5 Blogs Before Lunch

1-800-GET-THIN Lap-band ads getting congressional scrutiny for "aggressive marketing"

The controversy around a surgically implanted device to help people lose weight has been festering in the Los Angeles area for months. Opponents of the "Lap-Band" a ring that is surgically implanted around the stomach to discourage overeating have questioned the effectiveness and safety of the device, as well as its marketing claims.

The 1-800-GET-THIN weight-loss surgery billboard campaign is ubiquitous along Southern California freeways--in a town known for its obsession with physical appearance. Local opponents have questioned the "aggressive marketing" of the device through the freeway billboards, radio, television, direct mail and the Internet. Two former employees have accused 1-800-GET-THIN and its affiliated surgery centers of operating in unsanitary conditions, improperly billing insurers and putting an emphasis on profits over patient safety.

And now, the opposition is getting a national sponsors in  U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and two other House members who are calling for congressional hearings to examine whether the sponsors of the ad campaign, their affiliated clinics and the device's manufacturer are improperly promoting a potentially dangerous surgery. Waxman wants Congress to subpoena documents from 1-800-GET-THIN and Lap-Band manufacturer Allergan Inc.

"We believe the Committee should hold hearings to examine whether FDA device regulation has been ineffective in protecting the public from dangerous medical devices like the Lap-Band,"  said Waxman and Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) in letter.

The Los Angeles Times reports that five patients have died in Southern California since 2009 after Lap-Band surgeries at clinics affiliated with 1-800-GET-THIN, according to lawsuits, autopsy reports and other public records.

For its part, the Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to 1-800-GET-THIN and some of its affiliated surgery centers, saying that its advertisements were misleading because they did not adequately disclose dangers of the surgery. The company has agreed to change the ads to address the FDA's concerns.

"The fundamental mission of the FDA is to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices," Congressman Waxman is quoted as saying. "That is why it's critical that we understand how unsafe devices get on the market and how to protect patients from these risks."

Neuromarketing: brain food for creativity

Neurmarketing research is becoming a more active experiment with many advertisers from Google to Frito Lay. By studying consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective responses to advertising or product stimuli, marketers can learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it, then adjust marketing and advertising accordingly.

And now, the Advertising Research Foundation has conducted a study of neuromarketing effectiveness, analyzing the latest methods being used to evaluate advertising and products to determine the effectiveness, drawbacks, and promise of various analytic methods.

The study was sponsored by eight major marketers: American Express, Campbell Soup Company, Clorox, Colgate-Palmolive, General Motors, The Hershey Company, MillerCoors, and JP MorganChase; and four major TV networks: ESPN, Viacom Media Networks, NBCUniversal, and Turner. The project was also supported by Dentsu, Publicis Groupe, A&E, and Warner Bros.

The study is the first major review of neuroscience methods that apply to media and advertising response. The New York-based ARF brought together eight neuromarketing research companies from across the globe to have their methods reviewed and analyzed by an academic review panel with expertise in methods evaluated in the study, namely: facial coding, biometrics, electroencephalography (EEG), steadystate topography (SST), facial electromyography (fEMG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The academic reviewers concluded that neuromarketing research has the potential to provide important new insights for the evaluation of commercials and other visual stimuli, but also that there remains a need for continued validation efforts to strengthen this field. Nevertheless, the ARF strongly maintains that, while researchers should not abandon traditional measures, they should likewise not simply defer learning about and trying neuromarketing approaches until all the academic validation questions are answered. The potential contribution of these approaches to the creation of great advertising is simply too compelling.

Above all, advertisers should not be reluctant to use neuromarketing methods qualitatively, especially early in the creative process, to identify opportunities and pitfalls in storylines, messaging, and key branding moments. Additionally, the ARF provided its viewpoint on which types of approaches are best suited to the most common research objectives and questions that advertisers have.

The findings from this work are summarized in the ARF’s newly released white paper, Uncovering Emotion: Using Neuromarketing to Increase Ad Effectiveness.

Campaign Friday: Volkswagen is going to the Bark Side with Star Wars themed Super Bowl campaign

During last year’s Super Bowl, Volkswagen scored a huge hit with an ad starring a young boy dressed as Vader trying to employ the mythical powers of The Force around his house. This year, the Star Wars theme returns, and Volkswagen's advertising spend is being maximized with a social media component.

For this year they've created a customizable iconic crawl invite to "invite your friends to your Big Game party," and a canine chorus teaser ad that barks the Imperial March. Keep an eye out for the 2012 Game Day commercial—it is bound to be epic.

Selling Ad Choices: An advertising campaign designed to educated consumers on behavior advertising.

"Behavioral Advertising" is the term used by advertisers for when they track audience behavior and serve relevant advertising to an online consumer.

Advertisers love it.

Many consumers are scared of it.

When a consumer visits a web site, the pages they visit, the amount of time they view each page, the links they click on, and all sorts of other behavior is collected, creating a profile that links to that visitor's web browser. As a result, site publishers can use this data to create defined audience segments based upon visitors that have similar profiles. When visitors return to a specific site or a network of sites using the same web browser, those profiles can be used to allow advertisers to position their online ads in front of those visitors who exhibit a greater level of interest and intent for the products and services being offered. On the theory that properly targeted ads will fetch more consumer interest, the publisher can charge a premium for these ads over random advertising or ads based on the context of a site.

In other words, behavioral marketing is the reason you see ads for the sites you have recently visited, with advertisers hoping to lure you back. An advertiser's goal is to increase relevancy based on the collected data and foster a better conversion rate.

Advertisers love the ability to target consumers. But many consumers feel such tracking is an invasion of privacy, with few consumers knowing they can opt out of such programs.

So, The Digital Advertising Alliance, the ad industry's self-regulatory program for online behaviorally targeted advertising, recently launched an advertising campaign with the goal of helping consumers understand the benefits of targeted ads.

The 'Your AdChoices' campaign builds upon the DAA's two-and-a-half year effort to develop and implement cross-industry best practices and effective solutions for the collection and use of data through its Advertising Option Icon.
"With widespread industry adoption of the DAA's Self-Regulatory Principles, the DAA remains committed to informing consumers about interest-based advertising, online data collection and use, and the simple way they can exercise control over their web viewing data," said Peter Kosmala, managing director, Digital Advertising Alliance. "This highly creative public education campaign is an important step in that ongoing process."

While the ads don't explicitly tell consumers they have the ability to opt out of behavioral targeting, they feature the Ad Choices icon that the DAA has created for advertisers to embed in their ads. Clicking on the Ad Choices icon allows a web user to opt-out of behavioral targeting.

Advertising, in order to educate consumers about advertising--hum.

Source: Advertising Age

Shatner, The Priceline Negotiator, meets his demise--advertising style.

For the last 14 years, William Shatner has overacted as the "Priceline Negotiator" in the advertising for the discount travel site.

His character has become a cultural icon and helped elevate recognition of the brand as a discount-price bidding system for hotel bookings.

But now, Priceline wants to focus on a broader strategy beyond negotiated bidding, and that means Shatner's character must go. The brand needs to find a way to shift focus from what it has deeply impeded in consumer's minds, and give people a different reason to care about it.

The first step to brand rejuvenation? The Priceline Negotiator must meet a fiery death--advertising style.

Shatner’s final ads for the company will see him attempt to save vacationers as a bus comes dangerously close to falling from a bridge. Before the end, Shatner continues to attempt to advise customers on how to get reduced prices. “Save yourself –some money,” Shatner says before he meets his apparent end on the bus. The ad is in-character for both The Negotiator, and for Shatner's own acting style known for his over-the-top delivery. The octogenarian (he turned 80 last March) perfected overacting throughout his lengthy career--from his character as Captain Kirk on Star Trek to his portrayal of T.J. Hooker and Denny Crane on Boston Legal. Yep, he knows how to milk a line and steal even the most mundane scene.

But it is just that ability to draw attention to himself that has nesessitated the transformation of Priceline's "The Negotiator" to become yesterday's newspaper as it shifts from a name-your-price model to a fixed-price approach.

Yep, Shatner's Negotiator was just too good at representing the old approach.

“The challenge is harder to get people’s attention than it used to be. … So we decided to do something really over the top to get the message across,” Priceline CEO Christoper Soder told the AP.

All parties have left a Shatner return a viable possibility--perhaps in the same way Jack, the Jack in the Box clown, returned after his own fiery explosion in 1980.

Ah, the magic of Hollywood.

Newsweek is returning to its 1960s design for 'Mad Men' issue

When I was in the advertising world, the concept of the separation of "church and state"--editorial and advertising, was a firm line never to be crossed. But, over the years, and especially with the advent of the Internet, that line has gotten thinner and thinner, and is crossed more and more often.

An example is the announcement that Tina Brown's Newsweek is planning an issue that revives the magazine's design elements of the 1960s, including the ads to mark the March return of the AMC cable TV series "Mad Men."

I'm a big fan of Tina Brown--ever since her days at Vanity Fair, and I wish her the best of luck at reviving Newsweek from the thin shell of a brand that it has become. So, in a way I support the alliance between broadcast advertisers and editorial magazine. And, I suppose times have changed, and consumers are smart enough to view promotion though one lens, and editorial through another.

Newsweek will ask legacy advertisers to revive their ads from the era, and newer brands will be encouraged to produce ads as they might have looked then. "It's analogous to when the NFL has a game and the teams wear their vintage uniforms," said Newsweek Daily Beast President Rob Gregory.

Brown has said she thought of the idea while talking with Matthew Weiner, creator and executive producer of "Mad Men," about ways to treat its season-five premiere on March 25, nearly a year and a half after season four concluded.

"Newsweek was very much on the cultural forefront at the time of the show," Brown said. "It covered the events that are so much of the background for the show's drama -- the burgeoning civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the Vietnam War. That was Newsweek's cutting-edge beat and its flourishing journalistic subject. So it seemed like a wonderful marriage in a sense to take that and apply it to the magazine, to make the magazine an homage to the period."

The "Mad Men" will include a cover story on the series and a feature on the role of advertising in U.S. culture.

Source: Advertising Age

Campaign Friday: Renault Twingo

Welcome to Campaign Friday. Each week, we'll post some of our favorite advertising. Today may we introduce to you the Renault Twingo campaign "'Times are changing, and so is Twingo!"" created by Publicis France. Each one has a surprising twist at the end.

5 More Christmas Tree Influenced Print Ads

Thanks to loyal 5 Blogs Before Lunch reader Bryan, here are five more brand ads with a little Christmas Tree flare.

Adidas:

Mazda:

Hellmans:

Veet Hair Removal:

Publicis Singapore:

5 of our Favorite Christmas tree influenced print ads

We love the creatvity found in these five Christmas ads from Tide, Levi's, Nespresso. Mercedes-Benz and Domino's Pizza.

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...

 

 

Royal Caribbean shellphone ad--who you think you're fooling?

What do you think of advertisers who make actors look like real people in a hidden-camera type of format? I'm an old jaded advertising person so these types of spots make me roll my eyes. What do you think?

Super Bowl to be live streamed on NBC's website and Verizon's NFL Mobile application

NBC has announced that it will stream the 2012 Super Bowl online as well as the network's other postseason games. Digital viewers can select camera angles and pull up game stats, which will be available on NBC's website and through Verizon's NFL Mobile application.

NBC is selling ads For TV And web to be sold separately, opening opportunities for advertisers who might not otherwise be able to pay for the television advertising on one of broadcast TV's largest telecasts.

The Super Bowl has broken viewing records for the last three years. CBS's telecast of the Super Bowl in 2010 was the most-watched event ever on broadcast TV. This year's broadcast on Fox beat that record, topping 111 million viewers. The online-streaming component of the 2012 game could add more viewership, though whether advertisers would consider that segment as valuable as TV viewership remains in question.

Source: AdAge Mediaworks

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.

Burger King bullies McDonald's into pulling ad, claiming it broke the rules of competitive advertising

Burger King is whopping mad is upset about a McDonald's television spot that ran in Germany. It seems it crossed the lines of competitive fair play by being what Burger King calls "degrading."

McDonald's has apparently agreed to pull the spot from commercial television, but fortunately for us it is still running on YouTube.

The ad features a little boy who has McDonald's lunch stolen by bullies every day. Eventually he disguises the lunch in a Burger King bag. Problem solved. No one wants his lunch anymore.

Burger King issued a statement saying, "McDonald's has broken the rules of comparative advertising by degrading the Burger King brand."

Advertising Age reports that the ad was created by McDonald's agencies Tribal DDB and German shop Heye & Partners, and was not been approved by McDonald's.

We think the spot is brillant work. ich liebe es!

(Image source EATER)

(Additional video source in case the ad has been pulled from YouTube)

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

Pepto Bismol for the holidays

There are certain advertisers who always pop-up during the holiday...champagne ads, gifts for dad ads, etc. But my favorites are the Pepto-Bismol holiday themed spots--because it wouldn't be Christmas without an upset stomach.

 

“Unexpected Babies:” Olla Condoms introduces you to your virtual son on Facebook:

We've all received Facebook friend invitations from people we don't think we know. But Olla Condoms is taking this activity to a new level with a Facebook campaign called “Unexpected Babies.”

The concept of the campaign is that you receive a friend request from your newborn baby that was conceived because you didn't wear Olla Condoms during sex. A promotional message just below the ad admonishes you to avoid surprises like this one.* Visiting the baby’s Facebook page will show you a complete set of Olla options. 

Brazilian agency AGE Isobar dreamed up the campaign. The agency targeted specific guys and created actual Facebook profiles for their unborn children (by tacking "Jr." on to their names), who then attempt to friend Daddy.

Source: Adverblog and Mashable

Hover Effect: Realtor uses an electronic helicopter to go to new heights for the perfect aerial photo

Real Estate advertising is often mocked and ridiculed for bad taste, near false-advertising claims, airbrushed photos of realtors and low-tech tactics.

But one real estate sales team is taking their advertising to new heights <pun intended> by filming aerial videos shot from an electronic helicopter. The real estate team in question is Teed Haze, and the house is just around the corner from the 5 Blogs Before Lunch clubhouse on Washington Street in San Francisco (you can even see the clubhouse in a couple of the frames). It is also located in the exact place where the Zodiac killer claimed his last victim--just a bit of San Francisco trivia for you.

But I digress...

Aerial photography used to be an expensive proposition, but now with Hover Effect, a lithium battery-powered craft small enough to take off from a patio (see photo) can be used by the masses.

The electronic helicopters can fly at altitudes up to 400 feet. Hover Effect shoots with an 18-megapixel Canon DSLR Camera. in full HD Video. The images being recorded by the helicopter (both stills and video) can be transmitted down to the ground for the client to see while the helicopter is still in the air.

And as for the house in question, it is available for the very affordable price of $8,900,000.

Source: CurbedSF

Occupy Wall Street crowdfunds a television advertising buy

Occupy Wall Street is planning to broadcast their message on cable television to help Americans to better understand what they are protesting. 

Through a crowdfunded media buy, supporters of the Occupy movement will spend around $6,000 on more than 100 commercial spots this weekend. A crowd of 168 people contributed the funds to run a 30-second spot produced by a supporter of the movement. The team responsible for the fund-raising hopes to raise more money and run more ads in the future. This spot was shot in New York City at Occupy Wall Street and produced by director David Sauvage and composer Glenn Grossman.

The media buy includes Bloomberg Business TV, ESPN, CBS Sports, History International, Outdoor Channel, Gayle King Show, Grey’s Anatomy and Friends on the DISH network, Direct TV and Verizon Fios. In addition, the spot will air on  Fox News seven times. You can check out this and other videos on the producer's YouTube channel, and check out media space fund-raising efforts similar to Occupy Wall Street on Loudsauce.

Visa and MasterCard want to target advertising based on personal credit card transaction histories

I recently received a phone call from my bank. They suspected that my credit card was being used in a fraudulent fashion. The security question they asked? "In what county is 1552 Coastal Road." I was stymied. Then I remembered the address was of a college apartment I lived in over 25 years ago...before my mortgage, before I had credit cards, even before I used this bank. I was impressed by their sleuthing, but a little scared at the same time.

Financial intuitions have a very long arm into the personal details of our lives. And like any personal information, it can be used for good, or evil.

Here's a tale of the latter type.

Visa and MasterCard, the defacto credit card companies, want to use what they know about consumer credit card purchases to target you with online advertising. Going even deeper, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that a Visa patent application published this year describes incorporating information from DNA databanks, social network websites, and credit bureaus, among other personal details, including insurance claims and online search engines activity into profiles that could be used to target people online. 

How far is too far? For financial institutions who know their consumers have little say in what they do, and how they act due to their overwhelming monopoly on the transactional aspects of our lives--the answer is "as much as we can get away with." Considering that Visa processes 45 billion credit- and debit-card transactions a year, and MasterCard collects details about the 23 billion transactions, they have a lot of data to exploit.

While it is true that the concept of anonymity on the web is a fallacy, how the holders of personal data use information about us is left up, in large part, to financially-driven corporations. How far is too far when it comes to how companies use our personal information?

Visa and Mastercard seem to think it is more than fine to use our personal data to profit by selling access to the insights they gather about people with every credit-card transaction.

Imagine if you went into a grocery store and bought snacks and pre-packaged foods? What would a fast-food company pay for that information, and the ability to market their products to what appears to be a predispositioned target? How about if you bought condoms at a drugstore, or worse yet, paid for your anxiety medication at a pharmacy? Where do you draw the line once you start exploiting consumer's personal behavior patterns?

This long-arm of consumer data by Visa and MasterCard is the first step in pulling offline data, and using it to market online.

MasterCard earlier this year proposed an idea to ad executives to link Internet users to information about actual purchase behaviors for ad targeting, according to a MasterCard document and executives at some of the world's largest ad companies who were involved in the talks. "You are what you buy," the MasterCard document says. While this document was "put aside" because of restrictions over how financial-services companies can use customer data. In otherwords, the governmental consumer protections put in place have had a positive affect, and stopped some evil-doers in their tracks--or at least forced them to search for loopholes to achieve their goals.

Clearly the financial instutions are the new cigarette manufactuers--caring little about consumer protection, and focused soley on profits, and stopped only by the law.

MasterCard is reportedly pursuing a plan to sell marketers an analysis of anonymous, aggregated data sorted into marketing "segments," such as people with a high propensity to be interested in international travel. MasterCard said its plan is "completely new to the industry" and that it still is working through the details of how it will work.

Visa is also reportedly pitching the ability to use cardholders' anonymous buying histories, in aggregate, to tailor the ads people see online.

People can remove their information from MasterCard's analysis by providing their card number on the "Data Analytics Opt-Out" page at www.mastercard.us/privacy. A Visa spokeswoman said the company provides consumers with "notice and choice for products that use their personal information."

In that consumers are nearly required to carry a Visa or MasterCard in today's society (try renting a car or checking into a hotel without one) consumers need to be aware that these companies are doing everything they can to profit off of them, with the only apparent conscious being governmental regulation.

Stay safe, dear customer.

The ultimate mobile billboard: Advertising on the exterior of a Spirit Airlines plane will cost you a cool $14 million

When it comes to airports and airlines, nothing is off limits when it comes to advertising. From sponsored tray tables and seat-backs, to Zappos' deal to plaster the bottom of the TSA trays with branded content, every inch of the travel experience is "brought to you by" someone. When I was traveling through JFK last week I must have seen several hundred branded billboards for HSBC alone.

So, it is with little surprise that Spirit Airlines decided to sell the exterior of every Spirit Airlines jet to the highest bidder.

The asking price? $14 million for a full year of round trip flights.

Clearly that's for those who can afford First Class.

If you're more inclined to purchase Coach, Spirit has a program $196,000 for three months of ads on the overhead bins in Spirit's planes, $119,000 for ads on the tray tables or $18,500 for ads on air-sickness bags.

Yes, it seems that everything does have its price.

But are the airlines going too far?

Marketing consultant (and friend of 5 Blogs Before Lunch) Bruce Silverman, a former creative director at three of the largest ad agencies, says many frequent fliers "regard their in-flight experience as their private time, when they can hold normal intrusions of the outside world at bay." The growth of in-flight advertising "is repellent to these passengers" — an "insult" to paying customers, he says.

"There is already too much advertising clutter in the world," Silverman says. "I truly believe advertisers who choose to intrude on airline passengers are likely to lose — not gain — customers."

Source: USA Today

American Apparel video with breakdancers Jalen Testerman and Lil Demon

I thought you'd enjoy this on a Thursday afternoon...Directed by photographer Tony Kelly for American Apparel, featuring world renowned breakdancers Jalen Testerman and Lil Demon (hat tip to Trevor Hubbard)

Directed by Tony Kelly for American Apparel from Tony Kelly Photography on Vimeo.

Glenn Beck boycotts Levi's over a "shocking" ad that is "glorifying revolution"

Glenn Beck has been boycotted by the following advertisers:

GMAC Financial Services

ConAgra

Geico

Procter & Gamble

Progressive Insurance

Roche

Sanofi-Aventis

Radio Shack

Men's Wearhouse

Sargento

And now, it is Glenn Beck's turn to boycott a company for its advertising.

Beck, on his radio show, denounced Levi's for a recent ad campaign that he said promoted progressivism (the new word for liberalism) because it contained images of young people rioting and marching. Although he seems to have not noticed the images of the same young people standing silently at the ocean's edge, playing music, and swimming calm (or are those things progressive too?).

Beck said that he found the commercial "shocking" and described it as "glorifying revolution." He took issue with one scene of a young man standing off with riot officers, which he said urged confrontations with the police. He compared the scenes to "European socialists marching" and "a Palestinian kind of march."

“I can’t believe I’m saying this," he said. "I love Levi’s. Never again, Levi’s, never again will you get a dime from me. I know you’re not disappointed. Never again. I won’t wear your stupid red tab."

Ooh, "red tab"--does that mean they're communist too?

PETA.XXX: Porn website to titillate, and promote animal rights and vegan diets

Arguably one of the most exploitative marketers in the not-for-profit space (sorry Greenpeace), the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has upped its own game with its latest promotion.

PETA is planning to launch a pornographic website to promote its animal rights and vegan diet message. They plan to launch it as peta.xxx. They are currently waiting for approval of the domain name.

The site is said to feature "tantalizing" videos and photographs, interspersed with animal rights and vegan diet messaging. The goal is to attract attention with nudity and sexually suggestive content, in order to direct people to the PETA message. Of course, using the "sex sells" marketing technique is nothing new for PETA--which has featured celebrities (including porn stars) with implied (suggestive) nudity for years.

But the XXX website is definitely a step up for the group.

Of course, the question with shock-value promotions, is where do you cross the line and risk the potential of alienating, rather than titillating your audience.

PETA says a pornographic site will allow the organization to reach a broader audience and that publicity about the site is just as important.

"I think the bottom line is we live a in a 24-hour news cycle where over the years we've found our racier actions are kind of a fast track way to get people to stand up and pay attention about the plight of animals," according to PETA spokeswoman Lindsay Rajt.

The New York Times says that critics say that by resorting to pornography, PETA is alienating itself from a large swath of the population that might otherwise be sympathetic to its cause.

Of course "critics" are often organizations seeking to draft off the attention being received by the "offending organization."

"I just don't want to understand why they want to offend people who would potentially support at least part of their cause. There have got to be other ways to draw attention to their cause," said Robert Peters, general counsel for the New York-based anti-pornography group Morality in Media. "Metaphorically speaking, they're getting in bed with hard core pornographers to prevent cruelty to animals. That borders on insanity."

Swiss Labor Rights Group Wants George Clooney to Stop Nestle from Using "Slave-Like Labor" to Make its Nespresso Coffee

Actor George Clooney has been endorsing Nestle's Nespresso coffee company for years.

Now, a Swiss labor rights group is asking him to stop his endorsement due to what Solidar Suisse says are the company's exploitation of coffee pickers in Nicaragua. The group is attempting to convert Nestlé to using fair trade coffee.

The fake commercial features a Clooney look-alike nearly getting flattened by a falling piano, then getting impaled by a generic Espresso sign. "Sorry, George, that's what it feels like to be exploited as a coffeemaker," the narrator says. "Nespresso is one of the most expensive coffees but sadly is not fairly traded. George Clooney can change this. Please write to him at solidar.ch."

According to Daily Finance, Nespresso has denied the spoof's claims, offering in a statement, "We have been committed to responsible coffee sourcing and we intend to defend Nespresso's integrity and reputation."

Fizziology uses real-time social buzz to predict behavior

Imagine being able to track what drives your audience to act and to figure out what makes them to love or hate your product. Then, translate that data to future sales predictions.

A company called Fizziology is taking social buzz and using data analysis to accurately predict movie box office success and failure.

Here's how it works: They examine millions of conversations on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs via API search, using "human sentiment analysis" and trained analysts to find trends in the conversation. The results: insight and context for clients who depend on predicting audience behaviors to gauge marketplace success.

Here are a few examples of how effective Fizziology can help studios be more precise in their predictions:

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Actual opening weekend: $90.15M
Industry estimates: $110M (22% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $95M (5% from actual)
 
Super 8
Actual opening weekend: $36.5M
Industry estimates: $27-$38M (18% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $37M (1% from actual)
 
Cowboys & Aliens
Actual opening weekend: $36.4M
Industry estimates: $45M (24% from actual)
Fizziology estimates: $34M (7% from actual)

The film industry relies more than most on word-of-mouth to understand what movies will be successful, and which ones will tank. Predicting success or failure means $millions to a movie studio as they decide how much money to spend on advertising, and how many theatres to distribute a film--and where.  With Fizziology, it’s now possible to track what people are saying about a movie, to whom, and when and where they’re saying it.

“Social media is the world’s biggest, fastest and most honest focus group,” adds Fizziology co-founder Jen Handley. “Access to all of those opinions and the data that comes from it will have a significant impact on the film industry. From more accurate predictions of how movies will perform to smarter, faster marketing changes to even faster recognition of breakout talent and potential movie subjects, it will impact nearly every part of the film industry.”

Unlike standard social media monitoring services, Fizziology doesn't just use standard social media monitor, and algorithms to predict behavior, they use actual people --who can understand sarcasm, slang or symbols like <3 – to provide sales predictions & other business insights based on conversations taking place in social media.

And, In addition to  box office earnings, Fizziology can help studios understand which trailers to use in their TV buys, and to examine marketing budget ROI. They can also help predict DVD & Blu-ray sales & refine those marketing campaigns based on social media buzz.

And why just limit this to the film industry? Imagine the possibilities.

Glenn Beck stares down his audience with a god-like pose in Times Square

Glenn Beck, the man who personifies "hyperbole" and "narcissism" on a daily basis, is promoting the launch of his Internet-based network.

The former Fox News host has a placed a billboard in Times Square which reads, "If I had a dollar for every person who badmouthed me... I'd have enough money to launch a network."

With images of Beck starring down in a god-like fashion, the ad looks down on the midwestern tourists hanging out on the corner of 7th Avenue and 49th Street. A show subscription costing viewers $4.95 a month, or $9.95 for full access to the network.

Source: Huffington Post

Old Spice cheats on Isiah Mustafah with a sea captain, a billionaire jet pilot and a rock star in the new 'Smell Better Than Yourself' campaign

Isiah Mustafah was not the first Old Spice Man, nor, it appears, will he be the last.

The company known for helping men smell like men has come out with a new ad that strikes the same cheeky, sexually-charged tone, but features a new character. Gone is the bath-towel robed ex-football player, and in walks a "well decorated sea captain who battles monsters on a large nautical vessel." Oh, he also has "endless gold treasures pouring from my pants"

Other ads will feature a manly man who smells like a rich billionaire jet pilot delivering a flawless presentation in a boardroom. Another ad will feature a rock star.

Allison Bolyard, brand manager at Old Spice, said: "Scent plays a significant role in how guys view themselves and also how others perceive them, and the new 'Smell Better Than Yourself' campaign brings this reality to life in an entertaining way.

The importance of pickle promoting: Claussen is in search of the biggest pickle enthusiast

Claussen Pickles, a division of Kraft Foods, has launched a contest on Facebook to find the country’s biggest pickle enthusiast.

Reminding consumers to check the refrigerated section at their local grocer (most other pickles are in the condement aisle next to the ketchup and mustard), Claussen's “Conquer the Cold” Facebook contest asks fans to take a snapshot (can we still call them that?) next to the Claussen Pickles display. Once they post the photo to Fasbook, they can enter a chance to win cold-weather gear or an all-expense paid trip to Iceland or Alaska! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The contest stems from a larger campaign Claussen Pickles that stakes Claussen’s claim to being the best pickle in the supermarket and reminds shoppers where to find them.

The campaign features  Sir Edwin Horsham, who comically drives a dogsled around a New Jersey supermarket. The latest of four videos features Sir Edwin guiding a New Jersey shopper to Claussen Pickles in the refrigerator section while having to navigate past an angry polar bear.

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.

L'Oréal ads banned for overly airbrushing Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington

The cosmetics company L'Oréal has been forced to pull ad campaigns in the UK featuring Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington, after complaints that the images were overly airbrushed.

The official British watchdog group, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that both ads breached the advertising standards code for exaggeration and being misleading and banned them from future publication.

The banning of the ads upholds the idea that ads should accurately depict product claims. If L'Oréal claims that these celebrities look like this due to their makeup, but simulated their beauty with photo-retouching, the ASA claims an exaggerated claim, and one that is not representative of the results the product could achieve.The UK Guardian reports that

L'Oréal UK admitted that Turlington's image had been "digitally retouched to lighten the skin, clean up makeup, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows". However, it claimed there were still signs of ageing, such as crow's feet, and that the image "accurately illustrated" the achievable results.

In addition to the official claims of "exaggeration," women's advocates see highly retouched advertising photos affecting women's self-perception and creating a false sense of real beauty.

"Pictures of flawless skin and super-slim bodies are all around, but they don't reflect reality," Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson is quoted in the Guardian. "Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don't need retouching to look great. This ban sends a powerful message to advertisers – let's get back to reality."

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.

Vitaminwater pushes "Alternative Energy Source" message by embedding mobile device recharging stations in bus shelter ads

As someone who has spent the last 25 years marketing consumer products, I can tell you that it is disappointingly rare when a brand, a campaign, and a media match up in an innovative, and strategically relevant way.

That said, may I share with you the case that breaks the rule.

Vitaminwater's new campaign to promote the drink as a quick energy boost by embedding battery-powered public USB ports in bus shelters is truly genius. The headline "Alternative Energy Source" ties th whole campaign together. Bus shelters in New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles currently feature the innovative campaign.

Nice work Vitaminwater, and kudos to  agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

Source: Business Insider

The Ying and Yang of Cigarette Warning Labels

The Food and Drug Administration has unveiled new warning labels for cigarettes.

New rules mandate that 50% of packaging be covered in labels depicting the negative impact of smokes.

I can think of no other industry which is required to sell against itself like cigarettes. Now 50% of labels sell cigarettes, and 50% sell against the purchase and use of tobacco.

The new labels are the first adjustments to warnings by the FDA in more than two decades, and require compliance by cigarette companies in the U.S. by mid-2013. The new labels replace the smaller, text-only warnings with images like a man with a tracheotomy hole and a mouth filled with rotting teeth.

And while the FDA claims the labels will have a significant public health impact by decreasing the number of smokers, critics say that graphic images are probably not as important as raising the price [of cigarettes] or eliminating them from the work place

The new warning labels are part of The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, passed in 2009, which gave the government authority to regulate the marketing and labeling of tobacco products.

Source (and more label images) at Huffington Post

Burger King dethrones its King

The monarchy has fallen.

There will be something missing from fast food giant Burger King's newest advertising--its King.

“The King is not our brand,” said Steve Wiborg, Burger King’s North America president. “He resonates with a certain age demographic and in certain media. I don’t think he has general mass market appeal.”

The Miami Herald is reporting that Burger King's new advertising agency--McGarryBown, will be putting the signature King mascot on a hiatus, excluding him from any upcoming U.S. advertising.

Like McDonalds, who some question whether their mascot--Ronald McDonald, still resonates with today's audiences, needs to update their image to compete.

Burger King is in the process of revising its menu and upgrading its stores to a sleeker, more modern look after years of catering to male "Super Fans" and focusing on their Dollar menu. Look for more salads, real fruit smoothies and wraps--but not under the King's watch.

Additional source: NY Daily News

Naomi Campbell does not like being compared to a Cadbury chocolate bar

Model and celebrity Naomi Campell does not like the latest ad of Cadbury''s Bliss chocolate bar.

"Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town," is the headline of the new print ad, which includes an image of the candy placed on a mound of diamonds.

Apparently she's not concerned with being called a diva--no, she's concerned  with being described as chocolate.

Campbell sees that ad as racist, and an insult to "all black women and black people."

Says Campell: "I do not find any humour in this. It is insulting and hurtful." Her mother, Valerie Morris, explained, "I'm deeply upset by this racist advert. Do these people think they can insult black people and we just take it? This is the 21st century, not the 1950s. Shame on Cadbury."

Interestingly, Kraft Foods, which owns Cadbury appears to be admitting that the "Naomi" in the ad is indeed Campbell, as it says all billboards featuring the ad have been taken down, adding, "It was certainly never our intention to cause any offense and the campaign itself is a light-hearted take on the social pretensions of Cadbury Dairy Milk Bliss."

This brewhaha reminds us of the E*Trade/Lindsay Lohan dispute where a character in an ad was called "Lindsay" the Milkaholic. Lindsay settled that $100 million lawsuit. Perhaps Naomi is looking for a payday as well.

Sources: Daily Mail  UK Independent and LA Times

Hertz introduces a new animated mascot named Horatio.

Pilsbury has their Doughboy.

And of course, there's Tony the Tiger, the Kool-Aid Man, the Aflac duck and Mr. Clean.

Now, Hertz is introducing "Horatio," an animated dashboard mascot.

Like the latest iteration of Mr. Peanut, brought to life by Robert Downey Jr., Hertz has asked actor Owen Wilson, whose voice is featured in the coming animated film “Cars 2” to be the voice of the new mascot. The character will appear in a series of commercials directed by Tucker Gates, (“The Office,” “Parks and Recreation” and “Weeds”).

Hertz' latest marketing effort is designed to help make the brand more approachable to the growing throngs of 20-somethings who are beginning to rent cars (and become brand loyal) for the first time.

The New York Times describes the new mascot, as an animated yellow dashboard figurine with a football-shaped head and a permanent wink. Hertz wants consumers to see the mascot as representational of a refresh Hertz’s image and “help us re-establish ourselves as a culture brand,” said Catherine East, group account director for DDB New York, the agency that created on the campaign. Mark P. Frissora, the chief executive for Hertz, named the mascot after Horatio Nelson Jackson, a physician who was one of the first people to drive a car across the United States.

Horatio will have two real-life travel personalities joining him in the campaign. They're named Gas and Brake.

Aflac to introduce new voice mascot during NBC's The Voice

Aflac continues to milk pluck its duck mascot for all it's worth.

While no one I talk to seems to know WHY Aflac's mascot is a duck, the insurance company has certainly used it to its advantage over the years.

And recently, it turned a PR crisis into a publicity stunt when it fired its Duck Voice, comedian Gilbert Gottfried for tasteless tweets about the recent disaster in Japan and immediately launched a very promotional-rich nationwide search for his replacement.

Now they have selected the new duck voiceover, and are introducing the new actor--Dan McKeague, a 36-year-old classic rock radio station sales manager from Minneapolis, MN in a spot scheduled to run during the premiere episode of the much anticipated new singing competition called "The Voice" on NBC.

Kudos to Aflac for a lot of marketing spin.

Hoover pulls the rug out from underneath ABC to protest Soap cancellations

In a brilliant publicity stunt, iconic vacuum company Hoover has announced that it is pulling ads from ABC in protest over the cancellation of long-running daytime dramas "All My Children" and "One Life to Live."

"We will discontinue our advertising with ABC this Friday, 4/22," Hoover vp marketing Brian Kirkendall wrote on the company's Facebook page. "We're making every attempt to pull our spots from these programs sooner."

Hoover is not only promoting its public protest on Facebook, it has also set up an email address to allow consumers to voice their dissappointment at losing their "Stories" at  SaveTheSoaps@Hoover.com,

Hoover's message is a clear attempt at demonstrating its brand connection to their core audience--many of whom have watched soal operas for decades. VPM Kirkendall wrote: "I want you to know from me personally that we hear you loud and clear. My wife and mother are both passionate viewers of All My Children and One Life to Live, as are many of my colleagues here at Hoover."

Source: Hollywood Reporter

"Mr. Nonstop" hawks for JetBlue

JetBlue Airways is introducing "Mr. Nonstop" to their advertising efforts to promote its long list of direct flights out of Boston's Logan International Airport.

Mr. Nonstop is portryed by actor John Moschitta, Jr., who is probably best known for talking really quickly in FedEx and Micro Machines ads back in the 1980's.

The company claims the effort will reach 95 percent of the regional market over the next few weeks via television, radio, and newspaper ads.

Source: Boston Globe

ABC cancels "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" as the original advertiser-sponsored "Soap Operas" gasp their last breath

No longer owned by the likes of Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive or Lever Brothers, soap operas (named after the CPG company's focus on using them as a vehicle to sell soap, and other household items) are gasping their final breath.

ABC has just announed that as part of a continued shift away from daytime drama programming, "All My Children" and "One Life to Live" will be cancelled, and replaced with less costly talk shows/lifestyle programming. Their replacements will be "The Chew," which is about food, and "The Revolution," a makeover show.

Soap opera ratings have seen a steady decline in ratings since the 1990s. A daily average of 6.5 million viewers watched soaps during the 1991-92 TV season, while just 1.3 million watched in 2009-2010. There have been no new daytime soap operas since 1999, with reality show programming replacing the fantasies of soap operas.

Source: Los Angeles Times image via St. Louis Today showing "Guiding Light" radio show

Aflac silences its duck voice after insensitive tweets

Gilbert Gottfried, the voice of the Aflac duck, has been fired by the insurance company after the comedian made insensitive remarks on his Twitter account referring to the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The comments should come as no surprise to anyone who has listened to Gottfried's act. Inappropriateness is his schtick. Surely, Aflac was aware that something like this would come up at some point.

Still, the insurer felt it need to act, to quell a consumer uprising by distancing it from Gottfried's comments.

Aflac is the #1 foreign insurance company in Japan.

“Gilbert’s recent comments about the crisis in Japan were lacking in humor and certainly do not represent the thoughts and feelings of anyone at Aflac,” Michael Zuna, the company’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “Aflac Japan – and, by extension, Japan itself – is part of the Aflac family, and there is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.”

The New York Times' DealBook notes that "Several of the comments were sexual in nature, a common theme on Mr. Gottfried’s Twitter feed. The actor has previously used his account on the social media blogging site to post jokes, sometimes of questionable taste. The messages related to Japan have since been removed from Mr. Gottfried’s Twitter feed."

Aflac is reportedly looking for a new voice for the brand. It will be interesting to see if they choose this opportunity to evolve the character (maybe create a new one) or try to mimick Gottfried's well known vocals.

Source: DealBook and Reuters

6 Degrees of interactive Kevin Bacon for Logitech's Revue

Logitech, and their ad agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners have a hit on their hands with the creative concept for the Logitech Revue.

To make the most of the phenom, they're extending the campaign to a 3-minute+ extended-cut movie featuring a Kevin Bacon fanatic called Ivan Cobenk...played by Kevin Bacon.

The video is not only extended, it is interactive.

By scrolling over different items on the set of the video, you can link over to eBay, where you can bid on the character's possessions. There's also an eBay Store called "Kevin Wonders of the World" filled with Kevin Bacon's Ivan Cobenk's techotchkes.

What's next? My prediction: Kevin Bacon. On a horse. Smelling like a man should smell.

Source: AdFreak

Disney casts Queen Latifah, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Cruz, Jeff Bridges and Olivia Wilde in new Annie Leibovitz print campaign

Disney Parks continues their "Disney Dream Portrait" series with images from photographer Annie Leibovitz. The campaign was started four years ago, but this is the first new work since 2009 according to the Disney Parks blog. The headline in each of the ads reads: “Where magic speaks, even when you’re not the fairest of them all.”

The campaign features popular celebrities cast as famous Disney Characters.

From “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” Olivia Wilde is cast as the Evil Queen and Alec Baldwin as the spirit of the magic mirror. Penelope Cruz and Jeff Bridges appear as characters from “Beauty and the Beast,”  and, Queen Latifah is Ursula from “The Little Mermaid.”

The campaign will be featured in a special insert in the April issues of O – The Oprah Magazine, People En Español, Real Simple, Essence, and InStyle as well as the March 28 issue of People.

Source: Disney Parks Blog

MTV's "Skins" is losing its battle with advertisers. And, may lose the war without a popular uprising

MTV's controversial show "Skins" appears to be losing the battle with advertisers, and unless the audience speaks up, they may lose the war.

"Skins" which depicts teens dealing with sex and drugs, has been shedding advertisers. Clearasil and Red Bull were noticeably absent from this week's episode of "Skins" after having appeared in previous weeks.

Other advertisers including Taco Bell, L'Oreal, Schick, Subway, H&R Block, and General Motors abandoned the show following vocal commentary, a drop in ratings, and threats of boycotts from conservative "family" groups.

It seems that the only counter-offensive to save the show is a popular uprising. Meaning, if the show can demonstrate a large, vocal and loyal audience base, the program may come out a winner, and advertisers might return.

Another of MTV's controversial shows, Jersey Shore, won over the angry protestors due to its popularity. As soon as ratings soared, and the PR machine exploded, the cries of "Racist," "too much sex and drinking" and "Anti-Italian-American" faded off into the distance.

So far, MTV has not seen the same mass adoption for "Skins" that "Jersey Shore" has enjoyed. While the show launched with 3.3 million viewers, that number has dwindled to fewer than 1 million the last two weeks.

Skins has been labeled as "the most dangerous show" on television for children by the Parents Television Council. The PTC has also called for investigations into charges the show's young actors are involved in child pornography and exploitations.

Will anyone rise up to counter that position?

Source: Broadcasting & Cable

Taco Bell is defending its "beefy-ness" in a new paid-media ad campaign

Taco Bell is being sued over the contents of its taco beef filling. A California woman alleges that the tacos are made mostly of filler.

In response, Taco Bell will begin airing television commercials, radio spots and other ads using testimonials from franchisees and employees. In one ad, an employee says, "Our seasoned beef is 88% premium ground beef and 12% signature recipe. If you want to see that signature recipe, go to tacobell.com. It's right there."

Taco Bell is also offering customers a discount on their Crunchwrap Supreme--priced at 88 cents, down from its normal price of $2.39.

The paid media campaign is an extension of the effort started on YouTube and Facebook.

Taco Bell used social media to test its efforts, and are now ready to expand to paid media. "We're pleased that according to our research, the customers who saw these responses have reacted favorably. However, there are still many people who haven't heard our beef quality facts," David Ovens, Taco Bell's Chief Marketing Officer, said in a company announcement.

Source: WSJ.com

Kraft Miracle Whip: James Carville, Amy Sedaris and Pauly D ask you to "Take a Side"

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce you to a truly modern television commercial.

The folks at Miracle Whip have produced a commercial called "Take a Side" that isn't preachy. It doesn't claim that Miracle Whip is the best at this or that. It doesn't even suggest that everyone would like the taste.

In fact, it suggests that many people don't like Miracle Whip at all.

In otherwords, it is trying to be "real" by not over-promising, or over-hyping.

They don't hit you over the head with a hard sell.

The spot features a  variety of people (mixed with celebrities like James Carville, Amy Sedaris and the Jersey Shore's Pauly D)“ speaking their mind on whether they prefer the Kraft spread or not.

The spot is entertaining, and makes you think about whether YOU like Miracle Whip. Not whether you SHOULD like Miracle Whip.

It is truly a modern television commercial, based in how we as marketers should be understanding how our modern audience views advertising (particularly the 18-34 group AKA Generation Y).

The spot (created by mcgarrybowen/Chicago)was introduced during last night's American Idol broadcast, and is scheduled to also be part of the Academy Awards pre-show broadcast. But you can view it here:

Subaru uses a Sumo wrestler to prove that "Sexy Comes Standard"

When you think of Subaru, or Sumo wrestlers, the word "sexy" rarely comes to mind.

However, if Subaru Canada has its way, you might be thinking differently about both.

The utilitarian car company has launched a new advertising campaign called “Sexy Comes Standard,” featuring sumo wrestlers as sexy hood ornaments to the company’s Forester SUV.

Subaru Canada calls the wrestler a “truly the perfect lifestyle accessory.”

The soundtrack of the ad by Canadian band "Peaches" helps rev up the sexy, along with some rather raunchy poses by the wrestler.

Source: WSJ's Japantime

Jameson whiskey relies on faux history to tell its story

"There's a major wink of an eye in our storytelling."

That's how Mark Figliulo, chairman and chief creative officer of TBWA\Chiat\Day New York decribes the vibe of the recent Jameson whiskey advertising produced by his shop.

Jameson's target audience is men, aged 25-35. The new advertising campaign is designed to entertain them, and to use imagery and message a as a brand interface (connection point) between audience and brand.

Brian Sudano, managing partner at BMC Strategic Associate says, "Humor is memorable, and heritage is your right to exist."

The whiskey marketer has chosen to develop lore around the real-life founder of the mark--James Jameson.

The campaign touts the brand's Irish heritage (although Jameson was a Scot) with a campaign that places the distillery at the center of fake historical events, such as a "Great Fire in Dublin" and the "Great Storm of 1781."

The events themselves (the fire and the storm) are as made up as the heroic Jameson character, but they do entertain, and establish a strong brand image.

Now if only Captain Morgan would show up during the great "Pirate standoff of 1792" we'd have a real campaign!

Old Navy launches "Old Navy Records," just for "Jennie"

Old Navy is targeting their latest advertising campaign to their favorite customer personification: "Jennie."

The fictitious "Jennie" is a 25 to 35 year old woman looking for on-trend fashion at great prices for herself and her family. She looks for a fun and innovative shopping experience.

The new campaign, “Old Navy Records: Original hits. Original styles.” is designed to connecting with her through her love of music and fashion.

Yes, Old Navy has created ficticious "Jennie" as a target personification, and "Old Navy Records" as a fictitious record label, with fictitious bands.

“Music is synonymous with fashion for Jennie. What she listens to is as important as what she wears and we are always looking for new and culturally relevant ways to engage with her,” said Amy Curtis-McIntyre, senior vice president of marketing at Old Navy. “By integrating music with Old Navy’s on-trend looks, we build more energy between Jennie and the brand.”
 
The music and videos featured in the campaign are produced by music house Honor Roll and directed by music industry legend Joseph Kahn, known for producing famous videos such as Eminem and Rihanna’s “Love the Way You Lie,” and Britney Spears “Toxic.” Original Old Navy bands perform the new songs beginning with The Audio Threadz making their debut with “Super C-U-T-E.”