ss_blog_claim=5f03e3e7fa6ca8c951b6fbd30fa71c10 Ads | 12pointtype.com

Monthly archives

Geico’s Kash

In this new campaign for Geico from The Martin Agency, a stack of bills, topped with some primitive Mr. Potatohead eyes, shows up to remind us of how much money we can save on our car insurance. And the stack has a name — Kash.  In this sad economy, will consumers find these spots amusing or out of place? Seems a little weird to me.

Hanging Out at a Mall for the Holidays

Though many retailers are closing stores, Teen Vogue is taking its franchise to the mall. The Teen Vogue Haute Spot store will be open in the Mall at Short Hills, New Jersey from Nov. 28 through Dec. 26. Here’s the catch though; the magazine does not intend to sell merchandise. Instead, the store will be a place for girls to relax, try on clothes and drink smoothies — all while marketers woo them. You can read more about the weird, but yet ingenious campaign here.

Holiday Inn Express Rapper

Are nerds funny?  Can they rap?  Is there any originality in the idea that nerds rapping is funny?  Those are the questions that Fallon answers in this new ad for Holiday Inn Express.  I like the fact that it’s different; it makes the point that even nerds got game.  This is definitely thinking outside the box!

What Is Love?

Remember that skit from SNL?  Or the movie: “Night at the Roxbury”.  It was hysterical!  Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell were priceless.  Anyone from Saturday Night Live is funny, but this movie was great.  It brings back such memories – I was just graduated from High School, getting ready to go to Europe…awesome times. 

Well, the other day I was watching TV and this commercial came up.  It is priceless!  Its a parody of the movie/skit; that will keep people awake with a humorous take on the before-and-after effects of drinking Diet Pepsi MAX.  It also includes a behind-the-scenes look which features LL…

Trying to rise up from the ashes

Early this year, HSBC had reported a 29% decline in profit for the first 6 months of 2008, and its stock price has fallen about 30% in the last year to about $70 a share.  Although it seems like things are going the way of AIG for them, they have decided to run a huge campaign in New York Magazine.  Even before the trouble with AIG and company, HSBC made the decision to buy all the ads for Oct 27th issue of New York Magazine.  You can read more about their campaign here.

In times like this, do you think that was…

Must Drink More Milk

Have you ever come across someone on their bad day (really in a bad mood), and get an earful?  I come from New York, and I used to come across someone like that everyday.  It was hard to be the bigger person, but I prevailed…most of the time.  So, when I see an ad that has a big old grump in it, it makes me laugh and miss New York…just a little bit.

I came across this new ad for BC Dairy.  It is a stop image ad campaign from Bent Image Labs.  There are no words except: HYSTERICAL!

Enjoy!

When Is It Too Much?

As my fellow blogger has so humorously wrote about, there is no escaping advertising.  Everywhere you go, there is a new ad promoting…Pepsi, Coke, Nike, Addidas – you get the drift.  I have to say though it gets especially annoying – during an election season.  Man, do those smear ads run rampant or what?  If you haven’t done the proper research, it can get down right confusing.  It seems every time you blink, there is a new ad stating: “We can’t afford John McCain” or “Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican”.

By the of the election, one can find themselves thinking: “Wahoo –…

Fate

I have never been one who believes in fate.  The newest creation from Wieden + Kennedy, Portland – makes me think otherwise.  David Fincher directs the life-long journey of pro football players LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu as their destinies collide in an NFL football game.

Like I have said: I am not much of a sports fan.  But this is a spectacular commercial.

Striving for Balance Between Losses and Laughs

“For more than a year, financial institutions have been running campaigns that address the tumultuous economic conditions.  Now they have company.” 

I came across an interesting article on NYTimes.com, about how retailers are forced to take a comical look at advertising.  For instance, the theme for an online campaign for Denny’s states: “Who’s Gonna Bail You Out?”  HBO Video’s campaign reads: “Life Hurts.  Laughs Help.”

Read more here about the humorous, yet risky campaigns.

A Way To Save and Still Have Crisp Clothes

During this economic crisis, the Average Joe (or Jane) is forced to make their paychecks stretch, so that they can buy the things they need.  For example: Shopping at Walmart, buying in bulk or washing clothes that you normally would take to the cleaners.   

There is a new partnership between two large companies, which will turn stores into launching pads for two new products: Tide Total Care and Downy Total Care.  Read more about their campaign here.

Advertising This Halloween with an Economic Twist

Usually around this time of year, you would normally see ads for candy, movies, or merchandise filled with pictures of bats, skeletons, witches, monsters and so on.  Rightfully so, as this is Halloween after all; and this holiday is one where everyone can feel like a kid again – or just use it as an excuse to act ‘naughty’ for one night (whichever is your ‘poison’).

But for the average American, this ‘wonderful’ economic turmoil has taken more of a toll on their lives than any “werewolf, warlock or witch”.  So this year expect more ads on frugality than fright.  Here is more…

Honda Grooves

Lancaster, California may not have been one of the more publicized cities in Los Angeles County…and now it will probably stay that way.  Honda had received permission to use a road at the edge of the town to create a musical road.  The quarter-mile stretch of road which, features grooves in the pavement in such a way that if you drive at the right speed, you would have heard: “The William Tell Overture” by Gioachino Rossini – you might know it as the theme to: “The Lone Ranger”. 

I say would have, because on September 22nd (just 17 days after it was…

Economy Bailout Song: AIG, Freddie Mac, Lehman Bros

I don’t need to tell you this, but our economy is doing just horribly.  Just like everyone else in America, when I found out the news about AIG, Freddie Mac and Lehman Brothers…I was floored, flabbergasted.

You see I worked at AIG, about 3 – 4 years ago; and during their new hire orientation – which lasted 4 hrs – about 90% of the discussion was concentrated on how big and powerful AIG was.  AIG was the parent company of “hundreds” of smaller companies; had thousands of employees; and was making millions of dollars in investments.  At the end you were left thinking, “Wow,…

Creative Advertisements from Around the World

I found this website that had some awesome pictures of different advertisements from around the world.  Here is an awesome example:

 

 

 

 

 

 

An innovative idea on a large billboard in Amsterdam.  You can check out the rest here.

Honda Commercial

I recently saw a commercial from Honda, it was very interesting – and by interesting I mean weird. It featured a choir of people imitating the sounds of a Honda Civic.  From starting of the car right down to the rain falling on the windows.  Weird and really, REALLY annoying. 

Well, as I was searching online for material to write about; I came across the AWESOME parody of the Honda commercial.  Enjoy!

Marketing Lotion As a Tool

Most men in America today don’t use lotion normally, for example Nivea has a lotion line specifically geared towards men; and it’s not doing so well.  They sold roughly 15,000 bottles last year in the US, according to Information Resources.  While, in contrast Nivea’s other lines have sold 5.7 million bottles.

In its marketing research, Vaseline found that “men were concerned about feeling greasy and appearing lady-like when using any lotion”.  In an effort to introduce their new lotion for men (Vaseline Men – catchy right?), Vaseline has teamed up with ESPN for “help”.  I surmise that to most men, anything…

Happy Friday!

So when you were younger, do you remember having a swear jar?  Ya know the one that Dad always filled up when it was tax time?  We never had one in our house.  But I remember one time, I believe I was around 8 yrs old – I said a bad word.  I don’t remember what I said, but I do remember the taste of the soap.  Dude, do I wish we had a swear jar back then.

Anyway, I digress.  I saw this commercial the other day on YouTube.  It made me laugh, I know on Fridays – everyone needs…

The New Volkswagen Routan Campaign

“US birthrates are at a 35 year high…and the reason why may shock you…”  I was watching TV, and that news intrigued me, that is until Brooke Shields went on to explain: “Everyday in our country; more and more people are having babies simply for German Engineering.”  It’s the new commercials from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, for the newest Minivan to hit the streets:  The Volkswagen Routan.

 

In a concerned, do-gooder obliviousness, Shields claims there’s an “epidemic sweeping the nation: women everywhere are having babies just to get a VW Routan.”   I have only seen one commercial, but when I went…

Don’t Vote – We Don’t need a change!

Ah – Ha! Gotcha!  It’s this type of shock treatment that the Oregon company, Borders Perrin Norrander, were going after.  They created the campaign: “Don’t Vote: Things are just fine the way they are” to encourage voter registration. 

On the main page of the site, you are greeted with an American flag, which starts to fall apart.  After the flag falls apart, you read: “DON’T VOTE THINGS ARE FINE JUST THE WAY THEY ARE.  TAKE A LOOK AROUND. OUR WORLD NEEDS A CHANGE.  YOU CAN BE THAT CHANGE.  VOTE.  AND ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO VOTE.” On the site, users can download…

We All Walk In Different Shoes

Kenneth Cole’s newest advertising campaign follows individuals who live life “differently”.  There’s an African American woman with Albinism, Tammy Faye-Bakker’s tattooed Evangelical son, an ovarian cancer survivor,  a transgendered woman and Matisyahu, a Jewish musician who connected with his religion through Bob Marley’s music.

On the site there are video interviews and bio’s for each person. The videos are around 3 minutes a piece which seem a little too long to hold the average person’s attention. The campaign’s message is, “We all have a role in life, but only a few people dare to rewrite the script. Join us to celebrate…

Thinking outside the box

How would you, as a magazine company, grab someone’s attention in this day and age? 

Two magazines are trying the ‘thinking-outside-the-box’ approach in advertising; The Economist (focused on international politics and business) and The Atlantic (focused on current events, foreign affairs, politics, and travel).  You can read about their awesome campaigns here.  Both promotions are just another example of the extraordinary efforts to catch the eye of the younger generation who help decide where marketers buy ads. 

There are plans to put the ads in unexpected locales such as bodegas, restaurant menu boards and the shampoo shelves of drugstores.  The Atlantic is…

What Were They Thinking? Part One

So I’ve written some filler pieces; now it’s time for the good stuff.  Lately, I have been seeing some really bad advertising; for example the Microsoft commercials with Seinfeld.  What were they thinking?  CP + B are known for their unconventional creative strategies, but this?  I find these commercials kind of weird and out of touch, don’t you?  Then again, I have never been a fan of Seinfeld; which probably is the key to understanding these commercials.

Here is another example: Emerald Nuts.  Back in 2007, or was it 2006?  Anyhow, Robert Goulet was the mischievous guy who messed with your stuff while…

Banned X-Box commercial

Sorry if you have seen this already, but I just found this out.  I can not understand why Microsoft would ban this commercial.  Too violent maybe?  If that’s the case, then what about the other 80% of our commercials?  What about movie previews?  What about game previews?  The list can go on and on.

Seriously though, if using your hands as imaginary guns can be determined as violence…then perhaps they have a point.  Time to tell the kids that playing cops and robbers is promoting violence.  Perhaps Xbox 360 was looking for where the game console is in all this frenzy.  Where…

Levi’s Viral Effort

OK, NOW I’VE SEEN IT ALL!

 

I was reading Adweek.com, which states that Levi’s is launching a new viral effort that will attract young men to pass along videos of….well beasts emerging from the button-fly of Levi’s jeans.  At Unbuttonyourbeast.com, you can choose from several different characters, customize a message and email to…whoever you want.  Here is an example of one:

 

 

What will they think of next??

Frost it and Toss it!

Poop Freeze 

Came across this nice little ditty courtesy of The Soup. It is absolutely required watching. Now I am a dog-owner and I would never, ever buy this product. Of course, my precious puppy lady is quite regular and not prone to messy accidents. Perhaps, if one had a dog with a weak stomach I can see how it might be a good idea. Might.

Which brings me to a possibly better idea. Why doesn’t someone introduce an Activia like substance for doggies. Food scientists, chemists, fungi-specialists…get on that!

But in the meantime this is still good for a laugh. It reminds me of one of…

License to Create – Part 1

The 2008 Licensing International Expo just wrapped up last week in New York City and this show was marked by a few significant factors. As a creative, we love getting out of the office and out from behind our Macs to seek out visual inspiration, practical application and what directions creative work is going in. The entertainment category is one of the most creatively opportune categories to work in. In 25 years of being in the business, the entertainment world always seems to offer the widest berth for doing great work. After all, what’s better than doing creative work for…