how to make a crappy ad

the ole 'finishing each others sentences construct'...been saying how tired/annoying this is for a while now and portlandia skewers it awesomely.

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 5:04 PM 1 comments

run dmc

a DDB corporate ad...haven't been able to turn up very much info around when this ran, and i wouldn't say that the black helvetica typeface with red bars is anything particularly unique, but it's interesting to think that whoever designed run dmc's logo had this in mind while doing so...

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Monday, November 1, 2010 at 6:35 PM 0 comments

david jones' adland

i recently met david t. jones, cool dude/creator of adweek's weekly cartoon series called "adland". jones' cartoons offer a  clever take on the crazy consumer-driven world of advertising with a nice larry david-woody allen undertone.
 

Posted by Madame Lamb on Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 9:40 AM 0 comments

gimme that filet-o-fish

compare the drum loop in this radio dept. song (below) to the one used in mcdonalds' filet-o-fish spots.

download: radio dept. - "bus"

eerily similar huh?...perhaps identical? i wonder at what point it occurred to the creative team that this was the way to go. did the guy think: "hmm, i need a tinny sounding drum machine for this song...i know the radio dept. uses them a lot, lemme browse a few albums..."? or could it have happened that one of the guys had a god-like, "a-ha," moment while listening to this album in the car?

i don't know much about drum machines, but i guess it could also be pure coincidence...i wonder if the people at ddb had to lease out the whole song...

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Wednesday, March 10, 2010 at 2:33 PM 2 comments

a love story in an absolut world

spike jonze leaves his mark on some branded content for absolut vodka - view the trailer above and look out for the full 30 minute short in march. the movie is set to premiere at sundance this weekend - check imheremovie.com for more info.

Funded by Absolut Vodka, I'm Here is a robot love story celebrating a life enriched by creativity. The movie is set in contemporary L.A., where life moves at a seemingly regular pace with the exception of a certain amount of robot residents who love among the population. A male robot librarian lives a solitary and methodical life -- devoid of creativity, joy and passion - until he meets an adventurous and free spirited female robot.

looks like familiar territory for jonze, very bizarre and offbeat, and it's nice to see absolut extend their tradition of artist collaborations into film. i was reminded of the video he did for daft punk - check it out below.

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 11:08 AM 0 comments

the coca cola santa

coca cola recognized the power of advertising early on, and leveraged celebrity talent like no other before or after them...behold the coca-cola santa. you'd be hard-pressed to find a figure more universally loved than this man, and coca-cola has reaped the benefits for generations...and they don't have to pay him. wonder why nobody has ever considered jesus...

from the annals of coca-cola lore:

"For inspiration, [illustrator] Sundblom turned to Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (commonly called "'Twas the Night Before Christmas"). Moore's description of St. Nick led to an image of Santa that was warm, friendly, pleasantly plump and human. For the next 33 years, Sundblom painted portraits of Santa that helped to create the modern image of Santa -- an interpretation that today lives on in the minds of people of all ages, all over the world."

read more here.

santa's debut appearance in 1931

santa with "sprite boy" in 1949

santa and his elves in 1953

1964 - the dog featured here is based on the gray poodle that belonged to the florist in the illustrator's neighborhood...he changed it to black to have it stand out

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Monday, December 21, 2009 at 6:46 AM 0 comments

go forth

some really striking print work from levi's new ad campaign:





even more impressive are the accompanying tv spots. here's one of 2:

and here's an article about the campaign- wouldn't say i agree with the guy, but he does raise some interesting points. considered in the article are such things as the poetry of walt whitman, manifest destiny, and the postmodern world of savvy consumers being tricked into thinking they aren't being tricked.

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at 12:44 PM 1 comments

keep walking

in an impressive tracking shot, robert carlyle tells the tale of an ambitious young scot.

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Thursday, September 10, 2009 at 12:40 PM 0 comments

pixar's ads

Before Pixar released Toy Story in 1995, the company was a losing venture. In the early stages, Pixar dealt in hardware--namely an imaging computer used by government agencies and doctors. Sales were poor and things weren't going well until finally the company was recognized by a handful of ad agencies on the strength of employee John Lasseter's short films. These early shorts kept the company alive, wrenching up the cash flow as they began to be awarded gigs producing television commercials. As for John Lasseter, he would soon direct Toy Story, save the company, make a ton of bank, and end up Pixar's chief creative officer, where he remains, balling out to this day. Here are some of those early Pixar ads:

Lifesavers

Listerine

Posted by Merkin Muffley on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 1:52 PM 0 comments