Gripe of the now.

This so-called "steamy" commercial featuring a "lesbian bedroom" scene for the Renault Twingo (ghastly name) was created by Publicis/Milan and banned by the Italian State television channel Rai, as well Mediaset, the network owned by Silvio Berlusconi.

A little ironic that Berlusconi's channel should ban it given all the sexual shenanigans that supposedly go on at his "elegant soirees", but I digress.

Back to the gripe at hand. It's has been getting all sorts of media attention, no doubt to the absolute glee of the creatives. Apparently gay groups in Italy are outraged and the spot has been lighting up many a forum with claims that it is "offensive to lesbians".

Here's the thing though. I too delved into the lesbian bedroom scene genre with this spot for Lucky jeans few years ago and to date no one has voiced their outrage or disgust.



Nothing from the gays. Nada from the clergy. Zip from the family values people. And as a result it passed quietly into the night like a silent, stinkless fart.

Someone once said, "It's better to be loved or loathed, but never ignored." Actually I think that was me too.

Kudos and Kaplan Thaler in the same sentence....

I shit you not. But good for them for this amazing piece of generosity to ALL their employees. The holiday spirit lives! And now talk amongst yourselves while I send over my resume.

Bullshit spot of the now.

It sucks. Sorry, but a bullshit ad deserves the bullshit pun. Ordinarily I hate to go medieval on a commercial, but I am compelled to speak truth to power.

This spot is like Qatar winning the rights to host the 2022 World Cup. Throw lots of money at the inexplicable and it suddenly becomes a reality.

They should rather have bought a Dyson and passed the savings on to charity. Boo to Y&R/NY and Psyop. And to FIFA's voting committee.

Cheers Leslie Nielsen.

In tribute to a very funny guy. This campaign for Red Rock Cider starring Leslie Nielsen was created way back in the 1990's and featured, perhaps, the greatest tagline in adverting history, "It's not red, and there's no rocks in it."

Kudos to Gold Greenless Trott, director John Lloyd and especially the great Leslie Nielsen.

How prescient of Fed Ex.

This spot has been running for a while, but only now do I really get it. Kudos to Fed Ex and BBDO/NY for warning us about the tendency of the TSA to poke and prod in other people's business.

Brain-teaser Monday.

Today's brain-teaser gets into the Thanksgiving spirit. Which of these advertising stories do I have most to be thankful for?

• Thanks to Nike's unofficial World Cup tour de force I was left feeling creatively inadequate for most of the summer. Then bitter envy took hold during the fall.
• Thanks to Old Spice's social media marketing blitz I was left wondering why a major influencer like myself failed to get a personal response from Old Spice guy.
• Thanks to Staples' "Wow that's a low price" guy I was able to reinforce my long held belief that advertising, like guns can be deadly in the wrong hands.
• Thanks to another season of Mad Men there are now even more episodes I can boast about not having seen.
• I didn't get hired by the now defunct Cosette New York.
• I got hired by the still functioning BBC America.
• This year I got ignored by fewer creative directors/recruiters than last year.
• Thanks to a paucity of newly produced work I didn't have to spend a lot of pain-staking time reworking my website.
• For one more year I did not have to go pharma.
• The Met Life review has been resolved. 

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: 3. Home

Still one of the best ever....

Alka Setzer: Lifeboat

Re | Myspace Video

There's been a lot of buzz and fainting lately over "127 Minutes", Danny Boyle's new survival movie. It brings back fond memories of this brilliant survival spot for Alka Seltzer, without doubt the greatest Alka Seltzer commercial ever made.

Kudos to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO.

I went to see a film and a cool ad broke out.

These days the most engaging creative you experience at the cinema may not be the film.

Heineken and 13th Street are just two brands that have recently sought to engage the audience in an unexpected but very strategic way.

Make that three with this great live stunt for St John Ambulance. Who says talking about first aid has to be boring



Kudos to BBH/London and St John Ambulance.

Website of the now.

I have to confess I'm a sucker for world maps and stats. I knew the capital cities of every country in the world when I was nine.

So it is with uncontrollable glee that I feast my eyes all over this new interactive site from Federal Express.

It delivers (I had to go there) a wealth of information regarding our changing world, but done in a simple yet insightful and at times witty way.

Kudos to BBDO Guerrero, BBDO/NY and Grow Interactive.

Brain-teaser Monday.

It's election eve so it only makes sense to get political with today's brain-teaser. Here are three politically tinged questions to ponder.

A. Which famous ad guy created Ronald Reagan's "Morning in America" commercial?

          1. Bill Bernbach
          2. Jay Chiat
          3. Hal Riney
          4. Don Draper

B. Which British advertising agency made a name for themselves with the legendary "Labor isn't working" billboard for Britain's Conservative Party.

          1. Bartle Bogle Hegarty
          2. Mother
          3. Legas Delaney
          4. Saatchi & Saatchi

C. What famous ad slogan did Walter Mondale co-opt in a Democratic primary debate with Gary Hart?

          1. Where's the beef
          2. Don't lay a finger on my butterfinger
          3. Pizza Pizza
          4. It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: Monster Advertising

Worst question of the now.

What should Lebron James do? How about something he's never done before. Win an NBA title. Mind you I quite liked the "disappear" answer too.

Boo to Wieden & Kennedy for inflating the James ego even more. But a minor kudos for trying to resuscitate the Miami Vice brand.

Brain-teaser Monday.

Today's brain-teaser gets into the Halloween spirit. There is only one real agency amongst the following. Which is it?

• Droga 666
• Omenicom Group
• Monster Advertising
• House on Haunted Hill Holiday
• Jason Walter Thompson
• Fallen Angel Wordwide
• Crispin Porter + Bogeyman
• Organ Doner
• Dentsaw
• Scali Macabre & Sloves
• Ogilvy & Cotton Mather
• David & Ghouliath
• Norman Bates
• TBWA/Chiat/Day of the Dead
• Young Frankenstein & Rubicam
• Amster Graveyard
• Bartle Boogle Hegarty

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: 1. Lady SpeedStick (bonus point - died)

Campaign of the now.

France 24 is not a French drama series staring Kiefer Le Sutherland. It is a French News Television Channel that has just moved its Arabic news service to 24 hours a day.

And to get the word out it has launched this rather simple, funny campaign. Kudos to Marcel/Paris and directors Alexandre Vivet and Gabriel Malaprade.


(Sharing credit to theinspirationroom.com)

Brain-teaser Monday.

Advertising agencies built on crowd-sourcing platforms are popping up faster than a zit on Kate Perry. And recently I've had the pleasure of working with a couple of the best.

But despite their popularity there are still only a handful to choose from. Weed out the made-up agencies from the following list:

• Mob Rules
• Victors and Spoils
• CrowdSpring
• Adhack
• Hoi Polloi
• Guided Collective
• Rome
• Idea Bounty
• People are People
• Eeden Labs
• Tongai
• The Tea Party

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: c) Ghoul Britannia

Interactive of the now.

Film + Interactive. Could there be a more engaging coupling? Okay, maybe The Captain & Tennille.

But still, please do check out this new branded-entertainment project by the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Together with TBWA/Vancouver they've created a short film, "The Warden",  which is cut up into sixteen segments that viewers and users have to piece together to create the complete story.

In effect, it's an uber-cool, highly creative brain-teaser where you have to unscramble scenes to create the film.

Kudos to TBWA/Vancouver and the folks at the Vancouver International Film Festival for finding a new way to actively engage the audience.


(Sharing credit to creativity)

"Dead Ideaville"

This death really, really hurts. In fact I'm still in the anger phase of the grieving process. Why oh why Ralph!

To coincide with the opening of his refurbished "Mansion" flagship store in the upper east side of Manhattan, Ralph Lauren wanted an innovative digital idea that would build on the buzz that the opening would no doubt generate. Razorfish were asked to explore ideas and they brought me in to help out.

Teamed up with amazing people we came up with an idea that I think is one of the best I've ever been part of. Augmented reality, mobile, social networking, crowd-sourcing, interactive - it had it all. And a bloody good story to boot.

Ralph Lauren - "Augmented Reality Drama"

When you walk into the Ralph Lauren Mansion, it’s like stepping into a residential home from a different era, rich with old-world tradition and charm. 

Each room looks like it is still being lived in. We can almost imagine the inhabitants and the life they must be living.

Through mobile, in-store and web components, we bring this world to life as an augmented reality drama that gets played out through every room in the Mansion. Here's how we saw it.

The Storyline:

The Mansion is preparing for a grand ball. Within the rooms various characters are getting ready for the ball. Surprising twists and turns to follow.

A/R App:

The A/R App activates the characters in each room. Users can observe them, dressed impeccably in Ralph Lauren clothes, acting out their scenes. Users can also access more information on their clothes, like price points as well as shop via mobile.

Mansion Portal:

A large display encased in a picture frame will allow customers in other Ralph Lauren stores to view the drama in the Mansion. Shoppers can get more information, like price points on the clothes being worn by the characters. A URL link will allow customers to go to the Mansion site to see the full story play out from all the rooms.

Mansion Control:

The Mansion site will not only allow users to see the full drama, but also to control the direction it takes. Through crowd-sourcing technology and real-time voting, users can influence the characters’ behavior and even what clothes they wear.

Audience Participation:

In the dressing rooms of the Mansion, interactive mirrors can take ambient video of customers in Ralph Lauren clothes. This will allow them to be included as extras in the drama. Customers can notify their family and friends of their theatrical debuts via Facebook and Twitter.

Social Engagement:

To add to the reality of the drama, some of the characters could have profiles and status updates on Facebook and Twitter. These updates would be influenced by the choices the users make for them.

Now do you see why I'm taking its demise really badly. Okay, acceptance is slowly beginning to seep in.

The lowest of the low.

If the creatives at McCann Erickson who worked on Staples had set out to create the worst commercial of the year then kudos to them. They've just succeeded big time.

According to The Consumerist's reader poll the "Wow" guy beat out Quzinos's singing kittens to land the big shit prize. Now will they please just staple his mouth shut, once and for all.

On a retrospective note, let's take time to remember a brilliant Staples ad from a time when creative advertising was left to the experts.



Real kudos to Cliff Freeman & Partners. Gone, but certainly never forgotten.

I'm with Rush Limbaugh.

No I don't believe Barack Obama is a foreign born moslem nazi socialist marxist terrorist sympathizing son of a luo tribesman. But I do share Rush's antipathy towards this Nissan Leaf ad that has most of the ad community melting faster than an Icelandic glacier.



Mind you my reasons for despising this commercial are entirely different from Blimpbaugh's. Whereas he predictably finds this to be typical propaganda for the environmental movement, I find it unnecessarily self-serving and disingenuous.

How else do you describe an ad in which a dying species finds the love and time to hug a car owner for being environmentally empathetic. Please, enough with the "environment loves the car" bullshit. It wasn't that convincing the first time.

And how about someone follow this up with a public service spot where a rape victim tracks down, confronts and hugs her attacker following his castration. Didn't think so.

The polar bear, ladies and gentlemen, is going to die out. At some point in the near future they will exist in archived documentaries and no where else. And not a billion Nissan Leafs are going to reverse that. But gee thanks for being egomaniacal enough to think you can.

And the heartbreaking irony, of course, is that cars have no doubt played their part in its demise. If I was the creative director at TBWA/Chait Day I would have fired the creatives who came up with this on the grounds that they have no humanity.

Either that or made them change the ending. To something more palatable like the Polar Bear eats the driver. Yes, that would work. And a line that says something like, "Justifiably not every one is impressed."

Minus kudos to Tuberculosis Wankers/Chiat Day.

A man alone in the woods with a bear...

Sure this interactive campaign bears (couldn't resist) more than a passing similarity to Burger King's "Subservient Chicken", albeit with more rude options. But its brilliance is more to do with how it is being advertised.

I may be wrong, but this has to be one of the best, if not the best example of how to smartly advertise on YouTube.

So kudos to Buzzman for their cleverness. And for letting us see, sort of, a man get it on with a bear in the woods.


(Sharing credit to Alison Smith)

Kudos and Chatroulette in the same sentence..... Gasp.

A busy Friday for good stuff. Here's a very clever movie promotion for "The Last Exorcism". Not sure how many will actually experience it live. But you can bet your fat ass that tons will see it virally. And that's all that matters.

Kudos to Lionsgate and The Visionaire Group/Los Angeles, especially for finding a socially redeemable use for Chatroulette.


(Sharing credit to adfreak)