Psst -- First one's for free

This is one of the most irritating sites I've surfed onto lately, so naturally I had to share it.

It's an anti-drug campaign from the Oslo Department of Health in Norway, and it's supposed to simulate what certain drugs feel like. (Or what your computer would feel like if it was on drugs, ha.) I won't say how realistic it is on the usual grounds of possible incrimination etc.

Go ahead, try it.

(via adfreak)

Manhattan Mini-Storage strikes again

Remember these controversial bus shelter and outdoor poster ads from Manhattan Mini-Storage?:

Here's their latest one:

The hands! That's perfect. Little details like that are what makes a good ad great.

(via feministing)

Strategic media placement at its finest

In media-buying lingo it's called "roadblocking", and it doesn't get much better than this:

" Barack Obama will focus on the economy and how his tax plans would help the middle class in a half-hour political infomercial Wednesday night."

"The program will air at 8 p.m. EDT on NBC, CBS, Fox, Univision, BET, MSNBC and TV One, and at various times in other time zones. Obama is scheduled to be speaking during that time at a rally in Florida."

The scheduling on several stations simultaneously effectively "blocks" the time period in the eastern time zone. Then there's the positioning -- the infomercial is scheduled to run just before the last 3 innings of rained-out Game 5 of the World Series (pushed back to accomodate the infomercial scheduling). Which is even better when you consider who's playing -- the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays. Meaning fans in Florida and Pennsylvania, two extremely important swing states, will catch Obama's closing comments when they tune in.

In advertising that's called "hitting one out of the park".

Ewww, creepy

From "Ten Creepiest Old Ads":

Quick, Photoshoppers. I'm pretty sure you might be able to work with this one:


(via andrew sullivan)

Not quite ready for prime time

As the rest of society relentlessly evolves towards the celebration of diversity, the last few dinosaurs left behind continue to grunt and squawk and corporations inexplicably continue to pay attention to them. Last week a Heinz Deli Mayo TV commercial in the UK featuring a kiss between two men was pulled after 200 viewers went batshit berserk and andandSHRIEEEEEK!:

"A mayonnaise advert showing two men kissing has been withdrawn after it led to more than 200 complaints.

Heinz confirmed last night that it had withdrawn the television commercial for its Deli Mayo following 'consumer feedback'.

The ad was launched a week ago yesterday and had been due to run for five weeks.

Heinz said it was no longer aired after last Friday."

It doesn't surprise me that there'd be a few nitwits who'd object to a scene of men kissing (though it also wouldn't surprise me if these same people stealthily switched the channel to "Queer As Folk" when wifey left the room). The weird thing is that commercial wasn't making any kind of statement about same-sex relationships at all -- it was trying to convey the idea that Heinz Deli Mayo gives sandwiches a "New York deli" flavour, like having a New York deli chef working away in the kitchen instead of the Little Woman (or Man -- ha!).

It's pretty sad when people are so obsessed with sex and so bigoted against gays that they can't even see the real message of a commercial like this through their own perverse filters. Shame on Heinz for caving in to these jerks!

Terrorism in advertising

Check this out -- looks like Rudy Giuliani's gone into the ad biz:

If you don't quit smoking, the terrorists have won? Yeowch. I still find the use of the iconic "burning twin towers" image in any context other than the original to be pretty gross. Smoking might kill far more every year than 9/11 did, but smokers have a choice -- they aren't set upon by fundamentalist cigarettes and forced to smoke until they die. Tsk-tsk and two thumbs down for ASH and their enablers, DDB (NZ).

Then there's this anti-obesity ad, run by a bariatric surgery clinic:

"Obesity is suicide, but it doesn't have to end this way" pleads the copy. This one is kind of clever, since all those pounds of butter we scarf back are, in a very real way, little ticking time bombs of death. But I still find the suicide bomber image disturbing, and really, unless it's a Monty Python movie, innocent bystanders are unlikely to be harmed when this fatty finally blows. Another one from the same outfit:

Not terrorism-related, but still a bit of a macabre take on a taboo subject. Again, although it's in questionable taste, it's sort of clever (in my opinion). So one hesitant, shaky thumb up to Blattner Brunner advertising.

Looking at these, I can't help but be reminded of this "offensive-on-too-many-levels-to-list" viral VW ad that made the internet rounds a couple of years ago. Although that was a spoof, the more recent entries above make me wonder if the symbolic images of terrorism are becoming acceptable creative department fodder in the ad agencies of the world.

(h/t: wonkette)

Manhattan Mini-Storage ads

From the people who came up with this:

Here's a couple of their new ones:
















I love an edgy ad campaign... they're so few and far between in North America. This one makes me wish I lived in NYC just so I could patronize Manhattan Mini Storage.

Libs hit one outta the park

These new ads produced by the Young Liberals are brilliant in their simplicity and timeliness. If the Conservatives weren't already embarassed enough by their latest salvo attacking the Liberals, this should do it.

I won't go into the many ways this is excellent advertising strategy. But I bow to the marketing prowess of my friend Bruce at Canuck Attitude, who saw it coming.

Well done, Young Liberals!

(h/t Cerberus)