Red Lobster, for the sea food pun lover in you.

So much for this. Well, I suppose if you’re going to evolve food porn, puns and wordplay is one way to go for a Deadliest Catch demo. Except, it’s the same menu, so not much to really sea here.

Because dead kids are our future.

I loved the twist of going to a live-action infographic, but the dead kids part in this B2ten/Canadian Sport for Life was over the top. Felt like a point that didn’t need to be made in an otherwise very smart spot.

(Agency: Dare.)

IHOP, not just for carnies anymore.

I can’t really hate on this IHOP spot after noticing creepy carnival barker guy is played by Raymond O’Connor, the tour guide Bob in the Michael Bay classic The Rock. Commercial’s over Bob.

Trust me.

I’ve been too insanely busy to provide the MTLB fan club the quality content it expects DESERVES. In these two weeks alone, I am a ping pong ball being hit from a shoot in the fields of NC to Atlanta > SC > Los Angeles > Santa Fe > SC > Santa Fe > SC. Which is also me attempting a tenuous at best thematic connection to the campaign below. Sent in by about the only PR guy to earn mtlb PR certification (who also likely cringes at what will get written each time out):

Agency: “Hey, did that piece run on MTLB?”
Dan: “Yep.”
Agency: “Oh yeah? Cool. Did he like it?”

(Dramatic blogging hard return pause added for effect.)

Dan: “Define ‘like.’”

The campaign for beyondtrust.com basically says forget trusting your employees, because they’re either incompetent or untrustworthy. (Win-Win!) Plus, you need to know for sure just who is spending too much time on funnyordie.com. Not exactly the platform to build a company vibe on, though. (More after the jump.)

(Agency: MossWarner.)

Secondhand pandas.

“I would love to know the precise number of people they reached, instead of the approximately 285,142.” - MarkoStojanovic

Said one comment to this campaign for the WWF from Hungary. I love the simplicity of the Panda 1 > passersby > Panda 2 > repeat, but hate the over the top backing track and pseudo-Euro voiceover. (We need a campaign to stop that in case studies.) More than that, I myself/me/too question the numbers reached. Can we please stop with the questionable math when it comes to impressions generated from a campaign? It’s this kind of thing that brand people focused on ROI have a legit beef with. The same brand people your quasi-digi-social agency makes fun of behind their back for not getting social. Now, for real Pandas you can believe in? Jackass says GO PANDA OR GO HOME.

(Agency: Akcio360.)

Secondhand promotions can cause birth defects.

The examples of not just anti-smoking campaigns but campaigns in general that miss the opportunity to do more with their message outweigh the ones that do. (In this regard, Truth did it right.) In a current spot for Austin’s war on secondhandsmoke, there’s a large tanker truck rolling through the commercial that startles you, but why not have that truck go through Austin during the busiest part of the day and film real, unstaged reactions? Throw a url on it for people to activate in some fashion too. Their Ashtrayler is wordplay gone mobile, so why not park a real one everywhere and have people leave their sticker on it? (Budget’s are always tight but including a url to the site you spent a lot on doesn’t cost anything.) Repping the current trend, social’s in this zone where agencies get the message out across the usual social nets, but the experience path of how it all ties together seems to get short shrift. Too often it just ends up reinforcing the build it and they will come mindset that brochureware brands had when it came to their first website, in that because I’m on Twitter, the message gets through. Not no more, though. You need to actively work at promoting it holistically.

The way they were.

Ikea site from 1998? Stylish even then!

The internet is gonna be huge.

That’s what they said!

Overheard internet.

Yep, they wrote it...


“@Clixx13 ... I vote we call it ‘Tex.’”
– GalacticPope


“I bet this would not happened if Liam Neeson is your dad.”
– chaoslithe


“When will the YC funded 'Scanner Darkly' suits become available?”
– chopsueyar


“Because we have to change from the inside to change the outside, POLKA would never have risen without Poland's historic border tensions, be it with Germany, be it with Russia.”
– with a song in my heart

Btw...

- The Dude’s abode abides. (Via.)
- All SuperHero™ denominations welcome.
- Get on Heineken and take your first left.
- Train yourself right and add Jetpacks back to your future.
- Once you fly black...
- What would you give for this to go away?

The No Football League is back!

THAT MAKES NO SENSE. Excuse a second posting from Agency Heat so soon, but this is one they threw together for EA Sports to promote the end of the NFL lockout. Except, no sympathy from me for either side trying to blame the other guy, as the players in this spot come off in a way that indirectly says “Hey fans, wasn’t our fault.” Except, it was both your “faults.” I lived through strike football once and was prepared for it again, but seriously, a big f*ck you to both for once again using fans as pawns in a game that both sides knew the outcome of. Except part II: It’s really players and owners on the same side vs. fans, innit.

The way they were.

Dr Pepper was cool once. I know because the website told me so. Circa 1997.

Man boobs are the new...

“We need a twist on the paint yourself with your favorite team colors.”

“Man boobs!”

(Agency: Heat.)

Btw...

- Argggh.
- Flashmob fun!.
- Honda chokes.
- Is America ready for....

Pepsi’s Coke homage, part II.

A tale of two bear bros. Pepsi continues its Coke attack.

Btw...

- Buy Walt’s house.
- Buy more Mad Mennage.
- Buy bigger burgers.
- Buy this for that iLense junkie in your life.
- Buy more ice.

Use of cell phones while reading this blog is not permitted.

I OWE YOU BLOG STUFF, I KNOW. Sokay, I gave in and paid $10 for a movie this weekend. Best part of Captain America? SAM JACKSON IN 3D! How come the Coen Bros. never do one in this amazing technology? (C’mon, No Country For Old Men and the air bolt killer thingy coming out at you? That’s movie fun, friendo.) One of the things that was different tonight was a new sign above telling people no cell phones et al. (basically anything that lights up). I semi-sorta appreciate a theatre that tries to cut down on distracting bursts of light during a movie, akin to our friends in Texas. But the fail award goes to Sprint, which ran three separate trailers each prompting users to text something. DID I SAY FAIL, because it was. As for 3D, I can seriously take it or leave it. It was basically used more for enhancing the depth of field than projectiles dramatically shooting out at you. I’d like to see Sam in 3D in an over the top 70sploitation film though. Quentin, get on that bitch.

The way they were.

NBC, must-see website! 1996.

Btw...

- Get you some trail.
- Get you some puppet.
- Get you some vet respect.
- Get you some brands gone into the wild.
- Get you some wet water.

Bail Bondamonial.

A different twist on bail bonds. This is why you love YouTube.