advergirl

THE most over-exposed man in advertising

I know what you're thinking: Alex Bogusky.

But, we're in a presidential-campaign-driven media blitz at the moment. Pundits and reporters alike are on a mad hunt for the  hottest catchy demographic moniker since the birth of the 'soccer mom.'

Today, this week, this month, the most over-exposed man in advertising is Mark Penn.

***

Now that even those of us who cloister our media consumption to the rarified liberal world of NPR, NYTimes and blogs have been inundated with his story*, I'm sure you know it: Penn is C.E.O. of Burson-Marsteller and chief strategist and pollster for Ms. Clinton's upcoming presidential bid. And, he recently released a book called Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow’s Big Changes.

Four notes:

• Adorable that he's stayed so on message and let whisper only a few of his named trends when anyone with an Internet connection can see the full list in the book's Table of Contents on Amazon.com ... unfortunate that the Internet has changed the playing field for an author's 'tease'
• I'm a huge, huge proponent of niche marketing for big brands - in narrowing your audience to build brand love based on affinity vs. the bland utilitarian approach of being all things to all people. BUT: very interesting when he talks about who will use the book, it's more skewed to entrepreneurs and business types who might leverage the insights for product development.
• Are teenagers really still into knitting? That seems kind of 2006 to me.
• Now that Penn's content creation has Burson-Marsteller on everyone's lips, I think Resource is going to have to step it up a bit to be the talk of thought leadership next year...

*He's even on Change This. The man is everywhere. (Are you really not reading Change This yet? Come on, it's manifestos - go forth and sign up.)

Local Advertising in Ohio

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum from advertising reinventing downtown, there is the due diligence, pass-the-collection-plate, save-a-soul, subtlety-is-lost-on-heathens advertising thrust open drivers headed from Columbus to Cincy on 71S. Impressively, these boards have not only been displayed, but expertly maintained for at least the four years that I've lived here. The back includes longer verse for those headed back from Porkopolis...

Well, America - at least I can say: I hear you.

Negative Nursery Rhymes

The last word in negative spin on the election this year comes from voice-over artists Dennis Steele and Scott Sanders who specialize in creating threatening voices for political ads. In a recent NPR interview with Melissa Block, they show off by adding their special menace to every day nursery rhymes.

Listen to the *.wav file.

(Apologies for the little skip in the middle - I fast forwarded through a chunk of particularly ingratiating laughter from Block).

Belittling bombs

I believe Publicis commited one of the great ad sins with this pro bono piece. Tricky business when your witty writers accustomed to campy copy designed to amuse and entertain are tasked with drawing attention to genuine human suffering.  While clearly well meaning, using a ketchup packet to harken to the horrifying wounds inflicted by landmines is ... at best, minimizing an experience we can't even relate to. And, while it is just a condiment, tossing any kind of food to make some ad point about suffering to the very privileged is vaguely, well, gross and seems oddly American for an agency out of New Zealand.

Seen at Arena, Ads of the World, Houtlust, etc.

2006: The Year of the Poster Campaign

All the advertising leaders seem to be on the street this year. Although I still think the Support the Homeless Campaign was the most socially responsible and moving, this campaign for Amnesty International by Walker is surely the best executed. Each image is tied perfectly into its environment - and, amazingly, there are over 200 executions - all completed within a month. (Someone has a bitter and exhausted Photoshop guru on staff).

The only thing I wonder about this and many other Amnesty campaigns is if the brutal images are so divorced from our average experiences that we can't relate to them - that they seem as unreal as a movie. If for all the directness of this campaign, it loses its impact in its foreignness. In this case, I guess the background is meant to be the point of accessibility, but it still seems hard...

See more

60% of heavy drinkers are over 30

Ads from a campaign sponsored by the ALAC, the Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand whose mission is to change the dangerous way that New Zealanders drink ...

Key question: Think of all the people in your agency who do not drink. What would the world be like if they were the only humans responsible for creating advertising? (If you cannot answer this question because everyone at your agency drinks, you likely have a few bitter clients and a shelf full of Addys.

Or another thought: What are the chances that these ads were not based on the apartments / experiences / lifestyles of the ad team itself?

More ads at ALAC
Back story at HoutLust

Prowildlife: "Help mother nature to fight back"

I know these have been passed around quite a bit at this point, but I did want to save them to my collection ... so, just zip right past this self-serving post.

Agency: Jung von Matt/Alster
Found at: Ads of the World, et al

Homeless kittens

Great. Like I didn't already have enough to do today ... now I won't be able to sleep if I don't go adopt at least two kittens.

Read all about the campaign at HoutLust

Stop music piracy

Copy: Nothing great comes easy. Please respect artists. Stop music piracy.

Agency: TBWA
Found at:  Ad Arena

CO too Silly

This is an excellent example of why creatives kick AEs in the shins when projects get a little too client-driven...

I heard this spot mocked on Wait, Wait this morning. Essentially, The Competitive Enterprise Institute is taking on the "alleged global warming crisis" by going to bat for the wonders of CO2.  The result is a "hodge-podge" of stock footage and a ridiculously over-wrought message about our beloved exhaling gas of choice.

A few key lines:

"Some politicians want to label CO2 a pollutant" "What would our lives be like then?"

"They call it pollution. We call it life."

Who's running the blog pool? I think 10:1 that "We call it life" line was written by a VP ... of something other than marketing.

"Buenos Aires Zoo: Get much more for much less."

This should have been the new advertisement for AAA (slightly different wildlife, of course) - how did the zoo beat us to it??

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Via: Ad Arena

"All they want is to have someone nearby"

"Adopt an animal from the streets"

Agency: DPZ
See more at Houtlust

Wow, truly social advertising

I am definitely not a fan of the Salvation Army (family loyalty thing), but these ads are powerful. Really makes me happy to be in advertising. One of the best social campaigns I've seen.

Agency: Leo Burnett, Chicago.
Found at: Advertising / Design Goodness

"Not only the panda needs protection"

World Wildlife Fund must be a great client. Their ads are often so arresting. Very creative approaches - not always just the snuggly heartrending fuzzy animal.

These beautiful ads are from TBWA (pre-Life Takes Visa campaign!) back in 2004.

Found at: Creative Brain

Taking it too far?

Image below definitely requires some explanation.

To help curb the growing problems of unplanned pregnancies and child abandonnment, Ogilvy One installed false garbage cans near the University of Bangkok. Each was equipped with motion sensor that activated the sound of a child crying when someone walked past.

Passerbys who opened the can found a message inviting them to know more about a contraceptive pill.



I do actually think this goes too far for public space advertising. It implies judgment on sexually active women and could - honestly - result in some unintended police action. What's worse than a fear campaign? One that suggests that if you don't use their product, you'll end up so morally vacant that you'll throw a baby in a trash can?

 

via: Seaspace

California Coastal Clean-Up Day

Really arresting campaign from last Fall's cleanup day in California. What happens when waste attacks nature? Apparently, the Cig Egret, the Cola Bass and the Spork Crab.
Buy a print at the California Coastal Commission.
Agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Found at: Houtlust

"Weekend at Bernie's"-inspired ads?

This might be another one to file under "why art director's should go to bed before 3AM." 

The "Road Sense" campaign for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia uses the tag "it's no fun if you're dead" to try to get young drivers to slow down.

The campaign - reportedly pretty successful to-date - has a number of interactive elements, ranging from SMS sweepstakes to a fun Web site.

Agency: Wasserman + Partners

Get out of the fat lane

Two years and 15 pounds ago, I commuted 10 miles each way to work on a pink racing bike. It was glorious. The bike path along Chicago's Lake Michigan coast, a few small Gold Coast blocks over to River North. Ahhh. I was in shape, relaxed, skinny as a rail. Lovely. I tried the same in Columbus and was hit by crazed motorists twice in as many months - the second time hard enough to knock the commuting cyclist right out of me.

Still, I love the culture of cycling. A few auto brands have been able to create advocates and brand ambassadors, but nothing like the cult of cycling (an argument for Harley Davidson could definitely be made).

Oh, right, back to the ad - the “Love your bike” ad campaign just debuted in Manchester, England. Great ad.

Via AdFreak.

Half the world's rainforest have already died. If the rest go, so will you.

Agency: Crush

Client: Singapore Environment Council

Friday Favorties

Siemens: XXL fridge

Agency: Christian Soldatke, Saskia Lübke
Via: Ads of the World

Size still matters (where the Wild Things are anyway...)

Agency: Unknown
Via: How Advertising Spoiled Me


Kleenex Anti-Viral Tissues
(Kind of a weak payoff - but, certainly the most delightful turtle ever)

Alt play link
Agency: JWT, New York
Via: Ads of the World


Mice Bait
Since everyone else is passing around the clearly very impressive, though troubling lingerie ads, I'll share the similar mouse bait climber:

Agency: The Jupiter Drawing Room
Via: Billboardom


And, absolute best of the day goes to: World Wildlife Fund

Copy: Make a Stand - The only thing between their survival and extinction is you.
Story: In this outdoor installation hunters are on one side of the street taking aim at animals on the other side - and you're in the middle.
Agency: Ogilvy (?)
Via: Advertising for Peanuts

 

When you do not donate organs, you take somebody with you

Pretty disturbing visuals from this campaign for Adote, Aliança Brasileira Pela Doação de Órgãos e Tecidos (Brazilian organ donation organization).

Agency Agência3

See more at Ad Arena

Brand ambassadors. At the global level.

It's not too much to say that this may be the smartest, most forward-thinking advertising campaign in recent years. Surprisingly, it's straight out of a government likely as bureaucratic as our own.

This year, Saudi Arabia traded its usual image-building campaigns for 20,000 full-ride college scholarships for citizens to spend in America.

Their "people-to-people" contact campaign is a direct response to the post-9/11 anti-Arab backlash. Their aim is two-fold - (1) to humanize Arabs to Americans and (2) to foster a favorable view of Americans at home.

Essentially, they're influencing mass audiences at the one-to-one relationship level and trusting / empowering ordinary citizens to be the ultimate brand ambassadors. And, our government spent 1.62 billion advertising dollars on what?

For my anti-tobacco friends

(The older ones anyway!*)

Agency: Soria & Grey
via AdArena

(*I know it's telling that I didn't really get the VW Fast ads and I completely get these. It's coming. I want to skip ahead to the mid-life crisis and get Fast again.)

Fat asses off the couch, kids

No surprise that this is another Saatchi & Saatchi - this one targeted at 'tweens, promoting a more active lifestyle. What must this media plan look like?

Why we love pro bono clients -

Very creative outdoor installation by Saatchi calling for more public toilets in NYC.  The pissing gentleman is a life size cardboard cut out that (who?) can be seen in several locations throughout the city - no word on if he is scented for just that ripe sense of realism.

Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Client: The Privy Council

AdAge: White House spent $1.62 billion on advertising this term.

Apparently the controversy isn't around the massive amount of tax dollars going into ads, but rather around the content of what some opposition party leaders are calling "propaganda."

The specific accusations are about VNRs that didn't identify the White House as the source and paid columnists.

The spending - on everything from military recruitment to promotional materials for a golf program - ran primarily through six agencies: Leo Burnett, Campbell-Ewald, GSD&M, JWT, Frankel & Co., and Ketchum.

In other amusing AdAge news, apparently wine drinkers are watching NASCAR. This year Randy Lynch’s car is sponsored by California's Bennett Lane Winery. And, Ravenswood Winery announced last week that it will sponsor a car in three races, and will create a tailored marketing campaign to push the association.

Yikes. Time are a changin'

Moveon.org: Bush = Nixon

Moveon.org is back in the political playground with a spot comparing the current clumsy leader of the free world with our modern day political diablo - Richard Nixon.

The voiceover recalls Nixon's unrepentant wiretapping of regular citizens and America's response - a special prosecutor and a change in the law. As the image of Nixon slowly morphs into Bush, the voiceover calls for a special prosecutor today to stop the unrepentant wiretapping...

The only disappointment in the clever spot is the heavy-handed face swap at the end. We got it the first time. Moveon.

The spot starts running on CNN Monday.

See the spot.
Read the politics.