August 2007 - Posts
We here at Ads of the Weird like Bob Mould a lot, and as business writers and editors we also are partial to financial news. But we know better than to mix the two.
Apparently the folks at TIAA-CREF don’t agree. The financial services company has decided to use punk music icon Mould’s “See A Little Light” as the cornerstone of an ad campaign touting the benefits “dot-orgs” over “dot-coms.”
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| TIAA-CREF |
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In the newest ad for Levi’s 501 jeans, a guy opens up a box and takes out a new pair of jeans. As he pulls the pants on, the entire street below him magically rises into his apartment as well - carrying with it an attractive stranger who happens to be standing in a nearby phone booth. The two exchange a meaningful look and walk off into the night, arms touching flirtatiously.
If you’re like a lot of people, you’ll immediately think: Wait, who uses a pay phone anymore? But what’s really likely to get people’s attention is that the stranger in the phone booth is a woman in one version of this ad and a man in another.
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Here’s the great thing about drug ads: no matter whether the spot is outstanding, mystifying or just plain silly, it’s virtually guaranteed to get your attention in the last few seconds. I’m talking, of course, about the obligatory warnings.
For starters, if you’re watching some of these spots with friends, you can immediately start playing a game of, “Is it humanly possible to talk as fast as the person who is spouting off these side effects?” If you can keep up with the fast-talking narrator of the commercial for the sleeping pill Ambien, which could cause sleep walking or even sleep eating, consider a career change to auctioneer.
Then there are the warnings themselves. An ad for Mirapex, a drug for restless leg syndrome, starts out entertainingly enough, with a headless stick figure struggling with and then overcoming the symptoms of the sometimes controversial illness.
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Apparently the new line of Volkswagen cars is so cool that people don’t want to steal them.
In a recent ad for the German carmaker, a suspicious-looking guy walks down the street looking for a car to heist, finds an unlocked convertible Volkswagen -- its key conveniently stashed behind the visor -- and takes off.
Pretty soon, he finds himself stopping for pedestrians and waving at the elderly, and before you know it he’s turned around and decided to return the car to its rightful owner.
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| vw.com |
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