I just wanna make rumpus

Guess I'm not the only creative person who's had to put up with eternally frustrating Devil's Advocate types in their career!

More Uniqlo cleverness

Every once in a while someone in an agency has an idea that sounds amazing but just seems too hard to pull off.

This is one of those ideas. It's by an agency called First Born.

Hopefully it won't lead to a number of call-centre type operations filled with low paid workers spamming Pinterest. 

Oil power

This is hardly a revolutionary message.

In fact the copy is way too long for a billboard.

But it was still clever enough to get it rejected by Canada's largest outdoor advertising company.

The reason?

It seems the company didn't give one.

But given the ad is in response to a recent oil pipeline spill I'd imagine that a global conglomerate may (or may not) have had a quiet word with the poster company.

I doubt Greenpeace will be all that unhappy though as the media for the poster was going to cost them around $3,000.

A pittance compared to the free publicity the 'banning' of the ad has received.

Fast cheap or great?

Every agency I've worked for in my career has had a version of this poster pinned up somewhere.

Of course everyone agrees about how important its message is.

Yet hardly a week goes by when a promise is made that goes against what the poster is saying.

Sadly that's the reality of our industry.

A reality we'd all love to change.

Yet struggle to do.

Selling Obama or sellout?

No that is not a fake Obama catalogue.

Well actually it is.

It's from the cover of Bloomberg Businessweek.

All the products featured are genuine.

Which either means someone in the Obama team is a very smart fundraiser.

Or someone in the Obama team needs to be a bit more careful about the licenced products used for fundraising.

Reckon my little Iggy would look quite fetching in that doggy jumper though!

Don't think

Vale the Campaign Palace

Very sad news today with the announcement that Australia's greatest agency brand is no more.

Owners WPP will roll the Campaign Palace into JWT.

Wow! What a turnaround.

When I was part of a newly formed direct/digital arm at JWT in the 90's our mission was to become the Campaign Palace of direct and digital.

The list of great names who were part of the Palace legacy is lengthy and highly awarded.

And the Ants Pants ad will live long after the agency has gone. Voted Australia's best ad of the last 20 years at the ATV Awards.

Wonder if some young ad blogger will be writing a blurb like this 10 years from now with the recent announcement that WPP has bought AKQA? 

Try and try again

Ever considered giving up?

Ever thought you haven't got what it takes?

You're not the only one.

But the best thing to do is pick yourself up and try again.

Just ask John Cleese.

That note above is a rejection letter for Fawlty Towers.

Yes even one of the greatest TV shows ever was knocked back originally.

Psychedelic 7-UP

I've been bingeing on back to back Mad Men season five this week.

After seeing Roger take an LSD trip and The Don listen to Tomorrow Never Knows I appreciate these 7-UP posters so much more.

The generation gap back in the sixties wasn't a gap at all. It was a gulf.

Don didn't get the Beatles.

And I very much doubt he'd have approved any of these ads.

Which makes me wonder if the likes of Bernbach and Ogilvy had the same problems.

What came first?

Came across this "man's hands" ad for Oral B the other day.

Don't know 'bout you but I find the image rather disturbing.

Which is not really the sort of feeling an ad for a kids toothbrush should leave you with.

What's more disturbing however is how closely the idea in the Oral B ad resembles the cover of Tina Fey's book Bossypants.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Dads in their undies

I'm embarrassed to say I can see a lot of myself in these lovely spots from Saatchi's in Buenos Aires. Nothing more to say really. 

VW knows what's ahead

Gorgeous print piece for VW by their longstanding UK agency DDB.

It's for the Front Assist feature.

I'm not exactly sure what that is but have a pretty good idea based on the benefit brought beautifully to life in the ad.

I can't imagine how Ford or one of the other car companies would have advertised this feature.

But I'm pretty sure it would have involved a bloody huge picture of a car.

And probably a silver one at that.

Engineered for action

 Love love love the James Bond as man of action styling of this pair of print ads.

They're from 1971.

Which is over 40 years ago!

Yet they still look fresh.

The kind of ads that if I was working on a tyre campaign right now I'd be seriously tempted to be 'influenced' by.

Love to know who did them.

 Click on the pics to enlarge them for a much better look at the detailing.

I stole this

Monetizing status updates

Despite making squillions from advertising Facebook is now charging brands for status updates.

Actually it's not quite that straightforward.

Facebook is somehow limiting the number of people of people who see the updates of brands.

And that number as a percentage is pretty low.

In fact a brands status updates only reach around 10% of their fans.

Personally I think this is bloody outrageous.

Yes I think brands should be paying for status updates. No issues there.

My problem is Facebook is preventing brand updates from reaching 90% of followers.

Stinks of opportunism if you ask me.

The Champ and his Vuitton bag

Latest instalment in the Louis Vuitton icon series stars the legendary Muhammed Ali.

It's always good to see a personal hero of mine showcased.

Although I have to confess that if the person who sent me this ad hadn't told me it was Ali I probably wouldn't have recognised him.

He does look in damn good physical shape though.

Most interesting to me is the little fella.

That's Ali's grandson and he totally dominates the ad.

Which is kinda weird considering Ali is supposed to be the star.

Much as I love this campaign I doubt very much that it will convince me to hand over more than $1,500 for that bag.

I bet a lot of people will though! 

Back to the future

As a kid growing up in the 70's the year 2000 loomed large.

Many of the TV shows, graphics and product designs from that period still look futuristic.

And now it's here I have to admit the future looks a lot like the past.

No hovercars or jetpacks that's for sure.

But what we do have in abundance are devices that people back then couldn't possibly have imagined.

Tortured artist Alex Varanese recently re-imagined many of these devices for the 70's.

Pretty cool don't you think?

And even though his 'ads' look kinda retro the products themselves still look futuristic.

Click here to see more of his work.

Did you really like that?

The Like button has become so ubiquitous on the web that liking has become something we do without thinking.

But do we like because we like?

Or do we like because we want to share?

Either way we like way more stuff than we probably need to.

Writer Robin Sloan has challenged our love of the Like with a lovely iPhone app essay.

Yes app essay.

It's hard to explain. And even if I tried it wouldn't do it justice.

But suffice to say for me Sloan's idea is truly innovative.

And utterly charming to boot!

Click here to find out more. Trust me it is so worth it.

Nice desk boys and girls

How cute is this reception desk?

So nice it almost seems a shame to sit a receptionist behind it.

It belongs to Dublin agency Boys and Girls.

Apparently they were a bit miffed when a Marketing mag story described their reception area as "small and routine".

Well now it's anything but.

The balloons are made of a non-degradable rubber composite and filled with a mix of helium and hydrogen.

So they should float above the desk forever.

What I really like though is the Jenga stack supporting the desk on the other side.

Great photo or great opportunity?

Yes. I know what you're thinking.

"I saw those dog pics on Facebook the other day."

And so too did I.

They're by a dog loving photographer called Seth Casteel.

Since Seth posted the pics they've gone viral.

And is it any wonder. They're brilliant.

But they were never ever intended for ads.

Obviously someone at Y&R in Sao Paulo saw them as an opportunity.

But seriously if they turn up at an award show I will not be happy.

Durex does 12"

Yes. I know it plays with stereotypes.

But it's a lovely product demonstration.

So it's a thumbs up from me.

Howard Gossage on film

Hot on the heels of yesterday's gorgeous Howard Gossage quote comes this trailer for a film about the great man.

The makers are still looking for funding. Which is understandable as he's not exactly a household name.

What I don't understand is why.

For me Gossage is every bit as important to adland as Ogilvy, Bernbach and the Saatchi brothers.

Hopefully this film will one day put him up on the same level as those industry legends.