A while back Buzzfeed published a list of 50 Completely Unexplainable Stock Photos No One Will Ever Use. Totino's, not wanting to see a good stock photo go to waste, decided to put them to use with pizza. Because why the heck not?!
Tontino's wins at stock photography
A while back Buzzfeed published a list of 50 Completely Unexplainable Stock Photos No One Will Ever Use. Totino's, not wanting to see a good stock photo go to waste, decided to put them to use with pizza. Because why the heck not?!
prankvertising: so big it's small
Prankvertising has become so popular even regional, small department store chains are getting in on the action. While you'll find yourself asking "what in the hell?" several times while watching, this latest stunt video from Ocean State Job Lot in Rhode Island is quite delightful. Random customers who were encouraged to ring a bell at checkout were then taken on an over-the-top Christmas themed adventure for a chance to win prizes. Fun!
if you feel, eat a snack
Super break-through ad from W+K for Weight Watchers that goes far beyond the typical superficial reasons for losing weight, down into all the emotional reasons we eat. While skeptical that Weight Watchers really offers the type of help needed to get past those behaviors, it's fantastically executed nonetheless.
Old Spice take a look what you’ve done
Old Spice is no stranger to off-beat marketing mash-ups, and the men's grooming brand is at it again. In their latest ad, they build off the original crying mom spot, but this time bring dads into the mix. It’s great to see they’re dedicated to risk taking and pushing the envelope. Sure these ads make zero sense, but that’s okay because they’re hilarious. So keep the wacky and weird coming!
move...get out the way
Black Friday is almost here. Retailers are slashing prices and brands are gearing up for the mad holiday rush. Some of us are smart enough to stay home and wait for the holiday deals on Cyber Monday. The folks that are crazy enough to venture out on Black Friday are on a whole nother level. It’s basically survival of the fittest when those retails doors open. Seriously, shit gets crazy out there. Nacho Punch knows what’s up in this Black Friday horror film parody. The funny thing? They’re not far off from reality…
calling all whiskey drinkers
Designed by PUNCH and W&P, this TSA approved Carry on Cocktail kit is, well, pretty damn amazing. It comes with everything you need to make an Old Fashion except the bourbon. So the next time you’re on a bumpy flight and need to take the edge off, just ring the flight attendant and whip one up.
what the flocka?
Celebrity endorsements for a brand are GREAT. They provide credibility, aspiration, and generally just up the "cool factor" of your brand. Enter the forgotten lozenges brand, Pine Bros., who recently casted Waka Flocka Flame as their brand ambassador in their latest spot. Now, some of you may recall that Waka Flocka recently hired his own personal blunt roller...of course he'd need throat drops! The commercial is already banned by some local stations, but that's not stopping the brand from offering a chance to win a trip to Hawaii for anyone who shares the video on social media.
Ricola and Halls better step up their game!
"i'm totally not racist, but..."
Bravo, CollegeHumor. Just when everyone thought your content was going seriously downhill, you've restored our faith with your newest original, Diet Racism.
We've all been there: even in the 21st century, we let a few things slip that we really shouldn't say. And of course, CH picks the tumultuous climate of today's political culture to play on the deeply controversial subject of racism. Shockingly, the video didn't seem to offend devout CH followers, and in fact, probably sparked a more educated conversation about race in the United States than most credible news sources.
By the way: CollegeHumor: 1; Dan Snyder: -1,000,000
the sneaker that ties itself
Come on, how lazy can you POSSIBLY be? Self-lacing sneakers that tie themselves up with a push of a button may sound like the future, but how is that really different from velcro? Canadian footwear designer Frederick Labbe has unveiled his latest prototype, Powerlace, with the hope that he'll
You can pre-order your lazy-man sneakers on Kickstarter now for $150.
engineering middle manager barbie
Barbie can do lots of things these days and there are plenty of books to prove it. One thing she can't seem to do is write code, but she can design puppies like a true engineer. Needless to say Mattel has seen a little backlash on the book. Rightfully so since the book has Barbie inadvertently downloading a virus and she can't reboot her own computer at a point. Mattel has since responded with an apology and the ebook has been pulled from Amazon. You can read more over at Consumerist about the book and apology.
everyone poops (even santa)
Check your toilet this Christmas morning, because it looks like you might be getting more presents than what you find under the tree. Poo-Pourri's latest
via AdFreak.
nissan 'luxury' restored
Filmmakes Luke Aker needed to sell his car. There is no better place to sell a 1996 Nissan Maxima than craigslist. He decided to make a video to show it off. Lots of people noticed, and so did Nissan... so they bought it. Now, Nissan takes that original sales video produced by Aker up a notch with silver tools, bottled radiator water and carafe of engine oil. Over the top? Yep. Funny? Absolutely. Well done Nissan.
every square inch of a rebrand
Aw man, as an agency, wouldn't you just die to have a client come to you with the opportunity to rebrand every square inch of their business? Not just a logo, or a tag line, or advertisements...but the whole entire brand experience...the entire category really! That's exactly what Lowes, a regional grocery chain, brought to The Variable agency in Winston-Salem.
The images below are the result of their efforts, challenging typical grocery store conventions with a tone they describe as "if Pixar created a grocery store, but talked about itself the way BuzzFeed would." That description, while entertaining, doesn't even do it justice. Absolutely beautiful work!
swipe right for holiday gifts
Ever since Tinder has blown up many types of business have stolen the simple, yet powerful "swipe right to indicate preference" functionality, like the beloved BarkBuddy for adoptable pets. This time retailer giant, Argos, got in on the action just in time for the holidays with their delightful Gift Finder app.
Like any good app it uses all the data from your interactions to determine your tastes so it can serve you better suggestions to choose from. And, because it's all about gifting, they launched it with a Facebook campaign that challenged friends to see if they're your real friend by guessing which items you'd actually want as a gift and which you would put in your re-gifting pile.
Simple, but super useful!
a day in the life of agency folk (infographic)
Us agency folk have a lot in common--we tend to be night owls, we enjoy our vices, and we waste a lot of time on social media. And apparently this holds true not just in America, but across the world as illustrated in this infographic created by Saatchi & Saatchi Tel Aviv based on a survey of employees. It's interesting to see how we trend, even on our number of potty breaks (damn you coffee), but I call total bullshit on the sleeping with a coworker stat! How do you measure up?
holiday laughs brought to you by Joe Boxer
It’s that time of year again. The time when we skip over Thanksgiving and go right to
use your 'friends' as currency
Clever idea. Let’s be honest we all have ‘friends’ on our social networks that aren’t really friends, they’re just our social platform ‘friends’ that are kinda just always there, watching, listening, liking... a bit creepy if you think about it. But now you can actually leverage their existence for your own good. Retailer OnePiece is now giving discounts at their pop-up store in SoHo to those social influencers out there. The more ‘friends’ / followers / whatever they are, the more money off your purchase. Who knows, maybe this will become the next form of currency around the world, so start racking up those 'friends' now!
brown bagging it
No more plain ol’ brown bags without fun drawings on them for these kids. Mom and artist Christy Kilgore dials up the fun-o-meter for her kids everyday by drawing pop-culture artwork on those brown bags. She’s definitely got talent, so if you want more tune into her Twitter or Instagram feeds to get your daily dose.
better than the original...almost
I must say, this is pretty impressive. Two car salesmen in Oak Lawn, IL created the ultimate parody of the classic "Dick in a Box" digital short from SNL in an effort to sell Toyotas. Call 'em crazy, but these two swaggy salesmen managed to adapt the song spot on in their version: "Keys in a Box." Although the original song is nearly 10 years old, it NEVER gets stale, and these guys managed to remind us of how ingenious it real was.
"lumbersexual"... it's a thing.
New rule: hipsters shouldn't be allowed to coin new terms. It's kind of hard to make this stuff up, yet the hipster community manages to do it, and this time, they've identified the perfect male hipster: one who embodies a lumberjack. According to Elite Daily, the lumbersexual is "brawny, wears expensive flannel, has an impressive beard that is painstakingly unkempt and represents the ultimate sense of manliness." I don't know if anyone was counting, but I think I caught at least three oxymorons in that one description.
bootylicious (spoiler: not about Kim K.)
Everyone hates getting caught in the rain. But even when the rain stops, we're still stuck with a huge problem until the sun finally lifts away all the rain drops: wet surfaces. You still can't sit down without a soggy bottom. Until now. One Korean designer has solved this problem by creating a crank-able park bench that simply rolls the wet surface down and reveals a dry surface, perfect for your extremely soak-able jeans. Sung Woo Park's invention is low-tech and simply intuitive. It's amazing how these little things can make our lives so much easier.
new selfie phone helps good cause
Nokia is launching a new ‘selfie phone.’ Yep, you read that correctly. You may be thinking, why the hell would I need that? Or maybe you’re secretly excited because you totes heart selfies. Either way, this isn't about the phone. It's about supporting a good cause. Nokia is promoting their selfish product in a very unselfish way by helping to fight against online bullying. Using their “Selfie Collection” as a catalyst, they're featuring fashion items within each of the photos which are all a part of their online auction. Proceeds from the auction go toward the cause.
turning urine into water
Sounds gross, but this product is actually genius. The new video by Vat19 is a bit extreme, but it definitely gets the point across. The LifeStraw basically removes 99.999% of bacteria from water, making virtually any water source drinkable. While it may not be an issue most Americans face on daily basis, the lack of clean water is a major issue around the world. This product could change that. In addition, with every purchase of a LifeSraw a year’s supply of clean water is donated to child in a developing country.
mean tweets are the best
Thank you Jimmy Kimmel for creating the ‘celebrities read mean tweets’ segment. Pure gold. Now DDB Canada is following suit with employees reading mean tweets about their work. The tweets are hilarious and the reactions are great. See for yourself.
facebook wants to kill yelp
If you didn't already know, Facebook wants to take over the world. It's questionable if they want to do it 'Pinky and the Brain' style, but they have their fingers in just about everyone's lives. They probably know where you are, when you are there, who you are hanging out with, and what you are eating based off of that photo you just uploaded. Now they want to help you make all of those decisions, not just help you tell all of your friends about them.
Introducing Facebook Places Directory. It is a little different experience from what Yelp offers. You can browse the categories after you have put in a place and discover things you may not know about. It includes restaurants, bars, cafes, hotels, and more.
manscaping - the musical
Look around your office. How many guys are sporting a beard? Three... Twelve... Eighty? Well, one thing is for sure, beards are in and razors are lame. Schick has apparently visited a few of their local indie coffee shops, saw the sea of chambray and soup-catchers and a cold chill went down their spine knowing that blades are out.
But wait! There's more... hair! Some men are literally covered in it. Why not show the importance of personal grooming. You know what guys really love? Musicals filled with innuendo and furry furniture. Well played, Schick.
newcastle wants the nerds
You may know him from his role on Star Trek: TNG, or just the internet in general. He is Wil Wheaton. He commands an army of nerds that will inevitably take over the world. But for now, he just wants you to drink New Castle Scotch Ale. You drink that beer Wil Wheaton and enjoy your internet freedom.
vending machine stunt to end all
At this point us industry folk have seen like, what, a bajillion vending machine stunts? But when you're in this biz you always have to wonder if we're just hyperaware of these things or if consumers are as well. This stunt from Canadian agency, Taxi, proves consumers are most definitely aware of as they go to buy a snack from a randomly placed vending machine and wait for the magic to happen...
Too funny.
J-E-L-L-Ohhhh crap
The internet is no stranger to good promotions gone bad (remember NYPD's #mynypd). So, you'd think if you're the social media manager for a celebrity that has had less than a squeaky clean past, you maaaaaaay not want to open yourself up to a potential debacle, right? Yeeeeeah.
Welp, Bill Cosby's team did exactly that and invited the internet to have fun creating memes using photos of the actor/comedian tagged with #Cosbymeme. Within minutes the snark began (because the internet never disappoints in that department) as images of Bill Cosby were overlaid with text about his rape accusations back in 2006.
The meme generator and tweet request from Cosby's team has since been removed, but as always, the instant buzz generated will remain. Ooopsy.
real-time reactive billboards
Netflix is all about entertainment, and their latest billboard campaign in France does just that. Ogilvy created over 100 animated GIFs for the brand and used them in real-time, reactive billboards placed all over the Paris. The GIFs changed based on things like weather, news, events, and so on to capture attention. Love seeing an old channel get new life like this.
a cut above the rest
You may recall Dollar Shave Club's inaugural viral video that's garnered over 17 millions YouTube views. With that kind of online success, why even bother with TV airtime? CEO, Michael Dublin believes it's time to take to the "bigger screen" with their new ads due to air this week. Spoiler alert, it features our favorite spokesman for the brand. DSC's success is undeniable with 1.1 million active subscribers, $7.2 million in monthly sales and 10% volume share, according to AdAge. Watch all four funny spots here and tell us - are our trusty retail razor brands nearing their end?
jean-ius?
Alright guys listen up: women endure A LOT - childbirth, monthly gifts from mother nature, hot flashes, unequal pay, gender roles - you catch my drift. But you know what's the worst part about being a woman? FINDING JEANS THAT FIT (can I get an "amen?"). Former Mozilla web designer, Crystal Beasley, thinks she's answered our prayers with a made-to-order jean company that ships these custom creations straight to your door. Qcut guarantees a pair of perfectly fitting jeans based on a woman's very specific measurements. Is this what we've been waiting for? Well, maybe for $170 - $200 a pair. Hey, there's no price too high for comfort and making your ass look great, right?
put that sh*t on everything, everywhere, every time.
Hot sauce lovers know you can't be caught ANYWHERE without your favorite spicy condiment. Seriously, freakishly obsessive hot sauce addicts can't even eat ice cream without it. Well, consider Sriracha one step ahead of all the rest by creating a tiny refillable bottle keychain that you can clip onto your keys, throw in your bag, or hook onto your belt (like a boss). Never be unprepared again.
inventing photography like a boss
In this awesome spot, Leica recreates famous photos from the past 100 years of photography. The narration takes the cake, as we’re reminded that ‘even the ones (photos) that weren’t taken with a Leica, were taken because of the Leica.’ Which translates to: We invented photography as you know it. Whether truth or fiction, they make a compelling case.
the epitome of (almost) every meeting
Ever been in a business meeting? If not, this fantastic sketch by Tripp and Tyler sums it up to a T. Not to mention, it was a great way to subtly sneak in a plug for Airtame, that thing they were promoting for business meetings.
i see rooms of blue and doors of white
These days Pantone colors are inspiring everything from beer to whatever this is. And now all you Pantone lovers out there can book a stay at this hotel that will dazzle you with color from the moment you enter. The hotel was inspired by the Pantone palette to evoke emotion around every corner. Sure its located in Brussels, but it sounds like a good excuse to take a trip!
tasteful gifs go into the woods
The gif has long had a place on the internet to show that your site is under construction, add bling to your myspace page, or make your page more engaging with some dancing hamsters. But no longer! Disney had decided to make it's movie posters infinitely cooler with subtle animation. Using animation in internet ads is nothing new, but doing it tastefully certainly is. Let's raise a glass to Disney on this one for keeping it classy. Check out all of the rest of the ads.
classic king of beers
Imagine the room... "We want the hipsters to drink our beer, but how?" Then someone may have said, "Let's show them how cool we are with some retro packaging!" And thus a campaign was born. Budweiser is shipping 10,000 cases of beer in old timey wooden boxes that any handle bar mustachioed man would be overjoyed to have adorn their North Brooklyn apartment. But will it overthrow the likes of PBR? One thing we can safely assume is that flavor plays no part in this battle of titans.
how to clean out all of your filthy mouth
Is this hilarious or weirdly awkward? Listerine is trying to show it's potential customers in Britain that brushing your teeth just isn't enough. In fact, brushing only cleans about 25% of your mouth according to the ad. Why is this bad? Well, the Borat-esque mankini should shed some light on the situation.
home improvement like you've never seen before
Who doesn't love robots? They're an icon of the future we thought would already be here by now. But a robot as a store clerk in an already overwhelming home improvement store during the busiest shopping time of the year? That just sounds like a recipe for disaster... or at least for a good spoof.
John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight, couldn't resist poking fun of Lowe's plans to test the robot store clerk with this funny Home Depot spoof staring Nick Offerman. The video highlighting the many complicated problems couples face when shopping for home improvement goods that only a real human can handle. Like, oh, the type of porn on your browser history.
a warning for advertising execs
The tricks job seekers are pulling to get the attention of ad execs are either getting more and more brilliant, or more and more pathetic. You be the judge...
Three Miami Ad School New York students created a LinkedIn profile for a fictional deceased agency CEO named Mark Howard. Then, in the days surrounding Halloween they sent messages (from Howard) to advertising execs encouraging them visit Bringtrickortreatback.com, which advised them to avoid the fate of Mark Howard by putting their children before their career.
The website, of course, then drove visitors to the profiles of the three students looking for a job. But even if the recipients have no interest in hiring them, and even if the moral has nothing to do with getting a job, the message itself is a good one.
the one thing Google does badly
Google's great at a lot of things... but Google's not a great doctor. Seems pretty obvious, yet millions of people look to Google to diagnose their medical symptoms, only to lost in a abyss of incorrect (and potentially dangerous) information. And, if you know anyone with hypochondriac tendencies, then you know it's a slippery slope into deep paranoia from there.
Belgian medical site, Gezondheidenwetenschap.be, wanted to put an end to this madness by reinforcing the importance of getting correct medical information. To do that they bought a bunch of symptom related adwords and served up these videos to diagnosis seekers.
The videos themselves are a bit campy, but the concept is right on.
BK phone home
Looks like we're one step closer to our cell phones turning into the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Today, Burger King has announced plans to allow in-store payment via the Burger King app, which will use PayPal functionality to complete the transaction. In other words, leave the wallet at home - you're about to be able to buy Whoppers with your iPhone. We're living in the future, people.
tweet about this post
In the agency world, you have to be able to laugh at yourself, if only to keep from crying. This spot-on work of satire from the agency John St. is a good glimpse into those moments that we all have when we stop and ask ourselves "what the hell am I doing?" But it's also just freakin' funny.
samsung gets scary
Samsung's latest marketing effort isn't tied to a particular product or feature, and isn't really selling anything. It's basically an online prank video. But, seeing as how it's branded content and it's a lot of fun watching people get the crap scared out of them, we thought we'd be remiss if we didn't share it. Enjoy!
princesses against anorexia
Middle Eastern artist, Saint Hoax, is no stranger to controversy. His past campaigns have included world leaders dressed in drag and several series of disney characters in socially concerning situations (e.g. rape, domestic violence, incest, discrimination, etc.). His latest series showcases our favorite Disney princes and princesses hollowed out in an attempt to raise awareness among children about Anorexia, a condition that can be diagnosed as young as five years old. Although Halloween is over, this is enough to spook me out for a while.
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