Is it just me or do the Hutaree sound like they could be characters from "Avatar". And by the way, why aren't national security conservatives demanding they undergo "enhanced interrogation" so we can learn if there are any more of them out there. I think my neighbor might be one!
Finally, finally, finally I may have come across the first truly great web drama series! Hyperbolic words indeed, but two episodes in and I'm hooked. Nice premise. Socially and politically aware. Great production values, even if it was supposedly low budget. And staring a Bond girl. What's not to love. Below is the trailer.
What is this commercial selling?
Answer to last week's brain-teaser: F.C. Barcelona
The western gunfighter had Boot Hill. The heroic war dead have Arlington National Cemetery. And now finally, I have found my own piece of hallowed ground in cyberspace for all my worthy concepts and ideas that were shot down in a blaze of glory. Okay most were stabbed in the back by gutless, hack creative directors. The important thing is that they be given a home to be remembered and honored.
This first idea to be laid to rest is for Unisys, an information systems and management company. The brief was to create something "not typical" for the category. If I was given a penny for every time I heard that I'd be sipping coconut-based cocktails in Tahiti right now while watching a school of dolphins perform specially for me from my ocean-front mansion.
Alas I followed the brief and, unlike The Who, got fooled again. The idea died because it "didn't feel very business technology".
This is the first and hopefully only time I'll do this, but I'm issuing a NSFW warning for this post. And triple that warning if it's "take your daughter to work" day. A company in Germany, where else, has created a scent based on vaginas. There I've said it. It's called Vulva, but it won't be in any department store near you.
On first reaction this smells a little fishy (no pun intended, honest). I mean the head of the company is named Guido Lenssen, which certainly sounds like it could be a made up name. That said the website is a fully functioning e-commerce site, where you can buy Vulva. Attention shoppers, there are only 278 days till Christmas.
Now I know what you're all thinking. Is Vulva actually made from real vaginas? Or is it a knock off made in China. Says Guido, "Almost everything on the sex market is based on fantasy. The toys are plastic, the movies use actors. Vulva is real. We tried several samples from women of all ages. We didn’t take the scent after someone had run a marathon or anything, but it is a combination of urine, sweat, and female arousal."
Sex sells, literally.
(Sharing credit to Adfreak)
The Dead Poets Society invoked "carpe diem". I give you "Make it Happen", the crowd-sourcing challenge to see if my big ideas can come to fruition thanks to the rich community of creatives, writers, artists, designers, inventors, scientists, architects, pharmacologists, techies, provocateurs, ethicists, military contractors, etc.
My current favorite song in a tv commercial is "How do you like me now?" by The Heavy with a bit of a nod to James Brown. It's featured in a spot for Kia Sorento that involves three stuffed toys dreaming of a wild life. Coincidentally, I on occasion have fantasies about being a stuffed toy. Here's the video.
Okay, now I'm really cooking. Here are a few more mock-up examples of print ads I would run. Again, excuse the complete disregard for art direction.
Former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas is considered one of the chief architects of banking deregulation that began in the late nineties. For example, it was his legislation that repealed Glasse-Steagall in 1999, the financial equivalent of opening Pandora's box. I thought a provocative ad pointing to this fact would make for an effective ad.
There's advertising and then there's literally creating an advertising event. Although I should point out that as an avid Milan fan I would NEVER have succumbed in the first place. Still, I suppose all those boyfriends got laid for going along. Multi kudos to Heineken and JWT/Italy.
N.B. Following Milan's destruction by Manchester United last week I needed something a lot stronger than Heineken to soothe my sorrows. Those one thousand Milan fans from the event probably did too.
(Sharing credit to mediabistro.com)
I've been seeing a lot of the Ally Bank campaign lately with the wannabe Steve Martin character being a right old meanie to a bunch of kids. And to be honest I'm not that impressed. Not that it's a bad campaign. On the contrary. It's a rather well-executed, simple idea. The problem is, it just feels so pre-2007.
Back then in those innocent days when snorkeling was something fun and wholesome you could do with the kids, the big gripe with banks was that they "nickel and dimed" you to death with all sorts of extra charges. Or that they treated you more like an account holder rather than a prized customer. Hence the selling strategies usually evolved into some derivation of, "We're for happy banking" or "'We make banking simple ".
Joy was certainly in the brief when I worked on the now defunct Washington Mutual's "Whoo hoo" campaign soon before it all turned into pooh pooh. Or should that be boo hoo. Similarly, when I worked on a bank pitch for Commerce Bank (now TD Bank, although strangely they've kept Regis and Kelly as their spokespeople) the message focused on convenience and simplicity.
Now, after the demise of thousands of banks and government bailouts worth over $700 billion (the actual cost may run into trillions), "no hidden fees" and "personal service that's more personal than their personal service" seem trivial and almost irrelevant selling points compared to the deeper causes for the public's growing lack of confidence and trust in the banking industry.
The problem now is, how do banks overcome the public's outrage at their involvement and culpability in the biggest financial mess since the depression of the 1930's, especially since most of them are opposed to any financial regulation and are indeed behind most of the lobbying that is trying to kill it.
So I started up the google, and discovered that over the last year there has been a fair amount of advertising that taps directly into the public's disgust at the big bank bailout. Most of this advertising tries to make a virtue of being a small bank as opposed to one of the those evil too big to fail types. And some of it is rather good.
There's a new Coke Zero campaign that has just debuted. One of the tv spots centers on cloning. A Coke Zero spokesman begins with the following, "It's 2010. What happened to cloning ourselves. I mean if we at Coke Zero can copy real Coke taste with zero calories why can't you have more yous...
Without going Joelapompe on everyone, here's a ad from a spec campaign for Edison Light Beer that works off a similar premise, only reversed.
Kudos to WCRS/London and directors Dom & Nic.
Interestingly, this is the third of forth piece of creative built around the scenario of a bank heist that I really like. I should put a compilation of best "bank job" ideas together. Maybe it could become a themed series. Best "cheating death" ideas. Best "lesbian teasing" ideas. Best "lesbians teasing death" ideas, etc.
I'm currently working on a branded-entertainment piece for the Travel Channel, only they don't know it yet. That's right, I'm in a pro-active frame of mind. And I'm not talking about the anti-zit cream that Jessica Simpson and Avril Lavigne are currently hawking on cable tv.
I've always wondered why more books don't advertise this way. It most likely has to do with cost. The investment in producing high quality tv commercials for a single book is probably way too high for a publisher to take seriously.
And don't discount the snob factor either. For some publishers the idea of using image to sell words is as uncouth as Sarah Palin grabbing a bunch of freebies at a Hollywood swag.
That said, I do believe there must be an opportunity for this kind of advertising on the internet. Video banners for example would be an ideal medium for publishers to push their upcoming high-profile releases.
And what about Kindle. It seems the perfect platform for filmically showcasing new books to a ready made audience.
As for the book. Should be a fun read. I just hope Robert E. Lee doesn't turn out to be a vampire. No doubt Nathan Bedford Forest is one, maybe the baddest of them all.
(Sharing credit to The Daily Dish)
In celebration of last night's Oscars, today's brain-teaser is movie themed. Which of the following films do NOT feature a leading character who works in advertising?
Okay I admit it I'm slow. I've only just discovered Indexed, Jessica Hagy's clever blog that uses charts and graphs to say witty, insightful and quirky things about life, death and everything in between. She started it in 2006. Where the fuck have I been!
Here's a particular favorite of mine and it might have to do with my fear of moustaches.
Planto Is Venio.
That's Latin for "Make it Happen", the crowd-sourcing challenge to see if my big ideas can come to fruition thanks to the rich community of creatives, writers, artists, designers, inventors, scientists, architects, pharmacologists, techies, provocateurs, ethicists, military contractors, etc.
It seems the beautiful Pedigree spot that has my cats in an emotional state isn't exactly original. According to Joe it stated out as a music video in 2006. My cats will be devastated. I believe it was Benjamin Franklin who said, "Originality is the art of concealing your sources."
On his show last night Keith Olbermann read a wonderful short piece by James Thurber called, "The Peacelike Mongoose." The context behind Keith's reading, which I won't get into, made it all the more powerful, but the words themselves sans any context are worth going over again and again. Beautiful story. Perfectly written. And one of the great lines ever!
The asshole is an integral part of the advertising industry. Rank in descending order of assholeness the following assholes:
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