Swimsuit models attempt to emulate ordinary people for laughs

"Hey, you know what would be really funny?" asked the Creative at Grey, NY, to nobody in particular. "If we took these sexy supermodels and juxtaposed them with 'trashy' versions of themselves in the SI swimsuit issue!"

And thus a DIRECTV campaign was born:

What could be funnier than fantastically rich supermodels pretending to be less glamorous people?

A lot, probably. But it's the last juxtaposition that really bothers me. The intention is to show that DIRECTV is for the beautiful, sexy people, while cable is for... you know... others. Like working class housewives, or cat ladies, or or service industry workers.

That's not out-of-touch at all. Not even the slight bit classist. Nope.

Thanks to Adland for the tip (and all images).

Comedy Central is really into animals, objects, raping people

What?

WHAT?!?

WTF?!?!?

Apparently, anal rape is funny "in the right place."

This campaign is by Grey, Argentina, and features on Ads Of The World.

Apparently, fat people are also funny:

Or maybe it's rape again. I have no idea.

Australian beer ads play up travel anxieties

I had always thought of Australians as the ultimate globe-trotters, but I guess they worry about travel inconveniences and danger just like everyone else.

This cheeky campaign by Grey, Canberra, shows everything from being puked on by a baby on the plane to being subjected to a body cavity search at customs and, ultimately, kidnapped by foreign terrorists.

Not exactly a campaign you'd see for the travel industry. And the last one really dials up the xenophobia.

The third one strikes me as going too far, especially since it looks like the're about to execute the cartoon beer. But perhaps we're all hyper-sensitized to gun violence at the moment. 

The ads do, at least, succeed in telling a clear story about the freshness benefit of buying local.

Via Ads of The World

Playboy Argentina turns Twitter into titter #FdAdFriday

In this video (Spanish with subtitles), Grey Buenos Aires explains how it used Twitter as a second screen to get viewers of the "Saturday Bus" program, featuring Maria Paz Delgado, to retweet each time they saw a reference to Senorita Delgado in their feed. For every 15 RTs monitored, Playboy would reveal another block of her nude pictorial (from her October issue appearance) on Tweetgrid.


At least, I think that's how it worked. Contains nudity, obviously.



Playboy Tweetgrid from Velasco845 on Vimeo.


Tip via Ads of the World

F'd Ad Fridays: Tums keeps your food from giving you the Tony Danza treatment

Via Wikipedia

I really shouldn't know these things, but here it is: There's an urban legend that actor Tony Danza (of Taxi, or Who's The Boss, depending how old you are) started out as a porn star, and that his signature move was to slap his partner across the face with his manhood. That story lives on in adolescent online parlance as the "Danza Slap".

Stupid anecdote, eh? But now that you know it, you will not be able to watch these Tums ads with anything approaching a positive brand experience:







(That third slappee is NASCAR's Michael Waltrip.)

The Responsible Marketing Blog writes, "What the heck was Grey thinking in creating these spots? And more importantly, how could their client, Tums/GlaxoSmithKline, have approved them? What went wrong in the process for ads like these to get made? Or could the client possibly be that naïve and blind?"

Sleep like a baby

Using babies in adult situations to indicate comfort and innocence can end up looking creepy, but not this time. The mattress (?) campaign from Grey Indonesia seems to get the right balance of surprise and clear messaging:

Those of us who are parents know babies don't sleep like that for long, but when they do they are the epitome of contentment. The couple is my favourite, because it manages to portray familiar intimacy without being inappropriately sexual.

Via Ads of The World

It's written all over your face

Dolex is the name under which Panadol pain and cold symptom relief drugs are marketed in Columbia. This attention-getting (but seriously unnerving) campaign is one of those ones that tells people that they look like shit when they're sick.

They'd be better off staying home and away from other people, but anyway...

Add caption

"Sore Throat"

"Watery Eyes"

"Stuffy Nose"

Ads by REP/GREY Worldwide, Colombia
Via AOTW

Some sweet retro work for vintage clothing

When I was a teen in 1980s Kingston, Ontario, going vintage clothing shopping in Toronto was kind of a "thing". So this nice bit of work in I Believe in Advertising gave me a smile:

I was in the market for skinny ties myself, but it reminded me of some old friends.

There are three more ads in this series from Grey, TO, but they're not as elegant. See them at IBIA.

F'd Ad Fridays: Racism, homophobia and dirty old men... sell cookies?

Grey Kuala Lumpur, we need to talk...

"Your inner desires. Right in the middle."

Via Ads of The World

F'd Ad Fridays: Somebody just got f'ired!

Seen flying over Cannes:

I suppose it could've been worse. Like spelling Grey with an "a"?

Oh well. Maybe you can use the money you save from firing everyone who signed this off to hire a proofreader who speaks English.

Via Agency Spy

Back to our regularly scheduled ad outrage

I'm in the airport right now, so only have time for a quickie:

Copy: "Let your husband date a younger woman." 

Escort service? No, Belesana Antiage Center.

Yeah, I hate them too.

By Grey, Argentina. Via Ads of The World.

Now, that's a reach...

Usually, this is a criticism of someone's really obscure creative rationale for a pet idea that doesn't work. In this case, though, I meant it literally.

These "prop" versions are cool gimmicks, but you have to wonder how long the extensions will last on the streets of Toronto. (If the vandals don't get 'em, the snow probably will.)

What I like even better are the diptych and triptych versions. What can I say? I'm a sucker for any social campaign that takes the piss out of consumer advertising.





Inspired? Give to the Salvation Army here.

By Grey Canada, via Ads of The World.