Wal-Mart Casts A Large Shadow in Kansas City

Wal-Mart's review of its advertising agencies not only threatens local powerhouse Bernstein-Rein, it also threatens lots of Kansas City shops that rely on Wal-Mart projects from Bernstein-Rein. Local production houses like Bark Productions, Liquid 9, Substation K, Take 2, Third Eye Productions, Wheeler Audio, and Walter Bryant Music have all had their hands in the Wal-Mart cookie jar. And though they're not actually fighting to keep the Wal-Mart account like local 300-pound gorilla, Bernstein-Rein, the loss of that business could hurt these smaller production houses.

I'm not trying to suggest that the loss of Wal-Mart would bankrupt these shops. But Bernstein-Rein's efforts to keep work in-town has been well documented. So when the biggest agency in town loses its biggest client, who provides an awful lot of work for local production houses, the little guys will feel the results.

So on behalf of these shops and all those recent college grads seeking employment, I just want to let Bernstein-Rein know we're rooting for you.

The Reggie Bush Brand Booms

Reggie Bush and Floyd Landis have one thing in common; they both didn't missed scheduled appearances yesterday. Unlike poor Landis, who skipped out on the Tonight Show because of doping accusations, Bush was late reporting for Saints' training camp because of a contract holdout.

It's no wonder the guy wants more money; the Reggie Bush brand is booming. Bush inked several huge endorsement deals and already has commercials airing for EA Sports NCAA 07 Football, ESPN Mobile and Subway. His other endorsements include Adidas and PepsiCo. All this despite not having a contract signed to play professional football.

It's quite ironic that his commercials have started airing with the start of NFL training camp, when Bush admits he could holdout for an entire year and go back into the draft if he doesn't get the money he wants. I think we have created a monster.

Doping Allegations Doom Floyd Landis' Marketbility

Floyd Landis has tested positive for high levels on testosterone during his winning ride in the Tour de France. Pending a positive result of a second test on his "B" sample, Landis will surely be stripped of the title.

No matter the outcome of the test, Landis' innocence will be subject of much debate. What is not subject to debate is the effect this will have on Landis' marketability. Even is Landis' second test comes back negative, no marketers will want him to peddle their goods.

The same thing happened to Tyler Hamilton. After completing the Tour with a broken collarbone, he drew the interest of sponsors. But after receiving a two-year ban for doping, his stock hit rock bottom and his sponsors pulled out.

What is truly sad about all of this is that Landis never had big-time sponsors to lose. These allegations will serve as a preemptive strike to his wallet and his image.

New Sony Bravia Ad Paints the Town Red

The filming of Sony Bravia's "colour like no other" part 2 went down last weekend in Glasgow Scotland. That means photos and videos of the shoot are all over the Web. However, I haven't seen any on the ad blogs yet. I'm here to change that.

Sony's site hyping he commercial is now filled with pictures from the shoot. There are some videos on YouTube (1 2). I also found a video on Get Your People. And of course, there are also photos on Flickr.

Commercial Burnout

Two of my favorite summer traditions have come to an end. The World Cup and the Tour de France are over. One ended better for America than the other, but there's always the fourth next year.

During big televised events like Tour de France or the World Cup, you see the same commercials break after break and day after day for a month. The same thing happens with the NFL or any other TV show, but these two events are different. They are tournaments, so they are on TV everyday and viewers get bombarded with the messages multiple times each day.

Other factors also contribute to this frequency. The World Cup and "le Tour" aren't major events like the Super Bowl in the United States. This causes them to get fewer commercials, meaning the commercials they do have air with greater frequency. The commercials get old, but they get ridiculous amounts of frequency because viewers continue to watch day after day.

The Evolution of Dance and Advertising

One of my good friends sent me a link to a video known simply as the Evolution of Dance. My immediate reaction was, "How have I never seen this?" It's hilarious and makes Napoleon Dynamite look like an amateur.

The Evolution of Dance has been on YouTube for only three months and it is already the No. 1 all-time most-viewed video on YouTube. As of right now, it's been viewed 29,261,212 times. That's more than double any other video on YouTube.

The man behind the moves is the real story here. Judson Laipply, the self-titled "inspirational comedian," has got ridiculous amounts of free press because of this video. He wisely started a Web site to capitalize on this opportunity and to build his brand and monetize his viral fame. He's been featured to the Today Show, Good Morning America and written up in Rolling Stone.

Any client or agency would kill for this kind of viral success. Well, take notes. If you want people to care, give them something entertaining. No fake blogs or lame social networking sites. I'm not saying you have to know how to dance, but create some compelling content. If all else fails, just hire Jud.

Boulevard Beer Billboard Won't Let the Man Bring It Down

Where's John Stossel when you need him to cry, "Give me a break!"

The Boulevard Brewing Co., located right here in Kansas City, is catching guff for billboards a KC Star columnist dubbed "off color." I say, get off the topic of color because there is nothing racist about this ad.

The columnist says the nursery rhyme evokes memories of the 1850s, when it carried a negative racial connotation toward blacks. As proof that this is an injustice, he also cites a lawsuit brought against Southwest Airlines for a flight attendant saying, "Eenie, meenie, minie, moe. Pick a seat, we gotta go."

Once again, some individual gets hot and bothered about nothing. Boulevard knew the history of the rhyme, but approved the ad because it carried no negative racial connotations. Even after these complaints, Boulevard will leave the billboards up. Good for Boulevard for not getting trumped by the race card.

The problem is that there are so many things to criticize about advertising, yet this was the most important one. Selling cigarettes to kids is OK. Advertising on Mount Rushmore; no problem. But let's draw the line at nursery rhymes that offend up-tight columnists.

Soccer Players Practice Diving in Guardian Commercial

A family friend showed me this hilarious spot for The Guardian's Euro 2004 coverage. It features soccer players practicing diving and faking injuries. Although it's old, it's pretty relevant considering the ridiculous amount of diving that went on in the World Cup.

Advertising Words For the Dictionary

I have advocated the adoption of "Google" as a verb for quite some time. Now that Merriam-Webster has officially added Google, thee are a few other advertising-type words that need to be adopted.

pho·to·shop
Pronunciation: 'fO-tO-shäp
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): pho·to·shoped; pho·to·shoping
Usage: often capitalized
Origin: Photoshop, trademark for graphics editing software
: to alter digital images or graphics using a computer program, often used by ignorant account executives to indicate impossible demands that should have been done 10 minutes ago
Example: I know the original image is only 2" big, but can't you just Photoshop it to make it fill up the enitre billboard?

P·D·F
Pronunciation: 'pE-dE-ef
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): P·D·Fed; P·D·Fing
Usage: capitalized
Origin: Short for Portable Document Format, an Adobe file type for two-dimensional documents
: to save a computer file in a format that's easy to share and distribute so others may view it
Example: The client wants to see a proof so they can rip up your ad, add lots of dumb copy, clutter up the design a bit and make the logo bigger. Can you please PDF it?

Dentyne and Air Conditioner Mirror Images

Agency: McCann Erickson, Puerto Rico



Agency: Euro RSCG, Delhi
Art director: Debdut Sarkar
Copy: Debdut Sarkar


My understanding is that the Dentyne campaign from McCann Erickson came out before the AC campaign from Euro RSCG. There's just no way these are both original, especially considering the class of the Dentyne spots and the weakness of the AC spots.

(via Ads of the World)

Burger King: the Movie

To continue with yesterday's movie theme, Crispin Porter + Bogusky is working on Burger King: the Movie. They're breaking into uncharted territory here, and I think it's great. Once again, they're changing the way the game is played.

CP+B started with cheeky ads and moved on to claim a "minor equity position" in its partnership with Haggar to truly share in its client's success. It's very easy to jump on the Crispin bandwagon because so many of its ads kick ass. But what is truly innovative is how they continue to make an impact with entertaining branded content.

Sadly the movie does not plan to include the King.

Advertising Movies

AdRants points to the development of a new movie about four out-of-touch advertising execs who take a seminar to get back in touch with what's cool in the world. It could be funny, but it will probably just be another movie that misrepresents the advertising industry.

This got me thinking about other movies that glam up the ad life, while absolutely missing what it's really like and portraying us as idiots. Though it hasn't been released yet, Deep in the Heart of Texas, starring Eva Longoria as a Beverly Hills Diva who relocates to Houston, surely tops this list. Other more enjoyable movies include How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and What Women Want.

However my favorite advertising movie is a throwback. It's not really representative of the business and it stars Whoopi Goldberg, but I can overlook these things. Corrina, Corrina features Ray Liotta as the jingle writing superstar who asks, "who says you shouldn't have instant puddin'?" We need more brilliant insight like that in today's ad world. I mean, all he had to do was take of the "g" on pudding. Why didn't I think of that? All jokes aside, I do really like this movie, but I would still love to find an advertising movie that hits close to reality.

SportsCenter Plugs Pirates of the Caribbean

This morning, ESPN's SportsCenter turned highlights from the Pittsburgh Pirates' game into a promotion for Disney's new movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The segment integrated the game and movie under the flag, "Pillage at Shea." Anchor Scott VanPelt led viewers through video clips and clever references to the movie while the Mets and Pirates battled it out on the diamond.

As previously mentioned on this blog, Disney owns everything. So it's a good move for them to use one entity to promote another. This integration was particularly clever. It wasn't forced and it was pretty entertaining. A job well done by Mickey's boys. Way to create some content.

Everyone Loves Mazes

This is a pretty complete concept. There is a nice mini-site and some funny television spots that fill out this campaign. Props to my boys, Dave and Chris.

Agency: Bernstein Rein
Creative Director: Arlo Oviatt
Art Director: Dave Thornhill
Copywriter: Chris Corley
Client: Powell Gardens


Here's another maze concept via Ads of the World.


Agency: Creative Circle
Art director: Marion Bryan
Copywriter: Asheen Naidu
Client: Suzuki Grand Vitara 4x4

Holiday Hiatus

The lull is over. I'm back in full force.

New Sony Bravia Television Commercial

I just posted about Sony Bravia's "Balls" commercial. Turns out another spot is in the works. This time, it will use fireworks and paint to demonstrate the very British, "colour like no other." The sequel features the same agency, same creative and the same director as the spot that took gold at Cannes. Sony will also post updates in the form of blogs and videos about the spot's creation.

Advertising: Behind the Scenes

There's a lot of stuff on the Web lately that breaks down the fourth wall and show the viewers the making of some commercials for Sony Bravia, Fruit of the Loom and Adidas.

The best example of this goes behind the scenes with Sony Bravia's "Balls" from Fallon London. A Web site shows a video about the making of the commercial along with lots of other entertaining tidbits. This works wonderfully because Fallon and Sony created content, not just a commercial. Besides, sending 25,000 superballs down a hill in San Francisco is awesome, and makes you want to see how they did it. You can also see some photos from the shoot on Flickr.

The same guy who posted the "Balls" photos on Flickr also has some Fruit of the Loom action going on. In the words of Ron Burgundy, "He's kind of a big deal."

There's also some behind-the-scenes stuff for Adidas' Jose +10 spot. AdRants posted a link to the casting tapes for the little kids in the spot. You can also see the making of the commercial on YouTube.