Maurice Lévy multitasks New Year's regards
Here's a quaint little New Year's video message from Maurice Lévy to his Publicis troops worldwide. It shows the French holding company's CEO ruminating on how best to approach a New Year's e-mail to those same troops. That seems a bit redundant, but it allows Lévy to give a typically suave and unruffled performance in person. If nothing else, it's much easier to get through than that wretched Publicis London holiday greeting. —Posted by Tim Nudd
|
|
Published on January 14, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (3)
|
Bushy-faced inventors truly love their Legos
This three-minute Lego video by Pereira & O'Dell celebrates "eureka moments" when big ideas are born. It features a struggling inventor whose bushy mustache looks like it escaped from the new Sherlock Holmes movie. What's that circus-y music playing on the soundtrack? Is that a calliope? Maybe if that music would stop, the guy could finish inventing his human-flight machine in peace. (The clip promotes a new Lego community at LegoClick.com, designed to foster "innovative ideas, artistic creations and new concepts.") Look, I know the video is meant to be fanciful, and it looks nice, but it drags on a bit. And the ending, for me at least, seems strangely downbeat. OK, his Lego portrait hangs on a wall of honor. Has he died? Is musty museum fame his big reward? Perhaps I am just bitter. I played with Legos all the time as a kid, and everything I tried to build—from farms to race cars to rocket ships—ended up a mutant jumble of parts, and was inevitably hurled against the wall or kicked across the floor in frustration. Happy now, Lego? —Posted by David Gianatasio |
|
Published on January 14, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (2)
|
Rhett & Link do spot for Austin tattoo parlor
Here's the latest installment in Rhett & Link's I Love Local Commercials series, which we've written about a lot. This time, they're pitching True Blue Tattoo in Austin, Texas, with a bit of reverse psychology. The message: Don't get a tattoo. You'll regret it. (As always, there's a behind-the-scenes video, too.) Meanwhile, Wired.com has posted a profile of Rhett & Link, based around an interview with Rhett McLaughlin, who explains how they make their subjects feel comfortable about doing a goofy commercial. "We're confident that there's a clear difference between the way we interact with people and how, for example, Sacha Baron Cohen does. We aren't potentially ruining peoples' lives, and we don't plan to." —Posted by Tim Nudd
|
|
Published on January 14, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (0)
|
Order your off-color Axe or Snuggie ad now
(Note: Bottom video is NSFW.) Here are a couple of goofy infomercial spoofs that we'll kill with one post. Above is a spot starring Jaime Pressly for the Axe Detailer, which is a real product—an intimate scrubbing sponge that will clean any double entendre you put in front of it, no matter how long it's overstayed its welcome. Consumer Reports should compare it to the lower-budget Scrotum Scrub. And for those of you who bought Snuggies (and who will buy literally anything you see on television), check out the NSFW spot below for the Snuggie D-lux (not a real product), which includes an extra sleeve for lame dick jokes. Tempting, but no. Although that Reverse Snuggie looks pretty slick. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
|
Published on January 14, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (4)
|
Magical Coke machine dispenses happiness
Definition 6 put together this neat little stunt for Coca-Cola, installing a very special vending machine in a college cafeteria and filming the students who are flabbergasted by its powers. It ties in seamlessly with the "Happiness Factory" TV work and overall brand theme, and proves once again that college kids will eat literally anything, no questions asked. Via Adland. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
|
Published on January 13, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (8)
|
Man, is he gonna regret that Ray-Ban tattoo!
Yes, Cutwater has a new "Never Hide" video up, and unlike the last few, this one is getting the blog love. For those n00bs who haven't been following the Never Hide clips, their previous big hit was "Sunglasses Catch," which, at 4.5 million views, has already entered the popular-enough-for-parody zone. Amusingly, Boing Boing posted the tattoo vid with a note saying there is "some evidence" this could be a viral marketing campaign. Could be? Naw, the Never Hide people work Ray-Bans into all their films, use the company tagline and link back to the Ray-Ban site just for kicks. So, yes, it's a marketing campaign. Now, is the tattoo real? Well, as Veer's crowdsourcing logo contest showed us, it's easy to fake a tattoo. Much easier than faking a cow giving birth to a man. —Posted by Rebecca Cullers
|
|
Published on January 13, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (3)
|
Alex Bogusky doesn't want bears murdered
Whenever we write about Alex Bogusky, there is a vocal minority who aren't very enamored of the Crispin Porter + Bogusky creative chairman. Count one of his Colorado neighbors in this crowd. Bogusky told a funny story on his blog last night about how he received an admonishing Post-it note (above) on the door of his home, accusing him of complicity in the possible future murder of a bear by putting his trash out too soon. The note calls Bogusky "septic scum" and a "dirt bag." It also encourages him to move back to the East Coast. Bogusky, a writer an art director by trade, posted quite a funny reply to the anonymous neighbor on telephone poles around the neighborhood. —Posted by Brian Morrissey |
|
Published on January 13, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (4)
|
Quiznos toaster oven obviously a sex addict
The Quiznos talking toaster oven returns in a campaign from newly minted lead agency WongDoody. The work sort of mixes elements of the man-eating plant from Little Shop of Horrors with the chatty Volkswagen Bug from Crispin's "Das Auto" campaign. For Quiznos, the wisecracking appliance tries to bring the comic heat, but its schtick's not exactly on fire. The sexual innuendo is still there ("I got a long extension cord," it tells a perky blonde in one spot), but the suave, metrosexual tones of last year's model (purring, "Put it in me, Scott") are long gone. Instead we get a hoarse, jivey delivery that makes me want to scrub the toaster out with Cepacol. On the plus side, there are no homoerotic hillbillies in hot tubs. Yet. —Posted by David Gianatasio
|
|
Published on January 13, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (1)
|
Kim Kardashian goes from salad to perfume
Unlike some previous video appearances, Kim Kardashian shows only a little skin in this ad for her line of perfume. Kardashian was reportedly an active contributor to the look and scent of her perfume, and wrote on her Web site that "the Old Hollywood theme with a modern twist is a perfect fit for my fragrance." Which is ironic, because Golden Age glamour represents an era when being famous meant being good at something besides having well-connected parents. Personal vitriol aside, her ad, while pretty, isn't any more effective than Liz Taylor's perfume ads have been over the years. But let's be fair to Kim. Her Carl's Jr. work was groundbreaking. —Posted by David Kiefaber |
|
Published on January 13, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (1)
|
Rebecca Romijn does 'Got milk?' with twins
Having done her non-mommy "Got milk?" ad 10 years ago, Rebecca Romijn has returned for an encore, with 12-month-old twins Dolly and Charlie in tow. See the full ad here. Romijn famously lost 60 pounds by breastfeeding the twins, and this ad would be miles better if the kids had milk-mustaches too. Perhaps they've switched over solely to formula by now. —Posted by Tim Nudd |
|
Published on January 12, 2010 | Permalink
| Comments (7)
|
50250