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Lipstick Jungle and Maybelline: When ad partnerships undermine editorial

This year’s choice for hot mid-season television formula is Sex in the City gets married and goes to the office. Combine several high-powered, hottie women execs with contentious, creative work environments and stressed out home lives and voila(!), advertisers line up like in the ultra-competitive days of the 1994 renaissance of sexy, smart doctor dramas. 

Tomorrow night will mark the third episode of one of the front runners of the mini powerful-woman genre: Lipstick Jungle.  And, at this point, I’m wondering if the ad partnership won’t be the downfall of the series.

I should preface with this: All television shows based on professions boldly simplify, cast unusually sexy characters (think of the “CSI”s with fully made up faces and low cut shirts scouring trash truck crime scenes or George Clooney still delightfully coiffed after a gory 48 shift) and are generally unrecognizable to people in the actual field.

BUT, still…

Lipstick Jungle’s marriage to Makeup Artist Chuck Hezekiah of Maybelline is a little reductive even for Prime Time. At each commercial break, he pops up with advice on how to get ‘the look’ of the exec featured in the last segment.

I’m not suggesting that the Ad Council should break in with a series on how to raise our young women, but,  when we take a relatively accepted convention (TV sexing up real-life humans) and make it driver of the story, well, it gets a little ugly. Afterall, they weren't exactly paying for ER with hair gel sponsors or CSI with tube top designers.

With such a prominent and potentially-controversial sponsorship, it will be interesting to see what part Maybelline plays in the success or failure of Lipstick Jungle.

Miller brand wins with 'second tier' media

After rejecting Miller Lite's Bud-mocking spots in 2005 over fear of offending the bigger beer sponsor, the Super Bowl ad sales division got smart and locked in exclusivity with the King. Now only Anheuser Busch can show its sweaty bottles during the game. But, that hasn't stopped Miller's pesky harassment of big brother's ponies and puppies on the big day.

This year, Miller showed its contrarian side - buying out all the non-Super Bowl inventory to catch viewers who might be channel surfing during cut #7659 to Payton Manning shaking his head at Eli. Then, layered it on the next day with full-page print ads in major newspapers offering to by Bud a beer for their Super Bowl commercial 'win' (a better beer that is) and with some great online snark, like this YouTube video featuring the Miller High LIfe delivery man commenting on the big game ads:

As Bud's product development, packaging design and advertising continue  up-market, appealing to a somewhat more discriminating drinker (uh, beer consumer), Miller Lite heads down-market toward the blue collar beer of choice. And, fiesty really fits for these second place suds. Up with the Miller.

Free Colts Ring Tones vs. Free ING Toilets

This week at the agency, we extended Huntington Bank's Indianapolis Colts affinity program (see AdFreak story) online with this snazzy little Web site featuring the spots, free ring tones and sundry silliness.

But, just when we thought we'd pushed a financial brand to the near-limit of consumer engagement and real-guy zaniness, well, ING launched a free toilet ...

If you haven't been to the ING site, I definitely suggest a visit - if only for the transition to the sponsoring brand at the end of the, uh, bathroom experience.

ING's is really a very controversial approach for anyone managing an advertising  budget. The  viral part of the experience lives entirely separately from the brand sponsorship - at once making pass-along more likely and making the eventual brand impression less assured.

Huntington Bank, the Indianapolis Colts, and a little copywriter named Scott...

Update: New Web site for Colts Banking: www.coltsbanking.com

Today SBC Advertising's Scott Mylin joins the ranks of truly goofy ad guys before him:

• First there was DDB Chicago copywriter Jeb Quaid playing his own creation - Bud Light's Ted Ferguson.
• Then little 29-year-old copywriter Griffin Creech played the bewildered office guy in Careerbuilder's "Office Monkeys" commercials.
• Followed by the Martin Agency's CD Andy Azula drawing happy little trees on the UPS "Whiteboard" commercials.

Only to be outdone by SBC's own SCOTT MYLIN - not just the star, but, heck, practically the singer-songwriter for Huntington's Indianapolis Colts affiliate marketing program.

Watch, love, share the spot created by Scott and Creative Director Lance Dooley:

Creative team: Lance Dooley, Scott Mylin, Ben Harben, Dave Oberst, Katie Dirksen