BarbaraLippert of Adweek likes the new Starbucks spots from Wieden + Kennedy. "Ski Lift" is abstract, but still warm. It features cool, switched-on music ("I Love NYE," by Badly Drawn Boy) and even offers a little breather when it comes on, like staring inside a snow globe, or, um, taking a coffee break in a cozy, welcoming café. Given that Caribou Coffee is a Starbucks competitor in several states, I find this …
Good Google
Google is an exciting company. Every week the geeks are up to something something new and good. This week in Google, the search and advertising giant announced it will enter the sustainable energy market and make a bid for wireless spectrum, opening a path to the gPhone and a new, more open (and internet-like) consumer option in mobile. Ad Age has the mobile story: Google will enter an upcoming auction for a wireless …
Ad Creep Reaches PDFs
Yahoo and Adobe are combining forces to monetize content published in Adobe's PDF format. For advertisers, Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo! extends reach by delivering advertising across a new channel of content, while also providing the ability to track advertising performance, just as they can today with ads placed on Web sites. Todd Teresi, senior vice president, Yahoo! Publisher Network said the move "is a …
The Man Who Repurposes Media For His Own Purposes
Ad Age sent a writer to Vancouver, BC to meet Kalle Lasn, "advertising's angriest and most prolific heretic." I always imagined the Adbuster as a young turk, but I was wrong. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, in 1942, in the middle of World War II, Mr. Lasn spent his early childhood in a German "displaced-persons camp" before emigrating to Australia and earning a degree in applied mathematics. He spent five years running …
Continue Reading about The Man Who Repurposes Media For His Own Purposes →
Publishing Obscene Odes On the Windows of the Skull
Just about any agency can make great ads for the right client. And the right client often comes in the door as a pro-bono opportunity. I don't know if The Beat Museum is pro-bono or not, but I can't imagine they had much money to spend. Grey's San Francisco office created the campaign, which can be seen in full at Adrants. …
Continue Reading about Publishing Obscene Odes On the Windows of the Skull →
Walled Gardens Begin To Crumble
According to The Wall Street Journal, a perfect storm is brewing in mobile land. In a major break with industry practice, Verizon Wireless said it will allow consumers to use any compatible cellphone on its network and allow open access to the Web and third-party applications. Verizon Wireless' announcement comes just two months before the FCC auctions off a large chunk of lucrative radio spectrum, which wireless …
Just What The World Needs Now
A new program launched this week on ION Television Network. The show airs television commercials as programming each night at 11 pm ET. “As a consumer, I had wondered why great commercials didn’t have a channel of their own,” says Román Viñoly, Chief Creative Officer/Co-Founder. “What marginalizes commercials is the programming that interrupts it, not the other way around.” Firebrand will enlist the aid of …
McMochas To Stir Up Coffee Crowd
McDonald's Corp. said Tuesday it plans to move full-scale into the specialty coffee market, serving up mochas and cappuccinos that it claims will rival those made by coffeehouses. The hamburger giant also said it plans to roll out smoothies, frappes and iced tea, all efforts to cash in on the premium beverage business. McDonald's has been testing specialty coffees in about 800 restaurants this year, and it now plans …