August 2008 - Posts
In a new ad campaign for Levi’s 501 jeans, a man and a woman slowly make their way up a darkened stairwell, simultaneously unbuttoning their jeans and debunking a series of little white lies they’ve apparently been telling each other all evening.
He’s not really in a band. She doesn’t really work for a label. And so on, until the woman finally admits, "This isn’t really my apartment." At that point, the guy looks briefly at a series of family photos that are clearly not hers, before they solve that particular problem by turning out the lights.
Of course, there are those who will disavow "Secrets and Lies" for promoting sex with strangers, and perhaps, lying. But seen another way, the ad isn’t just entertaining; it’s also uplifting.
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| Levi's |
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A few months back, Hanes struck just the right note with an advertising campaign featuring glamorous yet goofy actress Sarah Chalke publicly doing battle with a wedgie, before discovering Hanes’ "no ride-up" panty.
Now, Hanes is taking on the other sex. A new campaign features sitcom actor Charlie Sheen in full fanboy mode, hoping to impress basketball legend Michael Jordan. His method is questionable, however: upon seeing the star at an exclusive club, he immediately starts bragging about the "no ride-up" boxer briefs he’s wearing.
In the process of trying to show Jordan his underwear -- while driving in reverse -- Sheen manages to slam into a valet stand. A bemused Jordan looks on.
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At a time when retailers, and especially department stores, are struggling with a weak economy and fickle shoppers, JCPenney has lately been pulling out all the stops with pretty, musically interesting and eye-catching ads for its American Living line.
Now, it’s switching gears -- in the wrong direction -- with a back-to-school campaign that plays off the 1985 cult classic movie "The Breakfast Club."
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| JCPenney |
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They have at least four years to prepare, tons of resources to devote to the cause and the knowledge the world will be watching.
So why is it that, every time the Olympics roll around, so many advertisers trot out the same familiar formula: the montage of dramatic athletes' images accompanied by a lush musical score and/or a deep-voiced narrator?
Even before the opening ceremony’s fiery conclusion, too many of this season’s Olympic ads had started to blend together into one seemingly indistinguishable montage, separated only by Bob Costas and the actual Olympic events.
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| VISA |
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This is how bad things have gotten for Microsoft Corp.: The software behemoth has a virtual monopoly in computer operating systems, and yet it still can’t get people to buy the latest version of its flagship product, Windows.
In fact, things are so bleak for Windows Vista that customers have actually launched campaigns aimed at saving Vista’s stiffest competition -- the previous version of Windows, XP, which is now so old in technology years that it should qualify for Social Security.
To Microsoft’s credit, the company knows it has a problem, and it has decided to address it directly with an ad campaign arguing that the product isn’t as bad as people think it is. To their detriment, they’ve fumbled that, too.
(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)
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| Microsoft |
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