Copy: Bike Doctor - 1350 Commercial Dr.
On Apple's home page, they have this tribute to Rosa Parks, who died Monday at the age of 92 and who taught everyone to truly "Think Different." Take a look at the all the other people who have been featured in Apple's "Think Different" campaign here.
Didn't someone say parody is the greatest compliment. Well, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, who created what some call "those creepy Burger King commercials," should consider their butts' officially kissed. These guys apparently do work that is Like Crispin Porter. Watch their "Wake up with the Captain" spot here. I might have gone with "Wake up with the Coors Twins." But that's a different ad.
I stand corrected - Click here or scroll down to see how. I also have an early Halloween Trick for you.
The new trend in business is all about you. No, I’m not talking about that cheesy customer service crap you have been hearing for years. And I’m not talking about ordering a Burger King burger and having it “Your Way.” Companies literally want their products to be yours, so much so that they will let you design them yourself. I first encountered this trend with Nike ID, where you can design your own Nike running shoes online and then have them shipped to you. Try it out; it makes you feel powerful.
But now we as consumers have evolved past being shoe designers, and we can now design cars. Well, the roofs of cars at least. Check out mini’s site, where you can upload your own picture or image and have it plastered on the roof of your new car. At the site you can also view what everyone else thought would be "totally sweet” to put on their mini. Consider it the modern yuppie tattoo.
While I think it’s great that companies are starting to really put their consumers first, and adopting the whole “the customer is always right” philosophy, have we gone too far? I just don’t know if I want to live in a world where I have to park every day next to my neighbor's black Ford Taurus with a large skull and cross bones on the top with the words “"Kiss my tail pipe" written in old english on the back. Even though, that would look pretty sweet.
Fans of M.C. Escher’s mind-bending work should appreciate this new campaign from Audi (launched in Brazil). As you can see, the print is quite simple, but striking. However, the commercial they created is very impressive, because for the first time we see several of Escher’s famous drawings come to life. But just like Escher’s drawings, you really have to give this Audi spot a second look. While everything seems to be ordinary, everything is in fact quite extraordinary. The tag line that makes sense of these mind puzzles: “Whatever the Road Holds - The New Audi A6." Read more about the making of this Audi commercial here. 
image stills via Be a Design Group
My buddy over at Vast and Grand sent me a link to this funny, but kind of bizarre, McDonald’s spot from Israel. They recreated a scene from Pulp Fiction so that Vincent and Jules are talking about a Chicken McShawerma instead of the Quarter Pounder with Cheese. You know, the Chicken McShawerma actually sounds pretty tasty. Maybe they should try it out over here in the States. Best Chicken Shawerma in Chicago: The Sultan’s Market.
Here’s the original Pulp Fiction dialogue.
VINCENT
You know what they call a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese in Paris?
JULES
They don't call it a Quarter
Pounder with Cheese?
VINCENT
No, they got the metric system
there, they wouldn't know what the
f*@% a Quarter Pounder is.
JULES
What'd they call it?
VINCENT
Royale with Cheese.
JULES
(repeating)
Royale with Cheese. What'd they
call a Big Mac?
VINCENT
Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call
it Le Big Mac.
Bouncy Balls are super fun. Have you ever wondered what it would look like to drop 250,000 of them onto the streets of San Francisco? No? Well now you can watch it anyway. I found this Sony Bravia TV Spot over at adblather, where they do just that. The idea behind the spot is that Sony Bravia LCD screens have “Colour like no other.” That’s their tag line. The spot itself is an impressive display of colorful bouncy ball bliss, both simple and spectacular. Watch the making of the movie here. And see the ad in high resolution here
However, I have to admit, tag lines like “Colour like no other” are kind of an advertising pet peeve of mine. Lots of companies have lame tag lines like, “Service like no other,” or “There’s nothing quite like it,” or “The taste you can’t find anywhere else.” Tag lines like these tell you absolutely nothing about the product, not to mention they could be used by any other company for almost any other product. That means they are bad. A tag line “like no other,” is really just like all the others.
If you spot tag lines like the ones I have mentioned, send them to me, along with the product they are for, and I will start a running list.
To follow up yesterday's post about "it", "it" announced what "it" is today. The line that brings the teaser campaign back around is, "Whatever it is, you can get it on ebay." It seems the campaign was created to change peoples' perception that ebay is just a place to search for used, old and weird junk. They want ebay to be your destination for used and new "its". Well done. The campaign got a lot of buzz on the web and the spots are very nice. The question then is, what is your "it"?
Prepare for sensory overload. Siemens has developed paper-thin video screens, which are cheap to produce and easy to make. What does this mean for you? They hope to use this video paper in magazines, newspapers and product packaging.
Imagine walking down the grocery aisle and seeing hundreds of dancing leprechauns on the boxes of Lucky Charms. And instead of flipping past the magazine ads, you might have to push a pause button to stop the moving images. They also hope to put “small computer games” on packaging. So, kids won't be buying the cereal for the toy inside (like I did), they will just want to play the new video game on the back of the box. Video paper, as I am calling it, runs off “printable batteries,” whatever those are, so they can only be used in those mediums that have a short shelf life.
But maybe I am painting video paper in a negative light. Seimens likes to think their paper thin screens could be used for good, like on “pillbox[s], for example, [which] could display instructions for how it should be taken and provide this information in several languages with the push of a button."”
As an advertiser, this is the kind of thing that I would normally be very excited about. It opens the doors to do a lot of interesting new work. However, the consumer side of me knows I am going to have to put up with a lot of annoying crap from other advertisers who won’t use this power for good, but rather, for evil.
Link via Adverlab
Copy: As soon as a black spot appears, use Clearasil.
Here’s a new ad using a very old optical illusion. I haven’t seen this done in an ad before. It’s smart, attention getting and will give you a headache if you look at it too long. But, is it really that relevant to the product? Does an ad like this make you want to use the product? Or are the advertisers just trying to be clever to be clever? What do you think? Maybe it should have been an ad for Advil Headache.
Link Via thespunker.com
Update: I stand corrected. The guys at the MIT Adverlab uncovered 8 other ads that use this exact same optical illusion shtick over at Coloribus. Like I said before, everyone thinks they’re original. Unfortunatley, a good idea usually means changing a great idea just a little.
But while I’m on the topic of optical illusions, this one (from the same folks) will make you question your sanity. Look at the image closely. Which woman looks angry? Now get up and step back from the screen. Happy Early Halloween. 
Last night I caught the tail end of this odd commercial for “it.” The whole commercial is basically a guy talking to the camera about “it” while delicately caressing this colorful “it.” Was is “it?” That’s exactly the point. The spot ends by telling you to go to “whatis-it.com.” So, I did. This really might be the biggest teaser campaign to date. The videos on the site feature the two guys who supposedly created “it,” as they talk to TV show hosts around the world. The spots are well done and worth a look. But they don’t tell you what “it” is. Don’t get too anxious though. We should find out what the big deal about “it” is tomorrow.
On a past American Copywriter show, Tug and John discuss Nabisco Cheese Nips, asking “Who in their right mind would name their product Nips?” You might just think their minds are in the gutter. But when you hear their tag line, “When you love Nips, it shows,” it really makes you wonder if some copywriters have pulled a fast one over on the good people at Nips. Here is a commercial for Nabisco Cheese Nips, which despite the ambiguously strange tag line, is pretty funny.
Before:
After:
With the launch of the new video iPods, Apple also updated and upgraded their silhouette campaign. I have to admit, the new ads look very cool. However, hours after launching this new Eminem Apple Ad, featuring the song “Loose yourself” on their site, it was pulled off. Apparently, no one ever thought about asking the 8-Mile people for permission to use the song. Woops. Thankfully, U2 will have yet another iPod ad for our enjoyment. And now we can watch it over and over again on our video iPods. You know I heard a rumor that Bono invented the iPod. He is so cool.
Update: Seems Apple has worked out their legal issues. I saw the new Eminem iPod spot last night during the World Series.
Some powerful work. Proof that a good idea becomes much better when you take it as far as it can go. Ogilvy and Mather (Santiago) could have simply made these ads into billboards or magazine ads. They still would have gotten their message across. But making the ads look like real, original boxing posters and gluing them up on the sides of walls (in Chile), makes the issue of Child Abuse that much more serious, and frightening.
I see Great Pointed Archers running around the streets of Chicago all the time. They never bother me much, so I don’t bother them. I once knew a girl who had a Great Pointed Archer for a pet. I have to admit, it was kind of cute. If you have no clue what I am talking about, go to greatpointedarcher.com. It’s a website dedicated to eliminating the nasty “R” word from our vocabulary and replacing it with the more dignified “Great Pointed Archer.” You can learn all kinds of facts about the Great Pointed Archer (they can jump an amazing 48 inches on one leap), see videos, play a game, and sign a petition.
There has been some speculation about whether this website is a joke or not. It is unclear who is really behind it. But in my opinion, the site has Ad agency written all over it. In College we were given the assignment to create an Ad campaign for apples, the thought being, if you can sell something as ordinary as an apple you should be able to sell most anything. Well, if an Ad agency can get people to start thinking of Rats as “Great Pointed Archers” then just imagine what they could do with a client’s brand. At least that is what they are hoping clients will think. Is an Ad agency really behind this? Will they succeeded? That, at least, is really up to you and me. I will keep you posted.
Funny man Ben Forrest told me to keep my out for the new Comcast commercial. I have to agree with Mr. Forrest, it’s freakin’ Comcastic. Watch it here. The spot was created by Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (who also did those sweet HP photo spots) and it uses footage from an original $20,000 pyramid show from June 21, 1978. The voices are overdubbed and the clues have been changed. But it still feels so authentic. A nice example of some really smart work.
Link Via Adfreak
I had the pleasure of seeing stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan this past weekend at the Vic, here in Chicago. The show was filmed for a Comedy Central showcase that is scheduled to air in January. Basically, he walked out on stage and I proceeded to laugh for an hour and forty-five minutes straight. I don’t know if you have ever laughed for an hour and forty-five minutes straight, but it’s exhausting. He should start a Jim Gaffigan “laugh the pounds off” program. The point is, the guy is hilarious and will be, if he’s not already, the next big name in stand-up. 
If you haven’t seen Jim’s stand-up or TV appearances, perhaps you will recognize him from the recent commercial campaign for Sierra Mist. The spots feature five different comedians and are completely improved. You can check these spots out, along with several out-takes at the Mist Takes website. "Rock Paper Scissors" is my favorite.
On Jim Gaffiagan’s website you can see some of his stand-up material and several other commercials he has starred in. But be sure to check out the clip from when he hosted The Late Late Show.
When I first saw the Cillit Bang commercials, I thought they had to be a joke. Watch these spots(specifically the bottom one). They are so over-the-top bad that you keep waiting for the punch line. But it never comes. You just sit there thinking, “That really might have been the worst ad I have ever seen in my life." Either someone took a joke way too far and it's no longer funny or this commercial is just horrible.
Well, it seems Cillit Bang got a taste of it’s own medicine. Someone polished this commercial turd long enough to actually salvage it, revealing Cillit Bang’s inner Ad beauty. Watch this Cillit Bang Remix. In all honesty, if I saw the remix for the first time on Television, I would have been blown away. It turned out to be a very nice ad. If Cillit Bang were smart they would buy this immediately and start using it.
My good friend, who writes for Vast and Grand (a smart blog worth checking out), sent me a link to this Guinness commercial “noitulovE". The spot covers “500,000,000 years in 50 seconds flat.” I had never seen it, but I thought the digital animation was stellar. The spot was done by Framestore, a European visual effects studio. After a little exploring on their site, I realized they have worked on several other commercials I have enjoyed in the past.
They were responsible for the special effects in those peculiar “Esuvee” commercial. Remember? The campaign was promoting SUV driving safety and portrayed SUV’s as huge beasts that we ride around. The tag: “keep them on all fours.” If you missed them check them out here.
Some other highlights worth checking out: (Keep in mind these spots were conceived and directed by other people at different agencies. Framestore just did the special effects.) Click the quick time icon:
Levi: Odyssey
Xbox: Mosquito
Guinness: Surfer
These spots are perfect examples of how the execution of an idea can make or break it. Imagine any one of these spots done with less than par special effects – they would be laughable. The moral of the story: if you have a really big idea, make sure you have a really big budget so you can hire a really big visual effects studio.
You might have heard of product placement in the movies, well now there is Papal Placement in the Vatican. BMW had created their version of the new Pope Mobile and donated it to the Pope. All this in hopes that people around the world will say, “I’ll drive what the Pope is driving.” Not a bad tag-line, if you ask me.
I think they should go ahead and launch the BMW Pope Mobile to consumers, assuming it gets good gas mileage. With its bullet proof glass, every rapper in the country would have one. And then all the cool kids in the suburbs would just have to have one too. It's marketing genius.
Link via Adverblog
They called the crap that I played with as a kid "Magic Markers," but this is the real deal. Musicians have been sampling music and sounds from other artists for years. Now artists have the technology to sample textures, colors, basically all of life and art and then literally brush it onto a digital canvas. And for the first time you can paint with video.
I first saw the I/O brush in action on Rocketboom, a (hit or miss) daily video log, and thought the whole thing was faked. But those wacky, lovable nerds at MIT actually invented this thing. You can learn more about the I/O Brush and watch the magic brush in action at their website.
I don't know if or when the I/O Brush will be available to the public, but don’t be surprised when billboards using video painting start catching your eye.
You might have heard of Bumvertising, well now there's Bugvertising.
Okay, so Nike isn't really putting their logo on bugs, but props for an interesting thought by this Flickrer. As he explains, this was "Part of a project in which I caught and painted insects (and other arthropods) to create a new form of "Parasitic Advertising."
From an advertising point of view, bugvertising probably wouldn't be too effective, seeing how a majority of bugs go completely unnoticed their entire lives. But if done on a large scale and for the right products, like the DVD for "A Bugs Life" or maybe a bug repellent, these little ad could make a big impact.
Link Via Adjab
HERE's a nice spoof on the Apple "Switch" campaign done by Will Ferrell.
Carlton Draught has created quite a buzz lately....get it?.....buzz....It's a beer. High fives all around! Okay, maybe not. This really huge freakin' big Ad of theirs was swirling around the internet last month and just recently, Adrants posted another ad in the campaign that aims to de-romanticize the beer making process. I love their tag line: Made from beer. Check the spot out here.
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