Sarah Palin Bikini Pics - Adventures in Memeland

What I choose to do in my free time is no concern of yours. If I want to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon Photoshopping Sarah Palin's mug on a bunch of bikini-clad rednecks, then so be it. Feel free to pass this on. That way these past 15 min of my life weren't spent in vain.

UPDATE:

THANKS! Looks like you guys did your job in disseminating this lovely image. A shitload of blogs and online newspapers have actually posted the pic! Nevermind that they identified it as Photoshop bait. Or that the majority of them are right-wing publications. At least I've sufficiently wasted their time.

Hell, I even have my own urban legend entry in About.com AND Snopes! Yeehaw! http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_sarah_palin_bikini_pic.htm

http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/palin.asp

To add fuel to the fire, Time magazine wrote an article about how "Sarah Palin bikinki" was one of the top searches online this past week. If you go into Google image search right now, my pic is NUMBER ONE.

The original photographer and girl actually found the pic and reposted it on their Flickr account. They don't seem to be mad at me. In fact, Elizabeth, the girl donning the bikini, is fwding the image to everyone she knows.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorcasino/2818816914/?addedcomment=1#comment72157607107814854

This guy even uses my photo as a prime example of photo manipulation in politics for his article:

http://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2008/09/02/manipulation-or-fact-the-politics-of-photo-manipulation/

Here are the rest of the blogs below that included my photo:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charlotte-hilton-andersen/sarah-palin-bikini-pictur_b_123234.html

http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/09/03/more-sarah-palin-hot-pictures.htm

http://www.theimproper.com/Template_Article.aspx?IssueId=5&ArticleId=2285http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/2008/09/03/more-sarah-palin-hot-pictures.htm

http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2008/09/this_is_the_sarah_palin_bikini.phphttp://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_212169304.shtmlhttp://www.stoptheaclu.com/archives/2008/09/02/sarah-palin-in-flag-bikini-photofake/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/04/sarahpalin.johnmccainhttp://www.thepiratescove.us/2008/09/02/aside-sarah-palin-bikini/

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080903.WBwellsblog20080903121012/WBStory/WBwellsbloghttp://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_movies_blog/2008/09/sarah-palin-nak.html

Ending on a High Note: Red Bull Gives You Wings

Here comes another urinal ad, but this time, the ad IS the urinal. Har har! This latrine in Valencia, Spain is about 6 feet up in the air with a little bumper sticker reading, "Red Bull Gives You Wings" en Español. Get it? You'd have to be hopped up on 8 cases Red Bull to fly this high, or at least have enough urine pressure to aim your stream 6 feet off the ground. But honestly, who's thirsty after thinking about all that peeing?

Advertisers loooove to hit consumers in the loo. I'd like to see the piece of market research that revealed the public restroom as the most optimal place for advertising (or the state of urinary urgency as the most receptive to ad messaging). Oh wait here it is...

According to Glenn Gowen, head of marketing and public relations at UK agency Admedia:

"You have got a captive audience with little to do other than read your advert. The long dwell times—an average of 105 seconds for women and 55 seconds for men—give people plenty of time to take the information in. We have found that because of the one-to-one nature of the communication, there is high recall: up to 100% recall, and 78% prompted awareness."

Considering most people carry a paper or magazine with them to the toilet, each of which contain dozens of ads, I guess this isn't too different.

Coolspotter: Yes, I'm a Tech Groupie

I've had the same crappy LG Musiq for over 2 years. 2 years! For most of my friends, 6 months is the expiration date for any and all mobile technology. I usually don't get rid of my cell phone until a) it breaks or b) I leave it in a cab on a drunken rainy night. In my case, when situation A finally rolled around, I buckled and bought (gasp!) a BlackBerry.

Why did I willingly decide to join the legions of CrackBerry users? Well, I'm on Sprint plan, and the Apple iPhone hasn't yet crossed into inter-service-provider waters. To me, this was the next best thing. I'll tell you one thing, after 5 years of using crappy non-smartphones, I love my BlackBerry 8830. And today, that love doubled as soon as I logged onto Coolspotter.com.

Coolspotter.com is a user-gen site that logs every time a celebrity is "spotted" holding, wearing or using any number of consumer products. It even creates dedicated pages for each product. I'm happy to say that my BlackBerry 8830 has been "coolspotted" in the hands of Lass Bass, Jay-Z, and even Paris Hilton! If this phone is good enough for the queen of all excess, it's good enough for me. What's great about the site is that it actually tags photos of celebs with their products, so you don't just have take someone's word for it.

Sure there was a time when I was nearly brought to tears when I saw a pregnant Britney Spears wearing a Catharine Malandrino gown I had just bought on the cover of US Weekly, but that's so different. For one thing, she was 7 months pregnant and still with K-Fed. I doubt there's a woman alive that would be happy to find out she should be wearing maternity wear. And Jay-Z is D a powerful businessman. Who knows where my new phone will bring my career. Although there is a downside to this Coolspotter phenom. The front page shows you different rankings for products and my 8830's 11 celebrity spots pales in comparison to the BlackBerry Curve's 21. Looks like I'll be taking a trip to Sprint this week for an upgrade. I gotta keep my street cred, yo,

A Little Tease

Talk about an interesting integrated campaign. To promote an upcoming burlesque show, tassled pasties were slapped on local parking meters in St Johns, Newfoundland to generate buzz for the event. Lucky for marketers, the street meters already resembled the proper anatomy. Hidden cameras caught reactions from passersby and provided enough footage for an accompanying viral video (above). Not only did the show sell out and get tons of press coverage for the stunt, every single pasty was stolen as a souvenir. And who says Canadians don't know how to have fun?

Microinteractions = Branding 2.0

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I came across this really intriguing slideshow created by David Armano, VP of experience design at Critical Mass, "a professional services firm with a sweet spot for creating outstanding experiences." In his view, microinteractions between consumers and brands--social media, widgets, mash-ups, etc.--are the building blocks behind the brands themselves. It sort of turns the whole top-down branding idea on its head. On some level, it goes against the basic tenet we're instilled with in the Strat Comm: brand positioning first and everything else follows.

For Armano, since technology has allowed consumers to become hyper-engaged and co-authors in their own brand experiences, these mini interactions are more important than the overall brand messaging.

He says:

“We live in a world where the little things really do matter. Each
encounter no matter how brief is a micro interaction which makes a deposit or
withdrawal from our rational and emotional subconscious. The sum of these
interactions and encounters adds up to how we feel about a particular product,
brand or service. Little things. Feelings. They influence our
everyday behaviors more than we realize.”

So what does that mean for companies? It seems as though they'll have to relinquish control over their brands, giving audience's the control over their own experiences. So are brands then just a forum for user interactivity? As Sunya stated in our JetBlue presentation, are they just a branded playground for people to communicate with one another? I think the most successful brand are just that: facilitators. Starbucks creates a welcoming cafe environment where customers can come in and relax with their friends. Apple, who even though operate on a closed-technology business model, creates a community of users who feel like they "own" a piece of their brand.

Then it not only becomes a question of interactivity, but also a question of consumer empowerment. Umair Haque of Havas Media Lab says it best:

"[The] future of communications as advantage lies in talking less, and listening more. The decision to invest in consumers is also a decision to listen to consumers – instead of talk at them."

[Via Adweek newsletter]

Genius: Zyrtec Ad on Telephone Pole

Oh this brightened my day. Adrants posted this funny Zyrtec ad found on a telephone pole in Boston. They ask, "Can A Sharpie Poster Push More Sales Than A Glossy Ad?" Apparently their source took the time to take down the ad and pass it around the office. Even though I suffer from horrible skin allergies, I don't think I'd really act on this if I saw it.

It kinda reminds me of the Craig's List ad the guy from Ogilvy put up for Six Flags.

Throwing $ Away: Levi's Copper Microsite

You know, I used to love microsites. Until building microsites became a unnecessary and/or gratuitous addition to an integrated ad campaign. Case in point, Levi's Copper Jeans site, http://www.metal-denim-passion.com/. Hot models? Check. Snazzy Flash/Actionscript animation? Check. A point? Hmm, you lost me there.

Not only does the site takes a couple of minutes to load, the wait is no where near worth it. A flashy 3D rendering of a girl and guy stripping (not as sexy as it sounds), only to be be swathed in copper armor is all you get to see, and that only takes a few seconds to view. Boo. Give me a game or a customizable jean design or something.

The Odder Adder = An Odd Ad

Ha! Can you see it? My likeness is on a T-Mobile banner ad! Don't believe me? Look a little closer below:

Striking resemblence. no? The bangs, the flat nose, even the smile are uncanny. Except for the fact that the girl sports a stump. I can attest both of my hands and all ten fingers are still intact. Therefore, this model, as lovely as she is, is NOT me. And check out the crappy copy:


"MOM DATED WHO BEFORE DAD? CALL MOM. TALK LONGER. FIND OUT MORE."


Really now. Like this is actually going to sell home cell phone service packages? I know no Gen X, Gen Y or Millenial would be willing to shell out a hundred bucks when they can just call up Maury Povich.


In any case, when this ad splashed on my screen, I quickly jumped over to my coworker's desk to make sure this wasn't some super-duper-targeted marketing campaign. Imagine if your face popped up on every ad you come across on the web.

But if this were indeed a picture of myself, I wonder where it came from. My thoughts can't help but wander to Virgin's lawsuit from using a teenager's Flickr photo without permission for an ad campaign. Over the teen's picture, Virgin wrote, ""Dump your pen friend," and "Free text virgin to virgin" at the bottom. At least my accompanying copy isn't so condemning.

WTF? Copyranter Fakes Own Death

What a smarmy bastard. Two days after my fawning eulogy for the ad blog Copyranter, he decides to resurrect himself from the dead. The sudden resuscitation is due in large part to the other fawning eulogies the ad community left in his comments and other blogs. What an attention whore.

Turns out Mr. Ranter took on a pseudo day job at AnimalNewYork, yet another blog dedicated to decoding the underbelly of NYC. (Yawn.) He now only has time to blog on Copyranter 2-3 times a week, much to the chagrin of the ad industry.

My assistant asked why he hadn't just hosted ads on his blogs if he's so worried about productivity. Well, wouldn't that just go against everything he stands for? What purpose would a contextual ad touting the wonders of "Men's Stylish Underwear" from InternationalJock.com next to your American Apparel crotch rant serve?

The best thing about the Copyranter phenom is a) the writer is criticizing his own industry, and b) his readers are largely from the same industry. I guess Gawker bitching about the publishing world is no different. I wonder what's fueling all these blogs. Is it self-hatred? Perhaps it's joy from seeing our competitors get a good knock in the nuts. Maybe it's twisted cocktail of both.

RIP: Copyranter

Oh no! One my most favoritest blogs in the whole wide world is throwing in the towel.

The man behind the advertising blog Copyranter, best known for tearing new ones for countless ad campaigns with his searing commentary and verbal abuse, is calling it quits in favor of more productive pursuits. (You mean to say blogs aren't productive?) When a diabolical genius like like Copyranter goes belly up, one can't help but wonder if this is an omen of things to come. Is the blog world going bust? Or was he just bought out by Kenneth Cole, American Apparel, or any one of his many archnemeses?

In any case, Copyranter was one of the reasons I chose to become an ad blogger in the first place. In his memory, here are some of the top lessons I've learned from his 3 glorious years in the blogosphere:

Lesson #1: Puns Are for Wimps
And the wimp in question is designer Kenneth Cole. With a blog called "Awearness," not to mention ad copy like "We're forgetting AIDS," "Beware weapons of mass distraction," and," Help re-pair the lives of the homeless" (an ad for shoes), Cole, who does all his own copy, BTW, is a walking case of pundemonium (sorry, I couldn't help it). Save the the cutesy-ness for the clothing.

Lesson #2: Too Much T&A (&P) Can Be a Bad Thing
If you don't know what I mean by "P," check out any one of American Apparel's ads. But really, there's only so much softcore '70s porn we can take in a day. Make that a lifetime. We get it, Dov Charney. You like women and you like to f###. What does that have to do with your Fruit-of-the-Loom-on-Acid outfits?

Lesson #3: Subliminal Messaging is Alive and Well
Okay, maybe it's not textbook subliminal. Any dingbat with working pipes would see right through any of these, but the creatives don't give a crap. Not that I agree with everything Copyranter ranted about (the lemon vagina and shoe penis, for instance), but there are some notables that I wouldn't have noticed had he not noted them.

Goodbye, Copyranter. You shall be missed.

Hillarack? Barackillary... Broccoli!

What do you get when you cross...

If only our own citizens were as interested in US politics. (Ahem, Canada.) This is a print ad for Hogeschool Universitein Brussel, a university/college in Belgium. "Why choose when you can combine," asks the copy. "Go study at HUB. The first college and university in one."

[Via Copyranter]

Trademark Battle: Apple vs New York City

It ain't easy being green. New York City's latest green campaign, GreeNYC, is getting a kick in the shins courtesy of Apple czar Steve Jobs. Wired reports that according to the iMagnate, GreeNYC's logo, a figure-8 apple with a stalk, resembles Apple's trademark apple (see above courtesy of Gothamist). Around the same time New York and Co filed to trademark their new logo, Apple filed an opposition. Apple's worry: the two apples would confuse consumers.

But in my book, whoever heads to City Hall to purchase the latest iPod Nano shouldn't be handling sophisticated technology in the first place.

Columbia Career Panel: Notes from New Media

I had the chance to check out Columbia Career Education center's new media panel last night, and while I was there to mine for some (ahem) new opportunities, instead, I ended up gleaning a lot of great industry info from the panelists. If you're interested in a career in new media, it's worth taking a look at their answers below.

Members included:

Maurice Matiz, Vice Executive Director of at Columbia Center for New Technology
Janet Balis, President and Founder of Digital Media Strategies
Shannon Friedrichs, Director of Programming Planning and Strategy for Nickelodeon
Karen Levine, Strategy and Marketing Consultant for Triple Play Consulting
Sean Pfitzenmaier, Co-founder of Social Sauce and www.sosauce.com

If someone were trying to break into the new media, what are some of the requisite skills they should have?

Shane: 1) A background or understanding of engineering/programming behind of how systems work, 2) an understanding of design on the frontend and 3) an understanding of how to market or communicate your product or ideas.

Shannon: A willingness to change. You have to be flexible.

Shane: A hunger for new technologies.

Janet: It would also be helpful to think in terms of big business--if you phrase things in a way to your client or boss that let's them know you have the bigger picture in mind, it helps push your ideas through.

What are some of the buzz words in the new media industry?

Karen: Engagement, monetize (as in how to make something make money), and lean in vs lean back (the interactivity of media).

Shannon: Access points and the writable web. Distribution media vs destination media, which is similar to lean in vs lean back. I think some companies have problems today letting go of their ownership over certain media products (Ed's Note: think SNL pulling episodes off YouTube).

You all mention this hunger for technology--how do you keep up with all the technology coming out? What resources do you use?

Shane: I try to keep up with certain blogs like http://www.techcrunch.com/, a blog about web 2.0 startups, http://www.mashable.com/, a blog about social media and http://www.unionsquareventures.com/, a blog about venture capitalism.

Karen: MediaPost has a ton of newsletters I subscribe to, but hardly get to read, but industry newsletters like that are helpful.

Shannon: I find Google News Product helpful, but http://www.synopsis.com/ is great for those looking to break into the TV industry. They even have a great jobs section. I sometimes check http://www.multichannel.com/, too.

Maurice: I suggest picking 1-3 topics that you love, and focusing only on them, otherwise you'll be overwhelmed.

Karen: Are we overwhelming you yet? http://www.emarketer.com/ has a wonderful newsletter that even has a daily thought. And if you are willing to pay, or if the school has an account, http://www.forrester.com/ is really good. You should also listen to NPR's On Media show on the weekend.

Janis: I find that a lot of executives in both new and traditional media read Jack Myers' newsletter (http://www.jackmyers.com/). He usually breaks stories before everyone else.

Shane, I read an article that the facebooks and MySpaces are going down. How do you feel about that?

Shane: I hope they are! But seriously, it's really interesting to see how today's trend is towards these open API systems. Facebook didn't have an open API at first and now everyone is getting spammed with user-generated applications every day. But open-source isn't the only way to go. Apple has been using a closed-system model for years very successfully--in large part because they innovate regularly on their own. SoSause.com is trying to follow that model. It many ways, it's a gamble, but we feel that this is the opportunity in the market right now so it's a gamble we're willing to take.

Google Me, Baby

My head hurts. I wonder if there are any known cases of trauma caused by severe brow furrowing.

When I first heard Teyana Taylor's "Google Me," I thought I was having one of those post-snowboarding hallucinations driving down from upstate NY. But then I came across a press release sitting in my inbox a few days later. Yes, this is for real. And yes, this is the same poor little rich girl who had her lavish sweet 16 featured on MTV's hit show, Sweet 16.

Like it or not, lyrics like, "I'm certified on the internet than anybody" and, "Put it in your search engine / Teyana Princess of Harlem" are a testament to the internet's hold on pop culture. But that doesn't make it any less laughable. Next thing you know, "R-S-S my A-S-S" or "Friend Me on Facebook" will be hitting the airwaves.

And how about Google? Was Teyana's use of their trademark kosher? Referring to the Google Permissions guidelines, I would think that "Google Me, Baby" somehow violates their stipulations against incorporating, "Google Brand Features into your own product name, service names, trademarks, logos, or company names" or "[using] Google trademarks in a way that suggests a common, descriptive, or generic meaning." If, by some miracle, Teyana's album hits platinum, does she then owe the search giant some royalties?

I'm contacting Teyana's publicist to see if I can secure an interview with the internet star, before she's well out of my orbit.

T&A: Web's Big Biz

You may have noticed the increased presence of T&A on my blog. Besides it being my childish attempt to draw more traffic, I'm sincerely intrigued by the way the basest content is often the most powerful force on the web. (Remember when NY Mag's site crashed when they released nude photos of Lindsay Lohan?)

Now, I'm no pervert. In fact, I made it my life's goal to banish a Girl of the Month section from one of my company's websites (see above). Every 4 weeks, we publish photos of the latest lucky gal--usually scantily clad, heavily siliconed and shamelessly airbrushed porn stars. Ugh.

Every month, I'd scream at my boss and coworkers, sending endless emails lobbying to get rid of this feature. I even went so far as to bash one of the more portly subjects in our own publication, calling her a "human sausage casing."

That is until I saw our Google analytics report

According those fancy numbers, the Girls of the Month was actually the sixth most popular landing page on our site. SIXTH! Namely because we have partnerships with other blogs and websites that have XML feeds from our homepage. But still, if that was enough to draw over 65,000 pageviews in one month, then I'm on board the T&A Express. At least for now...

How Is My Dancing Menstruating Man Not a Viral Video?

I may not be an expert in the absurd, but I know funny when I see it. How can this drag queen wearing a flashlight bra with crimson blood oozing down his/her leg NOT be a YouTube hit? His/her dance moves alone are worth cutting and pasting into a blog. Which I did:

I love it when crazy comes out to play. And on Halloween night, crazy took the form of a middle-aged white man with limited coordination at Susanne Bartsch’s Witches' Bordello party at Limelight. Sweaty and out of breath, he ran up to the velvet rope and started to assemble his costume OUTSIDE the club. First he strips naked, then he pulls out some fake blood from a Duane Reade bag which he pours down his inner thigh like period juice. Next up, he slaps 2 stick-on flashlights onto his chest, glues a red square on his crotch beforing running his bare bottom inside. And that’s not the end of it. Turns out my new hero grabbed front-n’-center on stage to show off his, well… look at the video and see...

Last October, when I took the above video, I was 100% sure I was going to be the next YouTube viral meme. What's a meme? According to Wikipedia, it's any unit of information that gets passed on from one mind to another--think of it as a cultural gene. Tay Zonday's Chocolate Rain was a meme, as was Miss Teen South Carolina's map/the Iraq/South Africa hiccup and the "Don't Tase Me Bro" kid. But what are the qualities that launch these videos into internet stardom? And why isn't my menstruating man cutting it?

If I go by YouTube viral video blogger Kevin Nalty's 10 Tips for a “Viral Video” Hail Mary, then I'd need at least $250,000. And boobs. And possibly MC Hammer. But Nalty's tips are geared towards marketers looking to mine the YouTube world to push a product/brand. I just want people to watch my video for fun. I'm not trying to manufacture a hit, I want success to come organically--that's much more satisfying.

In the next few weeks, I'll be carrying around my trusty camera to pick up any freakishly funny memes in the making. Be on the lookout.

Prediction: Spitzer's "Kristen" to Be the Next Paris Hilton

Ashley Dupre is well on her way to being the next icon of worthlessness. For years, all she ever wanted to do was be famous (albeit, as a singer); she'd be a dolt not to take the cheap opportunity in front of her. From boinking the governor, to dancing topless in a Girls Gone Wild video, Ashley has pelvic thrusted her way into infamy. All Paris had to do was, um, nothing really.

These are my predictions for Ms. Dupre's soon-to-be-shortlived media career:

1) Hosting Parties at Clubs
Move over Kim Kardashian and Kevin Federline--"Kristen" is the next nobody to hit the club circuit. Watch as she hosts Fourth of July at LAX Las Vegas or rings in the New Year 2009 as Mansion New York's "celebrity" guest. Wait, what am I saying? She's from the Jersey Shore! This summer will undoubtedly see a dozen Hamptons parties with her face splashed across flyers.

2) A Spread in Playboy
Despite the lack of silicone and platinum highlights, I'm sure Hef will pounce at the chance to feature Client #9's #1 in his magazine. If he considered Ginger Spice and, ugh, WWF's Chyna sex symbols, Ashley is a shoe-in.

3) Sex Tape Leak
If Joe Francis has one, I'm sure any one of Ashley's former boyfriends/lovers/Johns does, too. Here's a girl who's not shy in front of the cameras, has obvious daddy issues, and HAS HAD SEX FOR MONEY. To all the Vinnys, Tonys and Sals out in the Tri-State Area, please feel around under your mattress for that sticky homemade video and get this over with already.

4) Reality Dating Show
Flava Flav cornered the nasty hoodrat market, while Tila Tequila has all the desperate frat boys and lipstick lesbians on lock. But how about "Working Girls Need Love, Too?" Set in New York, the show whittles down Fortune 500 bachelors who are willing to shell out $4000 a day for their new lady love. Forget Washington DC, these barons will whisk Ms. Ashley away to Capri or Dubai for a weekend in an all-out battle for her hand.

5) Signature Fashion Line
I'm thinking a signature line of Uggs, bikinis or sunglasses. Or maybe even her own flip-open Motorola--they'll give anyone their own phone.

6) Recording Contract
Even if all the above fail, this is by far the most probable scenario. Scott Storch is going to snatch Ashley up, lay some over-synthed vocoder crap over her already crappy voice and make a hit even catchier than Paris' "Stars Are Blind" or Britney's "Piece of Me." As soon as I get my second turntable, I'll be the first to do the remix!

Spitz'er Swallows?

Gotta hand it to the ad community, and New Yorkers, for their lightning-fast funny bone reflexes during this whole Spitzer-banging-whores debacle. You can't blame them--there are far too many ingredients making this ripe for a hit sitcom. Forget the GEICO cavemen.

Even Virgin Mobile in Canada jumped at the chance to exploit the Gov of Love's "Client #9" John codename (see below).

The copy goes on to read:

"When you call us, we'll treat you like a person, not a client.
Whether you're #9 pr #900, you'll get hooked up with someone who'll finally
treat you just ow you want to be treated..."

Oooooh. Good one. [Via adrants]

But New York Shitty spotted some homegrown humor at the Brooklyn bar, Teddy's. Would you rather throw back a Spitzer Spritzer or Hypocrite's Delight?

But in the end, the best humor comes from real life:

3M Privacy at the Urinal

It always amazes me how ubiquitous advertising is in other countries. The British have no qualms about text-messaging numbers off billboards and Brazillians will gladly give up lingual real estate for a free piercing and 15 minutes of internet fame. Even urinals and restrooms are are longtime stomping grounds for advertisers looking for a captive audience. Urinal cakes will proudly display your logo, back-of-door posters deliver your message to seat dwellers, and there are even interactive games you can play with your pee!

No wonder why 3M in Turkey is now jumping on the bathroom bandwagon. To advertise laptop screen filters, they're using the actual material on ads placed in front of individual urinals. In doing so they demonstrate how neighbors next you can't see what's on your screen and vice versa. The message on the ad is as follows:

"This display is protected by 3M Privacy Filters. The person standing next
to you can't see what's written on here. Use 3M Privacy Filters to protect your
information from prying eyes."

Good idea. Bad copy. They should have given each screen its own quirky, slightly perverse message. It's advertising on a urinal, for God's sakes.


[Via Adverbox]

Genius! Juice Salon Escalator Ad

A creative take on floor graphics, Juice Salon in India takes advantage of the escalator’s shuffling real estate to demonstrate the variety of haircuts they can deliver. The execution is simple: a static head at the bottom of the escalator meets a series of different hairstyles with every descending step, and each head-hair combination is a perfect match.

Advertising on escalators isn’t new by far. Heck, there’s companies dedicated to the job (http://www.escasite.com/). But for the most part, traditional escalator ads are the same graphic repeated over and over again—something consumers are used to channeling out. Juicy Salon's ad is a clever idea, conceived by Rediffusion DY&R of India, is hands down a genius one, but one that will have to undoubtedly be switched up and one-upped in later executions.

Seeing this now, I can totally see how marketers could use this existing medium for other projects. How about a cosmetic brand (same nose and mouth, different eye makeup looks), the ASPCA (same boy at bottom, different dogs and cats) or even a dating site (girl at bottom gets matched up with different guys on each step)? The possibilities are endless.

[Via Ads of the World]

Advertasting: Tongue Ring Ads in Brazil

It's one thing to say you like the taste of the new Coke Zero, it's another to brand that opinion on your tastebuds. According to Adrants, Coca-cola is pioneering the world of "advertasting," in other words, they're working with tattoo and piercing parlors in Brazil to give away free piercings to those who pose for the camera with Coke-Zero-branded tongue rings.

All the pics are then uploaded to a Google PicasaWeb gallery, directed from www.cocacolazero.com.br/linguapatrocinada. Interesting that Coke chose to upload their images to a Google gallery rather than host it off their own site, but it remains to be seen what the end purpose of these images will be. Still, I fail to see the effectiveness of this campaign apart from generating buzz. But wouldn't said buzz be built from the particpants agreeing to wear their Coke Zero piercings beyond their photo shoot?

Freaky Kittens Sing for Bank

Whoa. There's much to be said about a PROPERLY done viral. And this ain't it. Although there's no doubt Australia's BankWest is paying homage to OfficeMax's Elf Yourself, sometimes imitation isn't the best form of flattery.

Here, instead of your 5-year old niece and nephew shaking her elfin moneymakers, you're treated to a grainy, YouTube-esque video of 3 kittens singing and spelling out your name. But that's only if you listen for it.

On my first go, I couldn't make out a single word being said. The throaty lead kitten could just as well have been voiced by Ronaldo Martinez (you know, the guy with a hole in his throat from the anti-smoking ads) and the left kitten barely pronounces each letter (Was that N-A-O-M-I or A-A-E-E-I?).

If you're going all out with a web viral. At least do the following: a) be relevant, b) have a point that ties into your main message, and c) be quirky in a way that fits your brand. What do kittens on a porn set have to do with banking? Beats me. Maybe I'll just have to visit Australia.

Try it for yourself here.

There's a Roach in My Pizza! Oh Wait, It's an Ad.

I'm a huge fan of unconventional ad placement, but this takes the cake... or pie.

After finishing a nice meat lover's pizza, imagine finding the following extra food group:

But wait, that's not a real roach...

...it's an ad for pest control! Phew. But considering we each eat an average of one pound of insects a year, this isn't that out of the ordinary.

[Photos from Nulovka]
[Via Adrants]

McCain: Like Hope, But Not

Great spoof on Obama & Will.I.Am's "Yes We Can" viral. Target: Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain. See, democrats can fear-monger, too.

Puma Perfume Running Around Warsaw

This was interesting. Puma launched an outdoor guerilla marketing campaign featuring a virtual runner projected on the faces of buildings in Warsaw, Poland. As the vehicle holding the projector moves, his image races towards a bottle of Puma perfume, creating the illusion that he's running across passing buildings. As neat as this seems, I can't help but feel for the poor folks living inside the windows of his "racetrack." I know I wouldn't want someone beaming a 2ft arse into my window at 3 in the morning.

Masturbation is Groovy

Gee whiz. I'm glad I was still a piece of fairy dust when ads like this were circulating TV. This is an old, albeit excrutiatingly awkward PSA of a mom catching her preteen son, ahem, playing pocket pinball.

Her reply?

"Excuse me, Ricky. Ricky, I saw what you were doing. It felt good, didn't it? It's alright, we all have feelings like this sometimes. I'm just glad you're doing this in the privacy of your own room."

Um, versus Shabbat dinner? I'm wondering why she hasn't run out the door screaming at this point. It's as though she's been spying on poor Ricky for weeks, carefully rehearsing her "masturbation is groovy" monologue until the time is right. And then there's Ricky, with his deadpan face innocently blinking away thoughts of Goldie Hawn or Marie Osmond... or whoever kids fantasized about back in those days. His mother does exit and apologize, not without letting Ricky know that they'll soon have "a talk" about how he can control these urges in the future.

I give credit to those ad men from the '70s. What else can you do when you're handed a creative brief on juvenile masturbation? Although it would have been interesting to see a Schoolhouse Rock version air after Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.

Eat My Words: Ads on Spoons

I try not to make eating out a habit. Especially since the choices in Midtown aren't exactly affordable. But with my train station exiting on 32nd and Broadway, it's hard not to get sucked into the bright lights and pungent smells of Koreatown and its fishy pickled goodness.

Which brought me to Chung Moo Ro, a narrow unassuming Korean restaurant that’s relatively new to the block compared to mainstays like Gahm Mi Oak and Kum Gang San. And “new” in more ways than one. As soon as my waiter set our table, I noticed a little wax paper “shirt” wrapped around the bowl of my spoon. I thought it was a safety precaution at first. Like having the wrapping around chopsticks. But upon closer inspection, I realized the spoon was already used, and that the paper was a carefully placed advertisement for Charmsoju, a brand of soju, or Korean rice wine.

What? Spoon advertising? What has this world come to?-- were my initial thoughts. What’s next? Toilet paper and potato skins? Then I realized that this kind of invasiveness/pervasiveness is probably not a huge deal in Korean culture. The street outside the restaurant is brimming with neon and electronic signs and ads from the ground to five stories up. Brand messages are expected, and perhaps welcomed, in the densely populated metropolis of Seoul, not to mention small pockets of real estate like Koreatown. Koreans are used to having their senses assaulted from every angle—is a little logo on a soup spoon that big a deal?

I doubt I’ll return to Chung Moo Ro. But the spoon isn’t to blame. In fact, the spoon will probably be the most memorable tidbit from my meal.

Jawbone Headsets Pummel, Asphyxiate and Mercilessly Murder Noise

Who knew Bluetooth technology had real teeth? At least in its advertising. Aliph decided to celebrate its latest Jawbone Bluetooth headset with a microsite featuring film shorts from director Sam Bayer. Each piece centers around Jawbone and its ability to eliminate outside noise—so you don’t have to worry about being disturbed by that pesky great white attack in the hotel pool or the two drunken rugby blokes making out next to you at the bar. Brilliant.

But one film really twisted my stomach into knot (see above). Here, an arrogant, racist businessman tears his elderly Chinese dry cleaner a new one right in front of his family, “Medium fucking starch,” he repeats over and over again, “You’re gonna starch my fucking shirt while I wait. Who says I don’t like Asians? Is it betta if I talka at choo lak dis? Oh yeah, me love you long time.”

We’re then interrupted by a ringing cell phone belonging to another patron sitting in the corner. As this second man puts on his Jawbone headset, we’re swept into his loving conversation with his wife while the dry cleaner’s teenage granddaughters jump over the counter towards the businessman, wrap a plastic laundry bag around his head, and administer the hardest, bloodiest, most graphic beatdown ever witnessed outside American History X. Mind you, the violence is completely mute and all we hear is the Jawbone conversation, “I’ve got a surprise for you, baby. I love you when you talk like that.”

I’m not sure if R-rated carnage is any way to sell Bluetooth headsets. In fact, I barely remembered what was being advertised. I was too busy being utterly offended by the businessman’s remarks, which was replaced by nausea at the sight of the his quivering face suffocating in a plastic bag. I know Aliph was trying to go for the shock factor here, but I think they kinda sorta stepped over that blood-soaked line. Is this what advertisers have to do just to be viral nowadays?

Don’t expect me to wait around for the backlash. I think I need a shower.

[P.S. - It's interesting that Aliph/Jawbone decided to host their films on a microsite versus YouTube. That's very BMW circa 2001 of them. I'm pretty sure the above YouTube clip was posted by someone unaffiliated with the campaign, so it would be interesting to compare the traffic between a film campaign done from a microsite versus one done on YouTube. On one hand Jawbonefilms.com is sexier and crisper, but YouTube is embeddable and more viral.]