A bunch of years ago, Creativity Magazine used to feature the "Cliff Freeman Komedy Korner." They're not as talked about as they used to be, but they're trying to get back in the groove: Tom Christmann, the agency's recently appointed Executive Creative Director and heir-apparent to ueber-creative Cliff Freeman himself, has strengthened his creative team of 20+ with new talent. "We believe at the agency that the term …
Dems Cowboys
My view of Denver is skewed from growing up in Nebraska and the fact that I twice lived there. I see it as a place where Neal Cassady was at home. Not as a cow town, by any stretch. Yet this poster from Colorado designers Idaho Stew has stirred some to suggest the image reinforces an unwanted stereotype. Unbutton your stuffed shirts, is my response to that. Even better, trade them in for shirts with pearl …
Baby Boomers Keep Going Back to the Well
"A touch of gray kind of suits you anyway" -Robert Hunter Just for Men is using music from Cream and a product name from Grateful Dead to sell aging hippies (who long ago became something else) on artificial hair color. I hardly know where to begin with this, it's so far beyond bad. [via Make the Logo Bigger] …
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The Need for Advertising Is Black and White
Belarusian fashion model, Maryna Linchuk, is one of The Gap's new stylemakers, joining Liv Tyler, Scott Schuman, Chanel Iman, Clemence Poesy and others in the fashion brand's latest print campaign. See FabSugar for more images, or Ad Age for some of the business thinking behind the approach. …
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The Loyal Treatment
With the news that Enfatico employees had to replace their Macs with Dells for Michael Dell's visit, I was reminded of the time I worked for a Pepsi agency, and in my first week on the job some Jr. AE bitched at me about having a Dr. Pepper. I didn't work on Pepsi at the time, but that didn't matter. Loyalty towards a client's products is serious business. Or is it? That's the subject of my new column on Talent …
Take This Job And Film It
Examples of advertainment or brand-sponsored entertainment are cropping up at a regular interval now. Could it be, brands--consumer and B2B--are ready to embrace this form of content full on? I think yes, especially when you factor in the internet as an affordable distribution channel for the content. Navistar International Corporation, which markets a new long-haul truck, the LoneStar, with a sticker price of …
A Peek Behind Nike’s Product Development Curtain
Ed Cotton of Butler Shine & Stern points to video testimonials from inside Nike's R&D labs. His takeaway is that brands have an opportunity to think like and act like media companies today. As a Content Director working on behalf of brands, I couldn't agree more. …
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It’s Mostly Garbage
I could give you a dozen or more reasons why advertising sucks, but there's no need. There's no need because there's an entire blog dedicated to the topic. "RestrictionsApply" at Why Advertising Sucks spells it out pretty nicely. I blame my dad for making me realize the truth. He once asked me the following: “How is it that you, as an advertising professional, spend so much time, energy, sleepless nights, lost …
