To promote the new movie Contagion, agency Lowe Roche in Toronto created billboards made from real live bacteria. See how they did it: The Montreal Gazette has more: “We wanted to create an organic execution that people could fall in love with,” said Anthony Ganjou, founder of U.K.-based CURB media, an agency specializing in natural [...]
Gilbert Gottfried Now AFLACks A Voiceover Gig
March 14, 2011 By 3 Comments
Sorry for the headline. I would’ve been a multiple Gold Pencil winner back in the 80′s with chestnuts like that one. But yeah, if you’ve got a cushy voiceover gig for a company that does most of its business in Japan, don’t send insensitive Tweets about the earthquake. From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The Columbus, Ga.-based [...]
Shoot Free Throws, Reach The Moon
March 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Court Crandall of WongDoody/LA likes to make movies. He has a story credit on Old School (2003) and was the screenwriter on A Lobster Tale (2006). His latest project, Free Throw, takes Crandall and crew into Compton where high school kids with good grades will compete to win college scholarship money. I discussed the project [...]
Wear It Like Quorra
December 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Movie-related merchandise is big business. And it’s not all schawg. Now, thanks to “TRON: Legacy”, which opens in theaters on Friday, movie fans can shell out for high-end merchandise like a $2,600 Rotenier necklace and $795 spiked sandals from Rousseau. With the haute-couture flourish, Disney’s marketing machine is reaching beyond the core science-fiction and fantasy [...]
Product Integration Almost As Good As Word-of-Mouth
May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Toyota Highlander will be starring in a new show from TBS this summer. According to Multichannel News, Turner Entertainment and Toyota are working together to produce upcoming original series Are We There Yet? ACE Media Corp. and Burrell Communications Group put the deal together. Toyota is the exclusive auto sponsor of the series, which [...]
In A Tough Spot? Call On Your LG Ally
May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Iron Man 2 opens in theaters and IMAX today and LG is ready, thanks to a little help from Young & Rubicam/New York.
“Trust Me” Gets It More Right Than Wrong
January 28, 2009 By 9 Comments
I had really low expectations of “Trust Me”, so I recorded it and didn’t watch it until last night. Then, when I saw the opening scene, with two scruffy 30-something white guys with Starbucks cups in hand and laptop bags slung around their chests, I figured at least the set designers knew what they were [...]
The Right Placement
August 26, 2008 By 4 Comments
Here’s what you see this week as you leave the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport and head into the Twin Cities: Minneapolis is the site of the Republican Convention next week.
Like Advertising, But With Less Job Security
February 6, 2008 By Leave a Comment
That every copywriter has a screenplay in her desk is a tired, old cliché. If you’re one of those copywriters, or would like to be one, consider this insightful Adopt A Writer interview with Nina Bargiel, a Guild member with 17 episodes of Lizzie McGuire to her credit. Q. What do you think would surprise [...]
NYT Story On Branded Entertainment Takes A Stand
December 9, 2007 By 3 Comments
I really don’t have a strong opinion on branded entertainment on TV–it’s really nothing new. But this story in the New York Times, written by Louise Story, certainly has a odd tone to it: One of the more popular tricks — oops, I meant to say tactics — advertisers are using today is branded entertainment, [...]
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