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]
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Domino's Pizza Ads Smack Of Desperation
By 3.11.11
Does Domino’s seem a little desperate lately? A little too eager to prove that they’re listening to your negative tweets about the pizza quality, and not putting boogers in the pies? Like that commercial where they talk all those customers who think they’re complaining about the ingredients inside a focus group room, but then they’re actually in the farmer’s field where the tomatoes come from! Because absolutely nothing happens in the process between getting that tomato to the local pizzeria. Nope, they just send it via pneumatic tube. The comedians at UCB have noticed the earnest tone and made a lil parody video to skewer Domino’s for daring to try to change. Free salad topoff via helicopter, anyone? [More]
Verizon Gives Out Refunds For Deceptive Premium Text Messages
By 3.10.11
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]
Nine "Laws" That Advertisers Try Not To Break
By 3.8.11
Something fishy about that late-night ad for the new device that chops, slaps, snuggles and absorbs all stains — all for just $19.95 plus shipping and handling? Turns out the ad may not be illegal, but could still run afoul of the standards of the National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus, a sort of industry star chamber that warns advertisers when they’ve gone too far. [More]
Spirit Airline Ad Riffs On Sheen Meltdown
By 3.4.11
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]
Behind The Scenes Of The New Old Spice Commercial
By 3.4.11
Here’s a behind the scenes look at how they made the new Old Spice commercial where the guy goes from Tahiti to the Alps to his home pleasure pad. I thought they did it all with fancy computer mouse clicks, but actually it’s all shot in one take with a lot of wires and props and set pieces that slide in and out. It’s pretty fantastic, but I would have liked to see the interviewer ask the talent, Isiah “Mr. Old Spice” Mustafa, what thinks about the fact that he is going to go through the rest of his life with people asking if they can smell him. [More]
I Don't Not Understand Sara Lee's Curiously Double Negative Slogan
By 2.24.11
The cameraphone of reader Thomas points us to a classic American slogan that has been bedeviling consumers for decades, “Everybody doesn’t like something, but nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.” It is shortened on this truck to “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.” Huh? Isn’t that a double negative? Yes, and it was planned this way. [More]
We Hope This Is Real: Plates On Benches Leave Ads On Ladies' Legs
By 2.24.11
Here’s a guerrilla marketing technique that goes far beyond KFC’s advertising of the Double Down on the butts of college co-eds. A clothing store in New Zealand is using plates installed on benches to imprint their ad onto the back of bare legs. [More]
Mommy Bloggers Offered $10 To Write Nice Stories About Toyota
By 2.16.11
Looking around the internet, there is often a thin line between editorial content and advertising. It’s not surprising to go to an entertainment blog on a Friday to not only see that the page has been skinned with an ad for a new movie but also a gallery of that movie’s star or a fluff interview with someone in the film. But some mommy bloggers say they’re not willing to cross that line by accepting a $10 gift card in exchange for writing a positive story about Toyota. [More]
Conan O'Brien Presents Newest Groupon Ad
By 2.9.11
Apparently, not all of Groupon’s controversial ads were shown during the Super Bowl. Conan O’Brien unearthed an ad for the site you may have missed. [More]
Groupon CEO Responds To Super Bowl Ad Fracas
By 2.8.11
In a blog post responding to the furor over their Super Bowl ads, Groupon’s CEO Andrew Mason says that “the last thing we wanted was to offend our customers.” Hm, maybe you should have showed the ads to a few of them first. [More]
Disney Now Marketing To Newborns In The Delivery Room
By 2.7.11
They say that first impressions are crucial and the folks at Disney are taking that very literally, having recently launched a campaign to begin marketing their products to brand new moms and to babies barely out of the womb. [More]
Were Groupon's Super Bowl Ads Tasteless?
By 2.7.11
Groupon spent several million dollars offending a lot of people last night with a series of Super Bowl ads that started off as philanthropic pitches, then quickly segued into how you could get a great deal on the endangered entity with a Groupon. The online backlash was immediate and left many viewers wondering if Kenneth Cole was moonlighting as a Groupon ad copywriter. [More]
Diet Coke's Anti-Starbucks Ad Finds Perfect Home On Wall Outside Starbucks
By 2.4.11
Here in NYC, there are countless surfaces available for slapping your ads onto. So for its slam on Starbucks, the folks at Diet Coke picked the perfect spot: on the same building as Starbucks. [More]
Verizon Drops Snark Bomb On AT&T In New iPhone Ad
By 2.4.11
Verizon gets all catty against AT&T in this new ad. First it shows the iPhone spinning and light passing over it while a a dramatic orchestra pumps and a throaty announcer intones, “It’s beautiful. It’s intelligent. It’s genius. But does your network, work?” Then the phone rings. It’s Verizon guy! He says, “Yes, I can hear you now,” and wiggles his eyebrows. Oh snap! Let the coke wars begin! In other news, the “can you hear me now” guy is has put on a few pounds. In other other news, Verizon has declared they’re all sold out of iPhone 4 pre-orders. [More]
Debt Junkies, Have A Cup Of Instant Money!
By 2.2.11
This curious 1960’s ad for a Bank of America personal loan portrays needy borrowers as jerky junkies twitching for a fix. Thankfully, BofA has a storehouse of jars of “instant” money (that operate suspiciously like a cup of cappuccino) that is the balm for your frayed nerves. [More]
Jackson Hewitt Sues H&R Block Over "Trash Talk"
By 2.1.11
It probably goes without saying that I love a good cat fight, that’s why I’m licking my paws and purring with delight over the news that Jackson Hewitt has bared its claws to take on the biggest feline of them all, H&R Block. [More]
The Colonel Is Kicking Ronald's Ass In The China Fast Food Wars
By 1.28.11
Though KFC is struggling stateside, in China it is dominating over all other fast food rivals, even global juggernaut McDonald’s. In some parts of the country, the image of Colonel Sanders is more ubiquitous than Mao’s, reports Bloomberg Markets magazine. That’s no mean feat in a country that has proven resistant to foreign penetration. The secret, is in the sauce, using local ingredients in the food as well as its management team, building up partnerships with local suppliers and catering menus to include regional dishes. [More]
