Use Only What You Need

Here's a cool little campaign I saw while I was in Denver last week. The campaign, which totes the tagline, "use only what you need," promotes water conservation for Denver Water. Check out a few more executions from the $500,000 campaign over at Sukle Advertising + Design.

I've seen a similar execution from a University of Texas advertising student for Mini, however, I haven't seen anything like the park bench before.

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.