Adland

Ad-hacks. When comedy groups have nailed the whole execution of "real people talking about the product/lifetsyle/emotional" thing - you know you have to stop using those testimonial cut-away in nice scenery ads, right? Please? Pretty please with sugar on top? just quit doing this already!

"The world-famous Professor known for his last lecture has produced his last commercial." Adland's Robblink said when he posted Lustgarten Foundation – Randy Pausch commercial on the 16th. Randy Pausch died this morning of complications from pancreatic cancer.
Those who want to see his life-affirming "last lecture" (warning, filled with hilarious jokes about dying) can see the whole two hour last lecture here (steaming wmv) - or you can read WSJ summary or you can see some clips at the post gazette.

"Looks like we're appearing on the same media lists." said Eric Karjaluoto of Smashlabs when we talked about Veeple - he was sent the Veeple pitch and made this post on ideas on ideas about it. He titled his post "idiots". He got the same pitch sent several times - as did I - and when he made an angry post about it Veeple asked hom to remove it. Yup.

I got the same pitch twice so I responded "Did you get any of my earlier replies that I sent this morning?" See, when when one asks questions in return on a pitch, one wants answers not a repeated pitch. Honestly, it's that easy!

The pitch:

Software geniuses out of Silicon Valley are introducing Veeple -revolutionary software that gives the ability to add interactive "VeeSpots" -- in-stream text, web page links, speech, and even thought bubbles -- to videos. This opens up a whole new way for advertisers and web publishers to effectively deliver their message to the billions of people who are hooked on viewing and posting videos on the Internet.

The software geniouses of veeple had not sussed out how to allow for embedding flash content on other sites when I asked, so I was asking if I may host the file myself. Now they have though, so it's inside.

Why this particular file? Well, while it shows off what Veeple can do in the interest of reporting new ad-stuffs, it's also a clip from Wayne's world. I wonder if Paramount Pictures has given the go-ahead for the use of Wayne's world famous sell-out scene as an actual sell-out demonstration of a new thingiemahbob. It's so deliciously ironic somehow. (Also, I totally doubt that they did, which would make this an infringment - but in these copyright confused times nobody cares but Viacom. And me.)

Via The Denver Egotist who spotted it at Marketingpunk we found yet another sci-fi inspired car-launch in the UK. We've seen those faceless people (so very Dr Who) previously, but now MBI type dudes hang around a mysterious UFO that landed in Potters Field park. One wonders if all London creative teams assigned car accounts are sci-fi nerds. Or are they trying to say the technology of this car is stolen from Aliens? Either way, the violin playing babes in little black dresses do not lend an air of class to this big ball of gloriously tacky.

For more photos of the smoking UFO wreck check out jessicaami's Flickr photostream.

I'm sure either Robblink or Caff posted this or something similar here to Adland before, but I can't find it. Seems that Minority Report scary-ads are now truly here - and they are already being used in tech-happy Japan, always first with the latest: NEC Develops Ad System w/ Face Recognition Technology

Participants stand in front of the display and hold a FeliCa-based mobile phone over the reader/writer. The system determines the user's gender and generation through the camera image using the face recognition technology.

The display shows advertisements that would suit the user's gender and generation, choosing from the 15 candidates prepared in advance. An electronic coupon that would match the attributes is sent to the user's mobile phone at the same time.

If users purchase products at stores using the coupons, they will receive a chance to win a prize. By analyzing the information acquired through these actions, the system can also measure advertising effects, NEC said.

Ok fine, so they're not scanning our retinas and saying "Hello Åsk, a.k.a Dabitch of Adland" just quite yet, but soon baby. I wonder what ads will be directed at me when that day comes. Award winners, I hope - with coupons for free Bishops Finger!

Hey kids, I'd like to direct you to Quiet Glover, a french adblog, where they've done an interview with the people behind the Heineken Suicide advert. Quiet Glover says; "L'interview est en Anglais, je ne réaliserai pas de traduction afin de garder le message intact" and I'm so happy about that because yikes does my French ever le suck.

The Heineken suicide advert was made by Melissa Lissone, Alexander Kaan, Nina Aaldering & director Wouter Stoter @ Comrad for an Assignment of the Hallo Academy for Applied Creativity. As usual, nobody knows how it ended up on youtube. They must have special magnets there that suck up all the worlds ads and films that nobody uploads.

Did you imagine your work will be such a buzz on the internet?
No. It wasn't even supposed to hit the internet. We were surprised ourselves to see it on Youtube, because we're still working on a serie of virals. this was just part one and two. So, more is coming after the summer.

Via The Denver Egotist

These boots are made for killing. Nike Air Stab trainer withdrawn after spate of knife murders reports the Telegraph. The - at this time - badly named "Air Stab" has had that name since 1988, but in the current knife-happy climate in the UK it takes on a far more sinister meaning.

"While it may be an unfortunate coincidence timing-wise, given current problems regarding knife crime, we completely reject the idea that we are in any way condoning or encouraging the issue of knife usage," said a Nike spokesman.

Yeah, knife usage. They don't really do guns (as much) over in the UK. But they can kill you anyway. Or, in the rants of Bill Hicks -

....last year in England, they had fourteen thousand deaths per every soccer game, okay. I'm not saying every system is flawless, I'm just saying, if you're in England, don't go to a goddamn soccer game, and you're coming home. It's weird-they don't have guns in England, but they have a very high crime rate, which tells you how polite the fucking English are. (English voices) Give me your wallet! All right. At least no one was hurt. How do you have a crime rate and no weapons, man? Does a guy walk into a bank: (English voices) Give me all your money! I've got a soccer ball! Shit, Ian, that's a Spalding, he's serious! Hand over the pounds!

Many Swedish apple-fans have been saying that Apple made their worst choice ever when they decided to pair up with Telia when shilling their iPhones in Scandinavia. (They obviously don't remember Lisa)

Talk about beauty and the beast. Now in the Telia/iPhone advertising universe we found this prime example of FAIL spotted by copywriter Ulrika Good. The headline: We've got it. while the copy below reads "right now we have long delivery times." Talked about mixed messages, have you got it or not Telia? Meh, I didn't want one anyway. No seriously, I don't want one. Quit throwing apples at me.

The Denver Egotist spotted a possible leak of the new Microsoft campaign via Zdnet. Looks like CP+B scrapped all the faux-porn ideas and went straight for ye old zig-zag - admit the previous problems in order to move on. Wise choice, in my humble opinion. Attendees at the Microsoft Global Exchange got to preview the commercials, with one attendee quoted as saying "got goosebumps - just, wow". Well that sounds promising, we'll see if the campaign delivers. I'm curious now.

Meanwhile, over at our toony pals wordsandpictures they allow South Carolina speak for himself(?) about that that whole gay state thing. South Carolina is, like, so not gay, yahear?

While we did have some fun the faceless people viral campaign - especially collecting all those youtube films of faceless people sightings in the comments - the end result now that you can log in to http://www.facelesspeople.com/ and see the "project eagle" Lotus car it advertised, is tres boring.


I swear, I had to wait two minutes for the dang site to load. Here's a shot of their pretty numbers. After that I fell asleep. There's a car in there on the site, but no faceless people followup. Watch out for virals that start more interesting than they end.

Businessweek reports that Chinese Officials Nix Warhol Exhibition.

Officials say there is no "Chinese art only" policy, but 18 Warhol works slated for a gallery exhibit will spend the Olympics in a warehouse.
[snip]
The gallery had tried to curate the show with China's sensitivities in mind. For example, Warhol's famous silkscreen portraits of Chairman Mao were not part of the 18-piece collection. The works include portraits of tennis star Chris Evert, soccer legend Pelé, baseball Hall of Famer Tom Seaver, and boxing great Muhammad Ali, as well as images of Michael Jackson, Sitting Bull, and crime boss John Gotti.

Me, I love Warhol (after hating everything he did all through art school, go figure) - get those paintings out of customs so I can set up my own little exhibition in my living room please! :) (The ad-relation? Please, everyone knows Warhol intended to become a commercial illustrator but then thank god, decided to have a lot more fun just bing Warhol instead. )

Font conferance - "This video wasn't long enough, so we made it double-spaced." Tee hee hee.

warning - Comic sans is (gasp!) The Hero. This is way funnier than I thought it would be.

Host has just designed a new online interactive campaign for Virgin Mobile (Australia) where you the punter gets to choose the ending of three commercials for Australia's Virgin Mobile. On the site - whathappensnext.com.au - there's pens, speech bubbles and various "ka-pow" and "ker-plunk" sound effects that you can storyboard with to draw your own ending of either on of the three scenarios. The scenarios are "Mafia Kidnapping", "UFO Abduction", and "Police Getaway" - all situated around a strange diner in the middle of a desert. You could win a road trip adventure, complete with one-way flights to Cairns, $5000 cash, a Canon HD digital video camera, a phone… and that's on top of Virgin Mobile actually making the winning ad and it going on TV. There are also tons of runner-up prizes. The flash tool is pretty neat, but all I did was add arrows to everything and dot bomb-sounds all around.

Home.dk, one of Denmark's largest realtor firms has a new tactic to attract customers in the disastrously slow Danish housing market. You may try living in the house or apartment of your choice for a full week for free before you decide to buy it - or not as the case may be. We've seen the try before you buy tactic applied to everything from makeup to electric razors - but to homes? There's a new twist on an old trick.

Home's communications director Niels H. Carstensen said to JydskeVestkysten: "It is to be creative and looks at selling homes in a different way" but he also doesn't hide the fact that the current market forces realtors to find new selling tricks. "They are empty anyway" Jan Nordman, communications Director of EDC Mæglerne states dryly.

Solgt Eiendomsmegling in Norway also use the "try the house before you buy" offer. "Perhaps this will become a new trend, because really it should be this way, so that people can try a home and see what it is like" said realtor Tore Espeland to Finansavisen.

When will this trend reach the United states, where the housing market seems to be in total freefall? My guess is roughly in....five....four...three....

July 1st, the Daily Mail headlined an article Muslims outraged at police advert featuring cute puppy sitting in policeman's hat and explained in their article:

The advert has upset Muslims because dogs are considered ritually unclean and has sparked such anger that some shopkeepers in Dundee have refused to display the advert.

Come again?
The Courier has now debunked that story : Offensive puppy postcard claim dismissed

CLAIMS THAT a promotional police postcard featuring a puppy is offensive to members of the Islamic community have been dismissed by one of Dundee’s leading Muslims.
A storm of controversy erupted yesterday after a report in The Courier revealed that some members of the Islamic community have complained about the postcard.

Seems they've made a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes a puppy on a poster is just a puppy on a poster.

Sarah Haskins mocks those so worthy of mocking house-frau dinnertime crock-pot cooking, 'healthy' fast food buying bizarro ads. I especially like that ad with the slow-mo "woooooooaaaw".

Dow Chemical launched “The Human Element” Campaign back in 2006 and has since spent a reported $100 million on it. You can see parts of the campaign here on dow.com/hu.
Now the artist Paul Phare has launched his own version of the campaign: A glimpse behind the masks of Dow - and he writes:

A glimpse behind the masks of Dow is a personal response to Dow Chemical's "human element" advertising campaign, on which Dow has spent more than $100 million.

As Dow's victims are some of the poorest people on the planet they can't match this spend, but they have something more valuable than dollars. You.

Please download these posters and spread them widely. Post them on your websites and blogs, email this link to friends, print them out, get them seen by as many people as possible.

For high quality files suitable for litho or giclée printing, please email Paul at paul_phare @ yahoo.co.uk

Paul is talking about the victims of the Bhopal Disaster, a horrific industrial disaster that occurred in the city of Bhopal, India, resulting in the immediate deaths of more than 3,000 people, according to the Indian Supreme Court. A more probable figure is that 8,000 died within two weeks, and it is estimated that the same number have since died from gas related diseases. The water is still not fit for drinking in Bhopal.
See also these letters to the editor of the NYT - this one from Amnesty International USA, and this one from Kartikay Singh. Hat tip to Sunil - who currently has a much funnier post about prohibition posters on his adblog.