I Heart Branding

This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most recognized branding campaigns in history. The I Love NY campaign first ran in 1977 and featured Frank Sinatra, Morgan Fairchild and Yul Brenner proclaiming their love for the state of New York (not the city) even though some of the celebrities featured in the ads, Sinatra included, were not from New York state at all. ad agency Wells Rich & Green designed the campaign to revitalize the New York economy and that it did as new york tourist continue to hand over wads of cash to clothing stands up and down Broadway. Today, the concept behind the branding effort has been carried over from everything from drugs, fast food, sports and anything else you care to "heart". Happy 30th anniversary consumer slogan.

Evolution of Hypocrisy?

I love when ads become bigger than what they really are. Take the much loved Dove Evolution and Dove Onslaught commercials which kicked off a flurry of debate about the female body image in advertising. Public opinion, at least in public, largely heralded the ads for their transparent honesty. What was perhaps not as transparent was that Dove's parent company, global manufacturer, Unilever also manufactures a number of other products such as Slim-Fast and most surprising, Axe body products who have been responsible for some of the most over the top sex driven ads in the last decade. If you are going to open the books on advertising when it comes to sex you better be ready to open the books on corporate hypocrisy as well. A little editing of the unilever ads that were conveniently left out of the Dove Onslaught ad is provided by ryeclifton@gmail.com below...

Creative Coffee

Simple ideas are sometimes the most brilliant. The MyCuppa Tea and Coffee mugs from SuckUK use pantone like swatches to help blend the perfect cup every time. Cream and sugar or 19-0912 TC?
via Core77

Happiness in a Can

McCann Worldgroup wants coke to conquer China. How do they do it? A fully integrated campaign aptly titled 365 days of Happiness. This 7 minute video shows how a concept, even something as ambiguous as "happiness" can encompass just about every media known to man and some previously undiscovered media like magnetic LED lights.
Via Virtual China

A World of Pure Indigestion

Congratulations to Chicago's own native daughter, Anne Gemkow for winning the Golden Ticket. Well, sort of. Gemkow managed to win a brand new Jeep by chomping her way through 700-lbs of chocolate in the shape of a 2008 Jeep Liberty. Part of the car maker's "Sweetest Day The Jeep Way" challenge in Cleveland, Gemkow was pitted against other contestants as they searched for a winning mark encrusted somewhere in the chocolate car. Start with the exhaust pipe, who ever thought this up wasted a lot of brain cells, time and money.

360 Degrees of Separation

October 31st Tokyo Japan

Mitsubishi Electric has created a new panoramic display system consisting of a 2-meter tall, 7.5-meter diameter screen surrounding the user in a nearly 360 degree virtual display (340-degrees to be exact, with a 20-degree gap for entry and exit). The 17 separate 67-inch panels has a 27 million pixel resolution and was built specifically for an undisclosed client. Mitsubishi plans on selling the system as a virtual reality display for public use in the coming year.
via Iza

Donky Kong Construction

Berlin agency, Scholz & Friends went nostalgic for this outdoor display for the German Gaming Museum. Other than the questionable tax dollars involved in building a "gaming museum", the agency spent relatively little by taking advantage of the building's scafolding.

Censorship and Sensibility

When we first came across this great little piece of point of purchase promotion by the German sex shop, Beate-uhse we were dubious. censorship glasses? How much does a sex shop really need to promote it's products and is this the tone you want to set? Then we went to the website. Among other things, Beate-Uhse seeks to remove certain social taboos surrounding sex while at the same time urging the public to "have more fun with sex." We think they've done it. kudos.