Walking Dead viewers threatened with losing AMC on major Canadian cable service

I'm not much of an Oscars fan, so instead I spent last night catching up with The Walking Dead. If you did too (or if you recorded it for later), and you are a Canadian Rogers Cable customer, you will have noticed the frequent distraction of a text crawl in which the cable company apparently threatens to drop AMC from its cable package.

The text crawl and Facebook ads (above) target fans of AMC's best series, such as The Walking Dead,  Mad Men, and Breaking Bad. They lead to a web site called keepamccanada.com that asks viewers to fill in a form to let Rogers know they don't want to lose the service.

Just what the hell are is going on? On Rogers Community Forums, one poster explains:

Every once in a while, cable networks renegotiate contracts with the providers. When the negotiations do not go thier way, they try to rile up the customers as leverage to get more out of the cable company. if the cable company pays more than is comfortable, the price of our service goes up. To be fair to everyone, we should also write AMC that they would be losing customers as well if they try to drive our prices up. I believe that a solid performer like AMC deserves more money for the quality original programming they produce, but not if it will hit the customers pocketbook. So, Rogers is not dropping the channel, it is more likely that they refused the first demand put on the table. 

In other words, it's AMC's tactic to get Rogers subscribers to get up-in-arms to keep the network no matter how much it costs. And it worked:

All over social media, Rogers subscribers are threatening to drop the service if it loses AMC. Considering that these shows are eventually available on Netflix and various (and often unofficial) online channels, this is a very dangerous place for Rogers to be. But although they have broadcast their case, Rogers social media managers seem to be failing to respond one-on-one to these customer concerns, which is somewhat of a fail.

Network Vs. Carrier, with customer anxiety used as a weapon. This won't reflect well on either side, in the end.

An ode to Mad Men's "Fat Betty"

As the current season of Mad Men was being filmed, January Jones (who plays Betty) was having a baby. Instead of ignoring the pregnancy or writing it into the plot, the writers put Ms. Jones into a fat suit and had Betty's weight gain become a rather dramatic plot element.

In the meantime some guys at SOUTH Music & Sound Design decided to commemorate the development with a song:



Yes, it is rather mean. But I choose to see it as a send-up on the show's dramatic excesses rather than a put-down of overweight people in the real world.

What do you think?

At least they didn't make fun of her placentophagy...

"We are not men... we are not an advertising agency"

Remember that horrible "manly" Turkish shampoo ad with Hitler in it?

Employees of a Turkish ad agency sure do. And they hate what it has done to the reputation of their country, and their industry.

So they decided to do what any red-blooded Turkish men would do to fight back: they got in drag.

Adland reports that Farkyeri issued this statement:

“We are not men… 

We, as a local advertising agency in Turkey, hereby condemn the unfortunate commercial produced in March 2012 by an advertising agency from our country for a shampoo brand in our country by using the images of a speech delivered by Adolf Hitler. 

From a humanistic perspective, it is shameful to use as a commercial material the tragedy of a genocide that caused the death of millions of innocent people and an international problem of gender apartheid which results in oppression and killing of millions of people. In terms of creativeness, it is simply cheapness and taking the easy way out. We are first human and then advertising agency. We never accept any concession on our humanity for the work we do. We refer those who carried out this cheapness to the conscience of the public. We believe that the advertisers and consumers in our country will give them the best answer. 

The belief of any publicity is good publicity can be argued, but there is no question about the good and bad people. This is clearly an attempt to make a commercial profit on the grief of millions of people. This is a shameful human weakness. And this is unfortunately done by an advertising agency in this country. 

As a matter of fact, if manhood is racism and gender apartheid… if it is to use grief of millions of oppressed and massacred innocent people as a commercial material, we are not men! If those who prepared this are advertiser and if this is called advertising, we are not an advertising agency! 

Farkyeri"

The above image is also the landing page of their web site.

And now there's a video, too:



Wonderful way to self-promote while making a real statement. (Coincidentally, the season opener of Mad Men had Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce do something remarkably similar, but against Y&R's racism.)

More faux-retro ads than you can shake a martini at

To celebrate the long-awaited return of Mad Men this Sunday, Newsweek yesterday launched a special issue with a retro design.

The best part, for many lucky modern admen and adwomen, was the invitation to submit special '60s-style ads for the occasion.

Some are better than others. All must have been so much fun to do.

Totally classic.

Great integration with current campaign.

Maybe a little too authentic.

I don't quite buy it. The models are all wrong.

Retro design done right.

Looks like 1990s faux vintage.

Cute.

The photo treatment could have been more authentic.

Dig the long copy.

Nicely done, with the Lyndon Johnson reference.

Too obvious for me.

Pretty authentic, but boring.

In the spirit, without being too silly.

Meh.

Captures our idea of the time.

A true classic.

The SPAM must have gone bad to make that happen.

Much better trippy design.

Cool.

Nice self-parody of their campaign.

What do you think?

All ad visuals via Fast To Create.

Ad hackers play into admen's hands #FdAdFriday

The defacement of public advertising can be brilliant and entertaining, as in the recent Mad Men teaser poster hacks in NYC. And then there's this:

The Drum writes:

Peter Davis, executive creative director of [Powownow agency] gyro Manchester, commented: “Our new campaign for Powwownow has been made to court with controversy, so we’re pleased to see it’s already doing just that. If our character is already causing widespread offence then many people won’t like some of the things we have planned for him - this is only the beginning! We all have preconceptions about free services – ‘if it’s free, it must be bad!’ To confront this idea, we’ve created an obnoxious fictional businessman that spends money lavishly and dislikes anything that’s free – especially Powwownow. Our "more sense than money" campaign drives the idea that actually, you don’t have to pay a premium to get a great quality service.”

In Plain English: the guy in the ads is supposed to be an asshole and the copy is supposed to piss you off.

So, whoever got enraged enough to risk arrest and fine by stating the obvious on this ad actually did the advertiser a tremendous favour. I wouldn't be surprised if future campaigns of this kind actually hire people to deface the ads. (Maybe that's what's happening with the Mad Men meme - you never know.)

Being an ironic asshole in your advertising, by the way, has a history of backfiring. Remember the Groupon dogpile during last year's Super Bowl? People are just not that clever.

Mad Men new season premiere falls on March 25

Via Copyranter

Christina Hendricks celebrates Christmas with a product placement

I assume it's a "double"

According to Celebuzz: "Christina Hendricks celebrates with Johnnie Walker at her annual holiday party at a private residence on December 10, 2011 in Los Angeles, California."

No subtlety here. But it's also the perfect storm of booze, boobs and branding.

Buzzfeeder Gavon Laessig said, "It's as though two examples of perfection were dropped into the Large Hadron Collider and smooshed into one giant wad of perfection. We've discovered the Higgs Bosom. Why, yes, Christina Hendricks…I would love some scotch."

Me, I just can't wait for Mad Men to come back. But perhaps a stiff drink would get me through...

More pics here.

The women of Mad Men as vintage Playboy covers

Fan art is such a weird part of internet culture. Thinking about the amount of time it must take to create something that will make the viral rounds for a few days and be promptly forgotten baffles me.

Case-in-point:

Joan in Playboy. Via Tauntr. It's astute, creative and brilliantly executed. After all, Christina Hendricks gets all the credit for bringing Marilyn-style voluptuousness back to the popular definition of beauty. This in itself is a cool piece of pop art that says all kinds of things about that era, as well as how far we really haven't come. Christina Hendricks continues to complain that all people ever talk about is her body, while also working it on the red carpet at every opportunity. This cover, and the look on her face, seem to sum up the conflict in real life, as well as on the show — where she often regrets the way she has used sex to be taken seriously by men. (Later addition: She also simultaneously reminds me of the Virgin Mary and a vampire.)

And then the artist messes up everything by bringing Betty and Trudy into it, just because they're attractive:

And why the hell isn't she "Miss January"?

Totally wrecked it, because now it's just about being hot in a '60s way. And where's Peggy? I guess she doesn't cut it.

And then, the artist throws a joke one in there:

Seriously, anonymous fan artist. You could have quit while you were ahead, instead of showing everyone that your masterpiece of artistic social commentary was just a fluke.

Don Draper can sell anything, even technology that would have destroyed him

This is a great ad for something many Facebook users aren't too keen on:



So nice to see Sal again. And the writing is great.

Yeah, it's a mashup. But when it brings us right back to Don/Dick's birth in 1928, the ad reminds us that Facebook does not in fact contain our whole lives. For those of us who are older, it is just a brief slice of history. And a selective one at that.

Plus, showing Don's real name, the circumstances of his birth, and his ex-wife all remind us of the privacy concerns brought up by this new feature. In the 1960s, Don's world could be destroyed by a box of photos. Today, the man would never even have had a chance.

Backstory here.

My fellow admen, this is why they hate us (again)

According to Agency Spy, this was the goodbye gift to two summer interns at digital agency R/GA:


Good Bye Interns from Leif on Vimeo.

And here I thought Mad Men was historical fiction, and that we now worked in an enlightened industry in which women are respected colleagues and clients rather than sexual playthings and passive eye candy.

But apparently I was wrong. So in that case, sweetheart, stop your yapping and go fix me a stiff drink.

(Previously in My fellow admen, this is why they hate us )

Mad about high-speed rail

I love Mad Men. I also think Vincent Kartheiser (as Pete Campbell) is one of the best things about that show. I also have a history with public rail transportation marketing. So you can bet I clicked when fellow Osocio blogger Rueben Turner posted a little video called Mad Men sell high-speed rail.



Overall, it didn't disappoint. While not as crisp as the real show, the dialogue is funny as Mad Men parody — like when Pete, who can't drive, projects his anxiety about cars onto "a woman", and the references to smoking on the train and having a drink "for the long drive home". (And then there's the discussion of the price of gas in 40 years, which is way, way off.)

"And then, Harry, someday people will use supercomputers to write
articles about us and send them instantly around the world!"

"Pete, have you been smoking reefer with Peggy again?"

It's also nice that they worked with two of the most forward-thinking characters on the show. Pete is always bringing up prescient insights about future marketing opportunities — like realizing Goldstar TVs were a brand that had huge potential for target marketing to "negroes" or conspiring with Peggy to create a media stunt for a failing ham client. Harry Crane (Rich Sommer), on the other hand, is the media guru who saw greater potential in the just-maturing TV market and made his own position as "head of television". (Sounds like social media, doesn't it?)

In the end, though, it's all for a cause. And that cause is for U.S. citizens to lobby their federal government for fast implementation of high-speed rail. And the spot manages to get the key attributes across: downtown-to-downtown service, job creation, no traffic or parking hassles, and the ability to relax and socialize along the way (although no longer in a smoking car). They also address how hard it is to get people out of their cars and airplanes.

Improving the speed, convenience and price of public rail, though, may still be a dream for the future. It's one of those chicken-and-egg things: if you build the infrastructure, will they come?

Now that gas is well over $3/gallon in the U.S. (and much, much higher in Canada), maybe they will.

Joannie's too curvy for London Fog

I really loves me some photoshop fail, but the one posted today by Sociological Images really takes the cake... or rather "cheesecake":

That's Christina Hendricks of Mad Men, but you can be forgiven for not recognizing her, because — both in reality and on TV — she looks like this:

That's right! Not even the "Sexiest Woman Alive" (according to Esquire) has a good enough body, according to some Art Director and/or client who is missing out on the renaissance of curviness. (Of which Ms. Hendricks is a reluctant champion.)

With all the PR problems advertisers are having lately with photo manipulation of women's bodies, it's ironic that they were so obsessed with "improving" on nature that they ended up taking away the very attributes that made their expensive spokesmodel — in many people's opinion, the Marilyn of the Now — so very talked about.

And yes, Christina Hendricks is first and foremost a great actor. But curves still rock.

All the (local) Mad Men

Last weekend, Ottawa at Home magazine published a series of profiles of local "Mad Men" as part of their issue on mid- 20th Century style.




Who's that guy with the Scotch?



It's actually iced tea, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get my own vintage style on. I've always had a thing for skinny ties.

Here's the text of the interview:

How did you get started in advertising?

After failing to break into honest travel or entertainment writing, I answered an ad for Copywriters at an Ottawa advertising agency. Within five years, I was a Creative Director.

What is an advertising slogan that has stuck with you for a long, long time?

“You got it, Pontiac!” It actually became part of our jargon in the playground when I was a kid.

Where do you do your best work?

Anywhere I can get together with my best colleagues. I prefer to do it at a pub, but a quiet corner of the agency will do. Solo writing I do in my head while walking to and from; I usually arrive with my best ideas behind me.

What are the challenges the advertising world faces these days?

Changing media behavior. While it’s killing some traditional admen, I think this is a great time to be in the business. It’s like when radio and TV were still innovative media — back in the ‘50s. It ushered in a golden age for our industry.

What local tourist attraction would you most like the opportunity to promote and what would your slogan for it be?

We did a campaign for The Bytown Museum. It was part of a pro-bono creative strategy plan. It’s "Where Ottawa Begins.

I was featured along with Todd Marcotte of Electric Medialand, Don Masters of Mediaplus, and Gord McMillan (my first CD) from McMillan.










It was kind of cool to be up there with a bunch of agency Presidents — and me just a humble salary man. But I was a little disappointed that I was the only one who dressed up. And I can't help but sigh and acknowledge that none of our city's Mad Women was featured. Especially since the up-and-coming character of Peggy is such an important aspect of the show's examination of social change. Seeing a sausage party in this spread makes it look like nothing has changed.

Nonetheless, it's great to get some print exposure, to give Acart a boost and name-check my friends at The Bytown Museum.

But enough about me. There's social issues marketing to do!

50 years too late and a dollar short

CBC yesterday reported on public reactions to this Calgary condo campaign:



There was another ad in the series with the headline "A $20,000 down payment is easier than scoring on a four-minute 5 on 3. And way, way easier than scoring with your waitress."

Produceed by Calgary's Watermark Advertising, the ads seem to be the result of a desperate creative team doing an all-night Mad Men marathon on DVD, then nursing their hangovers at the "free businessmen's lunch" of their local gentlemen's club.



I mean, really. I love Mad Men, and I own several vintage ties from the era. But it's just a TV show. And more than that, it's a show about the end of that era. That's the whole point. The sexism, racism, and sense of entitlement of that time are supposed to make you cringe. I don't know if my mother would be able to stand watching that show, as she lived through the time. I know several women of my own generation who can't bear it, as well-made and realistic as it is — as a HISTORICAL drama.

For their part, Watermark apologized following a flurry of criticism in mainstream and social media:

"As creators of the Midtown condo campaign, Watermark Advertising apologizes unreservedly for any offence these washroom ads may have caused," [a statement] read.

"Obviously our idea of fun isn't funny to the audience we are attempting to engage — which immediately makes the communication wrong, so of course just as immediately, they will be removed."

But the developer was less contrite:

"It wasn't our intention to offend anybody. We took it as tongue-in-cheek. We were trying to address a target audience. But obviously we've offended 25-year-olds."

Nice Parthian shot against the perceived social media demographic. The irony here is that I'm pretty sure people over 25 are the ones who are most offended. Especially the ones over 65.

Sorry mom. We're not all like that.

So long, Sal

He's one Mad Man who won't make a comeback. According to New York Magazine, Bryan Batt — the actor behind Sterling Cooper's suave former Art Director, Salvatore Romano — has not been asked to sign on for Season Four of Mad Men.

For those who don't watch the show (you fools!), Sal was a closeted gay Art Director struggling with self-hatred over his own sexuality. He was unhappily married to a woman, and constantly made awkward heterosex-talk with the boys at the agency, even while turning down a romantic opportunity with an interested peer, harbouring a secret crush on a colleague, and eventually cheating with a bellboy on a business trip.

This last assignation was accidentally spotted by Sal's boss, Creative Director Don Draper, who kept the knowledge to himself. But when an abusive (and also closeted) big tobacco client gets turned down by Sal in a dark corner on an ad shoot, the client insists Sal be fired. Sal went to Don for support, and was summarily dismissed with a sneering reference to "you people".

TV Guide has this explanation from the TV show's creator, Matthew Weiner:

“We don’t murder people on our show, but for there to be any stakes, there have to be consequences. [losing Bryan's character] was a tough moment for the show, but that’s where we are. I know how people felt about Bryan. I obviously love working with him, and he has been an indelible character since the pilot. But I felt it was an expression of the times that he couldn’t work there anymore. It’s the ultimate case of sexual harassment.”

An expression of the times — New York City in the early '60s. Sexism, racism, and greed abound.

But how far have we really come?

Sure, violent gay-bashing and discrimination in the workplace are now illegal (but not unknown). However, open discrimination — of the kind that would not be tolerated if it were talking about "race" — continues. Just this week I saw a Houston Chronicle editorial by Unitarian Reverend Dr. Matt Tittle, describing the seminars held for law students at the fundamentalist Liberty University as "dehumanizing homosexuals":

"On Friday, they held a conference titled, 'Understanding Same-sex Attractions and Their Consequences.' The keynote speaker was Alan Chambers, President of Exodus International, an organization whose stated goal is 'to effectively communicate the message of freedom from homosexuality.'

'On Saturday, they held a symposium titled, 'Homosexual Rights and First Amendment Freedoms: Can They Truly Coexist?' The titles of individual panels at the symposium were:

'Homosexuals or Homo Sapiens: Who Deserves Protected Class Status?'

'Hate Speech and Free Speech: Will the Advancement of Homosexual Rights Silence Others?'

'Hire Them and Don't Fire Them: How Homosexual Rights and Privileges Have Eroded Employers' Rights and Destroyed Religious Freedom.'"

The Reverend thinks Liberty's law school should lose its American Bar Association accreditation over this. But we all know that systematic discrimination against gay people continues in the majority of States where same-sex marriage remains illegal. And even here in Canada, the "anti-gay-marriage" lobby is pretty damn strong.

Personally, I don't get it. From my point of view, being anti same-sex marriage today is like being "anti-miscegenation" back in the 1950s. If the government wants a hand in the legal contract that is marriage, then it should be available to two men or two women as much as it is to a man and a woman. Why not? Who cares?

I admit that Pride Parades often make me cringe, though, because of all the silliness. Part of me just wishes that this issue would be resolved as an obvious human rights one, so I can go back to not thinking about it. I'm sure many people feel the same. But as my Mom, a Presbytery head in the United Church of Canada (and "breeder") reminds me: It's our duty as members of a majority to speak up and stand up for the rights of the minority.

So here I am, luring you in with a cool pop culture reference and hitting you up with the gay agenda. But I also have to be honest with you. While I've cast plenty of families with parents of mixed ethnicities in my ads, I have yet to show a family with two mommies or two daddies without any obvious advocacy in mind. You know, as if it "ain't no thang". I'm seriously starting to wonder when we'll get there.

The last time we saw Sal, he was cruising Central Park at night.

"What does a Creative Director do?"

A few months ago, I was getting ready for a meeting while an A/V guy was setting up our new system. We got to chatting, and immediately recognized each other as fellow smartasses. He was asking me about my job, and it came down to "so you just sit around and tell everyone else what to do, eh?"

Turned out he had to keep working through our meeting, which was a large creative brainstorm on a new brand for a government program. I ran the meeting, solicited ideas, gave direction, pushed people for more thought, and bent, spindled and mutilated the results until we had three strong conceptual approaches.

The meeting ended and I asked the guy, "now do you get what I do?" He did.

I know there are a lot of advertising students reading this blog now, so this post is for them. I get a lot of people calling me and telling me they're interested in Creative Direction. I often get the impression that they think it's just like this:



Besides the fact that there's a lot less smoking, infidelity and on-the-job drinking in the real world than on TV (well, less smoking and infidelity anyway...) Creative Direction in a 45-person Ottawa agency bears little resemblance to the glamour of the golden age.

So, for all those keeners who have asked me what being a CD is like, here are my "to do" lists from this week:


Monday

- Studio Managers' meeting: planning for the week's expected workload. By noon, everything will have been changed, delayed or have had its deadlines greatly accelerated.
- TV concept presentation to federal clients.
- Brief on client Xmas e-card.
- Blog about our foster parenting campaign

Tuesday

- Internal meeting on new transit campaign.
- Prepare pitch materials on another campaign.
- Review updated banner ads.
- Meet again on Xmas card.
- Write partnership prospecting letter for client.
- Secure freelance francophone Creative partner for another project.
- Review brochure copy.
- Review super treatment for TV ad.
- Review more banner revisions.
- Review voices for TV voiceover re-record.
- Blog about Facebook ads.

Wednesday

- Get interviewed by Ryerson Student Radio on Social Marketing
- Brief on new social media opportunity
- Re-present TV concepts to federal clients' boss. Major changes required.
- Direct voiceover re-record for another TV ad, over-the-phone, to Montreal studio

.
Thursday

- Provide last-minute creative direction for Xmas card
- Check in with French creative partner
- Drive to Kingston for campaign wrap-up-lunch with St. Lawrence College (note: if you're ever in Kingston, I highly recommend Chez Piggy.)
- Drive back to Ottawa.
- Deal with several major crises that developed while I was away.
- Review and approve new voiceover for one TV offline, and new music for that one and another.
- Overnight: review and rewrite presentation for Friday pitch.

Friday

- Review, direct French creative.
- Direct English adaptation of same.
- Develop social media plan for new prospect.
- Finalize pitch deck.
- Blog about this. (How meta!)
- Rehearse pitch.
- Do pitch.
- Present new French creative (and English adaptation) to client.
- Present Xmas card to client.
- Go home for pizza & wine with the fam.

I've barely touched on evening and weekend work, or the fact that last week included four 12-hour TV shoot and post-production days in Montreal.

So, my keen young CD wannabes, I present to you the awesome reality of the job:



By the way, the moustache will be gone by next Tuesday. So if you want to help me kick cancer's ass, please donate to my Movember page at http://ca.movember.com/mospace/348858