July 31, 2009

Who is the most stylish person in advertising?

Banana Republic and AMC are doing a smart cross promotion for the premiere of the third season of Mad Men.

They’re giving away a walk-on role and a $1,000 gift card.

You can vote on the stylish contestants at madmencastingcall.amctv.com.

To enter, you have to have a code that’s only available in-store inside this very well done “style guide.”





Each brochure also includes a 25% off coupon and an iTunes code to download the first episode of Season 1 for free.


I hope someone in the industry wins.

July 30, 2009

So why do I keep wearing jeans everyday?

This is pretty much how I picture my work life in my head.

You can create your own swanky avatar at MadMenYourself.com.

July 28, 2009

Would I lie to you?

These made the rounds while I was on vacation, but they're too good not to share.

You can spread your own lie about bottled water at StartALie.com thanks to Tappening.



Do bottled water ads have a responsibility to reveal the truth about where the water comes from or the effects that the product has on the environment?

July 23, 2009

How will climate change affect the Manhattan real estate market?

Our interns are wearing life jackets around NYC to warn people that global warming means global flooding.

They already got their picture in the Metro (one of the free daily newspapers) yesterday.

It’s all an effort to encourage President Obama to attend and support the U.N. Copenhagen Climate Control Summit.

Please check out their project at SSCop15.org.

July 22, 2009

Should we opt-out of text ads?

Target has new ads up in Times Square touting text messages of top ten lists.

I assume sending the text acts as an opt-in for promos on those ten products.
And I know having people ask to see ads is every marketer's dream, but I just don't want my cell getting spammed by text ads no matter how much I love your brand.

July 21, 2009

Can this campaign return an American brand icon to its former glory?

I think the new Levi’s work is delivering the authentic voice that the brand has been missing for so long.

The online component is also nicely done.


Also love that they feature Walt Whitman as their inspiration.







Of course, the true test will be if I can find a pair that fits as well as the designer jeans my wife insists on. I realize that having my wife buy my clothes doesn't fit the independent spirit of the brand, but I'm man enough to accept it.

July 17, 2009

What if you can’t afford a big fancy ad agency?

Janet the Cleaning Lady didn't let the lack of a huge marketing budget stop her.

She "cleverly" made "eye-catching" flyers by re-purposing an ad from Ray-Ban’s Colorize campaign.

July 16, 2009

Ready for a retail turf war?

JC Penney is throwing down the gauntlet right in the backyard of Macy's flagship store.



Random question: I’ve always said “JC Penney’s.” Did they change their name? Is the “s” a regional thing or what?

July 15, 2009

Do dropouts feel like they’re stuck going in circles?


Publicis has this ad for BoostUp.org on the revolving door of their office building.

“A little push can keep a student in school until graduation”

July 13, 2009

Does sex sell?

Someone must think so and decided to paste pictures of sexy women onto unsexy ads:

(Too busy to post, so these are some shots I took awhile back.)


Not sure what it means that they were all added into bottles.

July 9, 2009

Is it ever a good idea to give your customers a problem?

Accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron have a new round of ads up in their puzzling campaign.

These give me a headache and bad flashbacks of school, but if I needed an accountant I’d want one smart enough to solve and enjoy them.

There’s more new problems to solve on their site.