You know that animated little guy for Empire Carpets with the bushy white mustache? He was based on and voiced by a real person, Lynn Hauldren, who passed away this week at the age of 89. Farewell, friend. Spokesman for the brand for the past 40 years, and originally appearing in commercials in live action before being replaced by a cartoon version of himself, Hauldren occupies a special place in advertising history. And who could forget that jingle? Let us take a moment to remember his body of work: [More]
P&G Coupon Book Full Of Delightfully Stereotypical "Mom" Imagery, And Savings!
By April 25, 2011
A packet of “mom”-centered P&G coupons landed in Post Punk Kitchen forum member raspberrycomplaint’s mailbox and she found the ad copy and images pretty amusing. She posted several of the pages along with her commentary, like the one of a wife feeding her husband snacks. “At the end of the day, I get supper on the table. My husband refuses to use utensils. He says that’s what I’m here for, and makes me hand feed him his supper, one bite at a time. I just feel so proud that I can be useful to him. That’s a woman’s job.” It’s all very facetious and snarky and worth a good chuckle, but it makes you wonder who comes up with this stuff. [More]
Switch To Old-School Safety Razors And Save $160 A Year
By April 25, 2011
Like a drug dealer giving out free samples, Gillette has been getting men hooked on Fusion razors by handing out free Fusion razors. You go along and you think, mm, this is a pretty good shave, and eventually you need to buy replacement cartridges, and it turns out they cost $40! Reader Jim got sick of spending $250 a year on cartridges for a shave that wasn’t stellar so he decided to kick it like a grandpa and switch to old-school double-edged safety razors. Jim says the blades on these just cost pennies a piece and the shave is cleaner and closer. Here’s how he made the switch: [More]
McDonald's Canada Accepts Monopoly Money
By April 14, 2011
Paying “in Monopoly money” may cease to be a pejorative after McDonald’s Canada started selling fast food in exchange for bills from the classic board game. [More]
Tajazzle Bedazzles Your Intimate Areas
By April 14, 2011
This is an incredible infomercial for “Tajazzle,” a “3-step system of personal confidence” whose third step is a crystal tattoo that you place in an area “only your lover can find.” Everything from the product itself, to the cheesy actors super committed to being super sensuous, is hilarious. [More]
Maybe Staples Knows Something About This Safe That We Don't
By April 13, 2011
Staples’ marketing reminder emails are very useful for some products that people buy frequently and regularly: say, printer ink or dry-erase markers. We’re not sure how sophisticated their marketing reminder software is, though, because they contacted Matthew to let him know that it’s time to buy a new fireproof safe. [More]
Revolt Over GoDaddy CEO's Elephant Kill Video Makes 20,433 Domains Flee, Rival Claims
By April 8, 2011
Rival domain name registrar Namecheap says they’ve raised over $20,000 for an elephant charity and poached thousands of customers who switched 20,433 domain names from GoDaddy following an uproar over a video their CEO posted of himself killing a pachyderm. Bob Parsons is unapologetic, saying he did it to feed the hungry villagers and save their crops. But that’s just a moral fig leaf. In another video, Bob hunts and kills a leopard. I don’t think it ended up as steaks for hungry villagers. [More]
This Cigarette Ice Cream Truck Is Doing It Wrong
By April 4, 2011
Pro tip: when you buy an old ice cream truck and turn it into a mobile cigarette dispensary, you should probably cover up all the old ads for Bombpops and Choco Tacos. Reader discounteggroll’s co-worker snapped this picture at a gas station on the NY-CT border in Greenwich, CT. (Perhaps the truck is parked on the CT side of the parking lot, to take advantage of CT’s lower cigarette tax?) If it doesn’t violate any regulations, like the Tobacco Control Act of 2009 which prohibits the sale, distribution, marketing and promotion of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to children under the age of 18, it’s in poor taste, even with the sign asking for ID. “One Big Vanilla ice cream sandwich, please.” “Sorry kid, we got Pall Malls.” [More]
GoDaddy CEO Shoots Elephant, Sparks Stampede Of Customers To Flee
By March 31, 2011
The CEO of domain name registrar GoDaddy is facing an online furor after the video he posted of himself killing an elephant in Africa went viral. After the elephant dies and CEO Bob Parsons poses next to it, villagers from all around come out to strip and devour the carcass on the spot. Many of them are wearing day-glo orange GoDaddy caps. As these images play in the video, “Hells Bells” provides the soundtrack. Now a backlash movement has started for folks to switch their domain providers away from GoDaddy. [More]
It's Bacon Flavored Air!
By March 31, 2011
If you find yourself skipping your kid’s birthday party and turning down intimacy time with your beloved to attend Denny’s Baconalias, you may need Bacon Air. It’s like Nicorette for bacon addicts. It’s a small inhaler of bacon-flavored air so you can get your porcine fix without those nasty side effects like cholesterol or heart attacks. And also like Nicorette it can simply be used for times when it’s not easy to smoke (bacon), like inside a New York bar, onboard transatlantic flights, or at the gym. Since launching this week it appears supplies are already sold out. Clearly this is a market whose needs had previously gone unmet. [More]
Pizza Hut Put Kibosh On The Amazing Salad Towers Of China
By March 31, 2011
Our post last week about “How To Game The Salad Bar” reminded commenter power lurker of the Chinese way of playing the game at Pizza Hut. See, in America when you tell people their salad bar is limited to one plate, they shrug because no American eats salad. But in China in the mid to late 2000′s, they turned into a competition to see who can create the tallest and most elaborate salad tower. [More]
Man Buys 1 Powerade At Rite Aid, Gets 21 Inch Receipt
By March 28, 2011
Josh bought a singular Powerade from his local Rite Aid. He handed over one dollar and thirty-six cents. In return, he received not only his Powerade, but a 21 inch-long receipt. [More]
Girl Scouts Open Pop-Up Shops In NYC
By March 28, 2011
The Girl Scout are going through a modernization revamp, and it tastes delicious. Besides testing out accepting credit cards via smartphone, they have also opened up several “pop-up” shops in each of the five New York boroughs. That’s right, a physical location that you can drive to to purchase Thin Mints, Tagalongs and Samoas that has regular business hours. And unlike the front of a grocery store, they’re inside a building. Here’s a list of their cookie depots, which will be open until May 5. If one of these was opened in your town, would you frequent it? [More]
Video Of Home Depot Easy Button Ripoff In Action
By March 24, 2011
Reader Ed went back to Home Depot and took a video of that Home Depot ripoff of the Staple’s “Easy Button” getting pressed. The mechanized voice released from inside says, “Don’t see the product you want you want on our displays? The Home Depot can still provide it! Ask an associate to set up a CFP to locate the product you want!” That’s a lot more words than when you push the original button, which says, “That was Easy.” Nice job, big orange, you steal someone else’s idea and then totally ruin the whole concept by adding a bunch of extra marketing language. [More]
BK Splits With Agency That Gave Us Creepy King
By March 21, 2011
The King has fired his jester. Burger King is parting ways with its ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, with whom it has worked since 2004. While the work never succeeded in toppling McDonald’s as number 1 hamburger slinger, it certainly recreated Burger King in the consumer mindspace and helped usher in a new era of advertising. Adfreak rounds up what they think are the 15 most quintessential CP+B+BK ads. I’d have to agree with their top pick, the infamous “Whopper Virgins” series where they brought Burger King and McDonald’s hamburgers to remote Thai hill villagers and Transylvanian farmers and videotaped their taste test. [More]
Troll Dolls Get Sassy Makeover, For Some Reason
By March 10, 2011
Retro toy doll sensation “Trolls” are coming back to shelves with a huge makeover. Instead of chubby bodies and hideous faces, the new dolls are basically “Bratz” with giant hairdos. The creatures are called “Trollz” and are tied in with an animated cartoon series. This is actually their redebut; after a lackluster offering in 2006, they are trotting out the dolls and the cartoon for another go-round. Second second time’s the charm? [More]
Verizon Gives Out Refunds For Deceptive Premium Text Messages
By March 10, 2011
Verizon has set up a site to give out refunds to customers who signed up for premium text messages with an advertiser who “did not meet Verizon Wireless’ standards for the disclosure of pricing and subscription information.” Here is a list of the 120 affected short codes. If you were a Verizon customer who signed up for one of them, you can file a claim here. [More]
Spirit Airline Ad Riffs On Sheen Meltdown
By March 4, 2011
Spirit Airlines has another tasteless email promotion, this time riffing off the crazy phrases Charlie Sheen has been spewing in his latest media meltdown. Unlike their previous ones that made jokes about the BP oil spill, muff-diving and M.I.L.Fs (“many islands, low fares” – ahem), this one does not make me want to punch them in the face. So kudos on that, guys. [More]
