Washington Post business section editors thought it might be fun to gather some present day ad people in a room and ask them about AMC's "Mad Men" while taking their photos. The writer on the job also had a good time, as evidenced by this nostalgia-laden missive. In 1960, the ad industry was a Gotham-based priesthood. Advertisers bowed before the adman's implied knowledge of consumer desire, bolstered by his …
Criminal-Generated Content
This guy definitely deserves a break today. From The South Florida Sun-Sentinel: A man who held up a McDonald's at gunpoint when he was 14 is one of two South Florida finalists in a contest to mix a new jingle for the fast-food giant. Tamien Bain served 12 years in prison for the crime. Now 29 and known in hip-hop circles as "BAiNG The Locksmith," Bain, of Miami, learned this week he's made the top five in McDonald's …
Advertising Pizza To Aliens (and People Flying Into DIA)
There's a lot of creative work going on in the out-of-home category. Now, Papa John's is getting in on the act by creating a "crop circle" near Denver International Airport. According to The Denver Post, the move is meant to promote Papa John's new whole-wheat crust made from Colorado-milled grain. Papa John's enlisted artist Stan Herd, who has more than 20 years of experience in "crop art," for a pizza-based design …
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Mac Rumors More Lucrative Than Practicing Medicine
The New York Times wrote a pithy headline, "My Son the Blogger," for their piece on Arnold Kim, publisher of MacRumors. The headline fits, since Kim has decided to stop practice medicine in order to pursue his blog full time. When he told his father, also a doctor, about the decision, Dr. Kim was pleased that “he was very supportive of it, which was sort of surprising to me.” Dr. Kim was bringing home a six-figure …
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Garfield Takes On Wren
Say what you will about Bob Garfield, but his column does get the attention of the ad industry. And this week's column, An Open Letter to John Wren, will certainly get attention, as he addresses the CEO of Omnicom about some not-so-subtle gay bashing in this Snickers spot done by AMV BBDO in London. The entire letter is worth reading, but here is the last part, which gets at the ultimate point: Since you are the …
Brilliant Creative Is TV’s Best Argument
Ogilvy/London for Unilever's Comfort brand fabric softener: [via The Denver Egotist] …
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Car Parked. Vacation Cancelled.
Nielsen has been talking to shoppers in effort to determine how the economic slowdown is changing behavior. They found that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of consumers are reducing their spending, up 18 points since June 2007. courtesy of Flickr user, Jim Forest “Consumers are altering their driving and spending habits at dramatic levels,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights, The …
Walkin’ The Line
There are a lot of interesting points (and comment counterpoints) in this post at The Daily (Ad) Biz, talking about "below-the-line" agencies attempting to cross over. Here's a snippet: It seems that every company with a Photoshop license seems to think that they are an ad agency…like this partner agency that I am working with. They are a below-the-line/brochure shop and every time they present new creative, they …
Office Max Accepts Pennies
The lowly penny gets no respect. But Office Max wants to change that. To get the word out that pennies are currency too, The Escape Pod, on Office Max's behalf, sent a redheaded man armed with a suitcase full of pennies into the mean streets (and stores) of New York. See more "Penny Pranks" here. …
For Whom The Belt Tightens
According to Ad Age, Coca-Cola is looking to save between $400 million and $500 million a year by the end of 2011. And it's looking to find some of those savings in marketing. According to The Wall Street Journal, General Motors, the nation's fourth largest advertiser—they spent $2.1 billion last year—will also be making deep cuts. GM cut their ad spend by 24% from 2005 to 2006, and another 7.7% from 2006 to …