July 2007 - Posts
The setting is a folksy bar off a dusty highway. The scene: a group of guys who have gotten together for a jam session, to sing about ... the wonders of erectile dysfunction medication.
The new commercial for Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra is striking for a few reasons.
For one thing, there are no women in it -- this is a commercial all about guys bonding with other guys over the good times this medication has brought them, not sharing an intimate moment with their female partner. And secondly, some of the guys here strike the viewer as pretty young for erectile dysfunction.
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It’s been nearly two years since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the surrounding area, destroying houses and lives and capturing the world’s attention.
By now, however, there’s no question that most people’s thoughts have moved on. The Katrina Foundation for Recovery is hoping to shock people into turning their attention back to the storm-ravaged region.
“Bin Laden would be smart to hide where the U.S. pays the least attention - New Orleans,” reads one of five advertisements prepared for the nonprofit, which raises money to supply clothing, shelter and other services in the area.
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| Katrina Foundation for Recovery |
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“Mad Men,” a new TV show about an advertising firm from cable network AMC, is set in 1960 amid a haze of smoke and booze that’s meant to reinforce the authenticity of the series.
The retro atmosphere also provides a convenient foil for pitching Jack Daniel’s, whose sponsorship of the 13-episode first season includes plans to feature the brand by name in three forthcoming episodes.
Yet you won’t hear the words “Jack Daniel’s” in the first episode, which premieres Thursday. Instead, unlabeled bottles of brown liquid adorn every office credenza, and when the characters are done drinking in their offices they head out to a favorite watering hole to order more of the same.
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| AMCTV |
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Gripping his steering wheel and smiling knowingly at the two women on the side of the road, a young guy revs his engine and takes off, leaving nothing but a cloud of exhaust -- and the two women speculating about the size of his, well, you know.
The Australian anti-speeding ad campaign plays to the basest of macho-guy insecurities -- what, it implies, is really behind that act of bravado?
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| www.rta.nsw.gov.au |
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It’s no secret that many automakers have been struggling of late. Perhaps the biggest sign of these woes was the recent split of DaimlerChrysler, the much-vaunted, but ultimately failed, marriage between the makers of Mercedes and Chrysler cars.
It’s not only problem marriage in an industry that has been rife with acquisitions -- and divorces -- in recent years. BMW has largely stayed out of that fray, which is a fact they aren’t shy of using as a selling point.
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| BMW |
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Apparently if you’re a Manhattanite and you’re in the mood for a window puppet show, you’re out luck -- they’re illegal.
It’s unlikely NYPD takes the threat so seriously that they would order a SWAT team in to put a stop to it. (Actually, according to New York City code, you’d be subject to a $25 fine and/or 30 days in prison if you were so bold as to use your window for “any performance of puppet or other figures, ballet or other dancing, comedy, farce, show with moving figures, play or other entertainment.”)
Nevertheless, it’s entertaining to watch the makers of diet Mountain Dew, in a recent ad, envision a scenario in which New York’s finest had nothing better to do than shut down errant puppeteers.
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| Mountain Dew |
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Cubicle culture is always rife with humorous potential, and beer maker Anheuser-Busch is the latest company to try to mine it for the type of ad that will, well, get people talking over the cubicles.
The spot begins with a woman explaining to one of her colleagues that they’ve started charging people a quarter each time they swear.
“Who gets the money?” the colleague asks warily
“I don’t know. We’ll use it buy something for the office, like a case of Bud Light or something,” she responds.
You can guess what happens next.
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| Budweiser |
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You hear a lot these days about how eating dark chocolate is actually good for you because it contains flavanols – never mind the sugar, butter fat and other less healthy ingredients.
With its latest ad campaign for dark chocolate M&Ms, the candy maker is “just sort of taking the seriousness out of dark chocolate,” says Ryan Bowling, a spokesman for Mars Snack Food U.S., which makes M&Ms.
How? By using “The Addams Family” to promote them.
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| Mars |
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