These days, moms are constantly being told that there are countless things they should be doing to make their kids smarter, healthier and more well-adjusted. As if the pressure to hand-grind organic vegetables into gourmet baby food while teaching your toddler a second language isn’t enough, now along comes a commercial to note that, in the midst of all that, you really ought to do something about your hair.
Suave’s recent television ad argues that "89 percent of moms admit they’ve let themselves go." But don’t fret, moms, with a few minutes and a bevy of Suave products, you can, to paraphrase the beauty product company’s words, get yourself back.
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| Suave |
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Heineken was rightly chided last fall for producing a commercial that managed to be stupid, sexist and an assault on our eardrums -- quite a feat considering the strong competition for such honors in the lowbrow world of beer advertising.
But now, the beer company is redeeming itself. Heineken Premium Light’s "Share the Good" commercial may not be the most original idea, but the execution is a fun, refreshing break from your standard American beer commercial (twentysomething guys goof off in some beer-related way; insert logo here).
Heineken’s commercial begins with a hipster walking across the desert to deliver a beer to a couple in a hot tub. Next, the couple is giving a beer to a young woman, who traipses through the snow to give the beer to a bearded cabin dweller with an excellent laugh, who then goes on to an Indian celebration, and so on.
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| Heineken |
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Even if you don’t live in the Pacific Northwest, you probably have some stereotypes about us lurking in your head. Well, here’s a dirty little secret -- for all our talk of individualism, all of your stereotypes about us are true.
We are a region of smug hybrid owners, recycling fanatics and recumbent bicycle commuters. We love to broadcast our beliefs via bumper stickers. Before we moved here we may have been more fashionable, but now we see nothing wrong with wearing socks with our sandals, preferably paired with those pants that can unzip to become a pair of shorts should the weather improve. If we want to get fancy, we might throw a fleece vest over the whole ensemble.
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| Pemco |
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From “Fast Food Nation” to “Super Size Me,” McDonald’s has become the go-to villain in the United States’ obesity drama.
Not willing to become the de facto whipping boy, the company best known for its indulgent burgers and greasy fries has already added salads, fruits and other new menu options. Now, it’s defending the rest of its food lineup as well.
The “what we’re made of” campaign includes TV commercials, in-store promotions and a Web site boasting about its beef, chicken and other basic ingredients. In the coming weeks, the company also plans to add billboards and expand the Web site to include more information about cooking methods, suppliers and other practices.
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| McDonald's |
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Earth Day is meant to be a time to think about the how we can preserve our planet for future generations. But corporations, hip to the idea that green has become the new black, have hit on another purpose: it’s an excellent peg for selling more stuff.
This April 22, why help your young daughter do something boring like plant a tree or start a compost bin? Instead, you can hop in your gas guzzler and drive on over Toys ‘R’ Us, which is selling a limited edition Barbie “BCause” line of accessories made from leftover fabric and trimmings that, Barbie maker Mattel says, would normally be thrown away.
The tote bags, diaries and other items are being launched “just in time to celebrate Earth Day in style,” according to Mattel’s promotional materials.
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If you’re a has-been celebrity looking for work - and what has-been celebrity isn’t looking for work, by definition? - the good news is that there are other job prospects out there besides lame reality television shows. There’s also Geico.
The insurance company has for some time now been employing the likes of Little Richard, Joan Rivers and even Charo to “interpret” real people’s stories of how well Geico dealt with their insurance claims.
Maybe the well of real D-list celebrities is running dry, because now the company is turning to … a syrup bottle.
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When most companies want to sell a product, they try to tell you how fun the product is, how much you need it (even if you never realized it!) or how much more you’ll like doing your favorite activities because you have this great, new item.
The running shoe company New Balance is trying a different approach.
The company’s latest campaign, which launched during the NCAA basketball tournament, begins with an image many can relate to – a man sleeping soundly, only to be forced out of bed for the sake of workout.
“You are in a relationship with running. A love/hate relationship,” the narrator intones.
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| New Balance |
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For some time now, Dunkin’ Donuts has been expertly refashioning itself as the everyman’s alternative to Starbucks - accessible, affordable and high in quality, but without the fuss of the more highfalutin coffee chain.
Like all good competitors, Dunkin’ Donuts is showing no signs of letting up now that Starbucks is slightly down (although surely far from out). As the coffee giant works to retool its image, the donut titan has launched a new take on an old joke - just how hard is it to order a drink at Starbucks and its Italian-inspired ilk?
The coffee-drink order shtick is, in fact, so reliable that even Dunkin’ Donuts has done it before. But some jokes never get old, and this is one of them.
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As if there’s isn’t already enough pressure on us not to disappoint our parents, now along comes Monster to tell us that the stork who “delivered” us is seriously questioning whether it wasted its time, as well.
The job placement firm’s recent commercial features a stork making an arduous journey over sea, mountains and desert, even battling other wild animals and a nasty storm, all in the pursuit of bringing its precious cargo to the doorsteps of a Volvo-driving couple.
Fast-forward two or three decades. The baby that endured the stork’s breathtaking journey is now a grown man sequestered in a drab office, a box of takeout on his desk, the expression on his face a mix of bored and slightly forlorn. And that’s before he sees the stork through the - of course, rain-spattered -window, a look of utter disappointment on its face.
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It’s not easy selling underwear.
Companies aiming to get customers into their underthings have to walk the fine line between becoming too sexy for themselves - a misstep Victoria’s Secret recently acknowledged - and getting too deep into the decidedly unsexy engineering behind undergarments (how much do we really want to think about bra fittings, after all?)
Hanes is aiming to find a happy - and humorous - medium with a new series of ads that tries, in a silly but sexy way, to sell a pair of underwear guaranteed not to give you a wedgie.
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| Hanes |
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