5 Blogs Before Lunch

L.L. Bean kicks off its Centennial with a Giant Mobile Maine Hunting Boot--the Bootmobile

To mark the company's centennial, L.L. Bean has driving a giant hunting boot across the country.

Well, not a real hunting boot exactly, it is a truck designed to look like the brand's iconic hunting boot. You know, like the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile looks like a wiener.

L.L. Bean commissioned the Bootmobile, a 20-foot-long, 13-foot-high vehicle that is scheduled to travel throughout the country during the company's 100th year.

Wired magazine reports from Manhattan that "the Bootmobile appears to be cobbled together from a diesel Ford F-250 pickup. (It’s an automatic, so no heel-and-toe downshifts.) In true Yankee fashion, it’s wearing all-terrain tires, sports a Maine license plate and is missing a hubcap." In fact, the Bootmobile was built to scale by Echo Artz, a specialty fabrication shop in Kissimmee, Florida--a far cry from Bean headquarters in Freeport, Maine.

L.L. Bean founder Leon Leonwood Bean began the company in a single room selling the Maine Hunting Shoe, with a rubber sole and shell stitched to a leather upper. The Maine Hunting Shoe has become emblematic of the brand.

Additional sources: The New York Times

Oops: The New York Times accidently emails millions of subscribers to tell them their subscription was cancelled.

This morning, The New York Times accidentally sent e-mails to more than eight million people, informing them that they had canceled home delivery of the newspaper.

Oops.

And, initially, the paper assumed it was a spam hoax, and reported this to their subscribers via social networks. The Times official Twitter feed sent this message: “If you received an email today about canceling your NYT subscription, ignore it. It’s not from us.”

Oops.


The Times then sent an email of apology to the 8.6 million readers who received the e-mails, and made an apology through spokesperson Eileen Murphy: “We regret that the error was made, but no one’s security has been compromised,” she said.

The e-mail was sent by a Times employee, and not the third-party Epsilon Interactive, the service The Times uses to communicate with subscribers.

Still no explanation of why a Times employee would send out such an email.

Oops.

The Mad Men of the Ayzenberg Group have a thing for fruitcake and beefcake

The folks at the Ayzenberg Group have a tradition of creating holiday video greetings. The agency, who specializes in youth marketing seems to have a thing for fruitcake and beefcake...

 

 

12 Arty Parodies Of The Beloved Christmas Tree

When you get the chance, scoot over to Fast Company and see images from “Oh Tannenbaum!,” an annual German exhibition of clever, artistic interpretations of the iconic Christmas tree. I've posted three to wet your appetite.

Above is "Untitled" by Susanne König and Christian Metzler, 2008

Below is "Atlas" by Johannes Marmon, 2004

and, "Es fällt kein Baum vom ersten Hieb" by Timm Ruge & Wolfgang Zender, 2008

Toys R Us and Macy's to stay open all the way through Christmas Eve

Lapping up every bit of consumer spending they can, Toys R Us and certain Macy's stores will remain open--24 hours a day, through Christmas.

For Toys R Us shoppers, that's 112 hours straight to shop, all the way through to Christmas Eve.

Fourteen Macy's stores, including its Herald Square flagship, will also stay open continously from Wednesday until 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and Target has extended store hours from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. until Dec. 23.

Ho Ho Ho.

Axe gives teenage boys an extra Hot Merry Christmas gift

Axe knows who their audience is--post-pubescent teenage boys who have one thing on their mind.

So, what is more fitting than a nearly-soft core porn video of two scantily clad Santa's helpers riding a bucking bronco of a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

It is Axe's way of showcasing AXE CELEBRATIONS, a program as a new way of celebrating the special dates of the year. AXE CELEBRATIONS is a Facebook application which allows you to send special messages to friends. The app is that users can choose to receive the message at any time, or send "hot" messages to their friends on the days that they want to celebrate throughout the year. The video of Rudolph and his helpers is interactive--asking users to pull the ribbon to see what's inside, and personalized with your name on the holiday card--as you need to give the app access to your Facebook profile.

In order to use the app, teenage boys must install the application on their Facebook profiles, and allow the app functionalities to be able to send a message to any of their friends.

Oh, and because of the adult-like content, the app asks that users be at least 16 years old--which, if their audience strictly adhered to, would slice off half of the targeted teenagers.

You can access the application, and launch the video here.

Meet the Crandalls; and their wickedly mischievous take on the family Christmas card

This is a repost of an article from last December. I thought it was worth a re-post with an update with this year's card. Enjoy.

I met Denise and Court Crandall a couple of decades ago when we were all at Team One Advertising working on the launch of Lexus automobiles.

Even then, they had a wicked sense of humor and mischief.

Through the years, the couple's holiday cards have reflected their some what quirky humor by poking fun at the holiday tradition of family photos. And, after 17 years, they've become the stuff of legend.

Take a look at a few of my favorites, and read all about the history of the Crandall family Christmas cards, here.

Wieden + Kennedy hosts a virtual holiday meal with humanoid robot dolls

Advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy's Amsterdam office is hosting a virtual holiday meal with humanoid robot dolls.

Here's how it works according to The Los Angeles Times: You reserve 30 minutes of table time at virtualholidaydinner.com and at the appointed time you and four friends or co-workers or family members, or strangers -- all call into the dinner via Skype where your heads will appear on flat screens that sit on top the robot doll bodies. The company, known for its work with Nike, has employed facial tracking software so that if you turn your head at home, your virtual robot doll also turns his or her head. The room that the dolls are sitting in has been elaborately decorated to add to the holiday spirit.

There are three scripts for the dinner (in case you run out of things to say, I guess). The lines to the script appear on participants computer screens karaoke style.

The Times found someone who had participated in one of these dinners. "It's totally awkward," she said. "It's funny, but it's also super awkward. First of all you are on a robot doll, so it is kind of weird, but I think once you get started with the script it's hilarious and then once it's over it's super awkward again."

Just like most holiday parties, I suppose.

Did you just make love and want to shout from the rooftops? There's an app for that. "I Just Made Love" let's you brag proudly

Did you just make love? Or just want to check where people near you made love? There's an app for that.

On a boat. In a car. Outside. Inside. On a sofa. In my sister's bedroom.

The "I Just Made Love" application for Android and iPhone have recorded nearly 200,000 'acts of love' prounouncing love making dates, times and location of users. The Android app has been downloaded over 10,000 times, and rated five stars by dozens of users.

It seems like quite a handy device for those who have difficult keeping track of their activities, or enjoy oversharing with their friends.
The Daily Mail reports that most of the posts via the site so far seem to be in Polish - with only isolated instances of lovemaking in other countries. One brave soul (male, on a sofa) even logged an act of love from Iran - although he declined to comment.

Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy"--on Glass Harp and Glass Armonica

To get you in the mood on this last weekend before Christmas...here are two performances of Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker (1892). One on the Glass Harp (probably invented by a heavy drinker) and the other on the Glass Armonica (invented by Benjamin Franklin).

A Charlie Brown Ad Agency

This is my third annual post of this hilarious, and oh too real-life spoof. Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas.

Hat tip to Tom Cordner. Thanks Tom.

Will Ferrell connects to a local vibe with Old Milwaukee ads

Comedian Will Ferrell is the latest spokesperson for Old Milwaukee beer. Apparently, he approached the Pabst Brewing Company-owned company asking to do the ads because he is a fan of the beer.

The ads are designed to run locally in Davenport, Iowa and Terra Haute, Indiana with local references to the town. Seemingly bootleg copies have been posted to YouTube, so they're getting global attention.

Daren Metropoulos, co-owner of Pabst Brewing Company, is quoted as saying: "Will Ferrell approached Old Milwaukee about creating ads because he's a big fan of the brand. He was interested in developing something unique and we gave him the freedom to pursue his creative vision and produce these spots with a local vibe."

The ads feature Ferrell in what appear to be improvisational skits. Reportedly, Ferrell made about four of the ads in Terra Haute, Indiana, and as many as ten in Davenport.  Grainy, pparently viewer-recorded versions appear on YouTube.

The question is, is this all a guerilla social media project designed to get national attention, or is this a quirky Hollywood star just wanting to have a little fun? Ferell's from Orange County, California (in the shadow of Hollywood) so he's not exactly getting back to his roots with these ads.

Faux-local or not, the spots are good fun, and are getting good press for Old Milwaukee.

Sources: Adweek and Eater

Brits Just Wanna Have Fun: The Royal Navy wishes you a happy, campy Christmas from the HMS Ocean

The Brits clearly know a thing or two about campy fun. From the birthplace of The Full Monty, the Bare Ambulance calendar and the 102-year old nude calendar model, comes a video from the Royal Navy warship, the HMS Ocean, wishing you and yours a happy, campy Christmas. The ship's company made a Christmas DVD when they heard they would be home for Christmas after 214 days away from home and family. Imagine the U.S. Marines doing something like this! Clearly there are cultural separations between us and the home country.

Oil Story 3: Canadian oil company renames itself Pixar...seriously

Paramount Resources, a Canadian oil company with a name connected to one film company--Paramount, has renamed a subsidary after another film company--Pixar.

As strange as this sounds, it appears to be a legitimate naming shift, with a press release issued on the company's website.

Paramount Resources Ltd. (TSX:POU) ("Paramount" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the reorganization of all of the Company's oil sands and carbonate bitumen interests into a new wholly-owned subsidiary, Pixar Petroleum Corp. ("Pixar"). The reorganization is being undertaken to create a focused, self-funding oil sands entity in order to accelerate the development of Paramount's bitumen interests.

We look forward to their release of Oil Story 3.

Additional sources: Boing Boing and The Disney Blog

Funny Siri Commercial Parody: Husband and Wife Argument

Catvertising. It is persuasive, unignorable, relevant and rememberable: P.U.R.R.

Everything is moving to cat videos.

"To stay on top of the ever-changing advertising landscape, john st. has opened the world's first cat video division. With production, filming and seeding all in-house. Ask yourself, what can cat videos do for your business?"

Best political ad of all time: San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee Is...2 LEGIT 2 QUIT featuring MC Hammer, Brian Wilson, will.i.am, Ashkon, Biz Stone and Willie Brown

Ed Lee was installed as an interim mayor of San Francisco. He's now running to be elected mayor. This is perhaps the best political ad of all time. (hat tip to Trevor H).

John Travolta tries to book a table at KFC

Who would call up a KFC and ask to reserve a table?

John Travolta, that's who.

The actor apparently got a little saturday night fever for some finger-lickin-good chicken while attending a Scientology event in Sussex, England recently. It seems that a rep for the actor tried to reserve a table at a location of the fast food chain in West Sussex, England but was told Travolta would "have to queue at the front like everyone else." The worker who took the call did not want to be named but said: 'To me, customers are customers, no matter who they are. It doesn't make a difference if someone is famous.

A spokesman for KFC said after-the-fact: 'In hindsight, of course, we would have reserved a table for him. 'It's not every day you get a Hollywood star eating in your restaurant.'

It is nice to hear that Travolta eats more than just "Royale with Cheese" whilst traveling in Europe.

One Million Moms getting their panties in a bunch over Schweddy Balls

There are always haters out there who try to spoil all the fun.

Case in point, One Million Moms--an organization out of Mississippi (and a division of the American Family Association), doesn't like one of Ben & Jerry's newest ice cream flavors called Schweddy Balls--an homage of a "Saturday Night Live" that poked fun at NPR.

The extremest organization, whose purpose is to "stop the exploitation of our children" say the limited-edition flavor featuring fudge-covered rum balls turns something innocent into something repulsive and has started a campaign to pressure supermarkets not to stock the ice cream.

A spokesman for Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's says Schweddy Balls is stocked in about 30 percent of stores where its products are sold, and is its most popular limited-edition flavor so far.

As Pete Schweddy says "Nobody can resist my Schweddy balls."

Source: The Los Angeles Times

SWIMS uses bathroom humor to sell waterproof shoes

I clearly enjoy Norwegian humor. Take a look, and a laugh, at this ad for Norwegian waterproof shoe maker SWIMS' Fall/Winter 2011 collection for men. The clearly are effective at keeping water (and other liquids) from soaking Norwegian feet.

No unicorns were harmed in the making of this press release

I received this press release today, and could not help but post it as-is, rather than add commentary. I hope you will enjoy its creativity, and disruptive approach, as much as I did.

This is the press release every reporter hates.

It’s not earth-shattering news spouted from a celebrity spokesperson from a company that is a fruit. Nor is it the story of a teen-age entrepreneur with a billion dollar start-up valuation. No, alas, this is simply a press release from an ambitious web agency located in the duck decoy capital of the world, Havre de Grace, Maryland.

Thankfully, this isn’t for the reporters.

This press release is for you, the embattled marketers out there. The over-worked, brain-on-25-hours-a-day VP of something-or-other whose job it is to make marketing magic. We know that if marketing does their job, that makes it easier for sales, and if sales is happy, well, unicorns* for everyone!

There are bullet points below, though, in case reporters** are reading.

You could call Web Ad.vantage a marketing agency that specializes in online media buying, search marketing and social media tactics, but that wouldn’t be the full story. What Web Ad.vantage does better than anyone else (and has for more than 13 years) is straight-up digital advertising and marketing. This is to announce the launch of the F.I.E.R.C.E. Assessment:

Ferocious Intelligence Evaluation Report & Competitive Emarketing Assessment

Ferocious: Is this you? How much market share do you want?
Intelligence: We help you develop business intelligence.
Evaluation: What’s working? What isn’t? Why are you still doing what isn’t working?
Report: Tables and charts can be interesting if they’re reporting success in the right metrics.
Competitive: You again. Our clients are definitely ‘hungry’ and ready to swallow the competition whole. Or nibble in pieces, tastes vary.
Emarketing: It’s a fight for eyeballs and action. How hard are you fighting?

In other words, Web Ad.vantage helps you translate what you’re doing into data you can use: a digital marketing SWOT analysis, a competitive readiness of your site compared to two of your key competitors, and a tactical checklist that reveals your level of preparedness. You need to get F.I.E.R.C.E. because marketing statistics are really quite dismal:

•    Only 10.5 percent of CMOs say social marketing efforts are effectively integrated into their overall marketing strategy (MarketingProfs)
•    CMOs want to be pushed but only three percent say their agencies are leading the charge for innovation (The Horn Group)
•    Only six percent of business are doing any type of mobile marketing (Hubspot) even though mobile advertising is four-to-five times more effective than online advertising (InsightExpress)
“This is a crazy press release, but I’m going to go with it” says Hollis Thomases, Web Ad.vantage CEO and President. “We went out on a limb putting this program together, but we did so knowing there are more and more marketers every day that need this kind of help. It’s not about maintaining ‘top of mind awareness’ anymore. Our clients want not only their market share, but their competitors’ as well. We’re here to help them get that with the right tools, expertise, and most importantly - advocate, guiding their web marketing efforts.”

So if your job is VP-of-something-or-other (Marketing, Strategy, Social Media, Fill in the Blank) please raise your hand and we’ll call on you next. (Well, we really prefer that you go to http://www.webadvantage.net/getfierce to learn more about our F.I.E.R.C.E. Assessment, but you can also email us as well:  fierce@webadvantage.net.)

*No unicorns were harmed in the making of this press release.
** Hi, you know we love you!

Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls Ice Cream...a Delicious Dish

A promotional trifecta--NPR, SNL and Ben & Jerry's.

Ben & Jerry's is a master at wordplay, as is SNL, and NPR. So it is wonderful to see this group getting together for the launch of Ben & Jerry's Schweddy Balls ice cream--paying homage to the famous Ana Gasteyer/Molly Shannon/Alec Baldwin skit on Saturday Night Live which poked fun at NPR.

If you're not familiar with Schweddy Balls, NPR was nice enough to post a primer on the topic: "in case you don't get the reference, the skit is a hilarious commentary on NPR's, um, uniquely soothing sound. [Alec] Baldwin plays Pete Schweddy, a guest on a fake NPR show called Delicious Dish. Pete makes holiday treats like cheese balls, popcorn balls, rum balls and his famous Schweddy balls. The skit is an exercise in double entendres."

The Ben & Jerry's offering is made up of Fair Trade vanilla ice cream, rum, mixed with fudge covered rum balls and milk chocolate malt balls.

Ben & Jerry's spokesman Sean Greenwood says "We've always been a company that has had a sense of humor," he said. Sometimes, he said, they spend time discussing serious business and other times "we just do fun."

"This is just plain silly," he said.

Demi Moore for Ann Taylor: Airbrushed within an inch of her celebrity

Someone needs to tell advertisers to stop hiring big-name celebrities as brand endorsers, then re-touching their images to the point where you can barely recognize their famous faces.

A case in point is Ann Taylor's new Fall Campaign featuring Demi Moore. If I hadn't seen the ad in context (an article about the new campaign), I would never recognized Moore in the ad. The photo is beautifully shot by legendary fashion photographer, Patrick Demarchelier but barely resembles Demi Moore.

Advertisers need to stop and recognize that if they spend all of that money on an endorsement deal, they're just throwing it out the window if they over-retouch their celebrity money-maker.

A Kardashian PR crisis is good for everyone.

When your are famous for being famous--like the Kardashians, the key to success is in showing off your seemingly unattainable fabulousness, while balancing it with a nice dose of failure.

Americans like to build up their celebrity crushes, and are equally happy when they stumble.

The sisters Kardashian are experts at this game. Coming off of Kim Kardashian's fairy tale wedding--which she sold to corporate sponsors for a reported $15 million payday, comes word of a PR crisis that could shake up their celebrity endorsement deal with retailer Sears.

It seems that the Kardashians--who are known more for their exploitative nature rather than their intellect, have unintentionally stumbled into a racist faux pas.

Somehow they've managed to associate themselves with the Klu Klux Klan.

Yep, you heard me right.

You see, the Kardashian PR machine loves the low-brow use of alliteration. Everything they touch, it appears, must be named with the letter "K."

While the sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney had no voice in determining their birth names, they must take ownership for the ubiquitous use of alliteration to name everything from their credit card line (the Kardashian Kard) to their clothing line at Sears (The Kardashian Kollection).

It is the sister's endorsement of a Sears klothing clothing line that most recently got them in trouble.

Some PR flack got the bright idea to call the sisters the "Kardashian klan" in a press release about the clothing line.

Apparently, the folks in the Khardashian Kamp camp are too dim-witted to recognize that their target audience might be offended by a reference to the racist organization the Klu Klux Klan (the only colloquial reference using a "K" spelling of clan).

Yes, The sister's press release refers to the sisters as the “Kardashian klan,” using a spelling of that the New York Observer points out is only associated with one thing. And it doesn’t help that their primary initials amount to three consecutive K’s.

Of course, there is no depth to this rumor--no one is suggesting that the sisters of Armenian origin have any association with the KKK--other than the one they just fabricated by this faux pas in a press release.

The publicity surrounding the publicity miss-step will only generate more buzz for the sisters and their exploitative PR machine. Because we love when our idols stumble. We love a little kontroversy controversy and gossip.

When you're famous for being famous, no publicity is bad publicity.

Like the Gabor sisters, and the Hilton sisters before them, these women know how to stretch their 15 minutes of fame. But be careful girls, the klock clock is ticking.

 

Fabio vs Isaiah in an Old Spice Mano a Mano in El Baño duel

In television-land, there has long been two go-to guys when it comes to mocking manliness--David Hasselhoff, and Fabio.

The folks at Old Spice chose the latter in their latest campaign designed to spice-up <pun> the hugely sucessful campaign it began a couple of years ago.

Selecting Fabio to replace Isaiah Mustafa is a stroke of genius. The original Old Spice Man was a spoof on the "manly scent" of your father's Old Spice. And now, Fabio is a spoof of the new, manly man.

Consumers are let in on the joke in the theme of the new campaign--a "duel" between the old and the new.

New Old Spice Guy Fabio is challenging the (original) Old Spice Guy to a duel on Twitter, and on YouTube.

At last count, Fabio’s 4,000 followers is left unmatched by Isiaiah’s 129,000. 

In the world of manly caricatures, there seems to be no match.

Tune in to Old Spice's YouTube channel today at 9am to officially learn their fate.

Jet Blue is offering $4 tickets from LGB and BUR during Los Angeles' "Carmageddon"

In a fun publicity stunt,  JetBlue Airways has offered $4 flights between Los Angeles' Burbank and Long Beach airports for this weekend.

Why?

Didn't you hear? Carmageddon is coming.

The city of automobiles is bracing for the construction closing of one of their busiest freeways. The 405 is a major artery for the L.A. Basin, and will be closed for 53 hours this weekend. The smogbelt has been planning for this closing for weeks, with many people leaving town and others stocking up on supplies to stay at home while the 405 Freeway which connects the San Fernando Valley to the Westside of Los Angeles is closed through the Sepulveda pass.

Or, in Jet Blue language, the space between Burbank and Long Beach.

JetBlue offered the 20-minute flights, two each way during Carmageddon, for $4. Seats sold out in less than four hours.

"We thought this would be a fun and unique idea," Spokeswoman Sharon Jones told The Los Angeles Times. "We looked at it as a way to introduce our product to customers who have never joined JetBlue."

And, while Jet Blue used Carmageddon to remind Angelenos of their service out of Burbank and Long Beach, Hitler finds out that the 405 freeway in Los Angeles will be closed for 2 days in July, and he is not happy about it:

San Francisco is converting Pavement to Parks

One of the thrills of living in an urban center is watching innovative trends emerge. And San Francisco is a hot bed of funky change.

Over the last couple of years we've begun seeing Parklets pop-up around the City.

What's a Parklet?

Imagine eminant domain over a portion of a street (often parallel street parking spots in front of a restaurant or cafe), converting asphalt into a public place for citizens to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the city around them. Obviously the parklets are also a boon for the restaurants and cafes immediately adjacent.

San Francisco's "Pavement to Parks" program is facilitating their installation. Viva la parklet.

 

The customer is always right--until they're not. Especially "In USA Magnited States of America"

Fueled by social media and networking, the focus on the customer has shifted for many organizations.

United Airlines' "we're here for your safety"--(not your comfort), has given way to Virgin America's--we're all in this together customer-focused mentality.

That said, businesses need to draw a line when customer-focused turns to customer-entitled behavior.

Alamo Drafthouse, a chain of dine-and-screen movie theaters in Austin, Texas, has long dealt with how to deal with impolite moviegoers who disrupt the movie experience of others. The latest assault to the enjoyment of moviegoers is the use of smartphones in theaters which create noise and bright lights that move attention away from the screen. They have a rule against texting and talking in their theaters.

So when a women was booted from the theater for texting, and left an aggressive, profantity-laced message on the theater's voicemail, they decided to make an example of her by showing how a feeling of "entitlement" crosses the line. The Drafthouse took audio of the woman's voicemail, transcribed it, and turned it into an in-house preview that warns theatergoers against cell phone use during movies.

She may be free to text in Texas, but not in a private theater.

According to Tim League, the Drafthouse's founder, the woman in question was warned twice about texting during a screening, and then, in accordance with company policy, was escorted out without a refund. "I don't think people realize that it is distracting," League told The Lookout. "It seems like nothing, but if you spend as much time as I do at the movies, you realize the entire theater sees it and it pulls you out of the movie experience. It's every bit as intrusvie as talking."

This woman is now the star of a PSA released by the company, and spread virally around the country:

Exposing Cap'n Crunch

Cap'n Crunchgate has hit the Interwebs.

The two rumors swirling are that 1). Quaker Oats is retiring the cereal icon and 2). the "leak" of the retirement was a publicity stunt generated by a social media "strategist."

"Reports of Cap'n Crunch's demise are greatly exaggerated," Quaker said in a statement to Ad Age. "In fact, we just launched an official Facebook page for Cap'n Crunch. Now that our Cap'n Crunch brand is in the social-media space, our adult consumers can stay up to date on all things Cap'n Crunch."

Well, true or not, rumors of the Cap'n Crunch retirement party have given the PepsiCo unit a platform to toot the Cap'n's horn.

Some say the story of the decommissioning of the Cap'n started in an article noting that he does not appear on Quaker's main website. Then, someone (A Fox News blog) took that story and suggested that First Lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity campaign "may explain why the Cap'n is less visible than he was in years past."

Then, rumors of a "full digital-guerrilla style" social media campaign began swirling. It appears that a boutique social-media agency called Giant Steps pitched the idea of a "Where's the Cap'n?" campaign which included "missing" posters. That quickly evolved into a full-blown "Retirement of Cap'n Crunch is a publicity stunt."

Source: Advertising Age

Icecreamists ask you to Lick Your Addiction to Baby Gaga (breast milk ice cream)

Small business retail and promotional gimmicks have gone hand-in-hand since the dawn of...small business.

Cases in point: Cal Worthington shipped in live tigers, bulls, grizzlies and elephants to promote his car dealership. Bikini Coffee Company dressed its baristas in bathing suites, and Serendipity 3 in New York City put a $25,000 chocolate ice cream sundae on the menu.

Now comes word that an ice cream shop in London is serving a breast-milk ice cream and promoting it as both organic, and free-range.

The "Icecreamists" in Covent Garden calls the flavor "Baby Gaga."

And yes, it does contain real breast milk, provided by 15 women who answered an online ad on the mothers' forum Mumsnet. The recipe blends breast milk with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest, Each serving sells for around US$23.

The first batch sold out within days of being introduced.

The first 50 servings were reportedly supplied by Victoria Hiley, who received £15 (around 18 euros) for every 10 ounces  (about 280 mL) of breast milk. She pumped onsite after going through a health check.

"What could be more natural than fresh, free-range mother's milk in an ice cream? And for me it's a recession beater too -- what's the harm in using my assets for a bit of extra cash," Hiley said in a statement.

The ice cream shop has a logo containing a skull and "cross spoons", and "Lick your addiction," as its tagline. Breast Milk ice cream isn't the first provocative flavor coming from the Icecreamists. The Sex Bomb, made with natural stimulants like gingko and the the Molotoffee Cocktail, with dulce de leche ice cream has been on the menu for some time.

Sources: Reuters, UK Independent, BBC News, NPR and Huffington Post

Usher and Kanye West have diamond watches made in their own image. The price tag? A cool 'quarter million

It was reported back in December, that pop star Usher ordered a special one-of-a-kind watch from watch maker Tiret. The watch is made of gold and diamonds as one might expect of a pop-star's custom-made watch to be.

But it's most distinguishing feature is its portrait of Usher himself, made of diamonds, on the dial.

Either that or its $250,000 price tag.

The watch is festooned with 10 carats of white and yellow diamonds, with many of the 1106 stones helping to create the image of the pop star. It has been featured in an exhibit at London's Natural History Museum.

But now comes word that the one-of-a-kind watch has a little competition--from Kanye West.

It seems that Kayne has commissioned a watch from Tiret as well. It has gold and diamonds too. An, of course, a portrait of Kayne on the watchface, made of 8 karats of yellow, black, brown and white diamonds.

Kanye's bill? A value-priced $180,000--a seemingly bargain price compared to Usher's watch.

He who dies with the most toys wins--as they say.

Sources: PopEater and Consumerism

 

How to smell like a Lithuanian

It seems that Lithuania would like their soldiers serving in Afghanistan to smell Lithuanian.

In fact, they'd like the whole nation to smell the same.

And, thanks to the national scent of this ex-Soviet Baltic state they all just might.

Yep, that's right, Lithuania has a national perfume which is said to excude the character of the nation.

The perfume "Lithuania" is a blend of sandalwood, cedar and musk with the designer saying the smell of wood fires has been added, reminiscent of pagan rituals.

The country's foreign ministry has sent bottles of the new fragrance to all  of its ambassadors. And to the military. And, hotels and airports.

Lithuanian cented candles will reportedly go on sale next month.

"Fauxbama:" Obama look-alike used in Salonpas pain relief ads

An analgesic pain patch manufacturer is using a President Barack Obama look-alike or "Fauxbama" in their advertising.

One of the amateurly-produced ads for Hisamitsu Americas' Salonpas pain patch features the "Fauxbama" getting a "pain in the neck" from all of the stressful decisions he deals with on a daily basis. The other suggests he needs the treatment after he receives a package of tea bags.

The company is better known in Japan than the U.S., so this ad (even as a publicity stunt) should help generate some more U.S. brand awareness.

Last year, you may recall outwear retailer Waterproof ticked off the White House after posting a billboard in Times Square featuring the actual likeness of President Obama. But this is a look-alike, not an actual likeness.

But using look-alikes can put marketers in legal hot water as well. Bette Midler and Tom Waits have won lawsuits to stop look-alikes in ads. However, as Advertising Age points out, the "commercial parody" tone of the Salonpas spots could mean they're protected by the First Amendment.

Robert Kay of Pac-Tech communications, who produced the videos, said: "We're not using his likeness -- just a look alike. We've taken a very respectful tone, even if we are pushing the boundaries a bit."

Every Time An Agency Sings in a Holiday Card, Santa Punches an Elf: 5 Ad Agency Christmas Videos Before Lunch:

Happy Holidays from the ad agency world:

And, as a bonus, the classic "A Charlie Brown Ad Agency"

Welcome to Spice 2.0: The Doritos Tablet

Macy's Bad Santa flees the retailer for the warm confines of an Irish pub

On Dasher, On Dancer, On Comet and Cupid...

"Bad Santa" has left the building.

San Francisco's Macy's on Union Square apparently got fed up with a bawdy Santa who's been bouncing little kiddies on his knee for around twenty years.

It seems that an older adult couple complained about a joke he cracked, that's been in his repertoire for years.

"When I ask the older people who sit on my lap if they've been good and they say, 'Yes,' I say, 'Gee, that's too bad. Then, if they ask why Santa is so jolly, I joke that it's because I know where all the naughty boys and girls live."

And that's what sent Santa packing.

But have no fear, Santa's got a brand new bag, at Lefty O'Doul's restaurant and lounge.

Lefty O'Doul's owner Nick Bovis, who had been to Macy's with his own children in the past, stepped in to offer Toomey a job once he heard the news. "I'll pay you double what Macy's paid," Bovis said. "I told him, 'you can tell any jokes you want.'"

He'll appear on a North Pole Winter Wonderland stage from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. until Christmas Eve, where it is IN HIS CONTRACT to deliver the naughty joke that got him sacked from Macy's.

And, it seems Santa is more than willing to give Macy's a lump of goal over his firing. As he says (VIDEO), "I've had issues with Macy's for years...Santa used to have a dressing room...Santa had to dress in the 8th Floor Men's room."

Wait till Mrs. Clause hears about this!

Source: Bay Citizen

Dudley Dorito, the extra-terrestrial tortilla chip, spotted above Britain

<placing tongue firmly in cheek>

In what could turn out to be the most elaborate salty snack promotion in history, a UFO which resembles a Doritos tortilla chip has been spotted in the skies over Britain for the third time in as many years.

In what's being called an "extra-terrestrial tortilla chip," and "Dudley Dorito" by local residents, the triangular object has been seen swooping through the night skies.

No reports of a jar of salsa trailing behind.

Source: UK Daily Mail

Grouponicus, the age-old wintertime Groupon holiday!

First there was Festivus, for the rest of us--a fictional holiday popularized by the television show Seinfeld.

Now, the light-hearted folks at Groupon are introducing “Grouponicus,” another pseudo holiday that's been designed for daily-deal holiday shopping.

In humor befitting the Groupon brand personality, the site is made up a series of “age-old traditions and rigid cosmological beliefs” for its Grouponicus holiday, including a mascot dubbed Groupo the Bargain Bird (seen above).

"Over the next five weeks, Groupon will be offering up special holiday deals. Expect 50-90% off local, experiential, and occasionally unusual holiday gifts. Why? Because it's Grouponicus™, the age-old wintertime Groupon holiday!"

 

Pure Blonde: Marketing a low-carb beer with a tubby guy, a pegasus, and a belch heard across the valley

 Pure Blonde is the fastest growing packaged regular beer brand in Australia.

The brand (part of the Fosters Group) positions itself as the first beer in Australia to be marketed as having 70% less carbohydrates than a regular beer, but still "full-strength" and great tasting.

So we're curious what the messaging brief looked like for this recent ad.

For a low-carb beer we're curious why a rather tubby guy is climbing mountains to get a taste of the brew. And what belching has to do with great taste.

As for the beautiful blondes, we know why their in the commercial.

All that said, it is kind of a fun commercial:

 

Bristol Palin and Jersey Shore's "The Situation" awkwardly try to sell safe-sex or abstinence in PSA

Pause before you play.

That's the message un-wed mother Bristol Palin; and MTV's The Jersey Shore's resident hound-dog "The Situation" are trying to sell in this PSA for The Candie's Foundation.

Unfortunately, the duo's acting is about as convincing as these two as role-models for safe-sex or abstinence to teens and young adults.

"Just in case you do get into a situation, I wanna make sure that you are situated because if you do get into a situation with your sitaution, you may end up with a situation ... and you may not like that situation," says The Situation.

The ad is hard to watch, and harder to believe.

Source: NY Daily News and Adweek

“We wish you a Snuggie Christmas” --tongue in cheek, or just plain cheesy?

Snuggies says their new Christmas campaign was created with tongue firmly in cheek.

To our eyes (and ears) it looks like a badly produced in-house ad.

We wonder if that tongue was planted before or after the final cut.

Attacks on California candidates top list of "The 10 Freakiest Campaign Ads"

Our friends over at AdFreak did a yeoman's job at reviewing all of the "freaky" ads during this election cycle.

Sifting through the ads ranging from "the uninspired to the obnoxious" they discovered some ads that were so over the top, they went from baffling-ly bad to laugh-worthy, and highly entertaining.

Top honors went to an animated (yet freakishly life-like) version of California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman in a Democratic group-funded ad called "Level the Playing Field;" and then there was the U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina's ad during the primary where she blasted her FCINO (Fiscal Conservative in Name Only) opponent with a Demon Sheep and; coming in 3rd is  "Attack of the 50-Foot Pelosi" from Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Tim Burns who portrayed Speaker of the House and California Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi as a bloated, wild-eyed, pillaging giantess wreaking havoc on little people everywhere.

What's with all these bad campaign ads and California politicians?

Betty White on brands and leadership: "true leadership is about making tough choices, and sometimes it is about respect"

"I'm Betty 'fu*%in'" White...

Subaru introduces the 2011 Mediocrity. Satire is standard equipment.

It is always nice to see a car company willing to have a little intelligent wit and daring about their marketing.

Subaru is having a little fun by creating advertising for a fictious car called "Mediocrity."

The 2011 Mediocrity comes in "medium crumb" or "stale biscuit" colors and is designed to "get you from A to B without anybody noticing, and that's a good thing."

Of course, their poking fun at bland, middle-of-the-road sedans, and subtly suggesting Subaru is anti-Mediocrity.

Subaru doesn't let consumers in on the gag until they're deep inside a fictitious website. Subaru encourages people to "click here to build a better car," which links to the Subaru site and a commercial for the 2011 Legacy sedan.

Due to the subtle nature of the joke, many may not get the gag.

But then again, a Subaru isn't for everyone.

Source: USA Today

Groupon launches new dating service and $60,000 scholarship program Grouspawn

Groupon CEO Andrew Mason took the stage this morning at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference to announce Grouspawn, a dating site and scholarship program for the children conceived by couples who used a Groupon on their first date.

Mason has decided that as the company expands, there will inevitably be babies born off the “intercourse” people are having on dates where they use Groupons. So, the company is putting $60,000 in a trust fund for every Grouspawn--a sum that would mature to cover the costs of the child's college education.

Clearly a marketing stut, Grouspawn is a wonderful way to showcase expanded use of Groupons, gather some demographic information on its users who sign up for the dating service, and signal it is OK to use a Groupon on a date.

For a little more hilarity, check out the FAQ's on the dating site here

More at TechCrunch

Netflix hires actors to portray real customers at Canadian launch event, then offers only a semi-apology for their actions

Bad move #1: Hire actors to represent real customers at a launch party

Bad move #2: Give said actors a script (yes, in writing so it might be distributed across the Internet) telling them how to act when speaking to the press--in character.

Bad move #3: Admit you hired the actors, but only say giving them a script as a bad idea.

Netflix's long-awaited Canadian launch event in Toronto this week attracted a sizable crowd of enthusiastic consumers. But apparently, many of the "consumers" who showed up were actually paid actors. 

Netflix apparently admits to having paid extras to show up and "play types, for example, mothers, film buffs, tech geeks, couch potatoes, etc."  but only submitted an apology in regards to providing a script to the paid actors. "I was unaware that script was handed out to extras and that was not supposed to happen," says Steve Swasey, VP of corporate communications for Netflix. "Some people got carried away and it's embarrassing to Netflix." 

Source: Switched and  Globe and Mail

Typo in ad promotes the virtues of a "pubic" school education

At first glance we thought it might be a photo-shop hoax.

Then the organization who misspelled "public" as "pubic" in the ad promoting the value of a proper public school education took credit for the typo.

The electronic billboard was posted in South Bend, Indiana (home of Notre Dame University) trying to advertise the "15 Best Things About Our Public Schools" as part of the City of South Bend's Redevelopment Commission to promote the community.

Apprarently one of the best things is not learnin' too spel. <grin>

Responsibility for the spelling error has been claimed by the Blue Waters Group. The company does work for the city of South Bend's redevelopment commission to promote the city.

"I feel terrible. It's a mistake we made and we're guilty of it, and responsible for it. and we take full responsibility for the error," said Patrick Strickler, president of the Blue Waters Group.

The message went up in the afternoon on September 16 and was removed and corrected four days later. By that time, however, plenty of people had time to notice and comment on the typo.

Source: South Bend Tribune and Parentdish

Carlashes: the ultimate girlie accessory for your car

A company named Carlashes is selling curly headlamp eyelashes for your automobile.

Yep, this is an aftermarket "glamification" that's available for $24.95, and you can add "Crystal Eyeliner" for an additional $19.95--a clear, rhinestone-style bling that attaches directly to the paint, so once you go girlie, there's no turning back.

Source: autoblog

Levi Johnston for Mayor of Wasilla: The marketing campaigns

First, TV host Jimmy Kimmel offered some campaign buttons, signs, and stickers for Levi's run for Mayor of Wasilla. And now, the folks at Slate V have produced a campaign ad on his behalf.

It seems everyone supports Levi's effort "...to take Wasilla back from the career politicians."

Why do we love the rogue JetBlue flight attendant so much?

I'm sure you've heard his story.

JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater is accused of cursing out a passenger over a plane's loudspeakers, taking a beer (or two or three) from the galley and making a quick exit via an emergency slide.

Is the public aghast at his behavior?

Far from it.

Slater is the No. 1-trending topic on Twitter nationwide. Facebook fan pages include "I hate the m-----f----r who called Steven Slater a m-----f----r," and the "Steven Slater Legal Defense Fund."  His story has been featured extensively on national and local newscasts for the last couple of days.

So why do we love this rogue flight attendant?

The airline industry has been cursing out passengers for the last few years, with fees for everything from food, baggage--even pillows and use of the toilets.

And then there is the whole "passenger bill of rights" issue over holding passengers on runways for hours on end--the airlines have been fighting any passenger rights issues tooth-and-nail.

Consumers are fed up, but have little recourse but to use the the airline industry that seems to hate us all.

So, when a flight attendant looses it, and "snaps," we all know where he is coming from.

This is a PR disaster for the entire airline industry.

And hopefully a little bit of a wake-up call.

NOTE: if you need to catch-up on the whole Steve Slater story, watch this wonderful Taiwanese animation re-cap: