Ann Taylor learning Photoshop from the people at Ralph Lauren

Did the fashion world learn nothing from the Ralph Lauren Photoshop controversy of last fall? That would be the heinous print ad where the model’s head was actually wider than her hips and she was unrecognizable as a female form. Short answer: Nope. Pictures of models in Ann Taylor’s new summer outfits on the marketer’s [...]

Kraft flavored mayo works wonders on any fixer-upper sandwich

Kraft is bolstering its flavored mayonnaise with a dash of star power, courtesy of HGTV Design Star‘s Candice Olson, Genevieve Gorder and Vern Yip. Wel, OK, "star power" is pushing it, but they’re nevertheless the new faces of Kraft’s Sandwich Shop brand, making over humdrum sandwiches in TV spots from mcgarrybowen patterned after reality shows. [...]

Soap fans getting majorly melodramatic over demise of SoapNet

Erica Kane’s airplane just took a nosedive on ABC’s once-great, now-middling soap All My Children, but that’s nothing compared to what’s about to happen to the network’s sister cable channel, SoapNet. It’s going bye-bye. For good. And excuse the well-worn expression, but hell hath no fury like a soap fan scored. First, a bit of [...]

The world is a canvas in paint company Dulux’s vibrant new ads

Paint marketers have it rough, as BrandFreak pointed out recently, because it’s difficult to show people just how vibrant or rich or textured their products are from within the confines of a TV commercial (even with the help of animated paint-chip animals). That’s where YouTube can be mighty handy. Dulux, for a European campaign, shot [...]

Mitchum deodorant looks for America’s hardest-working person

Dude, you think you work hard? Well, think again. Mitchum, the antiperspirant/deodorant brand owned by Revlon, last week kicked off a contest to find the "The Hardest Working Person in America." It’s asking the nation’s workaholics to upload video nominations of themselves to the brand’s YouTube page, where friends, family and the rest of the [...]

DQ’s Oreo Blizzard now available in shocking, tasty cookie form

There’s a giant Oreo Blizzard truck making its way around the country, and if you’re lucky enough to spot it, it might give you a yummy Kraft- and Dairy Queen-inspired treat. To celebrate the Blizzard’s 25th birthday (it is, after all, one of DQ’s most requested treats), Kraft and the soft-serve and fast-food chain have [...]

Wise looking for NYC’s best dancer in Big City Boogie promotion

Dipsy Doodles, baseball and dance contests go together like, well, nothing I’ve ever heard of before. But just go with it, people. Wise, a marketer known for its chips, popcorn, puffed cheese thingies and other salty snacks, just launched a summer-long contest to name New York City’s best dancer ($10,000 to the fleet-footed winner). In [...]

Skky happy to put a cocktail in your hand for ‘Sex and the City 2′

As Sex and the City 2 hits U.S. movie theaters on Thursday, women across the country will be organizing ladies’ nights to mark the occasion. (I know, because my girlfriends are among them.) As is the case with other potential high-grossing films, marketers like Skyy Vodka are jumping at the opportunity for tie-ins. The spirits [...]

Nick Drake, no longer such an obscure voice, returns in AT&T ad

Back in 1999, I, like many people, discovered Nick Drake through a Volkswagen commercial. At the time, the carmaker had gotten some press by (imagine!) releasing its "Milky Way" ad from Arnold (posted below) on the Internet a week before it hit TV. The other thing worth noting about that spot was that it featured [...]

World Cup 2010 mascot not as offensive as some past offerings

The best mascot the U.S. could come up with for the 1994 World Cup was a generic-looking brown dog with one foot on a soccer ball and his mind on chasing cars, taking naps and, well, anything except playing soccer. Because, you know, we don’t care about soccer here. But at least it wasn’t an [...]

World Cup 2010 mascot not as offensive as some past offerings

The best mascot the U.S. could come up with for the 1994 World Cup was a generic-looking brown dog with one foot on a soccer ball and his mind on chasing cars, taking naps and, well, anything except playing soccer. Because, you know, we don’t care about soccer here. But at least it wasn’t an [...]

World Cup 2010 mascot not as offensive as some past offerings

The best mascot the U.S. could come up with for the 1994 World Cup was a generic-looking brown dog with one foot on a soccer ball and his mind on chasing cars, taking naps and, well, anything except playing soccer. Because, you know, we don’t care about soccer here. But at least it wasn’t an [...]

Ford Fiesta’s campaign is a big deal, particularly the multicultural

What’s interesting about the Ford Fiesta’s new marketing from Team Detroit isn’t so much the minute-long TV spot (above) that broke last week on American Idol (it looks like the opening number in a Broadway musical) or the webisodes about the Fiesta’s perks (the world doesn’t need any more zombie jokes) but rather the research [...]

Ronald McDonald resisting all efforts to force him into retirement

Ronald McDonald isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, according to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, who flatly refused to put the burger-peddling clown out to pasture at a recent shareholders’ meeting. For those of you who don’t know what he’s referring to, a group called Corporate Accountability International has called for Ronald’s retirement, calling him "a pied [...]

Looney who? Can Warner Bros. revive the Looney Tunes brand?

Warner Bros. is preparing to relaunch its classic cartoon characters, something they do every few years or so, with a half-hour show on Cartoon Network. Called The Looney Tunes Show, it will cast all the familiar faces as neighbors in a contemporary cul-de-sac. Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck will be roommates, which will only add [...]

Target celebrates ‘Lost’ series finale with spots tied into the show

Whatever you thought of last night’s Lost finale, there’s no denying that the Target ads that ran during the four-and-a-half-hour presentation were pretty clever. As a presumed one-time-only event, the retailer ran spots that tied in thematically to the show. A vision of the Smoke Monster, for instance, led to a plug for a smoke [...]

Italian fashion brand’s pink Hitler not receiving too many salutes

Latching onto the 2004 movie Downfall to indulge in a melodramatic Hitler meme is one thing. (It’s not even really Hitler. It’s actor Bruno Ganz having an epic meltdown that’s been co-opted zillions of times now.) But using a photo of the real Hitler as a sales tool? For shame. New Form, a fashion boutique [...]

‘Truth or Lies’ video game will test out a rudimentary lie detector

That harmless game of Truth or Dare—you know, the one you play when you have no intention of sharing past indiscretions—just got a techy new twist that may make it harder to fib. At the very least, it could open you up to all manner of accusation and humiliation. Let’s play! THQ, a video game [...]

Cooking on Weber grills gets hip young people in mood to dance

I have a Weber grill and I like it, but I’ve never done the crazy dances that the people do in this ad from rabble+rouser. But the dancing is only one of the points of interest here. When I think grilling, I picture the standard fat suburbanite, but here the actors are a bit more [...]

Coffee-shop marketing still erring on the side of women in bikinis

If you can wade through the terrible puns in this article about Hot Chick-a-Latte, a new coffee shop in Denver, you’ll learn that it employs hot chicks to serve coffee in their underwear, which has to be the best and worst idea in a long time. It’s good because it follows a successful business model [...]

Will NBC’s new shows be more coloful? Its marketing certainly is

Will NBC’s fall programming lineup really be "more colorful"? Maybe, if the Mr. & Mrs. Smith-inspired Undercovers from J.J. Abrams turns out to be a keeper, or Law & Order: Los Angeles rips some celebrity shenanigans from the headlines. (Hello, LiLo?) Meantime, the network’s marketing sure is Skittles-like. Here’s a shot of taxis in New [...]

Movies don’t interrupt you. So, don’t interrupt them, says Sprint.

Sprint is trying to do the right thing by telling people not to talk or text during movies, but the full effect of this 3-D cinema ad is lost in 2-D, since its focal points are the gimmicky 3-D immersion sequences. Still, we’ll assume it looks awesome on the big screen! It’s nice to see [...]

Fan lends her voice to Vitaminwater ad for latest ‘Twilight’ movie

Here’s what you’ll need if you plan to camp out for nearly a week before the June 30 opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: a tent, a sleeping bag, posters of Robert Pattinson, the cat you’ve named Jake, and a mini-fridge filled with Glaceau’s Vitaminwater. And the parental guidance you are apparently lacking. (I added [...]

KFC extends life of Double Down, shortening that of customers

When KFC introduced its bun-less Double Down sandwich in spot markets last year, bloggers and the lamestream media roasted it as as the gustatory equivalent of the Pontiac Aztek. But who’s laughing now? KFC announced today that it has sold 10 million Double Downs so far, and the chain has decided to keep it around [...]

TNT hoops announcers dressing up as Mr. T for ‘A Team’ promos

What if Charles Barkley had been cast in the upcoming remake of The A-Team instead of UFC champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson? The former basketball great cuts a fine Mr. T figure, but as many of us know, he’s not big in the acting department. You can see that for yourselves in a cross-promotion airing on [...]

Fashion mavens cannot wait to get their hands on this Schitbag

If your brand brief for a new purse contains descriptors like "high fashion," "sophisticated," "sleek," "sexy" and "sensuous elegance," you’d surely want to name the thing a "Schitbag." Right? If the fashion world is being duped by this, maybe we’ll all have a good laugh at some point. But press materials went out recently touting [...]

‘We Built Sioux City’ shows just how much Iowa towns can rock

The ever-accurate Wikipedia says that Sioux City, Iowa, was originally settled by Native Americans and visited by its first European, a French or Spanish fur trader, sometime before 1804, when Louis and Clark passed through. Wikipedia does note that Sioux City’s rebirth was "built on a foundation of rock and roll," a claim bolstered by [...]

Nerf fans offered an unlikely path to glory via advertising contest

Not only is Hasbro honoring tradition by letting users provide content for its Nerf brand, they’re honoring tradition by acting like they were the first people to think of it. Nerf Battle of the Ads gives Nerf fans a chance to "show off their creativity, athleticism and teamwork" by making their own ads and uploading [...]

Jell-O to get its wiggly and jiggly groove back in new campaign

Any ad campaign that conjures a Fat Albert memory is starting out on the right foot. And there’s even more nostalgia in the new full-court press for Kraft’s iconic wiggly dessert, Jell-O. Legendary pitchman Bill Cosby is back, as are his interviews with children, à la Kids Say the Darndest Things. This time they’re on [...]

Painter looks at American fast food in the Middle East landscape

It’s been 48 years since Andy Warhol demonstrated that an ordinary American food brand could be worth thinking about other than when you’re hungry. Now, Eric Robert Parnes is up to much the same thing, albeit with work that’s a bit more provocative than a can of Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup.   In his paintings, [...]

AriZona iced tea might wish it had a different name these days

Iced-tea maker AriZona is experiencing some collateral damage in the immigration debate over a new law in the state of Arizona. Since the law passed, making it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in the state and requires police to check citizens for evidence of legal status, opponents have called for a boycott of [...]

It’s official: Santa Clara County bans toys from fatty kids’ meals

Happy Meals are officially sad in California’s Santa Clara County. After debating the issue, the board of supervisors in that Silicon Valley area has voted 3-2 to ban toys and other promotions from high-fat, sodium-loaded kids meals. The new ordinance won’t take effect for 90 days, giving fast-food restaurants a chance to bring their kids’ [...]

Paramount Pictures working on a live-action Magic 8 Ball movie

All signs point to yes. That’s the answer when the question is: Will Hollywood continue to raid the toy chest for ideas? The latest in a rash of toy-to-movie deals comes from Paramount, which has optioned Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball for a live-action feature, according to Deadline.com. The studio has already had a money-gushing run [...]

‘Twilight’ provokes love and hate in equal (lucrative) measure

In case anyone needed more proof of the power of the Twilight franchise (did you?), there’s a survey out today from Fandango that found that Bryce Dallas Howard is the "most anticipated villain" of the summer blockbuster season. She is? Yes, says 31 percent of the vote. The actress (and Ron Howard offspring) plays the [...]

Jon Stewart looks at mascots gone bad after firing of Geico guy

Without Jon Stewart’s brand of in-depth investigation, I never would’ve known that the Pillsbury Doughboy engaged in some questionable behavior with a strudel or that the helping hand from Hamburger Helper had a Nazi past. On Stewart’s late-night Comedy Central series, The Daily Show, those and other secrets came out during a segment on the [...]

Cheez-It waits around forever for sophomoric cheese to grow up

Who knew cheese could be this obnoxious? In this spot from agency Leo Burnett for Kellogg’s Cheez-It brand, an immature round of cheese pokes fun at his "cheese-searcher." "Knock knock." "Who’s there?" the man asks. "Interrupting cheese." "Interrup…" "Cheese!!!" ("Should’ve seen that one coming," the cheese-searcher says patiently.) Point is, not all snack crackers are [...]

County in California looking to ban McDonald’s Happy Meal toys

Leave it to the crunchy granola types in California to rain on the Happy Meal parade. County officials in Silicon Valley want to outlaw toys from the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) McDonald’s kids meals. That way, children won’t want them as much, and they won’t be as fat. Or so the thinking [...]

French car-rental company pokes fun at Sarkozy’s height in ad

Just as Twitter-fueled extramarital rumors about France’s first couple have died down comes a new assault on the country’s height-challenged leader, Nicolas Sarkozy. Sixt, one of Europe’s largest car-rental companies, is running an ad (shown here) urging consumers to rent a small Citroen C3 hatchback, with the tagline: "Be like Madame Bruni, take a small [...]

Light shows on landmarks promote History series about America

Most anybody can buy outdoor ads to hype an upcoming TV show, but History (formerly known as The History Channel) kicked it up a notch with iconic images from America: The Story of Us projected onto landmark buildings. (Having a banking behemoth sponsor the ambitious series probably wasn’t a bad idea.) The promotions—technically, they’re light [...]

Trident urges you to chew on two dudes’ wacky Web adventures

Prepare to be mildly amused. Trident is launching a star-studded Web series produced by CJP Media called "The Webventures of Justin and Alden" that looks like an updated version of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or maybe Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. I say mildly amused because the trailer contains no LOL moments, [...]

Wait no longer to pay an arm and a leg for a Hermès Birkin bag

Listen to this news and try not to get positively giddy: There’s no more waiting list for a Hermès Birkin bag. Yippee for celebrities (who probably didn’t have to wait for the grossly overpriced satchels anyway) and insanely rich folks (who have made this brand so coveted that people actually fight to spend upwards of [...]

Enemies of cat-litter clay rise up together and will not be silenced

We just finished writing a story on deadline when in walks the mailman with a giant yellow package. We tore it open, and lo and behold, there was nothing in it but the current edition of The New York Times wrapped inside a black T-shirt. Oh, but wait! We opened it to page A19 (already [...]

A 200-foot-long ‘Tron: Legacy’ monorail ad upset Disney purists

Ah, Disney theme-park purists. They’re the folks who get their mouse ears in a twist whenever anything changes or updates. Imagine what they’ve had to say about a 200-foot-long ad for Tron: Legacy wrapped on the monorail at Disney World. "What’s next, billboards on Cinderella’s Castle?" asks a blogger. The offending monorail, with a painted-on [...]

Nair gets you ready for summer with Joey Company commercial

OK, ladies. Summer is coming, and it’s time to get those legs silky smooth before going sunbathing. Thank goodness for Nair, or so we would hope after watching this new commercial, from parent company Church & Dwight, for its hair removal product. The spot, by agency The Joey Company, shows women then and now relying [...]

Why are humans so immensely, insanely obsessed with Legos?

Chances are you’ve seen the lengths to which the human race is capable of going with a Lego brick. If not, here’s a primer. Among the objects people have managed to render in Lego are the Titanic, Mount Rushmore, the Airbus A380, the Cathedral of Berlin and the entire city of Venice. Legoland, Calif., features [...]

Diesel smelling a fist full of dollars with its ‘Iron Man 2′ fragrance

Wouldn’t a Tony Stark cologne smell like some combination of Robert Downey Jr., wads of cash and a soldering iron? Fans can find out as Only The Brave: Iron Man Limited Edition debuts this month in department stores and boutiques via a deal between Marvel Entertainment and Diesel. The partners are supporting the licensed product [...]

Biz Markie reworks ‘Just a Friend’ as an enviro-rap for Earth Day

It’s already been used as an ode to partying, and responsibly taking a cab with your sloshed friends, in a Heineken commercial. Now, the old-school rap classic "Just a Friend" gets an Earth Day makeover from its creator, DJ Biz Markie, and a bunch of lip-synching, enviro-friendly folks (and one cat!). The effort comes from [...]

Dennis Haysbert now doing Allstate commercials in Spanish, too

Actor Dennis Haysbert has one of the best voices in the business—an attribute that hasn’t escaped the attention of Allstate. For a few years, the insurer has tapped Haysbert’s sonorous vocal stylings for its TV ads, which depict the actor as the voice of reason in an uncertain world. This month, for the first time, [...]

Cottonelle vowing to recall defective toilet paper that rolls ‘under’

In January, Kimberly-Clark’s Cottonelle launched a contest asking consumers whether toilet paper should roll over or under. Well, the debate was settled by Oscar time, with people in the national poll choosing "over." Now, the brand is back with the next step in the campaign to keep the conversation going. It’s promising a "recall" of [...]

Google continues to be as non-techy as possible in Chrome ads

Why are tech firms bent on convincing us they’re not all that, you know, tech? For instance, you might think that a Google ad for a software product like its Chrome browser would be futuristic, but the brand and agency BBH have gone the other way: Like last year’s introductory ad for Chrome, the new [...]

Food Network bringing better grub to nation’s ballparks, airports

There’s nothing wrong with peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but how about something a little different at the ballpark? Your choices, in that case, would be nachos or pretzels, both swimming in that gummy "cheese." The Food Network has heard the call for more elegant eats at stadiums and airports and has struck a multiyear deal [...]

What not to feed your kids if you’re worried about lead poisoning

Eek, don’t drink the milk! (OK, sorry. We overreacted.) But you can’t blame us after watching this spot, created pro bono by Merkley + Partners for the Ad Council and its partners (i.e., The Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). The [...]

Burtify yourself for Earth Day with Burt’s Bees special promotion

Do I need to find my Burt? Apparently so, says an online promotion for Burt’s Bees and an event that’ll be happening in Times Square on Thursday, which is Earth Day. I don’t know about the rest of you, but even as a fan of the products (the Super Shiny lip gloss is fantastic!), I’ve [...]

Green movement finds perfect mode of transport: wooden bikes

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Now that the green movement has woven its organic fibers into most everything we eat, wear and scrub the floor with, isn’t it about time we can ride it down the street, too? A fledgling company in Amherst, Mass., called Sylvan Cycles has quietly begun to sell [...]

3 Mountain Dew flavors battle to death in Dewmocracy campaign

PepsiCo’s Mountain Dew has released three new consumer-generated flavors—Distortion, Typhoon and White Out—though only one will survive. The product introductions comprise stage two of a year-long, social-media-backed crowdsourcing effort, in which the beverage brand asked fans what they were looking for from their favorite drink. TV and online ads breaking this week ask consumers to [...]

Enjoy a delicious, nearly incoherent cup of David Lynch coffee

Fans of David Lynch know the man likes his coffee. His affinity for the drink pops up in his work from time to time. In particular, special agent Dale Cooper, the protagonist of the early ’90s TV series Twin Peaks, was known to enjoy a good cup of joe. And who can forget the scene [...]

‘Adult Swim’ festival bringing jollification to fanboys everywhere

Any event that has a Meatwad tent has got to be a rager. (Coachella didn’t have one of those!) It’s springtime, so the touring entertainment season has started, and Cartoon Network is on the road with the Adult Swim Block Party and Ragbag of Jollification. (That really is a word, by the way, defined in [...]

Nice ‘N Easy? Not when it comes to Clairol’s customer service!

If I wanted to look like Bozo, I would’ve shopped for hair dye in the "clown colors" section of my local CVS. But I don’t, so I didn’t. Instead, I bought the color I always buy: Clairol’s Nice ‘N Easy in light golden brown. Problem was, it turned my hair red. It’s a (mercifully) correctable [...]

Eat the fisherman and cowboy today at Ninety Nine Restaurants

Since when do humans personify other humans’ food cravings? They do in this spot from Allen & Gerritsen for the Ninety Nine Restaurants chain. It shows a fisherman who shows up in a family’s kitchen "representing one man’s craving for panko-crusted haddock" and a cowboy who represents "fire-grilled sirloin." The effort promotes the chain’s new, [...]

Just looking at fast-food logos makes people anxious and foolish

It’s not bad enough that fast food is blamed for everything from obesity to heart disease and hypertension. Now we find out it might be messing with our minds as well. New research from scientists in Canada suggests that people who are shown fast-food logos become increasingly impatient and are less inclined to save money, [...]

P&G’s Bounty on mission to clean up (literally) American schools

Procter & Gamble’s Bounty is embarking on a clean sweep of America’s classrooms. The paper-products brand kicks off a trailblazer effort this Tuesday to get volunteers to scrub U.S. schools clean—top to bottom, Bounty-style. "Make a Clean Difference," as the campaign is called, begins with an event in Washington, D.C., featuring celebrities like Mary J. [...]

Shake Weight infomercial now available for private DVD viewing

Last August, BrandFreak’s T.L. Stanley called the Shake Weight infomercial "the most unintentionally obscene product demo ever" and speculated that "plenty of non-females with no interest in toning their triceps are ogling this clip." Now, Saturday Night Live has also taken note of the, uh, unintended implications of the ad. A fake informercial that aired [...]

Spirit Airlines tries to laugh off public’s anger over baggage fees

Spirit Airlines, the brand that brought you a "MILF" promo and a "MUFF" promo for divers, is attempting to employ its irreverent brand positioning to counter the noxious buzz it incurred after airing plans to charge a $45 fee for carry-on luggage. The point man for this obfuscation is president/CEO Ben Baldanza, who explains in [...]

Bluetooth earpieces now with movies, music and sports themes

The licensed products we buy, especially the ones we wear on our bodies, say something about us, or at least that’s the theory. So, when you see some guy sporting a Bluetooth earpiece stamped with Cheech and Chong’s Up in Smoke, you could be forgiven for jumping to certain conclusions about his preferred leisure-time activity. [...]

Avatar yourself to celebrate the blockbuster film’s DVD release

Ben Stiller did it at the Academy Awards. Ashley Madison’s commercial did it to a couple of unsuspecting chicks. And now visitors to Los Angeles’ open-air mall, The Grove, can do it, too. Remake themselves, that is, into blue-skinned Avatar creatures. As a promotion for the upcoming Earth Day release of Fox’s $2.7 billion blockbuster [...]

They sure make nice jewelry from old aluminum cans these days

Years ago, downtown hipster boutiques in Manhattan started selling handbags made from old license plates—cute, but a real bitch if it starts a run in one’s chiffon dress. Recycled fashion recently got another boost with the 2009 debut of a Vassar, Mich.-based family outfit called Cangles, which, as the same suggests, makes bangle bracelets out [...]

Candie’s shows Britney before and after airbrushing in new ads

Britney Spears could be trying to make a statement about airbrushing, or hoping to get her new ad campaign noticed, or letting her sistas know that she, too, has dimples on her thighs. Fact is, she may’ve accomplished all that and more. The pop star, who’s been endorsing the Candie’s fashion line since last spring, [...]

Tech women spam Barbie’s career contest, turn her into a geek

Barbie got her geek on recently, complete with nerdy glasses and a laptop, but don’t think little girls across the country were responsible for turning the iconic job-hopping doll into a computer engineer. They would’ve rather seen her become an anchorwoman, according to the results of Mattel’s online voting for Barbie’s new job. So, who [...]

Riding in a Mini is so exhilarating, it will jiggle your man-boobs

This Canadian ad for Mini makes a claim that I believe is unique in the annals of auto advertising: Our car will make your man-boobs undulate. Here, a pair of buddies—one resembles David Spade, the other Arzt on Lost—take a high-speed spin, which prompts Arzt to declare: "This thing really handles!" The revelry gives way [...]

Need a good logo at a decent price? Try IDesignYourLogo.com

Excuse the cliché, but social media really is changing everything, including the basics of marketing that used to take weeks if not months to execute. Like logo design. That’s why IDesignYourLogo.com caught my attention. It’s a social-based service that designs one logo a day, for one company a day. Then the logo is promoted via [...]

Stan Lee pops up in Deutsch’s Dr Pepper promo for ‘Iron Man 2′

Iron Man is one of the coolest superheroes of our time and returns to the big screen in the upcoming Iron Man 2. It’s no wonder Dr Pepper jumped at the opportunity to create a cross-promotion for the movie, in theaters on May 7. In addition to touting Iron Man gadgets at DrPepper.com, the brand [...]

Betty White snuggles up to bedding company for her next ad gig

America’s sweetheart, Betty White, has got another advertising gig. White, who has experienced a renaissance of late after starring in a well-received Super Bowl ad for Snickers, is now teaming up with SleepBetter.org. That organization, which is "made possible" by Carpenter Co., will use White’s image on the site and in marketing materials. Sadly, White, [...]

Naming experts feeling kinship for Microsoft’s Kin mobile device

Microsoft seems to have a penchant for one-syllable product names these days. First there was Zune, then Bing and now Kin. The latter, which is the company’s latest mobile device (which was actually made by Sharp Electronics; Microsoft created the software), appears to be a hit with naming gurus, who point to Microsoft’s mixed track [...]

Degree Natureffects targeted at women who adore purty flowers

Some chicks sweat, and some perspire. I figure the new ads for Degree Natureffects are aimed at the latter. There’s a lot of talk, after all, about cranberry and orange flower and matching body mists. Very ladylike. The new product, from Degree Women, "celebrates women and hopes to help them release their ‘outdoorphins,’ " says [...]

7-Eleven gets head start on summer with ‘Iron Man 2′ promotions

Summer comes early now, and it’s not global warming’s fault. It’s the annual kickoff of the warm-weather blockbuster cross-promotion season. Since Hollywood decided a few years back that "summer" should officially begin in early May, promo-partner programs start launching just after Easter. In the case of the upcoming Paramount Pictures/Marvel flick Iron Man 2, retail [...]

iPad’s ‘Modern Family’ cameo worth close to $1 million for Apple

Who says you can’t put a price on publicity? The Apple iPad product placement in last week’s episode of the ABC hit sitcom Modern Family might’ve been free, but it sure was worth a chunk of change. Joyce Julius & Associates estimates the iPad hauled in some $650,000 worth of television exposure and another $250,000 [...]

JetBlue suggests luggage shirts to suckers who fly Spirit Airlines

Someone at JetBlue is in a bitchy mood. After Spirit Airlines announced that it will start charging for carry-on luggage on Aug. 1, JetBlue used its "Blue Tales" blog as a platform to drop some cyber-noogies on its rival. The blog pointed to Spirit’s press release and then noted: "In case you were wondering, JetBlue [...]

Polaroid and Vitaminwater caught up in CW’s ‘Gossip Girl’ drama

Lady Gaga. Gossip Girl. Assassin. Polaroid. What do these things have in common? I asked myself that question during Monday night’s episode of Gossip Girl on the CW. (Big fan—don’t judge me.) And I’ve started to connect the dots, so try to keep up, OK? Lady Gaga had a much-buzzed-about cameo on the soapy series [...]

Hewlett-Packard pitches the Slate … the tablet that isn’t the iPad

Hewlett-Packard wants you to know that the iPad isn’t the only tablet device out there. Concurrent with Apple’s release, HP has rolled out this 30-second demo showing all the cool stuff it’s Slate gizmo does. As the Silicon Alley Insider notes, this HP blog post doesn’t directly mention Apple but implicitly criticizes the iPad by [...]

KFC prepares to kill you with its Double Down chicken sandwich

Ah, finally. Next week, KFC begins selling its new "bunless" Double Down chicken sandwich. The Colonel’s latest menu item consists of "two melted slices of Monterey jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel’s Sauce" sandwiched between two "juicy, boneless white-meat chicken filets." (Choose from original or grilled, which contain 540 and 460 calories, respectively.) The [...]

2010 Census ads not quite the pinnacle of creative achievement

We don’t need much proof that the federal government sucks at almost everything it does. But in case you wanted it, here’s proof that it sucks at marketing, too. A quick survey of the municipal posters aimed at getting people psyched to participate in the 2010 Census reveals some of the most sleep-inducing visual work [...]

Le Tigre ads continue to poke fun at golf’s famous philanderer

As far as puns go, the Le Tigre billboards along the West Side Highway in New York have been fairly tame but still pointed squarely in the direction of philandering pro golfer Tiger Woods. They’re more along the lines of "Heh, that’s sort of funny" than "Oh, snap!" Still, you have to hand it to [...]

Butterfingers now insured against people laying fingers on them

There are lots of things one can insure: a false nose, six-pack abs, celebrity boobs, you get the picture. Add to that: Nestlé’s Butterfinger candy bar. Last week, the world’s largest food company insured its "crispety, crunchety peanut butter" candy brand through global insurance market Lloyd’s of London. (The policy is worth $1 million.) The [...]

Pantene hair-care contest offers weird Brett Michaels grand prize

Now here’s a contest that could be right up my alley. Dubbed "the world’s first reality hair ad," it’s a Procter & Gamble-sponsored casting call for chicks who’d like to try Pantene shampoo during a live commercial with product pitchwoman and What Not to Wear star Stacy London. Well, I have a lot of hair, [...]

Everyone’s buying an iPad, even those who then just annihilate it

Since it’s clear that no one wants to read about anything but the iPad today, here’s a video of a guy destroying one with a baseball bat. There’s not much to learn here, except that iPads apparently are not strong enough to withstand the repeated blows from a blunt instrument. But the video is more [...]

Old Spice teaches guys another neat party trick: the pec bounce!

Shirts off to the deodorant category for teaching we fellas how to do some nifty things. First came Axe in 2009. With some help of a sweat-streaked skateboard god Ryan Scheckler, the company taught us "double pits to chesty"—a Z-shaped motion designed to deposit Axe’s coitus-inducing scents under our arms and on our chests, too! [...]

L.A.’s rolling Bathroom Truck a golden opportunity for marketers

Caution: bathroom humor ahead! Here’s what a few smart marketers have learned about catering to people’s on-the-go lives: Open a public potty, create buttloads of goodwill. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) It started with Charmin’s sparkling-clean toilets in Times Square at holiday time. An overwhelming success, it’s become an annual event, with more amenities and media gimmicks [...]

Old Navy direct mail gets more colorful with tote-bag promotion

Is it just me or are direct-mail marketing promotions getting more creative (and more colorful)? In the recent past, I’ve received Victoria’s Secret coupons in the shape of (pardon me) underwear, a catalog with a holographic cover, and this week, a bright-yellow Old Navy booklet telling me to "stuff" a tote bag and get 20 [...]

Apple’s iPad gets 30 minutes of love from ABC’s ‘Modern Family’

All of geekdom is salivating over the launch of the iPad this Saturday, and nerdy Phil, one of the main characters on ABC’s hit sitcom Modern Family, was no exception in this week’s episode, dubbed "Game Changer." In fact, the self-described early adopter, whose birthday on the show coincides with the debut of the coveted [...]

Stride’s mystery flavor not all that appetizing on April Fool’s Day

It’s April Fool’s Day, and the stunts are coming fast and furious. First, there was Google’s somewhat lame "Topeka" gag, then Ben & Jerry’s "Virtual Ice Cream." Now, Cadbury Adams’s Stride gum is offering its own hijinks via its Facebook site. Some 600,000 fans on the site got a sneak peak of its new mystery [...]

‘Insanely funny’ humor site about Apple is not actually that funny

Any member of the press who’s ever tried to write about Apple can attest that the company doesn’t have a great sense of humor. The company’s Stalinesque grip on information no doubt helps create maximum buzz for every announcement, but it’s also at odds with the brand’s genial image fostered via advertising. That’s why it’s [...]

Wrigley getting all secretive and sci-fi to introduce 5 React gum

Upon visiting 5react.com, you will feel as if you’ve entered a virtual world or a preview for an upcoming video game. It’s hard to believe that such large theatrics (a spaceship-like landing page, sci-fi music, secret messages) were created for the launch of such a small product: gum. How did I find the site? By [...]

We’ll happily try chocolate samples … but in boxes, not baggies

So, we get back from Texas (we were at the IRI CPG Summit—did you follow us on Twitter?) and there’s this bulky package on our desk. We open it, and lo and behold, there are itty-bitty, bite-sized pieces of chocolate and cocoa powder in Ziploc bags. Color-coded, too. Yikes! Reminds us of the time we [...]

H&M dancers keep wheezing death rattle of the flash mob at bay

Retailer H&M got considerable bang for its buck with this video—in fact, there was probably no buck involved at all. Yet the clip, shot in San Francisco’s Union Square, has gotten more than 28,000 views in the space of about two days. Apparently, few can resist the charms of 55 break-dancing youngsters clad in the [...]

Do you feel lucky? The folks in Valley View Casino’s ads sure do.

Making any kind of claim in broadcast or print media has always been a bit of a tricky affair. If you sell an anti-aging potion, you obviously can’t say it makes people younger, so you’d better stick with something suitably loopholed like: "May help reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles." OK, but what if [...]

You, too, can save the country of Sweden in this viral campaign

If you saw Service International Union and MoveOn’s "Enemy of America" Glenn Beck viral video, you’re aware that we’ve entered an age where stuff like "Elf Yourself" looks laughably primitive. If you haven’t seen the "Enemy" video—imagine that someone created a video with Glenn Beck ranting about you and intimate details of your life (which [...]

Lady Gaga brand keeps growing with fun Sesame Street mashup

Earlier this month, we wrote about Lady Gaga’s latest video, "Telephone," and how it has reached new heights in terms of product placement. It’s quite clear that the pop star has turned her music and personal style into a successful brand. And then her fans extend the brand with their own mashups, like this Sesame [...]

Americans are a joke in Burger King’s Middle East commercials

Stupid Americans are the focus of a series of Burger King ads running in the Middle East. The premise is that two Arab men are having a BK meal with a pair of American girls who really aren’t very bright, or at least aren’t all that worldly. "So, you’re from the Middle East. Isn’t that [...]

The best of South by Southwest branding, from Door Number 3

By Bryan Keplesky, Door Number 3 art director   It’s been a week since the 2010 South by Southwest Interactive, Film and Music Conference came to a close. The taped-up posters and trash on the streets of downtown Austin have been swept away. All the free schwag has been itemized and tossed or stowed. And [...]

Ultimate Fighting Championship is coming to a theater near you

How to Train Your Dragon, the latest 3-D spectacle, isn’t the only entertainment rumbling at the multiplex this weekend. Ultimate Fighting Championship, for the first time, will air a live welterweight fight Saturday night in 300 AMC, Regal and other movie-theater chains via a deal with NCM Fathom. UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy is [...]