I have a pretty high tolerance for gross things. I’ve painted my arms with rubber cement just to pull off the gooey-halfdry sheets of elementary-school-ectoplasm. I’ve done push-ups in dogcrap (mostly by accident). I eat canned corn with ketchup. HowEVER, I CANNOT get behind the new Domino’s Fudgems commercial. Being an insider in the industry, I’ve managed to get my hands on the transcript, which I will so kindly share: 1. Baby-faced, toolbaggish delivery guy comes to the door all smiley and lame. 2. Greets mom and little girl in a way that proves that has never, and will never, get laid. 3. Camera pans to Furry-Block-of-Shit. 4. Delivery Tool says something unexciting about dipping sauce and hands sticky brownie chunk to mom. 5. Mom says something dumb and faux-cheerful, and then quickly proceeds to pat the Furry-Block-of-Shit, only to get shit on her hand. She titters like an impressionable lamb. 6. Mom pawns off gross brownie to daughter, who eats it and then hugs Furry-Block-of-Shit and tells him that she loves him, only to get covered in shit. [EYE ON THE BALL, little lady! Did you NOT see what JUST happened to your mom’s gross hand?? Also, you have shown me that you clearly have no idea what love is. I mean, I don’t know much, but I do know that love is NOT tufted excrement.] 7. Mom and daughter laugh like Stepford Wives. They wave to the Delivery Toolbag with markedly limp wrists. Mom yells “OHHHH FUDGEMS! as supreme final justification of her empty mind and complete lack of acting ability. aaaaaaaaaaaaand CUT!

Here’s a couple of smart, simple, well designed pieces for Penguin Audio Books out of Y&R Malaysia. I dig’em.

And a pretty cool billboard for Heineken (look closely, lest you miss the goodness) from TBWA Amsterdam.

Thanks to Advertising/Design Goodness for pointing them out.

Also some impressive art direction in this campaign for the International Surfing Museum from Y&R Irvine. I guess, maybe surprisingly, Y&R gets a pat on the back today.

Thanks to the TwentyFour blog for pointing these out. You can see the other two in the campaign at their site.

UPDATE: All that’s old is new again. Apparently a french agency, bleu blanc rouge has already done…well…this:

Technorati Tags:
Beyond Madison Avenue, Advertising, Design

Here’s BMA’s Top 25 Advertising Blogs for Week 23: 1 - AdRants - 9,224 (LW - 1)(+19) 2 - Advertising/Design Goodness - 26,443 (LW - 2)(-113) 3 - Werbeblogger - 29,236 (LW - 3)(-648) 4 - Media Buyer/Planner - 29,038 (LW - 4)(-159) 5 - AdFreak - 32,040 (LW - 5)(+499) 6 - Adverblog - 36,755 (LW - 6)(-840) 7 - Adland - 46,239 (LW - 7)(-1,395) 8 - AdverBox - 51,540 (LW - 8)(+2,274) 9 - AdJab - 56,390 (LW - 9)(-910) 10 - AdPulp - 109,109 (LW - 10)(+1,507) 11 - Logic + Emotion - 109,465 (LW - 11)(+7,558) 12 - Experience Curve - 115,229 (LW - 12)(+4,759) 13 - TWENTY FOUR - 118,143 (LW - 13)(+3,862) 14 - ….HOW ADVERTISING SPOILED ME…. - 123,570 (LW - 16)(+12,468) 15 - Advertising for Peanuts - 133,063 (LW - 15)(+1,880) 16 - Jaffe Juice - 140,619 (LW - 14)(-10,153) 17 - Russell Davies - 184,132 (LW - 17)(-1,070) 18 - AdverGirl - 207,058 (LW- 18)(-2,204) 19 - Beyond Madison Avenue - 227,763 (LW - 19)(-22,773) 20 - American Copywriter - 233,075 (LW - 20)(-1,317) 21 - CMM News - 295,608 (LW - 21)(-45,520) 22 - BrandFlakes for Breakfast - 327,176 (LW - 22)(-30,045) 23 - Room 116 - 312,101 (LW - 23)(-12,824) 24 - AdVerb: Man of Action - 385,154 (LW - 25)(+43,624) 25 - AdHurl - 391,845 (LW - 24)(+17,698) Very quietly, AdFreak and AdverBox have been putting together nice runs. At one time, AdFreak was over 40K, and AdverBox was over 60K. Both have marched upward, and with the rest of the Top 10 mostly treading water, the blogs are making their hay. Outside the Top 10, AdPulp keeps L+E, Experience Curve and TWENTY-FOUR at bay, and out of the Top 10, yet again this week. Now just 24K separates #10 from #15. Past the Top 15, #16-23 all were down, but AdHurl and AdVerb both had big moves to tighten the gap. Next update is next week.

A peppermint-flavored, well-lubed thank you to Cool Hunting for showcasing these multimedia platform shoes, designed to “help sex workers protect themselves.” The shoes have a “platform platform” for streaming video, along with a GPS system, a 911-button, and other techy goodies. So, not only do sex workers have a more updated way of marketing themselves (and keeping safe), but they can now also watch LonelyGirl15 videos on their shoes! So, girls, next time your bf says he’s going to “the itty-bitty movie theater on the corner of 8th Ave and Main,” grab his wallet. [photo cred to Cool Hunting.]

And by that I mean good design. Or its making a resurgence. Years ago, you’d wander through any neighborhood and find contemporary homes designed by the great architects of this century. While Frank Lloyd Wright may be best known to the masses for Falling Water, you’ll also find his homes buried in little neighborhoods like Oak Park, Illinois. Nowadays you have to check with the home-owners association before you’re allowed to paint, let alone build something that isn’t red brick and colonial.

But the times are finally starting to turn around again, and, I dare say, on an even more cutting edge basis. (Good) Design is finally starting to show at least a little bit of an impact on the general population. You don’t have to dig quite as deeply to find it. It’s on vodka bottles. It’s on bed sheets:

And the architects are coming back to the neighborhoods. Check out the work of M.J. Neal who’s been sneaking stunning architectural gems around Austin, TX:

Or perhaps the most guilty of all companies, Apple. Regardless of the constant battle between PC and Mac lovers, no one can deny that Apple has made huge leaps toward making the general public accustomed to impressively good design. I don’t recall seeing any PC’s in MOMA’s collection.
Even the Art Directors Club recently had a seminar called Designism, which unfortunately I missed. Their aim? To “join in a debate over advertising and design as instruments for social and political change. Can practitioners use their talent to shape life in these changing times?” You can listen to a podcast of the discussion here.

So what’s it all mean? Great, we’re seeing more design out there. It’s happening. Let’s sit back, relax, and watch it happen. HELL NO! We need to do MORE. We need to support it. We need to buy it. We need to tell the companies that we appreciate it.

But beyond that, we need to TAKE PART IN IT! We’re advertising and marketing professionals. We make all of that junk out there that people are training themselves to ignore. We make every bit of communication that tells people to buy something, to sell something, to do something. We have a huge amount of input on the culture of communication. It’s time that we use it and use it wisely. It’s time to bring the art back into what we do.

Think about it; forty years from now will someone be paying to hang our ads in their living room?

Photo credit for the bedspreads goes to The Cool Hunter.

I’m completely digging (and, well, “digg”ing) yesbutnobutyes lately. And, considering that I’ve pilfered nuggets from their fodder TWICE in the past week, I owe them a firm high-five.
Hey, yesbutnobutyes: consider yourself happily slapped.

Today, they have shown me the Testimonial Generator.

Here are some examples:

“Milkbones is the next killer ap. I will recommend you to my collegues. I would gladly pay over $600 for milkbones.”
–Dave Brown

“Z Cavaricci is the most valuable business resource we have EVER purchased. I’m good to go. I wish I would have thought of it first.”
–Julie Sanders

See? Flawless.

[flickr thanks to soundfromwayout.]

Greenpeace, that Earth loving organization that immediately brings to mind images of tanker ships draped in protest banners, is launching an online campaign against (sort of?) Apple. As they describe it:

“We love Apple. Apple knows more about “clean” design than anybody, right? So why do Macs, iPods, iBooks and the rest of their product range contain hazardous substances that other companies have abandoned? A cutting edge company shouldn’t be cutting lives short by exposing children in China and India to dangerous chemicals. That’s why we Apple fans need to demand a new, cool product: a greener Apple.”

Their site on the issue is here, and looks cleverly similar to the Apple website dressed in green and a smattering of recycling logos. Check it out for a lot more info on what they’re trying to do. Or you can go here to write to Steve, sign up for email info, and otherwise join in on the fun.

This Rozerem ad has been discussed in a few places already. But…I don’t care. I like it! And its damn rare that I can say that about a pharmaceutical ad. Other blogs have already spent time ripping to shreds the meaning behind including Abe Lincoln and a beaver in a dream, but I’ll just leave that aside. Frankly, I don’t think that anyone intended much of a Freudian analysis of the characters (ok, maybe the beaver has a little “hidden” meaning, but still). The simple, and in my opinion, far more stunning aspect of this campaign is that…I like it! I can count on two fingers the number of pharma campaigns I’ve seen that I specifically remember liking. The Rozerem spot is also well written, including a couple of quick quips like “He cheats…Uh, hello! ‘Honest Abe’”. They’ve done an thorough job of rounding out the campaign on the website and in other media. So pharma agencies, take note. Good pharma ads are not a complete oxymoron. It’s time to step up.

In today’s installation of “Consumer-Generated Content Eats the Entire World with Its Big Fat Gaping Mouth,” we’re exploring how even innocent, demure M&Ms have jumped aboard the customize-your-stuff-to-death train. At MyMMs.com, you can choose from 22 colors, customized sayings, and an array of fun packaging. Unfortunately, the minimum order is 6o bucks. Baby Shower favors? Wedding favors? There’s gotta be some rude and inappropriate sayings there, right? I was also just thinking of getting a big bag of green ones that read, simply: “I’m a slut.”

After all the hoopla over in Spain where someone finally realized that fashion models might just be unattractively (and unhealthily) skinny, it’s no surprise that someone has come up with a quick solution. Thank you HP. See, if fashion photographers would just start using HP cameras, they wouldn’t have to worry about how slim the models were. HP’s newest cameras feature what they call a slimming effect (also known as the ability to horizontally stretch an image in-camera). Of course, the sales pitch sounds a lot like a bad infomercial for the latest weight loss treatment:

“With the slimming feature, anyone can appear more slender - instantly!” “Instantly trim pounds off your subject with the slimming feature!”

Of course, I’m torn by this. If it were actually used in the fashion industry, then it might be taking a decent step toward convincing models (and the rest of the industry) that they don’t have to be a size 0. Then again, what does it say about us that we can’t even wait to get our photos off the camera before manipulating our pictures to make people appear skinnier? The next feature HP has planned is a mini clone-stamp tool, which they’ll call the “stain fighting feature”.

Brrrrrrrringgggg. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiinnng. “Uh, um, ya… hello? Yeaa, uh, do you have Captain Morgan in a can?” “Why, yes we do!” “Well then, WHY DON’T YOU LET HIM OUT!?! AHAHAHHAAAAA.” [unbridled hilarity ensues.] *** It’s true, folks, Prince Albert and Peter Pan may need to take a back seat to the Cap’n. Diageo has announced (via AdAge) trials of canned Cap’n&Cokes, Whiskey&Cokes, and 7&7s (Right… I mean “Captain Morgan and Cola, Smirnoff Vodka and Lemon-Lime Soda, George Dickel Whisky and Cola, and Seagram’s 7 American Whiskey and Lemon-Lime Soda”). Early results have been near-to-fabulous. Ready-to-drink cocktails are already a common play in overseas markets– but are we ready ’round here?

In case you haven’t already noticed, some changes are afoot here at BMA. Our regular readers probably noticed that things dropped off a bit around here for a little while. We needed some time to figure out where BMA is heading and how best to handle it. After some behind-the-scenes discussion, Mack Collier has passed on the editorial torch (somewhat less known, but no less prestigious than the Olympic Torch) in favor of focusing on his personal blog, The Viral Garden.

We’re re-examining what it means to talk about things “beyond madison avenue” and altering our plan of attack. So spread the word that we’re ready to rumble. We’ll continue to make some changes as we find ourselves and our place in the blogosphere, and we’re always looking for new blogs to read, link to, and share with. Feel free to get in touch with us if you have an idea you think we’d like to write about, a blog we’d like to read, or even just to say hello.

HA. I mean… HAHAAAAHAAAAAA. HA. Yo– score one for snark. To quote from I Want One of Those: “What better present for the person who has everything than a poignant reminder that they want for nothing?… Indeed even old Macbeth, though mad as a kipper, realised that life, whilst full of sound and fury (and that was before iPods) is inherently daft and ultimately signifies Nothing… It’s a statement, an empty gesture if you will, a nod at the futility of ownership, and yet despite ‘Nothing’ being nothing, it is of course packed with millions of protons, neutrons and what have you, which is pretty good for Nothing.” “Nothing” costs about 6 bucks, which is a pittance to pay to completely piss someone off. Especially on their birthday. [via YesButNoButYes.]

I’m a little behind on posting these, but I don’t care. Josh Spear pointed them out a while ago, and the bottle designs are phenomenal. I love the art work! The bottles are part of a special art series and are the work of Jason Thielke, Yosoh, Matthew Curry, and Ogi. The Bong Vodka website is also really well designed (turn your volume off/down before clicking).

Photo credit to Josh Spear.

On Wednesday, Wooster Collective pointed out this commercial for Nike. It’s quick and simple, and uses an interesting…mechanism I guess I would call it.

After some digging though, they also turned up the artwork of Robin Rhode. Perhaps not surprisingly, it looks A LOT like the Nike spot. So, in the midst of lawsuits against the likes of Ogilvy and Digitas, one has to wonder if Nike purposely grabbed from Robin’s work without thinking twice, or if the simple similarities of a shift in perspective are just coincidence.

A blog called You Thought We Wouldn’t Notice also has quite a discussion going on the work. The Nike spot appears to have been created by W+K Tokyo.

Here’s BMA’s Top 25 Advertising Blogs for Week 22: 1 - AdRants - 9,243 (LW - 1)(-37) 2 - Advertising/Design Goodness - 26,330 (LW - 2)(+594) 3 - Werbeblogger - 28,588 (LW - 3)(-708) 4 - Media Buyer/Planner - 28,879 (LW - 4)(-507) 5 - AdFreak - 32,539 (LW - 5)(+520) 6 - Adverblog - 35,915 (LW - 6)(-714) 7 - Adland - 44,844 (LW - 7)(-2,899) 8 - AdverBox - 53,814 (LW - 9)(+1,436) 9 - AdJab - 55,480 (LW - 8)(-844) 10 - AdPulp - 110,616 (LW - 10)(-2,166) 11 - Logic + Emotion - 117,023 (LW - 11)(-624) 12 - Experience Curve - 119,988 (LW - 14)(+10,715) 13 - TWENTY FOUR - 122,005 (LW - 13)(+7,830) 14 - Jaffe Juice - 130,466 (LW - 12)(-9,495) 15 - Advertising for Peanuts - 134,943 (LW - 15)(-568) 16 - ….HOW ADVERTISING SPOILED ME…. - 136,038 (LW - 16)(+6,991) 17 - Russell Davies - 183,062 (LW - 17)(-2,490) 18 - AdverGirl - 204,854 (LW- 18)(-11,437) 19 - Beyond Madison Avenue - 204,990 (LW - 19)(+3,010) 20 - American Copywriter - 231,758 (LW - 20)(+7,837) 21 - CMM News - 250,088 (LW - 21)(+8,054) 22 - BrandFlakes for Breakfast - 297,131 (LW - 23)(+5,515) 23 - Room 116 - 299,277 (LW - 22)(-20,353) 24 - AdHurl - 409,543 (LW - 25)(-6,018) 25 - AdVerb: Man of Action - 428,778 (LW - UR) Most of the top half of the Top 25 stayed put, but there were still some big moves. Experience Curve and TWENTY FOUR continue to surge, and both pass Jaffe Juice. The pair along with L + E could be posed to make a run at knocking AdPulp out of the Top 10, where the blog has basically had a death grip on the #10 slot since the start of the Top 25 countdown. AC again has a solid week. AC is quietly bumping up several thousand every week, and what gets lost in the shuffle is that AC’s Alexa ranking when the Top 25 first started was over 500K. AC has more than halved their score, and if this trend continues, they could make a run at the Top 15 in a few weeks. After re-debuting recently in the Top 25, BrandFlakes has another strong week and now looks to be solidly entrenched in the Top 25. Speaking of debuting, Mack Simpson’s Adverb does so at the #25 spot after enjoying a nice run-in in recent weeks. Next update is next week.

Check out 15×15.org, an art initiative based on Andy Warhol’s statement that “in the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes”. Got a cell phone with video capture? If so, your 15 minutes are here.

HBO is promoting their show The Wire with some good old consumer generated content. I’m not personally familiar with the show (come on, I don’t have time to watch all of the TV out there), but from what I’ve read, “The Wire will explore the role of the educational system in an urban environment.” HBO is asking “slam poets, hip-hop and freestyle artists to speak out about how they were educated. ” The idea came from agency Deep Focus, and is being hosted by Blastro.com. I’m getting about as tired of consumer generated…whatever as the next guy, but somehow this feels a little better to me. Yes, it’s still a promotion to advertise an HBO show, but at least its aiming to bring to light an important issue rather than focusing on Jared’s weight loss. HBO also has a pretty decent track record of telling stories the way they want to rather than the way your standard television audience wants it. Quotes from here.

The new CW network debuts today. I know this mainly because I’ve had the premiere of America’s Next Top Model penciled into my calendar since, um, last season’s finale. But I know this also because much is being made of the CW (already dubbed the C-Dub) from a marketing standpoint. Rich Haskins, CMO of the budding network, has even been participating at the CW’s mall campaigns, handing out cutesy Free To Be slogan-emblazoned tees to grabby teens: “Free to be Witty,” “Free to be Super”… I have it on good authority that Rich’s says “Free to be completely fricking nervous that my network will deflate within months and even Tyra Banks and a troupe of leggy, hollow-cheeked models can’t hold it up.” Um, it, uh, runs over to the backside, too.

I’ve recently developed a bit of a crush. I’ll admit it. In the last year or so, my interest in street art, graffiti and the like has grown. I’m not going to make any statements about condoning graffiti or anything, but when done well, I believe its incredible. One of the street art greats, Banksy, recently had a show in LA. And the turn out was impressive.

He showed up (along with some woman he’s seeing):

Gary Baseman (left) was there (another one of my favorites):

As was “Obey” king Shepard Fairey (2nd from the right):

Along with members of the White Stripes, cast members of the Sopranos, and a few others. But forget about them. How about the work? Banksy manages to say something pertinent with just a few strokes of a paint brush, or, more often than not, a spray paint can. He recently made blogosphere news with his Paris Hilton stunt. This show, however, featured a live pink elephant:

Check out this and other Banksy works here, or next time you’re in a bookstore take a look at Wall and Peace.

Thanks to Kunal for pointing this one out to me.