MINI is introducing new 15-second TV commercials to support its MINI Countryman, a vehicle that purports to "bridge the gap between urban and country life." …
Why Is Advertising So Crappy?
The following essay was first published on The Ad Contrarian and is reproduced here in its entirety by permission of the author, Bob Hoffman. Why Is Advertising So Crappy? Like most sensible people, here at The Ad Contrarian world headquarters we do our best to avoid advertising. This keeps getting harder and harder. Despite all the witless proclamations of new age marketing gurus about the death of advertising, …
iAd Is The Tortoise, Not The Hare
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple's foray into the creation of mobile advertising on behalf of big brands is going, but slowly. Since launching its iAd mobile advertising service on July 1, Apple has been slow to roll it out. Of the 17 launch partners Apple named for iAd, only Unilever PLC and Nissan Co. had iAd campaigns for much of July. Part of the reason some marketers are experiencing delays in …
IPG Does A Little Traditional-Digital Merging
This isn't as big a deal as the DraftFCB merger, but it is another sign of the times. From The Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Campbell Mithun, the storied Minneapolis advertising agency that gave consumers the iconic Hamm's bear to sell beer and a very young John Denver singing for Northwestern National Bank (now Wells Fargo & Co.), is jumping full force into the digital age of websites and banner ads with an announced …
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Tubes, If You Don’t Like Them, Then Change Your Mind
72andSunny has enlisted actor/comedian Danny McBride from the cult-favorite HBO show Eastbound and Down to move some athletic shoes for client K-Swiss. There's also this web-only swear-word laden pitch to the K-Swiss "suits" delivered by Mr. Kenny Powers, a.k.a. McBride. [via Brandfreak] …
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You Are Not Your Follower Counts, Alexa Rankings, Etc.
Social media professional, Chris Brogan, meditating on the Internet's impact on "time and friendship" wonders if a "social crash" may be imminent. If I talk to 100 people on twitter for 6 minutes each, that's 10 hours. If I respond personally to 120 of the 600 or so emails and contacts I get a day, that's 2 hours. If I call 10 people for six minutes each to "catch up," that's another hour. 100 small Twitter …
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Seattle’s Best Is Taking Their Coffee To The Canadian People
Creature has commenced an experiential road trip through Canada documenting the culture around coffee, during which the brand will share 1000 cups of coffee. The photography taken on the trip will be used in Seattle's Best Coffee cafes all over the world. The brand's mission is to re-contextualize the coffee world and change the conversation around quality coffee - taking it from a snooty, tradition-laden, dark …
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Someone Tell Bjork, Iceland’s Full Of Fake Guitars Now
To the surprise of my friends, I don't own/play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. I suppose I'd like it, I just never got the inclination to spend money on a fake guitar with no strings. Apparently the folks at PowerGig, makers of a real six-string guitar that's also designed for video game use, feel the same way. So they took a whole bunch of plastic stringless guitars and dumped them into an Icelandic volcano. That's one …
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