advertising news

The Coca Cola owned Oasis drink brand campaign about "Cactus kid" and his pregnant girlfriend has been banned by the ASA in the UK.

The ending to the story was chosen by Cactus kid fans at www.runcactuskidrun.com and aired the 22 August during the Big Brother show in the UK - making this a toothless ban indeed since the campaign has already officially ended anyway. This ad, it seems, was the final straw - the campaign received 32 complaints, which is apparently enough to get something off the air. It does make sense to kick Oasis a little for acting as if it is a relpacement for regular water. That ain't healthy.

Oasis – Cactus Kid part one (2008):30 (UK)

Oasis - Cactus kid / Diner (part two) - (2008) :30 (UK)

Oasis - Cactus kid / Motel (part three) - (2008) :30 (UK)

Watch the final ad inside, after the jump, folks!

AdAge reports on:Why Microsoft's Gates/Seinfeld Went Viral and 'I'm a PC' Ads Didn't

After two weeks in market, Visible Measures says, "Seinfeld/Gates was still collecting more than 700,000 views per day, while the 'I'm a PC' clips had tapered off to less than 50,000 views per day."

Why might this be?

Microsoft sparked a dialogue in the Seinfeld ad that isn't there in PC ads.

"So much viral video is basically word of mouth. And when you build a question into the creative, it gives people something to talk about," said Matt Cutler, VP-marketing and analytics at Visible Measures Corp.

Oh, ok, so we're back to believing that if someone talks about a campaign it means they'll buy the product? Come back to Goodby, Hyundai, with your "think about it" tagline, all is forgiven! Just show the Hyundai dealers that we all talked about the think about it tagline! Or at least thought about talking about it.

Previously on Adland: The Microsoft Saga - Dropping Seinfeld and going back to the old.

Everyone keeps saying that the upcoming US elections is "the most important election in recent history" - so getting everyone to the polls (preferably one without the easily hacked Diebold voting machine, remember that?) is equally important. Gap decided to roll out a campaign that shows individuals reasons for voting. Directed by Superfad for CAA, the spots feature such noted individuals as Norman Lear, Bill Maher and the Cool Kids, with animated line drawings that expressively illustrate their unique points of view. Watch them all here.

No, this wasn't a bomb scare or possible terrorist action, the Dutch armies help was enlisted by the design duo The Stone Twins - Declan and Garech Stone - to shoot every single one of this years dayglo pink ADCN book. Daaamn I wish they had called me for that job. ;) Right now I can't think of a better way to spend 600 bullets.

MTV Networks International, a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA VIA.B), today launched a new series of public service announcements (PSAs) by global advertising agencies 180 Amsterdam, Selmore and Cake, and ecopop and five short films by Element to captivate youth with the important message of slowing down global warming and reducing carbon footprints. The result is high quality spots that utilize creativity, humor and pop culture that speak to young people in their own language and empower them to make their lifestyle “greener.” MTV Switch is the first youth-focused, global, multi-platform campaign created to help slow down the acceleration of global warming.

The pro-bono PSAs and short films will be made available across MTV’s global network of 165 localized TV channels in 162 countries that will reach a potential audience of 560 million viewers. With an unique style and creative tone that resonates with MTV’s audience of 15-to 25-year-olds, the campaign helps viewers realize that small actions taken by many individuals can make massive differences to the world’s carbon emissions. The PSAs and films are available for viewing on MTV Switch’s dedicated website, mtvswitch.org.

“MTV Switch was created to provoke, entertain, and encourage change among young people”, says John Jackson, Director of Social Responsibility, MTV International. “We are incredibly thrilled and honored to work with such forward-thinking international creative agencies in producing compelling work to continue to engage youth on this extremely important global issue."

These two "Switch" films were put together with practically zero budget. Sean Thompson, Creative Director for 180 Amsterdam said: “As you’re sitting in front of your computer screen, remember this: Real life is much, much better. The message in the MTV ‘Real Life’ series is simple; switch off your video games and computer screens and dive headfirst into real life and help save the planet whilst you’re doing it.”

MTV Switch Real Life’s Better - Mud - (2008) :30 (The Netherlands)

I know that it ain't related, but the oiled up women pushing a car in the mud make me think of Arla milk.

MTV Switch Real Life’s Better - Stallion - (2008) :30 (The Netherlands)

Then there's the green song - quite a catchy tune created by Sizzer Amsterdam - which attacks the abundant green-washing. Sean Thompson, Creative Director for 180 Amsterdam said: “There are so many fake greens out there it’s criminal. The MTV ‘Green Song’ simply asks you to do your bit for the environment by switching off your lights, computers and TV sets.”

MTV Switch - Green Song - (2008) :60 (The Netherlands)

TeliaSonera, the cellphone provider, has a browser with which you can connect to the web called Surf Open. When you view a web page with Surf Open, you'll see a header, a matching menu footer, and advertisements from Telia in both areas - above the newspapers site. Basically - the browser removes any ads displayed on the newspapers site and inserts TeliaSonera's own ads. This pissed newspapers off enough when Surf Open launched in February that over 40 newspapers joined the boycott and disabled Surf Open browsers from accessing their content. For a while, Surf Open didn't show their own ads at all, but today they relaunched with ads again.
"The provider owns the area in the display", says Telia's Information Director Bengt Olsson to Medievärlden and adds "the newspapers haven't understood how the internet works"

"I'll assume that they misquoted him, else the man is an idiot" said Morris Packer from Expressen's mobile content to Veckans Affärer, and Anna Serner agrees with him: "That's like saying that the mailman owns your mailbox."
"Everyone realizes that it is unreasonable that a distributor - in this case Telia - should make money off of advertising space that other parties - the newspapers - have already sold. A reputable company such as TeliaSonera should surely be able to generate revenue in a more responsible manner," said Anna Serner, Managing Director of the Swedish Newspaper Publishers' Association.

For those who think that this idea is comparable to the Opera browser's advertising display or other (free) software that displays ads to stay free, keep in mind that TeliaSonera is a distributor that has customers paying to use this service, and they are locked to using this system only. What if the broadband internet that you paid for locked you to one browser and put their ads all over it, would you think that was OK?

OK, this one's a bit of an oddity.

So, Marvel Comics is in the middle of "Secret Invasion," a multi-part, giant cross-title event sure to Change The Face Of The Marvel Universe Forever, about the attempted takeover of Earth by a race of shape-changing aliens who have infiltrated our most trusted institutions. Not reading it personally, but following the coverage; by all accounts, it's generally well done and well received.

io9 has an article about a TV spot for Secret Invasion, designed to generate traffic to the event's Web site, that ran on ESPN the other night.

“Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype,” says a John Hodgman lookalike into the camera, dressed in brown suitjacket and tie, against an all white backdrop. Yep, this is the next phase of Microsoft’s $300 million advertising campaign and they are going straight for Apples "Mac vs PC". This won't be the entire campaign though, how would that look if your campaign was built around spoofing another - instead they are making lots of different ads to appeal to different people. Commercials featuring author Deepak Chopra, singer Pharrell Williams and actress Eva Longoria are set to hit the small screen soon. The tagline: “Windows. Life without walls” is the ribbon to tie all of this together - and it's actually making some sense now as we read in the New York Times that David Webster, general manager for brand marketing said:

“They’ve made a caricature out of the PC,” he added, which was unacceptable because “you always want to own your own story.”

So, out come the "regular joes" who aren't so regular as ads stars "everyday PC users, from scientists and fashion designers to shark hunters and teachers, all of whom affirm, in fast-paced, upbeat vignettes, their pride in using the computers that run on Microsoft operating systems and software"... Oh wait, this is beginning to sound like all other testimonial campaigns, ever. Hmmm. If they only shoot the hands I'd think it was a campaign for HP laptops. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this turns out, though I admit that I'm already liking the Hodgman spoof. Hodgman rules though, you don't mess with the Hodgman!

See website to go with campaign: Life without walls
Previously on Adland: Microsoft Kills Seinfeld - a.k.a $10M down the drain.
Update: Microsoft Windows - Windows. Life Without Walls. - I'm a PC. commercial available here.

NCH, the UK’s largest children’s charity that helps the most vulnerable and excluded children achieve their full potential, is launching a revamped identity and powerful new fundraising as it re-brands to Action for Children.

As part of a multi million pound overhaul, London-based creative agency Baby Creative has devised the charity’s first advertising campaign in its 140-year history. The campaign will launch in 2009, aiming to drive awareness of what Action for Children does.

Reading through my news sites this morning, looks like Mac is again buying ads that dominate — and reference — the newspaper home pages they appear on, such as The New York Times.

Like the ones from a couple months back, these ads take advantage of their space and format in a way few banner ads do. Adding to the effect this time is an editorial from PC, kind of made to look like it's part of the page, that urges people to stop switching to Mac, noting "That's what you do in relationships, you ignore all the bad stuff, and live with the pain."

So while Microsoft embarks on … well … whatever it is they're doing, Mac continues to hammer on Vista's flaws and users' frustration, even as today's NYT notes the steps Microsoft's taken to improve. I just like seeing agencies doing something interesting with banner ads; heck, I even turned the sound on.

Also spotted over at The Washington Post.