing they forget to do was shoot it in B&W because it’s weird as hell. And like a Fellini flick, metaphors abound. Are all the people representative of the different worlds of gamers who will eventually converge? The RPG crowd, the shooters, the sports freaks? What about grenade dog? Perhaps this is a subtle comment on the euro and its effects on post-modern art? Naw. Like Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now, it’s just out there man. I do like though that they feature an older a more mature crowd in the spot. This is just me runnin’ something up the flagpole, but I can only guess they’re going after the growing boomer crowd. 25% or so of gamers are now over 50. Although, that doesn’t explain Borat underwear tv guy. Maybe Europeans are just freaky like that.

Tags: PlayStation 3, PS3

Sony P3 vs. SL?

Speaking of PS3, saw this on the Navigator. I agree SONY’s entry here into the virtual world beyond gaming could be huge. Consider the sweet spot of SL’s demo is nearly 40% 25-34-year-olds, and the gamer market spans the 18-49 segement at almost 45%. Also factor in that most gamers have been playing an average of 10 years, and that teens under 18 are almost a third of all gamers, you have a nice built-in Tron following.

Tags: Second Life, Sony P3

Do you, you know.

Saw this on Kiss My Ads. Not sure how many farmers make up the Yahoo! demo, but I really like this idea. (It’s also possible the needle was added in Photoshop. I still like it regardless.)


Tags: Yahoo!

Never underestimate the power of a good brolly, ya wally.

The Shat even worked across the pond. Funny, but the number of former crew members who seemed to want to work with the Captain at any given time is only two: Scotty or Spock. Anyway, here’s a spot for National Gas and Powergen that throws a few English slang terms around. Not on the order of the old Amex Seinfeld fish out of water spot, but still, a cute payoff. Even if the spot does have more borrowed interest than the U.S. economy.

Tags: William Shatner, Star Trek, National Power, PowerGen

Pimp Your Penguin.

I don’t write these things, they write themselves. Are we just at the point now where virals are cannibalizing each other? Here’s one I got today where you upload your photo and it dances and la-de-fucking-da, it’s identical to how many other dancing games. If this is all movie studios have learned from Snakes on a blog about movie promotion, they’re doomed. Check it out for yourself here.

Weekly what the...?

Enron finally doing some good.
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Thought he was out of rehab. (via Buzz Patrol)
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Is there a Toy Hell for something like this? (via giantmonster!)
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Somewhere, Jeff Bridges sheds a single tear. (via sargeworld)
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Lifesavers jumped. (via candy blog)
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
And I thought it was fine as is. (via gridskipper)
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Me? I had Lieberman making the Sweet 16.

A Laurel and Hardy handshake to the new readers, lurkers and general mayhemists here in recent days. I couldn’t have done whatever it is I do without you. Um, yeah, I probably could, just wouldn’t be as spiffy. When I started this thing way back, it was just supposed to be a way to vent about the daily bullshit we deal with, no matter what side of the biz you’re on. Since then, I have stroven, am striving and will continue to be a striver in bringing you the best, the worst and the wtf? factor when it comes to ad stuff. And thanks Fred, for keeping me grounded with search results like this. Speaking of the wtf factor, I received this gem today from John. (Yeah, I called him John–we’re tight like that you know.)



Dear Bill,

March Madness is here.

Only this time it’s not just a chance to follow your favorite team through the NCAA brackets–it’s time to fill out your first bracket of 2007 to decide which great Democrats the johnkerry.com community will rally behind this spring.

It’s your chance to choose which candidates to support.

Please click the link below and vote for 2 Senators and 2 Representatives you want to advance to the final bracket.

http://www.johnkerry.com/action/marchmadness/.

Thank you,

John Kerry

Tags: John Kerry March Madness, NCAA Tourney, bracket

CD sales plummet. Up with downloads.

Old school here contributing to the decline of CDs as noted on Drudge, having recently downloaded my first entire ‘album’ via iTunes. It took how many generations for vinyl record albums to be phased out? And now CDs look like they could be gone in what, less than 20 years?

I also love how a technology can die out or gets marginalized, yet its moniker lives on. As a former vinyl freak, I held out before switching to CDs. 8-track tapes and cassettes also casualties of the tech wars. At that time, vinyl purists argued “CDs don’t sound real enough, there’s no hiss,” Still, as it is with any new technology embraced by an industry, consumers don’t have much say in the matter. They have to switch over.

Props though to the Amish for never bowing to the ‘man.’

Even with previous formats, CDs at least still allowed you to have something tangible to hold in your hand. Something you felt, something you really owned. But then came the internet, Napster and downloadable songs. No trip to the store. No disc to pop in. No thanks.

I knew it was inevitable though. Sure Sting would be happy if I saved a few trees doing it this way, but I wasn’t convinced. Hard to break old habits. It was either going to be cold turkey or the equivalent of the patch–used CDs bought on Amazon, followed by a few single song downloads at a time.

Then, after getting one used CD too many from them in a damaged jewel case three weeks later, I went over to the dark side. Originally thought I’d save money buying used, and for a lot of titles, I did. Even hard to find stuff. (No, not the import of An Evening with Menudo and William Shatner, Unplugged.)

Thing is, we’re all about the moment, a need that a great bargain on Amazon doesn’t meet. The instant gratification of ‘BUY NOW’ is replaced by three weeks of ‘WHERE THE HELL IS MY ORDER?’ What kind of bargain is it if I can’t have it now, right?

With iTunes, it was $9.99 for 14 songs in less than five minutes. So while it may be some time before a hard drive replaces all my CDs, I know the shock of not having something ‘real’ to hold will be lessened.

I’ll still be able to appreciate an album’s cover art on my iPod’s half-inch screen.
(via Drudge)

Tags: iPod, iTunes

“Good morning, may we please have our money?”

Useless Pulp Fiction trivia clouding my head today. Hard to imagine the now famous opening sequence without the Eziekiel 25:1 speech. But had Tarantino sold the From Dusk ‘Til Dawn script before Pulp Fiction, you’d have to. It was originally meant for Harvey Keitel in the scene at the end where he holds the vampires at bay. Tarentino didn’t think he was going to sell that script, so he took parts from the movie to use in others–like Pulp Fiction.

Tags: Quentin Tarantino, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, Pulp Fiction

YouTube announces its own award show.

Finally, mediocrity has its champion. But who’s gonna host the show? And will the award be called a Tubie? It’s gotta mean so much when LoNelyGirl115suX thinks u r omg SOOOOO freakin AWESOME!!!!!!!
(via Spin Thicket)

Tags: YouTube 2006 Video Awards

Unleash Your Inner....

Back of a bus in Minneapolis today. Man, that ‘Release Your Inner Whatever’ theme has legs, doesn’t it.

The life-death-life of a logo.

A unique logo story. (via RJ over at thecitydesk.net)


Tags: Lowell Furniture, Sour Grapes Magee

Washington Mutual talk show.

Hmmm. WaMu has a spot out about a spoof talk show coming soon called Chattin’ With The Pen. Not sure it actually will happen or if it’s all spoof. (Domain name taken, nothing up yet.) The old bankers from previous spots, having stepped back from the edge, are the panel on this show. I like the idea of this kind of show format, even though it’s been done before. The parody here feels a little forced and the name is odd, but hey, they’re trying.

In a way, it has the same tone as this fake internal WaMu emergency brief. (And, because I notice shit like this, I believe the second actor shown in this spot is Kenneth White, the Grumman Representative from Apollo 13.)

Tags: WaMu, Chattin’ with the pen, Washington Mutual

What’s better than 100%? Why, more than 100%.

When you need someone who specializes in pedestrian accidents, someone to drop the legal hammer, you call The Hammer. That’s Lowell ‘The Hammer’ Stanley of course. Man, they’re getting a lot of milage out of that actor.

Tags: Lowell The Hammer Stanley

Hi, I’m Earth, have we met?

Why wait until Friday for ‘Weekly what the...?’ Found this older clip for an unrelated project. (Older yes, but whacky has a long shelf life you know.) If anyone missed snacktime, it’s this lady. May also be one of the few times I agree with Hannity on something.

Tags: Shirley Phelps Roper

I SEE DEAD PEOPLE.

EVERYWHERE I AIM.




TAGS: JACK BAUER, 24, PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPON, JACK BAUER MEANS DEATH, KIEFER SUTHERLAND GRAVITAS, JACK BAUER FACTS

Do media rock stars also have groupies too?

Thanks to hj for this gem, who notes the groundbreaking use of ‘Rockstar’ as one word. Add a cap R and it’s party time. Who needs grammar anyway, it’s only advertising. Speaking of that marketing misnomer, the Led Zep tag may be the best use of a rock theme this year. Remember, there’s a lady who knows, all that opts-in is gold, and she’s buying a LISTSERV... for heaven.

Rock on.

How to link to something cool.

1. Check Technorati to see who links to you.
2. Then, check them out.
3. Discover cool clip.
4. Use blog forensics to discover the original link they got it from.
5. Share with readers here.

Tags: Hugh MacLeod, change this

Send someone a loooong message from Dicky V.

It’s March Madness, which means only one thing: time for Dick Vitale to promote something. Like DiGiorno. Since your brackets were probably shot to hell this weekend, you have spare time now to go to The Locker Room. Try to make two shots against him for prizes. Even if you miss, you can still send a customized message. And like the pizza, there’s two great ways to annoy enjoy, especially if you’re actually still in it. Send a message by cell or email to someone who isn’t. AWESOME BABY!!!!!!


Tags: Dick Vitale, DiGiorno, Kraft, March Madness, NCAA, bracket

Tracy Morgan: Superhero.

(Almost.) For a second, I had a Blankman flashback. I love the payoff here with Tracy Morgan. He’s always funny but still hasn’t gotten the recognition yet. Thank God they came out with this. That vampire spot was killing me. Literally. You can see both on Kraft’s site, but try Safari. Firefox and Kraft don’t seem to get along.

Tags: DiGiorno, Tracy Morgan

“Looks like someone missed snacktime.”

Can ANYONE explain that line to me? I know I wear velcro sneakers, but a little help here. Uh, didn’t the snacktime misser in each spot also go to Mickey D’s along with the same group of people? The same group who somehow managed to remember to order their food? Missing snacks may make you irritable, but doing stupid shit? Not so much.
(image via boingboing)

Tags: McDonald’s

But wouldn’t the flames melt the ice cream?

Just checking. (That’s part of my duties as part of advertising’s internal affairs division.) Don’t include me as part of the YouTube crowd who thinks this latest DQ spot is LMAO/LOL funny. Is there an acronym yet for annoying out loud?

Tags: DQ

Old Spice gets it. Aqua Velva? Not so much.

Figured it was only a matter of time before the Aqua Velvas of the world responded to the Axe effect. And they didn’t disappoint. One same old new spot has the typical father teaching son to shave and this older one. It’s ironic they use the tag ‘Men get it’ because the brand obviously doesn’t. It’s exactly the kind of spot Old Spice parodied recently.

There’s something to be said for brands staying consistent as AV did here, but there’s also something to updting your image and having some fun with it in order to appeal to a new audience.

Tags: Aqua Velva, Old Spice

Who wants Absinthe?

Ok, stay with me on this one and don’t get up until the ride is over. Before I had YouTube to kill my time, I relied on the sick and demented kindness of strangers for animational fun. Like this oldie but goodie from The Dude and Jo: Strindberg + helium. Anyway, created by Killing My Elephant, Strindberg is part Guiness ad guy, part Charles Bukowski and part Uli the Nihilist. But it gets more betterer. In researching the correct spelling for Uli, I discovered Peter Stomare has his own band called Blonde From Fargo. Want more? I got a lotta more; all you can handle. That find lead me to Hair Supply–a heavy metal Air Supply tribute band. (After hearing them, I wanna say Spinal Crap, but who am I to judge.)

Watch or get back to work. Your choice.

Tags: Strindberg + helium, Killing My Lobster, Peter Stomare, Blonde From Fargo, Hair Supply, Absinthe and Women,

Charlie the WTF?

Brettner has a clip called Charlie the Horse. It’s one of several animated shorts done over on filmcow. I’m watching some of them, and it dawns on me that while they’re these quirky stories with no rhyme or reason, I’m still drawn in. (Sure makes up for this.) Each are maybe six or seven minutes long in some cases too. Not a big deal, right? Thing is, the animator, Jason Steel, says views are pushing near 11 million just for Charlie alone. Think how much brands would pay for that kind of attention. I also think in their rush to build ‘social currency,’ it’s also the kind of thing they could easily mess up too. Can you hear brands now? “We have to figure out a way to get the product in there everywhere somewhere.” Take Spatula Madness, a story that covers topics like automatic weapons and France. Pam cooking spray would throw a logo on it, cut it down to 2:00 and add the usual VO.

The result: out with the funk, in with the junk.

Tags: Charlie the horse, Spatula Madness

Kids in political ads.

It’s cheap and it’s wrong. Kids should be selling cookies, not pushing the agenda of special interest groups like AARP or politicians like Governor Spitzer. When you can’t you sell your position without resorting to using them, you take the easy way out.

Tags: Governor Spitzer, AARP

Choose your adventure.

Jeep has a new spot out with a website to Choose your own adventure. I like the :30 spot where the woman is able to grab things in her view and reposition them. Figured the site would let you do that too, but nope. The guy on the site is pretty funny with his fake echo–and that’s about it. I made it through one cabin scenario and bailed. This site is billed as fully interactive, but it was a series of scenes you choose the ending too after adding your name up front. (A name by the way which didn’t get used until three scenes in.) I’d much rather be able to move elements around just like the :30 spot showed. This alternate ending stuff is old skool DVD menu. When I see ‘full interactive,’ I want to be able to click and move shit around right from the start.

Tags: Jeep

MIller Lite to do in-house ads.

A spokesman said:

“We’re dubbing it the ‘Ultimate Light Beer by Design.’ The new ads demonstrate our ability to move with speed and conviction. And we like the flexibility that these simple formats provide to quickly customize our messaging for a variety of mediums. (Of course, we were going to come up with something more catchy as a headline, but since we’re doing it in-house, that’s the best we could do.)”

The part in parenthesis is me egging the house of marketing speak–again. The really interesting part of the story is this though:

“...agency [Crispin] is busy working on a large-scale campaign slated for spring.”

Either Miller’s pissed over Man Laws or Crispin can’t handle the workload. I really doubt it’s the latter. Any agency can do a one-off or two for a few weeks that bridges the messaging of old and new campaigns. I don’t get the move. Even though brands have different agencies do stuff for them all the time, I never heard of an agency that would pass on major TV work, let alone see it go back to the brand itself? If it has its act together, nobody knows a brand better than itself. But those are few and far between–Apple and Nike come to mind. This just feels like a meddling owner in the NFL who wants to play coach. Where’s the consistancy in the messaging? (No matter whar that Miller Lite message is as of late.)

(via adage)

Tags: Man Laws, Miller Lite

Stay away from Virginia, go to Alabama instead.

For those who will actually stay away from West VA, check out 800Alabama.com. Specifically, the arts scene. (“But Taylor Hicks is from Alabama and one of their Art Ambassadors” you say. Yes, but so is Courteney-Cox Arquette: wife of David, brother to Patricia from True Romance. Which means Patricia could kick Taylor’s ass, so it’s a wash.) Anyway, there’s this quirky campaign running late at night that features doc-like profiles of local artists and talking artwork. Alabama doesn’t have the cache of NYC’s art scene–who does–but I really like the approach. Honestly, does anybody think of art first when they hear the word tourism, let alone ‘Alabama?’ It’s not your typical shiny happy beach and golf course shots. The clips on YouTube are low-key B&W interviews without the full-color talking art of the TV. (That’s a small nit though.) You can check out clips from the rest of the campaign here and click on The Year of Alambama Arts link on the main site to access the arts area.

Tags: The Year of Alambama Arts, 800Alabama.com