I'm sorry, but Banksy's ad rant is tiresome

My brother David shared this from This Isn't Happiness:

You can also see the text better here.

I can understand why people feel imposed upon by outdoor advertising, but it is hardly something new. Look at the sides of old buildings — in the late 1800s and early 1900s, advertisers posted their message on anything that didn't move.

Like many other modern consumers, I've learned to tune out the majority of advertising messages hurled at me from every corner, broadcast, and electronic interaction I happen upon. As an adman, I count on this numbness as I try to find new ways to get attention, gain permission, and inspire sharing among more sophisticated audiences.

But this anti-capitalism, anger and anarchy is tiresome to me. An ad is not "a rock someone just threw at your head" — in most cases it is just another piece of banal visual pollution in the urban environment. Somebody paid somebody else to create a message, then paid yet someone else to post it on their property. It's all within the law, as long as they follow guidelines for hate speech, etc.

If you want to see better standards for advertising, you need to take a more active role as a consumer — organizing to reward brands that contribute something positive to your life, and shutting out the ones that irk you. It sounds idealistic, but it's all we've got. That's why I spend so much time deconstructing and trashing what I see as irresponsible advertising on this blog. I think and expect that our industry can do much better.

You could also lobby local politicians to reduce the number of ad placement opportunities on public land. We already have that here in Ottawa. But I actually miss seeing some of the more interesting billboards that go up in Montreal and Toronto.

Revolutionaries are a necessary part of social change. And I know that offensive ads can and will get vandalized by Adbusters and their ilk (and sometimes I find it extremely funny!)

But there is a difference between taking an action that is civilly disobedient, being prepared for the legal consequences if you are caught, and claiming a moral right or even imperative to do so. The former is revolutionary. The latter, in my humble opinion, is just deluded and arrogant.

I still enjoy his art, though. As long as it's not on the side of my house.

WTM endorses: Hayley Wade for VP, Student Life

UPDATE: She won.

She seems like a nice young woman:

"Hey everyone!  

My name is Hayley Wade and I am running for VP Student Life in the Students’ Union election this upcoming March. I would love and appreciate your support with this endeavor! I have big goals for this position, and I with your help, I know I can achieve them. If you would like to learn more about what I want to do to help you, please check out my platform and feel free to ask me about any questions you may have! If you support me and the great goals I have for this position, please spread the word about my campaign and tell everyone you know, to VOTE HAYLEY WADE from March 6 - 8!
You can also follow my campaign on twitter @voteHAYLEY, send me an email voteHAYLEY@hotmail.com and join the Facebook group - vote HAYLEY WADE for VP Student Life 

Thank you for your support! Please let me know what I can do to help you!"

Ms. Wade was just your average Canadian student politician. Until this campaign poster (said to be strategically placed above urinals on campus) hit Reddit. And Copyranter. And Buzzfeed.

I actually think it's a brilliant campaign poster. But is she really behind it?

According to OpenFile, this was her response on social media (note avatar):

And here she is on Twitter:

So I'll put this down as "not a prank". And I wish Ms. Wade the best of luck.

Every family's worst nightmare: Dads in briefs

You know, as a "needs to get in shape" middle-aged man, I have no problem whatsoever with the double standards in what would be considered ageism, sexism and body shaming if this was an ad about women.

It's just one of those times when we need to accept the payback.

Flash only (for now):



Ad by Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Beunos Aires

Via Creativity Online

How my generation saw the future when we were kids

In 1976, some American children were asked to picture the world in 100 years. Paleofuture shared a collection of them (which ended up on Buzzfeed).

I hope todays babies are ready for this, because here's how the next few decades will play out:

Fourth-grader Lisa Gilvar's Jetsons-inspired bubble-top homes 

Eduardo del Villas imagines the world of 2076 with jetpacks

Joanne Connaire imagines peace on earth in the year 2076 

Robert Berman's robot president of the year 2076

Uncredited

Tina Kambitsis imagines a new Garden of Eden after nuclear apocalypse.
(By the way, Gen Y, that stuff on the man? That's body hair.)

Wes Anderson makes the cutest car ads ever

More Oscar ads that I didn't see because I didn't watch the Oscars. But these ones, by Gen-X director Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, the Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou) are adorable.

Kate Upton simulates sex with a hamburger

I couldn't be bothered to watch the Oscars last night, but apparently it premiered the new Carl's Jr. ad with the swimsuit model that everyone's been waiting for.



Sex in food advertising is the oldest trick in the book. The problem is, as people get used to more and more explicit ads, it takes more and more "heat" to break through. Which means you can expect to see the models actually having intercourse with the food in about three years.

Via The Daily What

Vladimir Putin's sexy appeal to virgin voters

I have never understood why President Putin has all this sexual mythology around him, but it's really being played up in the current election campaign as he is shown to be the perfect seducer of "virgin" voters.

(Hit the "show annotations" button if you don't get English subtitles.)


(Via Animal NY)


(Via Radio Free Europe)

Yeah, it's super creepy. But so is the man himself.

Die Antwoord sell out

But being Die Antwoord, they manage to drop about 20 f-bombs per minute as they shill for "T" by American designer Alexander Wang.



The South African hip hop group are known for their trashy Zef looks, intense beats, and potty-mouth lyrics. They famously quit their first major label deal with Interscope when it wouldn't release their song "Fok Julle Naaiers" ("Fuck You All") as a single.

Thanks to photographer and die-hard Antwoord fan, Tony Fouhse, for the tip.

This campaign is proof libraries make you smarter

At least, having a library client does.

Here's the story from Leo Burnett's YouTube channel:

The city of Troy, Michigan was facing a budget shortfall, and was considering closing the Troy Public Library for lack of funds. Even though the necessary revenues could be raised through a miniscule tax increase, powerful anti-tax groups in the area were organized against it. A vote was scheduled amongst the city's residents, to shut the library or accept the tax increase, and Leo Burnett Detroit decided to support the library by creating a reverse psychology campaign. Yard signs began appearing that read: "Vote to Close Troy Library on August 2nd - Book Burning Party on August 5th." No one wants to be a part of a town that burns books, and the outraged citizens of Troy pushed back against the "idiotic book burners" and ultimately supported the tax increase, thus ensuring the library's survival.

It's absolutely brilliant. Fighting well-funded ignorance with wit and a shoestring budget, this campaign did what all advertising wishes it could do: change people's minds by inspiring them to look at an issue from a different angle.

I have always been a firm believer that cause marketing should neither preach to the choir nor try to convert the hardcore opposition. Instead, it should look to the massive audience of nice, average and well-meaning people near the centre. People who would support the cause if they really thought about what it meant.

By parodying the anti-intellectualism of the American populist right, this campaign rewrote the "anti-tax" narrative into one about the true value of libraries, books and learning using the cheapest of tools. And it worked. 

Via It's Ten Blocks to 33rd Street
Thanks to Laura from St. Lawrence College for the tip!

Paddy Power declares open season on Chavs #FdAdFriday

"Vajazzlers"

For those of us on this side of the Atlantic, "Chav" is a classist term for obnoxious and vain people of lower socioeconomic status, equivalent to "Guido" in America.

Online gambling operation Paddy Power, who have figured out the best media plan is to get your ads banned, came up with this one that they say is unbroadcastable in Great Britain.



It is pretty amusing, though. Someone should send that sniper to New Jersey.

First seen on Ads of The World

Scary unpaid fashion internship ad #FdAdFriday

This listing for an intern to NYC Designer Natasha Morgan was posted by Free Fashion Internships simply as "an example of what an unlawful and noneducational internship looks like":

Copy reads:

We are looking for a kick ass personal assistant to designer to handle any task that comes .What would you do to get into the most exclusive industry in the world and be around some of the most incredible people you've ever meant.This is the dream of a lifetime for you . If you feel you have what it takes to assist a fashion designer that never sleeps and you can handle late hours and running around NYC for the most insane things and being called at the weeee hours in the morning and late at night then this is the internship for you.And trust me this will be the experience of a lifetime from being on the most insane photo shoots with celebrities to having meetings with the top editors in the fashion industry.If you live and breathe fashion and can commit to a UNPAID fulltime position for 3 months then the job is yours but you better be FIERCE ! This position is fulltime 40+ you must be open to weekends . This designer only sleeps 2 hours a day so be prepared!!! Send us a current FULL BODY PHOTO if you along with your cover letter and resume and a brief description on why you want to work for NATASHA MORGAN. If do not send your photo your resume will be DELETED immediately which means you can't follow simple instructions and we have no time for waste!NYC residents only 
Requirements and responsibilities:-20 and older-FASHIONABLE- edgy,chic,fierce (head to toe) 4-6 inch heels always unless you are a guy-Live and Breathe and DIEEEEE for FASHION-Computer literate ,photoshop,excel,micrsoftword-YOU MUST BE SMART and think on you toes-problem solver at any cost-don't ask dumb questions -get the job done-real research (that means find it no questions!!!!)-great attitude-social media /all-willing to do anything at anytime to get the task done no questions asked.-running errands personal and business -multitask to get it all done in a timely manner
*Again don't waste our time only the strong need apply*
Send Resumes to: natasha@natashamorgannyc.com

And here I thought unpaid advertising internships were thankless.

Via Buzzfeed

Woman readjusts her curves #FdAdFriday

This ad looks like it's been around the block a few times, but it's new to me.



While this is an ad for the (obviously suspect) slimming properties of a green tea drink, there really is a cosmetic procedure that redistributes fat in this way. Although I doubt it's as quick.

How not to get people to look at your hats #FdAdFriday

Fashionista asked Welsh milliner Robyn Coles why she premiered her new hat collection at London Fashion Week using nude models (including a pregnant woman).

The response was refreshing:

"It’s a basic, honest publicity scam! As a new designer I want to get people to see my work and now. I hope that people who look at the show like the light-hearted choice of nudity, appreciate the different forms of the human body and above all – like my work. It was about getting as many people there as possible."

Although her claim that nude pregnant models is something you never see on the catwalk is a little off. Has she never seen Prêt-à-Porter?

You can see all the models, male and female, at the Fashionista link.

(As a straight man, I feel honour bound to add a naked penis warning to my fellow uptight lads.)

Liquid-Plumr porn #FdAdFriday

A hunky plumber comes to a lonely woman's door, telling her "I'm here to snake your drain". A second arrives shortly after, saying "I'm here to flush your pipe".

You can imagine what happens next... 

Don't be fatuous!

Via AdFreak

A cracking fitness ad from Russia #FdAdFriday

Copyranter shared this gem from the dependably twisted minds of the Russian ad industry:



Mmmm... bum nuts...

Music rights ad sings with forked tongue #FdAdFriday

It's so randomly weird, I am almost left speechless.

Ad by Mortimer Harvey of Johannesburg, South Africa. Via Ads of The World

Don't look too closely at this Santorum mosaic #FdAdFriday

That is, unless you want to see more Santorum.

Not the man, mind you, but the substance. It's made up entirely of gay porn.

Via Death + Taxes

Putting the sexy back in philosophy class #FdAdFriday

Jezebel featured this odd bit of promotion that Philosophy Prof Vincent Hendricks did for his class at the University of Copenhagen:

Yes, those are sexy schoolgirls behind him.

Apparently, the immensely-modest Dr.Hendricks did the shoot for the Danish ladmag Connery when they chose him as their "Man of The Month".  And he thought it was not only entirely professional to imply that he is getting lots of female student ass, but also felt that his actual female students would enjoy being characterized this way.

I do, however, give the man bonus points for out-creeping one of the creepiest ads of 2011, that award-winning Brazilian KIA pedo travesty that caused shitstorms all the way to Korea.

If the timelines were reversed, I would have assumed he actually inspired the ad:

After raising predictable outrage, Dr. Hendricks issued this apology:

"To the Philosophical Community 

Some recent pictures on my website have caused some debate. The intention was that the pictures, as a cover on a forthcoming magazine, might be used to view logic from a somewhat humorous and untraditional perspective appealing to larger audience which the magazine covers. However it had the opposite effect offending various parties in the philosophical community. I truly apologize for this and I stand completely corrected. I have removed the pictures from the website."

 Yeah, whatever.

Is this ad saying what I think it is?

Maybe not. Hopefully not.

This campaign from Euro RSCG for a social network encouraging trading features scenarios of people who have things each other want. But it's not good advertising for a place to make trades, since in the other two cases the "trade" is an uneven one born out of desperation and greed:

Toilet paper girl wants nice shoes. Lifesaver boy wants to be captain. But what does the Chinese food delivery guy want with the dog?

Yeah, I'm being disingenuous. But you'd never get away with that joke where I live. At least, not in print.

Via Ads of The World

McDonald's Germany introduces Italian Stereotype Burger

Italians! They make big meals for their large and unruly families, they make domestic violence sexy, they play soccer and carve ham!



At least, that's how the Germans apparently see them. In this German ad for McDonald's new Italian-themed “Mamma Italia” burger, Italian stereotypes live life with a passion that is very hard on their dinnerware — which is why McDonald's has introduced Italian food you can eat with your hands.

I always though plate smashing was a Greek thing. But what do I know?

Oh God, Paris Hilton has a new music video

Apparently feeling threatened by Courtney Stodden's burgeoning music career, Paris has decided to take a stand for true celebutantism against the underage poseur.

Talking over the repetitive electronic beats of Denver's Manufactured Superstars, she delivers one pointless banality after another until you either stop the video or experience debilitating ennui.

[Video has been pulled from YouTube and Vimeo. You can still see at at Gawker, if you dare.]

I made it to 1:38. Let me know how it ends, if you dare.

Via Buzzfeed

Singapore's condoms protect you from more

Now here's a refreshing approach to condom marketing — a value-added App that keeps you from being walked in on by your parents.



Adrants posted this great campaign by TBWA\Tequila for Okamoto Condoms, the Okamoto Freedom Project, which promotes the brand by trying to help young people get it on without embarrassment.

We need more campaigns like that over here — promoting safer sex in every sense.

Liv Tyler ruins two rock legacies in one video

With her heavily-processed non-voice, and enough black-and-white unironic silliness to make you wonder if it is all a joke, Liv Manages to ruin two rock band legacies:

#1 Her father's. (Oh, wait, he's ruined that already all by himself!)

#2 Michael Hutchence's (Never mind, his bandmates took care of that!)

In the end, I guess it's no worse than any other pretentious perfume or fashion video that's come out lately.



Via Illegal Advertising

Posthumous baptisms countered by posthumous gay "conversion"

Huffington Post reported today that a radical group of Mormons in the Dominican Republic have declared famous Holocaust victim Anne Frank, who was Jewish her whole short life, "baptized by proxy" into their church.

As bizarre and disrespectful as this practice is, it was only stopped by the mainstream Mormon church after an agreement reached with Jewish religious leaders in 1995, and church leaders continue to apologize for renegade baptisms.

That's not enough for one group of anti-Mormon internet pranksters, however. They have set up as site called "All Dead Mormons Are Now Gay"

The site specifically adds, "*Holocaust victims are not eligible for conversion."

The site mines a Mormon database to give you the name of a random deceased Mormon who you can "convert" to homosexuality. Considering that homosexuality is a sin in their religion, this is quite an awkward position to be in.

Personally, I don't think religious intolerance should be fought with religious intolerance. Plus, equating sexual orientation with religion makes it seem that both are by choice — which is exactly how people against gay rights tend to see things.

But hey, I found this link on Fark. So what can you expect?

Dell's latest campaign: fart photography

UPDATE: Not only is this now confirmed as a hoax, but Dell took it extremely well.

As quoted in MSN Money:

"This video is in no way affiliated with Dell, but it’s great to see creative professionals get inspiration from using our products," the tweet read.

"Our dell.com/takeyourownpath program is all about celebrating people who take their own professional path. Regarding this parody, we consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery."

Good for them!

When I saw this on Buzzfeed, I assumed it was fake. But it appears to be a real short film for Dell's "Visual Innovators" campaign, featuring photographer Clayton Sotos.


Clayton Sotos - Visual Innovators from Visual Innovators on Vimeo.


And this is apparently what Mr. Sotos does, "capturing the release of life bursts".

Yeah, it has to be a hoax. But what an elaborate one! The only sure proof of its fakeness I can find is that the Dell branded "visual innovators" Twitter account has been suspended.

The least appropriate use of female sexuality in point-of-sale... ever

AdFreak shared this bizarre standee from Germany, advertising Jack Link's beef jerky.

There is simply no way I want to associate leathery preserved meat with sex. Hell, I didn't even like it when Lady Gaga wore fresh steak.

A little Gooogling revealed that not only is this campaign well known in Europe, but Jack's links actually teamed up with Maxim UK to run a contest across the continent to find the next "Jack's Girl".

Here's the winner, "Tillie T from Nottingham, UK":

An old-school "software update" #FdAdFriday

Wasn't this a gag in When Harry Met Sally?

And as Copyranter points out, "sporty enough to share" is kind of weird.

"A sexy, female friendly steakhouse" #FdAdFriday

I have no idea what that means.

Maybe I should watch all 60 seconds of the ad:



Nope. Still no idea.

Via Eater

Woman loses her mind over a frozen turkey dinner #FdAdFriday

Buzzfeed featured this truly insane Banquet Frozen Dinners ad from the 1960s, claimed to be by legendarily wacky Creative Director Stan Freberg.



I wish someone would pay me to put batshit insane stuff like this on TV.

The strangest "I knocked you up" face you will see today #FdAdFriday

The message behind this Czech financial services ad is clear enough, but WTF is up with his face? And what is she saying?

Let's hope it's a false positive. I'm not sure these two should breed.

Via Ads of The World

"I love sex, and I don't like condoms"

Somehow, this doesn't seem like a great pick-up line to me.



Sure, it's a condom ad. But I think I would have assumed this woman was the STI version of Typhoid Mary ("Chlamydia Fanny"?) and run far away before we ever got to the rubber part of the conversation.

Via Illegal Advertising