Mini Goes Big in Frankfurt

I’m not sure what to think of the Mini Clubman projection in Frankfurt. My initial thought was, would this be cool without a soundtrack? And I think the answer is no. The brand message takes far too long being communicated and I’m not sure why they choose to use sideways type when people are already going to be craning their necks back to see the ad. This seems like an over enthusiastic attempt to show off projection capabilities.

Old Shirt New Shirt

Back in July I Posted the music video for D.A.N.C.E by the French band Justice. Much of the animation was done in post production with the help of video editing. Now, it would appear that Colle + McVoy in Minneapolis have taken that idea one step further and done it for real. This is exactly how the Justice video should have been executed. Unfortunately, the director of this video has just been shown up by a clever agency and a Midwestern Sandwich shop.

Lake Effect

56 E. Walton Street

The grand opening of the new Burton Snowboard shop in Chicago was held last night complete with man-made snow that adorned the outside of the shop front. WGN News Chicago referred to it as a “publicity stunt” while showing three separate clips of the store in under 40min during primetime TV. I call that effective.

I Want My MTV.com

The ad units for MTV have always been infinitely better than the programming. The new ads featuring collaborating musicians Aesop Rock and Blockhead come from a series of clips made almost exclusively for MTV.com featuring the two as the hapless hosts of their very own public access show. Complete with fake waterfalls and smoke machines, the faux variety show titled “I’m trying to help” comes from Aesop’s most recent album title. Along with eccentric guests, clueless callers and the occasional prop mishap, Aesop performs songs from the upcoming album. Short clips of the show are shown in between MTV’s regularly nauseating programs and are meant to drive music fans to MTV.com where the station will try and provide at least some content still relevant to music. More clips from the show found here.

Window Dressing

I wasn’t a huge fan of the Elle Macpherson viral campaign but the recent interactive installment during fashion week in New York did exactly what it was supposed to do, It made people stop and interact with the brand (and not just male gawkers).

AirForce1 Goes Viral

This is going to be everywhere in a matter of days so let me just say this. Good viral campaigns are quickly becoming rare in favor of lazily produced, over budgeted commercials with shotty camera work. The point of a viral video is to get people talking and this campaign for Marc Ecko has done just that. There is a part of you that knows it’s fake but how can you not go to the website because what if…?

Full story via Wired Magazine can be found here.

Organsum

Lavalife shoot

One thing casting reels usually don’t show is the actors actually reading your script. One thing a commercial has no shortage of is script changes, so choose wisely or your copy may end, suddenly due to an “oransum”.

SIRE Sees What Most Sites Lack

A good microsite, like any piece of advertising should unfold like a good mystery novel. It should target the emotions of the user, it should steadily build in anticipation and should always, always return the users patience and time with a good payoff. In The Netherlands, children play a game called ‘Ik zie ik zie wat jij niet ziet’, which translates as ‘I see I see what you don’t see’. The English equivalent of the game is ‘I spy with my little eye’. SIRE, a foundation for Non-commercial Campaigns has transformed this seemingly innocent children’s game into a beautiful and chilling interactive site to bring attention to child abuse. Full site here.

Not an Ad in the Sky

Sao Paulo, Brazil

By now you are either applauding or appalled by Sao Paulo’s decision to ban ads from the city limits. If you work in advertising, the recent law may cast a cloud of doubt or confusion over your own future. Or, you could pull yourself up by your creative bootstraps like Sky Movies and cast the ad-less city as the star in your latest ad. Ironic no? Full video below...

Can You Hear Me Now?

The creative opportunities afforded by packaging design never cease to amaze. Recently, Goodmorning Technology unveiled a new box design for Widex hearing aids. The packaging features a sound wave pattern displayed on a two layer plastic sleeve. When the box is pulled from the sleeve, the sound waves appear to move. Those fluent in sound wave or with enough time on their hands to enter the pattern into one of a million studio programs will hear the brand message loud and clear, “High definition hearing”. Full video below…

A Million Little Batteries

It's summer in Chicago and Chi-town has gone moped crazy! It's a fact. Just when R-kelly's Trapped in the Closet was loosing it's pop-value steam the Hollywood Holt have picked up the slack of awsomely ridicules Chicago trends. Don't believe us? The new moped store down the street has been open since May...and it's still open.

Adman vs Letterman

The Bravia "Balls" commercial has won every advertising award known to man. There is no doubt it is one of the best received commercials of all time and with a second Bravia ad from Fallon London emerging just weeks ago, consider this clip of a 1996 episode of The Late Show filmed in San Fransisco.

Uninsu(red)

Last year's Gap (red) campaign was so forced it was anything but inspi(red). Slap a couple celebrity faces on the issue and remake charity into promotion by having Oprah and Bono walk down a red carpet...and into a gap. Thanks to Reed Space you too can call attention to our own crisis right here at home, health care. Vive la revolution!

It's Been Done

Ever look at an advertisement and get the feeling you've seen it before? Chances are you probably have. The phrase "Been done" is one of the most used critiques in advertising and it says a lot about the state of the industry, most notably when it comes to ambient media. Ambient or outdoor ads were once seen as the great hope for the future of the industry, much like interactive is today. Unfortunately ambient media for most "creatives" has come to mean taking a stroll downtown and finding a piece of the landscape that simply resembles the product. This kind of thinking is called execution driven ideas and, as a result, a lot ideas look similar because when you put 10 people in a room and ask them what on the street reminds them of cigarettes, 8 of them are going to come up with the tail pipe of a car. Not convinced? Joe La Pompe is a French website featuring ads by different agencies executing the same idea...sometimes in the same year and occasionally, winning at the same awards show. A little advice to agencies, lead with the creative not the media.

Reverse Graffiti

This video is amazing on so many levels. Graffiti artist, Alexandre Orion paints a tunnel wall "clean" with the help of a rag and bit of cleaning solution but not before authorities can ticket him for his efforts.