Thursday Nite Late Night Snack

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Thursday Nite Late Night Snack

From My Email:

by Amy Corr

Let's talk about pet sex. What's in your head? If you had a fruit mirror, what fruit would look back at you? Let's launch!

I pass one of these ads every night on my way home from work. I love it, and am curious: given the heat wave we've been having, how bad will that dress smell once it's exposed to air? WE TV promoted its fifth season of "Bridezillas" with 3-D bus shelter ads that are 4 ft. wide, 5 ft. tall and 7 inches deep. Inside the cases are potential scenes that you may or may not see while watching "Bridezillas": a wedding gown torn and covered in red wine and coffee stains, a smashed wedding cake, and a bridal shoe that cracked the display case glass. "Bridezillas: This Season The Family Fights Back!" reads the ads, found in New York and Chicago. Click here and here to see creative. Yard created the ads and Media Storm handled the media buy.

On June 5, prior to the UEFA EURO 2008, adidas unveiled supersized versions of the tournament's stars. A 17-meter-high huddle of eleven players resides at the Zurich train station. This thing is massive -- it weighs more than seven tons, and is self-supporting. The players cheer for each other in their own language twice a day during rush hour. I think I should check this out up-close and personal. See the huddle here, here, here and here. In addition, a likeness of Czech national team goalkeeper Petr Cech with eight arms was mounted onto the Giant Ferris Wheel in Vienna, creating a cool effect when the Ferris wheel is in motion. See it here and here. TBWA Berlin created the campaign.

If I bought the first iPhone -- but I didn't because I'm not targeted -- I would be mad that the latest version is not only faster, but also cheaper. The latest spot for the new iPhone launched online Monday, coinciding with the unveiling of iPhone 3G. It even comes in white. A steel box is carried through a maximum security building in "Hallway." The voiceover, Robert Downey, Jr., describes how this new phone will beat the iPhone because it's cheaper and surfs the Web faster. The twist is, the rival is just the latest version of Apple's iPhone. See the ad here. TBWA/Media Arts Lab created the campaign and handled the media buy.

The Greenville Humane Society in South Carolina launched a TV and print campaign tackling the overpopulation of pets issue. The TV spot begins with an anxious dad giving his child "the talk." "You're probably having a lot new feelings and urges and that's normal... If you're going to act on those urges, I want you to be safe," says the father. The camera pans out to reveal that Dad is not talking to his child, but his dog that's humping his leg. "Spay and neuter your pets. It's the only form of birth control they understand," closes the ad, seen here. A print ad is equally funny, intended to look like a series of naughty personal ads for pets, with listings of a "Lady Looking for a Tramp," "Make this kitty purrr" and "Barely Beagle." There's a phone number (864-672-5590) included in the ad and I urge you to call it. It must have been fun to take on all these animalistic characteristics. See the ad here, created pro bono by Erwin-Penland.

Sun-Rype juice launched phase two of an already colorful ad campaign promoting its fruity beverages. Colorful transit shelter ads, mall posters, and video boards are sprouting up throughout Toronto. The best part of the campaign is a traveling "fruit mirror." What is that, you ask? It's an interactive screen that transforms whoever stands in front of it into pixilated fruit, much like the TV campaign. I would like to be represented as a pomegranate. The mirror features a camera graphics program that instantly animates people onto a 62-inch LCD screen. It won't have the answer to your deepest, darkest questions, but you'll look like pixilated fruit. That's enough for me. See the mirror here, here, here and here. "Shoes," seen here and shot in stop-motion style animation, also depicts a world of people and things made from fruit. DDB Canada created the campaign, Tribal DDB helped with the fruit mirror and OMD Vancouver handled the media buy.

Christy USA launched a national consumer advertising campaign in the United States that compares the luscious taste of fruit to the luscious feel of its towels. Points for trying, but it's too much of a stretch for me. "Luscious" features a close-up of a colorful towel that's paired with delicious fruits in matching colors. Blueberries sit atop a deep blue towel and a sliced, juicy pear rests on a towel of similar hue. See the ads here and here. The campaign was created in-house with creative consultation from the Juice Group.

MyRichUncle launched a print campaign encouraging parents to research college loans for their children rather than take the loan offered by the school's preferred lender. The campaign compares taking the first vendor loan offered to you with checking your brain at the door. The "Thinking Saves Thousands" campaign consists of four print ads running in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia and Washington, among other cities, that show people empty-brained and scalpless, for that matter. "I didn't use my brain. I went straight to the financial aid office," says one ad. See the ads here, here, here and here. SS+K created the campaign and media buying was handled in-house.

New Belgium Brewing Co. launched its second annual "Follow Your Folly" pro-recycling advertising campaign using recycled materials. Why didn't they think of this last year? That campaign layered photo-collages, while this year boxes were created, filled with recyclable objects such as bicycle seats and erector set windmills, and photographed for print purposes. The campaign targets outdoor enthusiasts and progressive thinkers, and can be found in issues of Rolling Stone, Bike, Climbing, Men's Journal, Outside, Mother Jones, Sunset, Readymade, Canoe & Kayak, Cooking Light, Paste and Good. See the ads here, here, here and here. Cultivator Advertising & Design created the campaign and Explore Communications handled the media buy.