Sticks and stones.

Forget the [production value, it’s a strong message (if this is really an 8th grader and not some agency putting her up to it). Don’t be a killer is a message that bullying PSAs have avoided but resonates here with a written treatment instead of spoken words.

(Via.)

Go forth O denimers.

This promo piece for Levi’s Cambray by Opening Ceremony collection would sure make a different nice departure for the overall brand message. Go forth O denimers.

(Via.)

Air New Zealand Richard Simmons Disco Time.

Air New Zealand’s latest mile-high madness safety vid is a real stretch. HA. See what I did there? Hey, are Richard Simmons and Billy Crystal the only two dudes who can pull off that hair look? I THINK THEY ARE.

(Via.)

The way they were.

Remember, the hot sexy fun of HBO circa 1996 is best viewed on Netscape 2.0.

Introducing the 2011 Chevy Porsche.

You know, they say it’s fast, this one is.

Btw...

- HTC now avails everywhere.
- Crying cosmonaut crash.
- Soccer + Beer.
- 11 recordings of terrible hold music.
- Phantasmagorial histrionics.
- Stay Puft Marshmallows are real.
- Apple kills a mouse.

AdVerve 70 - Fashion-Punting on Twitter & The Trouble with Airlines

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We run a solid flowing gamut from customer service on Twitter to what travel's lost post-9/11. We throw back to Vinny Warren a little, ruminate on the pros and cons of unexpected fame (is it ever unexpected?), and where the New York Times went horribly, horribly wrong with its payment wall. Angela also rants heavy on the merits of Monocle, the little print publication that could - and could so, so good.

Linksomania:

- Edward Boches buys a shirt on Twitter
- @NordstromDave
- How Sharpie uses social media
- Monocle (read this shit!)
- Werner NCAA ladder fun
- BusinessWeek's profile on Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé
- Beer for textbooks
- AdVerve episode featuring Vinny Warren, the man behind the Wheat Thins
- @Chrismacho
- Bandwagon likeness
- Sheex - the bedsheets for the active bedtime man

Stop following me.

Wheat Thins fun continues from Vinny Warren’s Escape Pod. In the most recent spot, they ask everyone to follow @chrismacho on Twitter because he commented sarcastically how awesome it was that the brand was following him on Twitter. FF >> to an influx of followers later, and he’s internet famous. (Read more about the behind the scenes here.) Depending on which comment you read though, getting recognized by a brand is either the coolest thing to happen to people – or a major intrusion. The dude’s friend doesn’t dig the stunt, going as far as to imply Chris’ life has sucked since, as do several YouTube comments like this.

A little more altitude, a little less attitude.

Nice to see an app commercial that doesn’t take itself seriously. Walgreens has two spots out for its all-purpose app. (They’ve had it out – available here – since 2010.) After the jump, check out Bungee Jumper.

Btw...

- Those jeans are hot.
- Mortal spinning.
- During the Japan earthquake. (Via.)
- Logorithmicness.
- Great catsup names No. 59.
- What Dov has to do with it.

SXSW buzzwordage.

Tired of buzzwords? Tired of SXSW talk? GET YOU SOME OF BOTH. Agency Modea threw together a nice little look at the most overly-used words that week (including an app to help you navigate the buzzwordage).

(Via @halthomas via BFG.)

Help wanted: Copywriter for U.S. Government *police* actions.

Are you good with a turn of the phrase? Do friends remark on your witty comebacks at parties? Then we should talk!

OPERATION ODYSSEY DAWN? When Dolph Lundgren movies have better titles, something’s wrong. Seeing as we lobbed half a billion worth at them, why not just call it Operation Tomahawk Field Test. Has a nicer ring. You could also use Apple’ naming convention: Operation Leopard? Or Pulp Fiction characters: Operation Wolf. (Our missiles are 30 miles away – but they’ll be there in 10.) Seriously, who in government procurement gets the call at 2:30 am and has to start brainstorming names. #hastosuck

Btw...

- A French AIDES campaign? You NEVER see that.
- 1,000 Cranes for Japan.
- IT’S TRUCK KEY MONTH.
- Pole dancing for Jesus.

Equal pay for equal grannies.

Grannies gone wild grinding. AS they describe it:

“Equal Payday is a worldwide organization that pleads for equal pay for women. The campaign is a Belgian initiative by the organization ‘Zij-kant’ (her-side).”

Okay, well, this remake of the Benny Benassi video ‘Satisfaction’ seems little bit long for a :30, but it gets the point across, that getting paid less means having to work longer. Seems like it adds two issues to the mix though with both gender and age discrimination together, but whatever. Enjoy the grinding.

(Created by: mortierbrigade.)

Visigoth Sports Network.

Extending the Capitol One campaign to a sports show for March Madness. Check out veteran character actor Donald Gibb as one of the hosts (left).

(Agency: DDB.)

Can't wait to see the ad campaign...

Well here’s a fragrance you haven’t tried seen... until now. Yes friends, Surplus is an ode to human excrement. Stylishly packaged of course and invented by someone named Jammie. Move along.

(Via.)

Btw...

- Girls making gun noises.
- A little post production hoes a long way. (Via.)
- Adidas, All In.
- More white boy rap, this time, cancer don’t stand no chance, yo.
- Oink.
- Tommy Morrison, night fighter.

Paywall without leave.

Because he’s all smart like that, Ben Kunz on Though Gadgets looks at stuff mere mortals ignore. Like... how the New York TImes is going to start making more money online off all you people abandoning it for free news elsewhere. Least that’s their theory. Check it out though because it definitely breaks down how publishers in general should approach pay models.

There are two dynamics that keep jumping out at me about this topic however.

First, and it may be a bigger one for another time, but news outlets on television like CNN.com et al. don’t seem to have this same problem with their online content divisions and making money, because their TV ad revenue clearly supports the digital side. Any ads run on their site have to be pure profit, no? Easier said than done, but the obvious solution in this case would be to say to the NYT or Wall Street Journal that they should just start their own TV channels.

AdVerve 69: Supermoon to Super Mario

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We hit you with some old-school 5 for 5, running the gamut from natural disasters to sports marketing. Bill also wilds out on pet rights, and the whole thing basically devolves into a rumination on horror cinema. Vampires and zombies manifest heavily as usual, but no opportunities for a Twilight or Buffy joke are taken. (This means we’re maturing.)

It beats “The Twitter Band.”

Band self-promotion is a cold, desperate place. Without major label support, most acts are left to their own devices, and that usually means a shitty MySpace page. But what do you do when you don’t even have a name for the group yet? Fear not, because the innermets offer myriad possibilities. Ben Adley, Ryan Lewis and Kevin Russell from one new band in Seattle came up with a different approach with You Name Our Band. Actually it was the bass player Kevin who came up with. (It’s always the bass player that makes the most sense.)

Why not let a brand sponsor them for money, and in return, the band would be named after the brand?

Your agency sucks.

“No one knows the product better than the folks who made it.”

That’s entertainment software brand Valve’s VP of marketing Doug Lombardi on the value of ad agencies. It wasn’t their recently completed in-house spot above that got my attention but that statement, because it’s completely wrong – and completely right. He goes on to say that

“We’ve had many creative kick-off meetings with agencies over the years, and you’d be shocked by the treatments that have come back. Copycat treatments. Cliché treatments. Treatments that reveal the agency wasn’t listening in the initial meeting.”

In a Vern Fonk Snuggie.

Does Vern’s white boy rap have the same fonk as Shapoopie? No, but then, what does. Save the dating and rapping, keep making fun of rednecks.

Where George Parker attempts to go an hour without F-bombs.

Figure that’s what I’ll call any show I do with him from now on. What did we talk about? I can’t recall, actually. Wait, now I remember: A bunch of stuff about how agencies can’t (and won’t) hire talent that they complain is sorely missing from their ranks. Then we took a ride with Chrysler. AND OTHER SUCH STUFF. Besides Her Majesty’s favorite son, joining in were BBH strategy director Griffin Farley and Campfire president Jeremiah Rosen. Get you some more info here.

Download the show now or listen through iTunes.

Tags: Beancast

First Person Shooter – Mario edition

I’m waiting for a Tempest FPS. LOOK UP THE GAME. I’m not doing your job for you. But yeah, they need to make this game.

(Via.)

New Star Wars remake.

SORTA. Has ANY franchise been repurposed or beat to shit more than Star Wars? I THINK NOT.

(Via.)

Super Guillermo.

Sure it’s dumb as hell, and likely* fake, but just charming enough that I could see Verizon running a series of these.

*Which means I’m so insanely busy lately that I don’t have time to confirm for you. Let the production value be your guide there, friendo.

Twitter: “Serving All Your Natural Disaster Needs – Since 2006.”

Aka, Tweet™ 1-800-Disaster. Even though the danger from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan is far from over, I was watching the Red Cross run its text > donation campaign again, the way they had done to great success during the Haitian earthquake and thought, what if we had Twitter a year before Hurricane Katrina hit. Would we have found out about food shortages sooner? People stuck on top of their houses? Lost animals found? Overall relief efforts coordinated better? Who knows.

When it comes to a post-Twitter American natural disaster world, we haven’t really had a major event blow up for us on Twitter where we used it to coordinate rescue efforts on a massive scale. Sorry, but trying to find the best parties at SXSW doesn’t count. So far, the service has been covering elections, Big TV events (VMAs, Oscars and Super Bowl), and Hudson River runways.

Of course there was BP, but that was man-made. About the only thing Twitter did there was let Anderson Cooper gripe about how mainstream media wasn’t being let on the beaches to cover the story. Easy Coop, your American Haiti earthquake moment is coming, because they always do.

Just keep watching Twitter.

(Image.)

Btw...

- Make your Powerpoint decks Winners!
- Kafka with Kittens.
- Smartest dog in the world.
- Chatroulette seduction technique No. 51.
- Massive-aggressive.

The sappiest commercial you will ever see.

Kay Jewelers just got burned. Ladies, I give you Fancy Feast and the man of your dreams.

Btw...

- Gilbert Aflacks a job.
- He’s Zack!
- Sad Etsy.
- Apple’s role in Japan during the Tohoku Earthquake.
- World’s coolest geek mom.
- The Tron bike.

The way they were...

Hot ugly fun from Wendy’s - 1996.

GEICO’S Toonces Redux.

You know, the cat who could drive a car? THEY CAN, you know. The latest GEICO series has been mostly consistent but who the hey doesn’t love dogs chasing cats... in 70s action sequence fake car-o-rama. If you’re gonna go over the top, go over the top like they did here. Emotionless pets chasing each other at high speed, putting innocent civilians at risk.

“Click-click-click... click-click.”

That’s dolphin speak for...

Dairy Queen: “Do what you want but just makes sure you mention our new deal along with a product shot.”

Agency: “What if we had this guy come out with a guitar who acted serious, just like Old Spice guy. Then, when he plays, the guitar makes a dolphin noise. At the end, he plays again and now it sounds like a cat. See, this ties back to the offer because we improved on the first sound and gave you two. How RiDQulous would THAT be.”

AdVerve 68 - Twitteropa

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It’s located somewhere between Utopia and SxSW. What are we on about this week? Things like... how pop culture is subtly changing as a result of technology, and even how changing technology has affected not only cartoon culture, but advertising and what we're being taught about human behaviour in entertainment. Take the animational revolution known as Pixar, which changed children's entertainment with Toy Story and as a result, entertainment itself. Cartoon life is now more intelligent than it ever was with complex values Buzz light years of your dad’s Acme anvil. The Incredibles, Megamind, Despicable Me and Up are cartoons that tell you that being a hero or villain means being fallible.

Of course at the other end of that spectrum, we also talk Jersey Shore.

Linkage:

- Chrysler tweet.
- FedEx tweet.
- Always remember: Cross at the green, and Aladdin before Toy Story.
- Speaking of: The Pixar Story doc.
- Sapient Nitro vending.

(Pic.)

Oh no they dinnit.

I believe I can sigh, because yep, they did. Kia took their product placement segment out of the recent Sprite Slam Dunk contest and made it into a spot with Blake Griffin. Would Jordan have needed to jump a car? No, because he was his own brand. Watching that night as the Kia was brought out, I thought sweet, Blake’s going to jump over the roof. Uh, no. FF >> now and here’s the inevitable milk it for all it’s worth  slo-mo spot with heavy groove trying hard to reach Nike’s rairified air though (ouch).

Except, this could be Ford, this could be Chevy, or any auto. Given the sentiment over the dunk, you’ve associated your car with the hype of the moment, not the quality of the car. It’s a debatable moment though because you are trying to build buzz for the brand, so I won’t kill them for that. Having owned and driven enough Kias though, I’d say the spot is on brand for them then in this case: an okay car for an okay jam.

Overheard Internet.

Yep, they wrote it...


“The biggest story here is that their account only has 8,000 followers.”
– not winning


“How utterly horrendous. While the thought is noble, the execution is reprehensible. Okay, kids, you've fought and scraped for fours years to get good grades so I'm going to give you 40K. But to get this scholarship you better be able to play basketball. Way to reenforce the negative stereotype that basketball is the only legal way a kid from Compton can get out of the ghetto. ”
– TheWatcher


“Do they have ie9letdown?”
– jodrellblank

OMFG!!!! THEY SWORE ON THE TWITTER!

So in response to the Chrysler Tweet from hell where one of their agency partners knocked the city of Detroit for its drivers, the same tired argument gets thrown out about who *owns* social media. (The brand, its PR agency, a stand-alone digi-social shop, etc.)

Wrong question.

Buy you some Bacon.

A little too long between spots, but Logitech’s favorite new son Kevin Bacon Ivan Cobenk is back. This time, he’s gone eBay. 

(Via Agency Spy.)

Steve Jobs on advertising.

Here’s Jobs on branding and Apple’s values in 1997, prior to the introduction of the Think Different campaign. Sure his whole pitch is measured and rehearsed, and the campaign itself immersed itself in borrowed interest, but those things are secondary to him knowing what Apple is about. Fanboy or not, one comment sums up what Apple does better than most:

“It’s impossible to not become a Steve Jobs fanboy. Look at this guy. In shorts, discussing marketing for his company in a way which an average person can understand. No bullshit. No paradigm shifting. No synergies. No Dilbert Speak.”

(Via.)

Power up!

And they say kids don’t read. Brontë-Sisters Power Dolls!

Btw...

- Send flowers to the IRS and stamps to yourself. (TDA.)
- The Ex Outlet.
- I told you Busey would deliver. (Via.)
- Stormtrooper costumes never get old.
- The fifth wheel.

You don’t have to put out the red wine.

Damn Sting. He’s a vintner now? From his Tuscany Villa... saving the world, one rose at a time. A Night To Remember is sponsored by American Express, who reminds you, the common people, that this is as close you’ll get to him. No way you’ll be invited to his place for a private anything. Speaking of... this is also the same villa he recorded All This Time for 200 people the night of 9/11. Finding this out later changed the vibe for me, especially after seeing everyone so seemingly upbeat. He’d debated with the band about not playing, but all agreed they needed to go on. Not really sure Sting needed much arm-twisting. Tight band, though.

Interactive adness.

Little by little, getting interactive ads to work within the confines of stream video sites has been limited to a pre-roll of whatever the brand is running on TV. Here with Lexus, their content shows signs of life in terms of playing with the surrounding environment. I saw this :30 on Hulu and dug the way it mimics an interface, instead of just running a straight spot, you could click through various areas of the screen. It’s not cutting edge as far as digital goes, but compared to the baby steps major brands are still taking within the space, it’s a start.

AdVerve 67 - Politicosi

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Did we go off on a thematically classic – for us anyway – stream of consciousness sojourn? Bet. Our love for Franco-American political discourse was matched only by our love for Franco-American recycling schedules. We then became winners as we discussed the fall and further fall of Charlie Sheen, replete with fond tales of rehab glory. How else to complete this trifecta of gray matter than with a look at the Oscars. THIS SHOW HAS IT ALL... AND NOW YOU DO TOO.

Linkage:

- The book with no name shall be named: Strauss and Howe’s The Fourth Turning.
- Where winners live.

“That’s a Compaq Deskpro running Windows 2000!”

Yes, yes it is. Sometimes the gods shine down upon. Enjoy a Microsoft Windows 2000 Tommy Boy parody.

Slap Charlie Sheen.

While Aqua Velva hides in the corner, a men’s old school *fragrance* finally releases its inner Old Spice and lets loose. Maybe a little too far as good taste goes, but then, the gag matches the smell of Brut. Go to Facebook and slap Charlie Sheen, or any other pop culture knockoff. The Charlie Bit Me reference though... eh, overkill. But see? The slap > ties back to the brand premise. Brut apparently has special powers that are only released upon application of vigorous slap. Who knew. We just thought it was gonna get us dates. THE AXE OF OUR TIME. Now it’s yours. GO FORTH AND SLAP SOMEONE. Just like CBS did.

Btw...

- Keds finally got tired of getting jacked by Chucks.
- Condiment camouflage kit.
- Big Ass Picture!
- Pop-up Mac store.
- The situation app.
- Damn right.

Skype iMeets its maker.

Yes, we use the everything’s amazing and nobody’s happy *Skype* for AdVerve... but that doesn’t mean we aren’t free to see others on the side. If iMeet works better than Skype, word of mouse is the only form of advertising they’ll need. Until then, then, they put out three spots positing “What if?” scenarios with famous people from history using the service. I’ll vote for the Van Gogh above. Little Caesar and Dead presidents after the jump. 

(Agency: MTZHF.)

We never close.

This Always Open branded entertainment content series for Denny’s feels... off. Not that it’s too scripted or has blatant brand mentions in the dialog, but there’s something about it that makes me feel uncomfortable. Lack of chemistry? Not sure. When I’m hanging with friends or watching a group of friends on the screen, I want to feel like I’m privy to something special, and I don’t here. The dynamic is made even more odd with David Koechner’s yelling and nodding to the camera. (Mic too close when they’re chewing food, bonus!) Maybe there’s too much injected schtick, but I’m trying hard to figure it out. Maybe it’s Denny’s trying to co-opt the actual diner experience, except it’s not late at night and there are less mirrors. Immediately made me think of a few dining scenes that were scripted but which came off more real, and that happened to be in diners. (After the jump.)

Btw...

- All your bike lanes will are belong to me.
- Angry Birdsky
- Hey wow, Newsweek looks completely the same.
- Geek hierarchy of needs.
- Lamp post soccer futbol tricks.

Deficits 101.

My breakdown would be shorter: Don’t spend more than you take in. There’s always the Plate of Food theory, too.

A 1984 that was exactly like 1984.

Nods to their Super Bowl epicness aside, this gem was everything wrong and right about that decade. It’s a promotional video used for a dealer meeting, and no worse really than the hype-filled clips that any company still throws together today, but man, what a feeling!

(Via Gajitz.com.)

Btw...

- Inside Out. (Huge.)
- Audio bulb.
- Living next to the Ice House guy.
- A messy way to sell soap.
- Best of Google Street View. (Via.)

Because food costumes never get old.

You see some things on late-night TV down here in the Low Country. Like... Texas Pete hot sauce does what it has to do: WAKE FOOD’S ASS UP.* More wakey wakey after the jump.

Meet Jeep Jr.

So much borrowed interest, so little time. It’s now the monster that stepped out of its dad’s shadow to become the new Hummer.

Whatcha gonna do when you need a loan?

Divorce makes you take any gig, I suppose. I’ve been so busy on Charlie Sheen/Mel Gibson/Tiger Woods watch that I missed this older Hulkster campaign that slipped under the radar. Check out the rest of the spots at 800loanmart.com.

Btw...

- Terminate rudeness.
- Dune coloring book.
- Team Coco loves Apple.
- Renovation pranks.
- The kids these days just don’t know.
- Welcome Back, Kotter action figures.

AdVerve 66 - Relationships in advertising

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Dear friend and fellow podcaster Bob Knorpp of the notorious BeanCast (@TheBeanCast) joins us to get intimate about relationships in advertising:

• How your personal life gets affected by your strange work, weird hours and random traveling
• How love can bloom in the damnedest ways
• How a combination of loneliness and drinking can make even the most stalwart ad soldier a slobbering mess of hold-me-closies
• How intimacy can bloom in many awesome, dangerous or dangerously awesome forms. We talk Father Figure Complex!
• Prioritising personal + professional time
• NEPOTISM

The whole thing wraps nahcely with our homegrown takeaway relationships-in-advertising advice. And there's a few stories in there that as usual will probably get us all into trouble. We live dangerously in these here internets.

The way they were.

Dell, 1996. Hot sexy computing fun, innit.

Btw...

- It’s 404 fever.
- It’s like a yule log for chickens.
- Justin & Snooki probably would’ve.
- GameBoy classics via HTML5.
- Conjoined buns.
- I SCAN YOUR GRAVE.

Always. Be. Coloring.

In the search for more local ad greatness, I came across a series of spots for local car dealer Frank Parra by the Loomis Agency (of Toby’s new trick fame). THEY SAY NEVER WORK WITH KIDS OR ANIMALS, but the little fella seems to pull off the conventional salesman schtick in a disarming way. (More after the jump.)

McArby’s.

This new Arby’s ad and its “It's Good Mood Food” line could be any fast – excuse me – fast *casual* brand. It’s tongue-in-cheek vibe is trying less harder than Wendy’s Red Wig did, but it could be for any of them. Ironic given A) The disaster that campaign was for the brand and that it’s part of Wendy's/Arby’s Group and B) Eat enough and you won’t be feeling good long. Back to the spot though. Further proof that brands in this space can’t do anything other than food porn or odd/overly happy characters. Don’t all these places satisfy your need for comfort food? #rhetorical

REDNECKS – GET YOU SOME!

“Inspired by Goldman’s cheeky David and Goliath clothing line and following “Blah Girls,” an animated Web series he co-produced with Ashton Kutcher, “Trailer Trash” depicts mullet-yielding character Billy Bob and his beer guzzling family in their trailer park home.”

Wow, just wow. Ashton really dug deep this time out.

More is the new...

I have more work lately, you get less posts. See how it works? Speaking of more... Embassy Suites runs with the theme that is now an American staple: More of everything with Mr. More directed by Roman Coppola. (Yes, THAT Coppola. Son of Francis Ford Coppola, brother of Sofia Coppola, nephew of Talia Shire and cousin of Nicolas Cage, Coppola.) So ennyway... Perceived value is better than actual value, I suppose. Least that’s what America’s been sold on for some time. Cupholders and extended warranties ftw. As for travel, who doesn’t want more room. Embassy Suites figured out long ago that if they shoved two $55 rooms together and charged $120, people would think they’re getting an extra room. I’ve stayed there in the past with the fam and for the money – see how they got me? – it wasn’t bad. It’s a place to throw the rugrats when mom and dad want more ‘quality time’ together at night, maybe even throw in a free breakfast, but it still suffers the same issues most hotels deal with. Those same rugrats running through the halls during travel soccer season, loud ice machines or CSI-quality spreads and carpet. (Oh wait, I might be thinking Super 8, sorry.) But having recently stayed at a few chains while looking for a rental place, the word ‘suite’ is being applied too liberally in the industry these days. Note to anyone using ‘Quality’ or ‘Suites’ in your name... you’re setting yourself up. A microwave and fridge do not a suite make.

(Agency: BBDO.)

We got records.

I bow, Mr. Flipside. A nice homage to SCTV.