November 27, 2009
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Tipsy Turkey Brought to You by Georgi Vodka

How Your Thanksgiving Features Are Made

I just knew something was off while I was reading a New York Post story about an Irish bar in Manhattan serving up drunken turkey for Thanksgiving. The story starts off believable enough: "The owner of a Midtown pub is serving Wild Turkey with a twist -- for Thanksgiving, he's soaking his holiday birds with booze." But then we get to the malarkey.



AOL Kicks Running Man Out Of Bed

Once, He Romped With Sharon Stone, Now He's Out in the Cold

AOL LogosEnlarge
Enlarge for more logos.
Did AOL -- er, Aol. -- just kick Running Man out of bed? AOL staffers stuffed the ballots at Advertising Week to earn Running Man "icon" status, beating out the likes of Ronald McDonald. But he's gone AWOL in AOL's new branding, designed by branding consultancy Wolff Olins, which features a new treatment for the acronym (Aol.) which will be stamped over any number of different animated images to reflect, we're told, the varied content AOL now produces. (Animated version here.)

[Editor's note: To the geniuses who came up with Aol., lower-cased and with a period at the end? Our copy desk has a suggestion of where you can stick that period ... uhm, right next to Yahoo's exclamation point.]



Buffalo Soldiers Wings & Things

Bob Marley's Estate Reaches Licensing Deal

"Get up! Stand up! Stand up! For your fries!" That's what I'm hearing when I read this story about the Bob Marley estate reaching a deal with Hilco Consumer Capital. The deal would first focus on consumer electronics and health care, "which will likely feature skin-care products and herbal supplements. Also in the works, according to Hilco, are deals for a Marley-branded calming beverage, a video game similar to Guitar Hero featuring Marley's songs, and a chain of restaurants celebrating the music superstar."

A calming beverage, you say? Hmmmm. They're going to brand bong water before they brand bongs? Oh, wait, I've got another one. "Oh, please, won't you help me smoke, these bongs of freedom ... Redemption bongs, bongs of freedom."

What do you think would be some funny Bob Marley-licensed products? Or, if you'd like a bigger challenge, what do you think would be some TASTEFUL licensing deals for the Marley brand?



BCS Enters Twitter: Beat Down Like Notre Dame in a Bowl Game

It's Not the Medium, It's the Product

Today's social-media lesson comes courtesy of college football's Bowl Championship Series: If you know your product is universally loathed, Twitter is not the place for you. (Editor's note: This is a blog post, one involving social media and college football, so the first person who whines about "biased" coverage will be running suicide drills in south Florida.)



Vice Finds Oil in L.A. for Palladium Boots

Latest Branded Content Effort For VBS.TV Looks Underground

Building on previously branded programming efforts for clients like Wyborowa Wodka and Dell, Vice's VBS.tv has teamed up with Palladium Boots to show viewers there's apparently more to L.A. than meets the eye.



Scuzzy Bubbles Are Filthy Little Pervs in Method Video

Spot From Droga 5 Offers Dirty Take on Chemical Residue

So Method soap wants us all to support something called the Household Products Labeling Acts, which would require makers of household cleaners to list the ingredients in their products -- "so you can decide what to use in your home and around your family." The assumption, of course, is that this is a winning proposition for environmentally gentle Method. Sounds like a good idea either way. But whatever. An even better idea is the video released as part of the effort. Not only is this funny, but is there a Bill O'Reilly joke in this thing?



Esquire's Cover of the Future Stumbles Over Piece of Paper

Helpful Hint for Readers: Just Peel Off the Label

As if the U.S. Postal Service's rate hikes weren't bad enough. Now traditional delivery is getting in the way of technological innovation meant to bring print into the 24th (and a half) century.

Esquire, as you may or may not know, has published an issue full of augmented-reality capabilities that will make, for example, cover star Robert Downey Jr. pop off the cover on your computer screen. See, what you do is you take the magazine and hold up the cover to a webcam and then Carrie Fisher jumps out with an urgent plea for Obi Won Kenobi to bring her some codeine and a fifth of vodka. Or something. As Gawker pointed out this morning, subscribers' mailing labels cover up the symbol that triggers the whole thing in the first place.

But it's OK. The labels peel right off. And the symbol appears again inside if your label is particularly stubborn. The five minutes it takes to download the A/R software and the traumatic memories of CueCat, on the other hand .. .



A Scorpion Down the Trousers? That Is 'Most Interesting'

A Report From Dos Equis' Traveling Freak Show

Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World" is a sword-fighting, ass-kicking international man of mystery. So what can one expect when the beer brand sponsors a "Most Interesting Show in the World" inspired by their enigmatic spokesman? A human slinky, blindfolded knife-throwing, and a live scorpion going down someone's pants, just to name a few examples.



Captain Morgan Issues Statement About NFL Stunt

League Decides Who Sells Out Around Here, Thank You Very Much

A little Captain Morgan was a lot too much for the National Football league.

Brent Celek strikes the 'Captain Morgan' pose after scoring a touchdown.
AP
Brent Celek strikes the 'Captain Morgan' pose after scoring a touchdown.
The Diageo-owned rum brand sacked some publicity when it coaxed Philadelphia Eagles tight end Brent Celek to strike its trademark captain's pose after scoring a touchdown during last Sunday night's Philadelphia-Dallas game in exchange for a $10,000 donation to a charity that supports retired NFL players.



For PTC, Three's a Crowd (in Bed)

Is Group Sex That Much Worse Than Violence and Gore?

Over the years, broadcast networks have depicted such things as a doctor having his limb severed by a helicopter rotor (in good old "E.R."), or, more recently, a teenaged boy walking in on his divorced mom offering oral favors to a guy she picked up at a bar (ABC's "Cougar Town"). Neither did much to raise an eyebrow.


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