advergirl

BK on the bus ride

I should really have a category just called Crispin Rants.

Clay at Exit Creative spotted this series on a Chicago commute this morning. It probably goes without saying that this gorgeous illustration style is wasted on the product. And, while I appreciate the awareness that the audience for 1000+ calorie sandwiches is truly a working man (meaning: hard, outdoor, labor-intensive work), I'm not sure how the same creative directors who thought that the gaudy over-the-top Super Bowl ads were spot-on could think that this understated style would appeal to the exact same audience.

And, is there any such thing as an ownable brand with CP&B? Dancing chickens, the costumed King, objectified showgirls, WWII-era illustration, NASCAR, Superman... can a burger ad budget really be all things to all people?

Hate dropped calls? I do now.

Love it or hate it, you have to hand it to BBDO - they've accomplished the hat trick for Cingular: (1) immediately recognizable campaign - you know it in the first seconds of hearing / seeing it, (2) immediate brand recognition - unlike many of the funniest campaigns of the last few years, we actually know this is CINGULAR (vs. uh, some phone company, i think) and (3) positive brand impression - the ads still aren't annoying.

No worries, here are my snarky comparisons. The antithesis of each of BBDO's campaign pros:

(1) The unending series of false starts from the men of CP&B - VW seems to have an entirely new campaign every month - my theory: VW bought a "garage sale" package of rejected creative pitches from Crispin and is just throwing the loser darts at the wall.

(2) "What would the guys at Watkins Worldwide do?"

(3) Taco-freaking-bell. What's more aggravating than Home Depot trying to "OWN" orange? How about Taco Bell trying to create pop culture buzz phrases? That campaign is good to go... far, far away.

Yet another reason I'm glad to be an adverGIRL

Reason: I'm not targeted by nonsense ads like these. (On the other hand, the "do you ever have that not-so-fresh feeling" wasn't much to be proud of either.)

Agency: Oh, guess who. Come on, you know.

(CP&B - where men believe men are the sole purchasers of consumer products.)

2006: The Year of the Poster Campaign

All the advertising leaders seem to be on the street this year. Although I still think the Support the Homeless Campaign was the most socially responsible and moving, this campaign for Amnesty International by Walker is surely the best executed. Each image is tied perfectly into its environment - and, amazingly, there are over 200 executions - all completed within a month. (Someone has a bitter and exhausted Photoshop guru on staff).

The only thing I wonder about this and many other Amnesty campaigns is if the brutal images are so divorced from our average experiences that we can't relate to them - that they seem as unreal as a movie. If for all the directness of this campaign, it loses its impact in its foreignness. In this case, I guess the background is meant to be the point of accessibility, but it still seems hard...

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Homeless kittens

Great. Like I didn't already have enough to do today ... now I won't be able to sleep if I don't go adopt at least two kittens.

Read all about the campaign at HoutLust

Columbus' giant iPod

Drat. Scooped on actual local news by a national feed. How often does something blog-worthy actually happen in cBus anyway?

And, sadly, as I've been trapped in the 'burbs all weekend, I can't even speak to it firsthand, but local rag Alive (via MacDailyNews) is buzzing about a giant iPod smack in the middle of downtown.

The music is a live feed and synched with a tini little pod at the pub HQ. Peds can even go online to check out the song they just heard and vote for their favorite.

I believe this music monster replaced the very buzz-worthy Mini Cooper billboard featuring a diecast car in a slingshot with the tag "Goliath lost." That particular installation had huge fans. (Agency: Taxi?)

In related news - downtown is really becoming an advertiser's paradise. From the Nationwide "Life comes at you fast" buses to the huge billboards to a planned  "Times Square" development at Broad and High, our local agencies should be loving this ad-guy-friendly haven...

Cadbury billboard

Sold.

(Damn, where are my quarters for the vending machine?)

Distracted by: Found at: Peanuts

More at James' Flickr

The worst job in our industry...

...has to be the Ad sales rep. There was one in our offices the other day from TV Guide something-something. He set up camp in a big conference room - really, set up camp, complete with a nappy "red carpet" rolled out the doorway, cling signs on all the walls and a pull up banner that he nudged our agency sign out of the way for...

But, that didn't even get close to rising to the level of desperation of this little four-man show parked in front of McCann-Erikson in NYC:

(It’s promoting the gaming-focused TV network G4 just to media buyers)

Borrowed from: John Morton

When advertising goes bad - The bomb squad blows it up!

'

I could not love this story more.

As part of the upcoming movie launch, 4500 Los Angeles Times' newspaper boxes were fitted with a digital musical device designed to play the "Mission: Impossible" theme song when the door was opened.

But in some cases, the red plastic boxes with protruding wires were jarred loose and dropped onto the stack of newspapers inside, alarming customers.

So, logically, the county arson squad blew up a news rack, thinking it contained a bomb.

Oh, yeah, that's different that the usual "newsbox experience."

Found at MIT Advertising Lab

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Little guys are great advertisers

Great idea: Leagas Delaney used magnetic ads on top of cars to advertise a trucking magazine to long-haul drivers.

Found at: Advertising for Peanuts

Think that's cool? Check out this coffee cup.