Slayterbox1748

In light of the recent success of reality shows like “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom,” MTV has decided to drop the “Music Television” moniker and re-design their iconic logo.

Citing problems with brand recognition and logo “flexibility”, MTV General Manager Stephen Friedman says the re-design is “an updating that speaks to audience[s] in a much simpler, bolder way.”

For more on this story, check Advertising Age.

By embedding advertisements within the source-code of popular websites like Digg, Electronic Arts (EA) is taking creativity to a new level in promoting Dante’s Inferno, their newest release.

The ads are invisible to the common viewer, who wouldn’t think of accessing what is essentially the guts of the sites. However, those who access source-code for design and research purposes will most certainly be affected when, instead of instead of formulaic code, they will see these beautifully demonic, neon green images.

Assuming people who look at source code are drawn to epic, first-person RPGs, EA carefully drops a URL with which can only be accessed by finding secret codes hidden in other websites.

Found on AdFreak.

Ah, the Super Bowl. For many, it’s simply “The Big Game.” But while millions across the world watched Drew Brees lead his New Orleans Saints to victory over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts, who can neglect the media connoisseurs who sit in front of their laptops every year to watch the “Brand Bowl?”

This year’s festivities were particularly interesting. With many big names opting out of “The Big Game” — instead choosing to save a few [million] dollars — we saw a few brands seemingly dominate the airwaves, namely Bud Light and Doritos.

Creatives and clients wanting to gauge the success of their creations needn’t look further than Twitter, where a clusterf*ck of real-time opinions, hash tags, retweets and fail whales peppered the digital realm with honest and often hilarious insights from everyday people.

So, without further ado, Slayterbox1748 presents to you our Top 5 Super Bowl XLIV Ads (in no particular order, courtesy of Hulu AdZone):

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Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey, believed the wearing of veils stifled a national effort to modernize. While Ataturk could have simply criminalized the otherwise unassuming garb, he understood there would be consequences to usurping tradition. Understanding the value of perception, Ataturk protected his scarfless vision for Turkey by making veils compulsory garments for every prostitute in the country.

By essentially re-branding the veil as the signifier of an undesirable class, Ataturk managed to change the garment’s perception, and in turn the identity of an entire nation.

The decision to re-brand veils may have been only a small measure in Ataturk’s valiant march towards modernization. Nonetheless, the effect begs the question, “how many problems in life can be solved…by tinkering with perception?” At the July 2009 TED Talk in Oxford, England, Ogilvy Group Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland addresses what Ataturk realized over a century ago. One, that all value is actually relative, and that all value is perceived value. The second: persuasion is often better than compulsion.

For more on the value of perception, be sure to check Sutherland’s TED Talk, and read his blog on Brand Republic.

The folks at College Humor were kind enough to craft a handy compilation of the 22 most awesomely terrible local ads. <link>.

While many of the ads are downright awful, a few (including a familiar Super Bowl spot) are absolute gems. For instance, I find the commercial for Fred and Sharon’s Movies to be painful, but enjoy the ruthless Cash 4 Gold spot. The AFSCME commercial is “friggin’ hilarious” as well.

Many of these are ads entertaining, but nothing is more so than the advertisements between the advertisements. While College Humor is the web’s #1 comedy site, the idea of a company paying for advertising on a compilation like this seems cannibalistic. Oh well.

I was shown this video the other day, it is a commercial for AARP, formerly the American Association for Retired Persons. It is an inspirational clip as well as an ad and I thought that the message and the way that it was displayed were both very empowering: 

We recycle, we monitor our shower time, we carry our own reusable bags to the supermarket. Homes and swanky hotels are becoming more environmentally conscious. Energy-wasting electricity is being swiftly replaced in favor of solar power. The hot topic around the world is a lovely shade of green.  In another effort to encourage green-ward thinking, Giftzip.com has surfaced for your shopping convenience. Inspired by creator Sam Hogg, the start-up site out of East Lansing, Michigan, is urging shoppers to can plastic gift cards by promoting greener gift-giving, and they have just the solution: e-gift cards. The site is sponsored by most major retailers that offer gift cards to their shoppers, everything from Disney to Neiman Marcus. Don’t know what you’re looking for? Narrow your search down by category: Him, Her, House, Apparel, Gourmet, Family, and Unique. From there, you have the option of browsing all the retailers advertised, and, upon clicking, Giftzip will redirect you straight to the retailer’s official website.  Handy, or just another testament to our society’s increasingly lazy attitude? With GPS, Widgets, iPhones and quick links at our disposal, could Giftzip be just another shortcut, an excuse for time-saving that hides behind the power of Green? It’s possible. With Giftzip, there exists more opportunities for retailers to advertise, and the site will generate a decline in the purchase of plastic gift cards. Slowly but surely, Giftzip will contribute Mother Nature’s cause. 

Advertising agencies are producing astounding work nowadays from agencies based in remote locations outside of Manhattan, New York. For example, Greenwich, CT or Glendale, CA or Charlotte, NC. BooneOakley has produced this YouTube video to reflect their trademark satiric advertising strategies and simultaneously explain their purpose and uniqueness within the vast industry:  

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Furthermore, their entire homepage is crafted upon a series of explanatory YouTube videos. 
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…They do…and they will. The web’s newest guilty pleasure, TextsFromLastNight.com, is making its sweeping rounds across the nation, and for once, we can all feel a little better about the crude, rude, or simply incomprehensible texts we sent last night.  The site, created by partners Ben Bator and Lauren Leto, is a user-generated forum for anonymous posters to advertise their unapologetically blush-worthy and decidedly hilarious text messages that they either sent (after the tequila shot that sealed their doom) or received. The appeal of harmlessly voyeuristic TFLN? It’s become a pseudo-support group for all the victims of SMS-faux pas. The majority of TFLN’s subject matter is…well…sex and drinking. Not often a good combination, but the crafty messages it spawns are the site’s recipe for survival, and even what makes it thrive.One would think the site’s content would prove way too risky for potential advertisers (unless your name is Jack Daniels, José Cuervo or Trojan Horse), but the site boasted fresh American Apparel banners starting at the beginning of this week. Of course, the clothing store isn’t exactly known for its conformist marketing, but it will be interesting to see the stampede as TFLN grows more popular by the day. It begs the question: Are advertisers ready to steer away from their stoic relationship with content, especially during this economic catastrophe? TFLN will provide an insightful platform for comparison. If you have a cellular device, chances are you probably sent a text you wish you could hide from (at least once in your life), whether or not it was the result of a night of alcohol-induced debauchery. We can all relate. So forget your humiliation: Search your outbox, find a gem, and share it with the world. It’s likely someone else did (or said) something similar - or just a lot more mortifying.  

CBS Outdoor, one of many CBS channels (which include CBS News, CBS Sports, CBS College Sports) has launched a new ad campaign this past Tuesday in which keywords would be shown on billboards for consumers to text and receive special offers and promotions from the advertiser. VP Marketing for CBS Outdoor, Jodi Sense, explained:

 “Out-of-home media have been choice marketing outlets for local businesses, and we are ramping up the effectiveness of our signage by giving our clients ways to further engage consumers with direct response messaging and compelling offers,” 

The full story can be found on MediaWeek. 

The recent Nike campaign starring Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as puppets who are roommates is a good example of how these two players have taken over the NBA and sports marketing in the U.S. Vitamin Water has also chosen to hype these two sports magnates in their new ad campaign pitting “the Black Mamba” (Kobe) vs. “the Chosen One” (LeBron). ESPN’s Sportscenter has even gone as far as to highlight these two players individual performances in one daily segment, making direct statistical comparisons in order to allow viewers to deduce who is really the best player in the NBA. There is no doubt that the success of these marketing campaigns directly influences the popularity of the NBA. Ever since Michael Jordan became the symbol of Nike beginning in the 80’s, the company as well as the NBA have benefitted tremendously. All that is needed now to benefit both the NBA as well as Vitamin Water and Nike, is for the two to square off in the upcoming Championship Finals. But with both the Lakers and the Cavaliers behind in their current Conference Championship Series, will either one even make an appearance? If not, will this correlate directly to poor television ratings of the NBA Finals?_____________________________________________________________________    

After the era of ‘carb-conscious’ comes another era of economic despair, where comfort foods are necessary. For this reason, Dunkin Donuts has found that people are buying their doughnuts again. Furthermore, they launched a campaign in which consumers could design their own treats on dunkindonuts.com  and enter a drawing to win $12,000. According to Dunkin Donuts VP, Cynthia Ashworth, site traffic increased dramatically and people were spending an average of 12 minutes designing their dream doughnuts.   Visit: DunkinDonuts.com/Donut to participate.   ___________________________________________________________________ 

These guys had the right idea… create a blog, fill it with hundreds of crazy ideas, offer the ideas up for grabs, and hope that some large brand steals an idea and gives you credit. Steal Our Ideas does just that, and in doing so has received notable publicity in the advertising world simply for the concept they created as a whole… the idea that there is such an infinite number of other ideas that we may as well share with each other as long as we’re getting credit in the process. Simultaneously, the blog manages to be witty and entertaining. One fan on Creativity Online even stated, 

Very clever. Wish I could’ve stolen the entire website idea from them.    

Here are a few sample ideas:  

Watch out for this hilarious Nike spot by Wieden featuring the muppetized MVP, Lebron James.

 Though most know not to go all-in with 2-7 off-suit, these new Bellwood Health Services print advertisements remind us that sometimes you just can’t help it. Ad by <Doner>

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I just came across a hilarious ad for Clear Shampoo. It is a battle of humans against evil dandruff warriors. I just thought it was creative because I had never seen something advertised this way. The video below is a must watch.

Just a quick note…. I stumbled (using stumbleupon.com) on this website creativeadvertisingworld.com which is a blog that basically is what the website says. It has all sorts of interesting articles linked to funny, creative, and unique stories of advertising or advertisements in general. Its worth a look.

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Check these new prints from Israeli airline Tzabar. Created by Grey, Tel-Aviv, these flight + concert package advertisements feature Sir Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, and Britney Spears. Promoting a morbid sense of urgency around the fact that these stars may drop dead at any moment, these ads are funky, and slightly offensive.

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Found this new ad from Philips on BrandFreak, thought it was pretty badass.

Let me first take a stance against some questionable criticism of this ad. Although I agree that Alfonso Ribeiro would be a fantastic contribution to the Carlton aesthetic, I think it’s funny when people criticize a beer commercial because it isn’t “convincing.” First of all, if you’re looking for nutritional facts about the kind of beer your drinking, you’re clearly not going to appreciate robots, lazers, and other stuff that kicks ass. Don’t be afraid of the future, because if you’re drinking Carlton, you’ll be able to fight robots. Get it?

This commercial for Carlton Natural Blonde, a low-carb Australian beeya, is a fairly accurate depiction of what the future holds for us…the website is just as informative, boasting a comprehensive “Guide for Men” on “How to Survive in the Future.” While future men will have to deal with Clones and Lycra body suits, at least carbohydrates won’t slow you down when you’re running from robots.