Let's Roll on Shall We?

Chicago, IL


Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis


The Star Group, Philadelphia

Is it just me or are roller derby ads the new WWF? we're not talking about the World Wrestling Foundation but instead the World Wildlife Foundation and a long history of pro bono, student and spec ads. Why are there so many World Wildlife Foundation ads? Because they are a soft target, they are an easy client to give voice to and they don't have any money to spend on advertising.
Good creatives will always come up with a good ad but at the end of the day, the difference between good and excellent almost always comes down to insight. The recent wave of roller derby ads are beautiful, the lines are eloquent but the voice is tired. Pick an interesting client, do some research, find new insight, next client please.

Headlines in Harajuku

Japanese clothing line Neighborhood releases a controversial new T-shirt through their website depicting newspaper headlines announcing the assassination of George Bush in Chicago last Friday. Freedom of speech or just old news?

Smell the Glove

Being provocative = good. Being provocative by being misogynistic = bad. Iggy Pop and the Stooges = good. Iggy Pop and the Stooges a Capella = bad. And so it goes with this charming yet confusing ad for casting agency House.

Diesel Ad Smaks of Unoriginality

Listen, if you are going to swipe creative, we suggest you not do it from a major label music video. The new Diesel ad featuring dancing instructor Aarif Smaks from Finland features one of Smaks original instructional videos only the music is swapped with some modern tunes. Seems like a fine idea but there is only one problem, I could have sworn I had seen it before. It took most of the morning but I finally remembered where I recognized Mr. Smaks from. A couple months ago I was watching a Ryan Adams music video for the song Halloweenhead which presumably, is exactly what the ad wizards behind this Diesel ad were doing when they stole the idea. The video claims to have more than 11,768 views on Youtube, a fraction of record sales for a little known, Grammy nominated musician.

Yahtzee Reviews Orange Box

For weeks now I've been watching this commercial for the Orange Box. I'm not a gamer. I'm not even very good at using chop sticks but I'm also not oblivious to the fact that millions of 12-30 year-old's out there are the equivalent to Mr. Miyagi catching flies when it comes to video games. So I thought it was an interesting promotion. 5 games. 1 box. Hell of a deal. But that's not all, Steam,a subsiterary of Valve, the distribution company behind the Orange Box, offers users who previously purchased Half-Life 2 or Half-Life 2: Episode One and then purchased The Orange Box to receive gift subscriptions for their duplicate titles that they may give to another person added on a Steam Friends list. Brilliant! Essentially what they've done is forgone short term profits in an effort to build a consumer community.
However, the gaming community is a fickle one, where the reviews of the community far outweigh any teaser ad. This one comes from Yahtzee, a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer who takes a stab at the Orange Box only to find the contents a little unsatisfying. Full review below...

Why Are You Crying? We're Brainstorming!

There is a lot of advertising parodies on the Internet. My favorite thing about this particular one (other than it being listed under the youtube tags: Advertising, Chicago, Ninja, Cocaine) is that this parody seems to hit pretty close to home for anyone that has had to sit through group brain storming sessions.

Kanye Who?

Mopeds out. Skateboards back in. Here's why we love Lupe Fiasco's video "Kick Push": To begin with, neither Kanye West nor R. Kelly make an appearence in this Chicago music video. We also love Lupe Fiasco for featuring local skate shop Uprise in the video. There is no better endorsement than a well known recording artist shouting praise for your product or service because they themselves are a fan. If your looking to give voice to your business, start with the people who actually patronize it. Chances are they can tell you why the product sells better than any pitchman or business plan.


1820 N. Milwaukee Ave

Where Do You Think Yuri Going?

I'm really hoping Nike campaigns the new Yuri ads to other sports. I'm not sure if "run like you have never run before" really fits as the tag line here but I love the idea of the internal dialougue even though the Eastern European brogue comes off a little too Borat, we will excuse this for the excellent script and casting. What I can't forgive are spots that continue to direct the consumer to their website and then leaves the user to sift through endless content with little or no direction.


WTF?

The Yuri spot end with a simple claim, "Challenge Yuri at nikeplus.com". Fine. There is only one problem, the link takes you to the nike homepage. If you thought you were being directed to instantly interact with more of the lovable Yuri you better start clicking. After 5 minutes of searching through the Nike site and being asked to enter endless fields of information I gave up. Usually, the user has less patience than that. The lesson here is use the backslash (/)! and don't ask more from the consumer than what you are giving them. If they like the site, product or message they'll stay.

Also, if anyone actually finds the "challenge Yuri" section of this site, there is a reward.

I Heart Complainers

I Hate Young People takes the everyday complainer off the street and asks them their opinion on today's most pressing issues. Everything from Technology "They need to stop with 'the ipods'" to Brittney loosing her kids "They're better off with their father". The real brilliance of this site comes from the candid street side interviews where IHYP proves that a camera and the phrase "What do you hate about young people" is the perfect mix for a moron cocktail. Enjoy!

Crazy Rabbit. Bravia Steals Again

I'm not a Bravia hater. I think the Sony ads are fantastic but if you are going to make ads that are going to get people talking, inevitably there will be critics. Recently the creative minds behind the Bravia "balls" commercial have endured scrutiny over the
origin of that concept. Now it appears the recently released Bravia "Bunnies" ad featuring dozens of colorful play-doh bunnies infesting the streets of New York may suffer the same black eye of unoriginality. Core77 brought our attention to the work of LA based artist Kozyndan and the similarities between the latest Bravia ad and a Kozyndan illustration featuring a city covered in (gasp!) colorful little bunnies. Kozyndan, whose work often features the colorful rabbits was (according to Core77) contacted by the studio requesting work samples but had not been formally included on the project. Full story here.

Over the Hedge

Clark St & Addison

If you live in Chicago chances are you have spent a drunken moment or two in the Wrigleyville McDonalds. The golden arches, just a stones throw from Wrigley field, The Metro theater and roughly half of all the bars in America, was formally the site of Leo Burnett's award winning Sun Dial billboard last year. Recently, the billboard near Clark and Addison has literally gone green. The agency worked closely with a horticulturalist to ensure the longevity of the ad itself as well as the safety of any birds or drunk cub fans looking for a free meal. It will be interesting to see how long the message remains appetizing through Chicago's typically short fall.

The Latest from Comic Con

A documentary called The Vinyl Frontier dives into the sometimes obsessive, always creative world of vinyl toy design and hopes to answer some questions concerning consumer collecting culture. Full trailer below...