AdPulp

Daily Juice for the Ad Biz

Agencies

Will Ad People Ever Focus On The Right Things?

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Karoshi is the Japanese word for “death by overwork.” Sadly, the term has currency today, inside and outside of the ad world. On Christmas Day in 2015, 24-year-old Matsuri Takahashi jumped to her death from her Dentsu-supplied dorm in Tokyo. In September last year, a labor standards office in Tokyo determined she had worked 105 […]

This Scratch Ticket Is Minnesota-Made For You

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Have you noticed how lottery advertising is a category dominated by quirky, fun, and creative advertising? When it comes to the Minnesota Lottery, we’ve been conditioned to expect great things—given the strength of the creative community in Minneapolis. Let’s take a look at the latest from the Land of Lakes: This is Periscope’s first brand […]

It’s A Free Country (Provided You’re Not Confined To A Cubicle)

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Holding companies are the bane of the creative agency’s existence. Sell to a holding company and become like the bean counters themselves—that’s the not totally undeserved rap. Thankfully, there is another way. Your agency can remain independent, like Butler Shine Stern & Partners in Sausalito. Then you can choose to do whatever the hell you […]

A Child’s Pain Is The City’s Pain Is The Nation’s Pain

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The kids who rely on Youth Ambassadors in Kansas City are in the line of fire today. In other words, the kids are not currently living a storybook childhood. Perhaps, that’s why these animated tales from VML contain such awesome power. The agency is presenting some of the harshest truths about our culture in a […]

O, Say Can You Swim?

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Swimming is one of the best exercises known to man and an essential survival skill. It’s also a lot of fun. Appearing online, on social media and in swim clubs across the country, these posters are part of the USA Swimming’s “Swim Today” campaign from Colle McVoy in Minneapolis. As competition for kids’ time continues […]

Like Lions, Hard Truths Are Hard To Come By

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Photojournalism is a beautiful documentary art and a much-needed pursuit in today’s mixed up world of lies and propaganda. Thankfully, The New York Times employs some of the world’s best photojournalists. The newspaper’s ad agency, Droga5, wisely saw this truth and placed it at the center of this Cannes Lion-winning ad campaign. The combination of […]

Will Ad People Ever Willingly Walk Away from False Idols?

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Most advertising award shows are expensive navel-gazing affairs that miss the mark badly, which is particularly woeful news for an industry that prides itself on driving results from targeted marketing. Given the problem, I was encouraged to learn that Wieden + Kennedy had recently considered giving up award shows. That would have been a brave […]

No Wonder I Break Hearts When Spilt

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Milk continues to be the perfect canvas for creative expressions of advertising. Witness these three little films from Colenso BBDO and New Zealand milk brand Anchor. The campaign just won a Gold Lion in the Health & Wellness category at Cannes. The campaign features slam poet Harry Baker working through some of the smartest product […]

Make Room For HR In Your Company’s Social Feeds

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Not too long ago, people used to “break in” to advertising. That’s how hard it was to land a job at a top creative agency. Today, even the best agencies need to make an effort to recruit talent. Witness Brunner’s self-promotional efforts on Twitter: We offer careers where you’re not holed up over a laptop […]