Who owns "Adland"?

If there's one thing that advertising people actually value, it's a brand. Especially if it's one of our own.

So it's no surprise that Åsk Wäppling, the Swedish owner of the advertising blog adland.tv, doesn't want other people using the term "Adland."

Adland is absolutely ancient in internet terms, having been established in 1996 when most ad people were still trying to figure out if the web was good for anything except free shock porn. A young Ms. Wäppling, under the pseudonym "Dabitch," instead saw the opportunity to create an online global ad archive and professional forum, which in this decade Brand Republic, Business Insider, and Fast Company have listed as one of the most influential in the industry. She even trademarked the name, several years ago. And he's been a mentor as I've fumbled my way into the ad blogosphere.

So you'd think it would be pretty clear that "Adland" = adland.tv. Especially among ad industry bloggers.

Apparently not. As you can see from the Google screencap above, venerable industry magazine Ad Age uses the term "adland," in a generic sense, to refer to the industry in several posts. I have no idea if they used it this way in print, years back, but online it definitely infringes on Dabitch's intellectual property. And she's let them know, many times.

Now other people are letting them know. When Ad Age posted "Adland seeks to hire veterans," Dabitch says she started getting resumes. After finding out they didn't mean THAT Adland, one vet let Ad Age know what he thought about the avoidable confusion:

Courtesy Dabitch

(adland.tv ended up helping the guy get some job leads anyway.)

Dabitch has written directly to Ad Age's legal heads, but after receiving what she characterizes as "nya, we won't" replies, she has taken to the court of social media.

She told me, "Now I tweet at them every time they use the word in a headline and I hope the responses take off."

Here's a recent example:

Here's our best tattoo @adage #adland pic.twitter.com/uQyUzuCDnl

— Adland (@adland) May 6, 2015

Cheeky. But will it get Ad Age's attention now? (More importantly, will it get the attention of its readers and advertisers?) We'll see. Because there are a lot of important ad pros watching that little red TV.

McDonald's Italy disses pizza, causes gastronomic outrage

Insulting pizza is a big deal in Italy. Especially if you're an American fast food goliath.

Business Insider reports that the the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN), representing the pizza chefs of Naples, the food's birthplace, are threatening to sue McDonald's for pizza defamation.

And it's all because of this ad:

You don't need to speak Italian to follow the story: Parents of a picky child are at a pizzeria, anxiously awaiting their child's choice from the menu. The waiter asks the boy what he wants, and he says "a Happy Meal." So the family leaves and takes him to McDonald's where he is happy.

The AVPN's VP is quoted in this imperfectly-translated statement:

Di porzio states that it is ignoble comparing two products very different from each other, especially if it is for discrediting those restaurants most loved by Italian families: pizzerias. Also, it is already well known that children love pizzas, especially for the taste. It is obvious that the American colossus is trying to discredit its main competitor, but speculating on children’s health is just too much. Furthermore, it is not the first time that Mc Donald attacks our culinary traditions, but this time we are willing to take some legal countermeasures.

North Americans may find it odd for pizzerias to attack burgers on nutritional standards, but only if they haven't had authentic Italian pizza. Unlike our doughy, salty and cheesy delivery versions, Italian pizze are all about fresh ingredients and restraint. Even though the dough is made from highly-refined flour, the Italian tradition of much stricter portion control makes the pizza less of a calorie bomb:

A standard margherita (with 250g of dough) has around 800Kcal, but children do not usually eat a whole pizza. So, if we reduce the size of a standard pizza and then we add a drink (without gas), we will reach 700Kcal per meal. A Happy meal has 600Kcal, which for a children are just too much. However, it is not about “how many Kcals there are per meal”, but it is a matter of “what kind of quality” they are! What kind of meat do they use to prepare their hamburgers and how many fats they have? What kind of oil do they use to prepare their potatos: colza oil? How much mayonnaise do they put on their hamburgers? And how about the preservatives contained in their bread? The true napolitan pizza, which is a product guaranteed by our international regulations, it is a “handcrafted” product which only uses selected raw materials, like mozzarella di bufala, fiordilatte, tomatos from Campania and extra virgin oil. In this way, pizzas results in a complete and balanced meal from a nutritional point of view. It is time for parents to control what their children eat: junk food might be ok if consumed now and then, but they should teach their children to eat clean everyday. They must. And eating clean means to follow the culinary culture offered by our wonderful Mediterranean Diet: it will supply parents with the right tools to choose among a great number of meals which are not only tasty and healthy but, above all, Italians.

If you're sensing a certain cultural pride here, you're not mistaken. McDonald's has only been in Italy since 1986, and its arrival in Rome's historic core was greeted with outrage. Designer Valentino even threatened legal action against his new neighbours over the smell:

According to Valentino, who this week began legal action aimed at closing the restaurant, which backs on to his Rome headquarters, the McDonald's created a ''significant and constant noise and an unbearable smell of fried food fouling the air.'' He has asked Italian magistrates to order it closed immediately on the ground that it is a nuisance.

McDonald's stayed, and expanded. Now, it can be found among the historic attractions of Venice, Florence, Milan, and —yes—Naples.

I live in Italy for several months-long stints in the 90s, and McDonald's by then had become a shibboleth for whether one was "cultured" or not. Since food is a massive part of Italy's many regional identities, the arrival of American fast food was bound to cause a reaction. In fact, that Roman McDonald's was the barbarian at the gates of Italian culture that caused Carlo Petrini to found the now-international Slow Food Movement.

There is a certain amount of pretentious Anti-Americanism in the AVPN complaint, but I can see why they are so upset. Defaming pizza in Italy (especially in Naples) is a really obtuse move by McDonald's marketers. Especially since the corporation has been trying so hard to adapt to the demand for more local foods elsewhere in Europe.

Weren't we supposed to stop using captive great apes in ads, Google?

Business Insider just published Ace Metrix's list of top-performing ads in 30 categories for the first quarter of 2015. Among them is Google's "Friends Furever" spot for Android:

Wait a minute here: Didn't the US Ad Council announce that it no longer supports the use of great apes in ads back in 2008?

PETA has been lobbying the ad industry to stop using apes as props for years. As a result,  Omnicom Group's BBDO, GSD&M and Merkley & Partners; Interpublic's McCann Erickson, DraftFCB and RPA; Havas' Arnold and Euro RSCG; WPP's Grey Group, Ogilvy & Mather, Young & Rubicam and JWT; and Publicis Groupe's Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett all agreed to stop using great apes in ads in 2011. The Google ad was created by Droga5, who apparently didn't get the memo.

I'm not PETA's greatest fan, but as a human (and having the Jane Goodall Institute as a client) the exploitation of our closest cousins by my industry troubles me.

The challenge with using any animals in advertising is their treatment, since they are not willing performers. The most intelligent social animals, such as great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans), elephants, and whales/dolphins, are wild animals that suffer from anxiety and depression when removed from their peers — even if captive bred. (Dogs are domestic animals, so they're a little bit of a different issue.)

The Google ad has representatives of all three of these animal groups performing for your amusement, and that of 16 million of your closest friends.

Jane Goodall is asking people like us, who create ads and entertainment, to sign a pledge not to use captive great apes in our work. I think it's time we stopped treating our cousins like props.

This Mormon morality video is all kinds of awkward

This bizarre video, produced for male students at Brigham Young University, is making the rounds of social media. It's awkward, it's painfully slow, and it's actually kind of offensive when you consider how a serious issue such as the mental health of veterans is being exploited to try to convince young men to help their friends stop looking at porn and touching themselves sexually:



The voiceover, according to Business Insider, is delivered by Brigham Young University-Idaho President Kim B. Clark.

I don't have much to add to the internet mockery free-for-all that this video well deserves, except to share the unintentionally hilarious "about" description from the official YouTube channel:

Russian government fines advertiser for the wrong reasons

The ad above says (according to Google Translate) "Keep smiling, even in the most difficult situations!"

Did someone complain that this ancient, dumb, joke is rather racist? No.

Business Insider reports that Russia's Federal Anti-monopoly Service fined the advertiser 100,000 rubles (~$3077 USD) After conducting a poll finding that 38% of Russian citizens were offended by the ad.

From sotav.ru (again, Google Translated):

"The appearance of a typical Russian family of the child with the same skin color as that of the parents, is the accepted norm, and the appearance of light-skinned African-American parents of the child points to marital infidelity on the part of the mother." [This is a quote from the FAS] 

According to the regulator, adultery is abusive behavior, disrupts family foundations in terms of morality and ethics. Advertise casts doubt on family values, is ironic, disregard for the norms of public morality. "The scope of medical services is quite serious, and a similar irony in the advertisement is inappropriate."

That's right, Russian regulators. It's not offensive because it recycles a cliché based on white men's sexual insecurities with perceived black sexual prowess. It's offensive to "family values"...

Could Lululemon get any weirder?

Via Lululemon

The ad above ran a couple of years ago. Yoga people seemed to like it. But right now, the Canadian stretchpants empire is in big financial trouble over a massive recall of black yoga pants that showed even mo' than toe.

"The truth of the matter is, the only way that you can actually test for the issue is to put the pants on and bend over," Christine Day told analysts on a conference call in which executives were repeatedly grilled about the pants debacle and the company's quality-control process. 

"Putting them on themselves does not solve the problem," she said, adding the pants made of the company's signature black Luon fabric had passed a series of standard quality metric tests and felt normal to the touch. "It has to be engaged in a four-way stretch for the sheerness to appear. It is a very complex thing to test for."

In case you haven't heard, the pants are reported to become transparent in certain positions. But the "bending over" quote isn't the first questionable PR thing said by company executives.

Business Insider has compiled a list of weird facts about Lululemon, starting with founder Chip Wilson's explanation that the company owed its success to the birth control pill. Not for good reasons, mind you, but because the pill created a world in which women worked, became more stressed, tried to dress like men, and lived unhealthy lives that resulted in breast cancer.

Almost overnight, women went from 20% to 56% of the university population.  By the 1990’s, Super Girls were finishing university where they excelled at school and sports.  They then entered the work force en masse and tried to figure out how to compete in a 12-hour-a-day competitive job market and have a functioning family.  Rarely did the two reconcile which created, and is still creating, an inordinate amount of stress on women today.  Fortunately, there is a direct correlation between education and health.  Super Girls knew that the best way to combat stress and sickness was to create natural endorphins found in athletics. 

Breast cancer also came into prominence in the 1990’s.  I suggest this was due to the number of cigarette-smoking Power Women who were on the pill (initial concentrations of hormones in the pill were very high) and taking on the stress previously left to men in the working world. 

In 1997 or so, yoga emerged as an activity that was both accessible and non-competitive for its participants.  It showed up at a time when women recognized the benefits of decompressing and living in the moment.  Yoga provided the same great feeling as snowboarding or surfing but could be done in an hour and a half and close to home.
Ultimately, lululemon was formed because female education levels, breast cancer, yoga/athletics and the desire to dress feminine came together all at one time.  lululemon saw the opportunity to make the best technologically advanced components for the Super Girl market.

Here's something Chip said about child labour:

According to those who attended BALLE BC conference, Wilson told the delegates third world children should be allowed to work in factories because it provides them with much-needed wages. They also say he argued that even in Canada there is a place for 12- and 13-year-old street youths to find work in local factories as an alternative to collecting handouts. 

"I look at it the same way the WTO does it, and that is that the single easiest way to spread wealth around the world is to have poor countries pull themselves out of poverty," 

And then there's this:

Some say that the recall, despite plunging Lululemon stock, is also providing priceless earned media. Could be. But when more and more people peer into the depths of this brand, what will they see?

Update: The answer to the question posed in the headline is YES.

Pranksters successfully trade their homosexuality for some free Chick-fil-A with a fake coupon

John Nelson and Robert Stiefler run the satirical Chick-fil-A Foundation, through which they troll fundamentalist Christians in the name of LOLs. It's presumably a reaction to the chicken fast food chain's recent messy run-in with the public fight over equal marriage in the US.

The coupon, above, was part of the Chick-fil-A Foundation's "Trade Your Homosexuality for a Chicken Sandwich Day!" promotion last year.

In the video below, John and Robert actually succeeded in redeeming two of the coupons at an unspecified Chick-fil-A, despite the fact that the fake text says it's valid at the controversial NYU store and only on March 6, 2012 (the video was just published two days ago).

I'm wondering if the manager just gave them the sandwiches to get rid of them quickly.

Here's a less obvious fake coupon from the site:

Tip via Gawker

Dave Mustaine goes all metal on Men's Warehouse

Via Doubtful Theories

Imagine you are the tour manager for Megadeth. What would you expect to get for Christmas? A Texas mickey of JD? A bitchin' leather jacket? A signed piece of memorabilia for your retirement?

Jim Carroccio got a gift certificate to big box business clothier Men's Warehouse. And the damn thing didn't even arrive on time. So singer Dave Mustaine did what any self-respecting rocker would do. He... complained about it in great detail on his Facebook page?

Via Business Insider

Text:

Men’s Warehouse 

Droogies, 

I know that not all of you have the kind of job that requires a suit, or wear a suit when you (if you) go to any kind of faith-based service, court date, wedding or funeral, but if you do…you are going to want to read this. You know me, I don’t complain much in writing, but I gotta get this off my chest. 

A few days before Christmas I purchased a gift certificate from the Men’s Warehouse in Salt Lake City, Utah as a gift for our awesome tour manager Jim Carroccio. You know the Men’s Warehouse…the old geezer with the voice that sound like he has chain-smoked since he was a fetus; the one that espouses, “I absolutely guarantee you’re gonna like the way you look,” or some manure like that, right? 

Well, I was talking to Jim today and wondering why he didn’t say anything (I think we all wonder sometimes when our loved ones or friends get gifts if they actually like them) and it turns out that they decided to hold my order, otherwise called by them as “pending,” and told no one. For almost 9 days now I have been waiting for delivery of this gift certificate, and I wouldn’t say anything because it IS the holidays, but these salesmen promised that they would GUARANTEE a two-day delivery of the certificate to Jim (it seems they throw this word GUARANTEE around quite a lot). 

So, we called and asked what happened and they have no explanation whatsoever, they didn’t care, and when we asked if they were going to do anything to remedy this, they made no effort whatsoever for this mix-up…although they did promise me the same GUARANTEE that they gave me when I bought it; that is that they will send it “two-day delivery,” but I already was promised this. Maybe they mean 12 day delivery. 

I really think that it sucks when people make false claims, that they don’t care to make good on a problem that is clearly their fault, and with all of the “ABSOLUTELY GUARANTEE IT” crap I just had to say something. We are all living in very tight financial times right now, and like I said, you may not wear a suit for your job or for an event or occasion, but if you do, I would strongly recommend you wear someone else’s suits. Go to Jos. A Bank instead. I for one, will never set foot in a Men’s Warehouse, even for shelter from a blizzard. 

I absolutely GUARANTEE it. 

Dave Mustaine

While some of his fans were encouraging, others were less impressed.

Men's Wearhouse responded, but the damage is done. Those metalheads will never buy another off-the-rack suit from Men's Warehouse again.

@davemustaine Thx for reaching out on FB. We responded to your posts on your fan pages. We're here to help, email us at MWListens@tmw.com
— Men's Wearhouse (@menswearhouse) January 2, 2013

Jessica Simpson remains as Weight Watchers' spokesperson, even though she can no longer follow the plan

It's a new year, so let's talk about babies.

Business Insider reports that Weight Watchers has had to change course with its promotion of Jessica Simpson's post-natal weight loss. Because it turns out that she's having another.

The company prepared for this contingency by filming two almost identical New Year's ads. The first, released on December 19, hides her early signs of pregnancy but doesn't mention the news:

The second, released after her Christmas public announcement, adds an extra bit:

It's a smart move by Weight Watchers. They don't advertise to pregnant women, but they also don't want to lose the post-partum market they've been courting with Ms. Simpson.

Personally, I hate the obsession with women celebrities' post-baby bodies. It puts way too much pressure on them, not to mention all the moms who can't afford a full-time personal trainer. But as marketers, Weight Watchers could have done much worse. In November, TMZ reported that Price is Right spokesmodel Brandi Cochran was awarded over $7 million in punitive damages after she claimed was fired from the show because she got pregnant.

You'll shoot your eye out, kid

Business Insider posted a collection of ads that paint a picture of American gun culture, past a present. What particularly struck me was this series of 1960s Christmas ads.

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

These ads are directed at assholes

Literally.

Star Toilet Paper (that's rather graphic, isn't it?) is a business launched by brothers Jordan and Bryan Silverman to sell ad space on toilet paper. Business Insider asks, "where else do marketers have a guaranteed immobilized and bored consumer-base at their fingertips?"

But for clients concerned about the dignity integrity of their brand message, this might be a shitty idea.

Model sues Volvo for implying her vulva was for sale #FdAdFriday

In a Hertz promotional ad apparently written by a 12-year-old boy during an Axe-scented sleepover with his bros, "Swedish models" are offered up as if they were escorts. The ad's placement on an Australian singles' site didn't help matters.

Yeah, it's all very punny. But American model Carolyn Giles took offence at her pic being used in such a suggestive manner. (No mention of whether she minded being portrayed as Swedish.) According to Business Insider, she is suing Volvo and Hertz for $10 million for making it "appear that she may be an escort, with extreme sexual and inappropriate connotations and innuendos." Her agency, Ford Models, is also named for failing to protect her best interests.

The 30-year-old model shot a web ad for Volvo back in 2007, and the picture was reused (without compensation) on a series of Hertz ads including the Volvo/a one above.

Sara Lee cakes rebranded under processed meat

Even as a Canadian, whose crappy frozen cakes usually carried the McCain brand, I knew Sara Lee's slogan "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee!"

The double negative was a stroke of genius, one of the few times it actually (as our English teachers always contended) created a positive.

Well, no more. According to Business Insider:


Sara Lee Corp. told investors today that it will change its name to Hillshire Brands Co. (ticker symbol "HSH") in an attempt to buoy falling sales of its packaged meat products Wednesday.

Hillshire? The sausage brand?

Well, yes. Apparently the frozen cake business hasn't been doing too well, and bringing the sweet late night freezer raid bait under the salty, questionably-harvested meat brand is going to help.

Best of luck with that. Because nobody doesn't like mechanically separated pork...

F'd Ad Fridays: Is "Facebook Official" a joke or what?

Everything about this video screams "parody".

The opening.

The hair.

The androgyny. (And the hair.)

The cheesy moves. (And the hair!)

The token diversity. (And my God! The hair!!!)

The dance moves.

The product placements.

And the Rebecca Black league dancing.

When Adland's Dabitch first shared it, I assumed it was a joke. Then I hoped it was one. Then I prayed.

Then I read this article on Perez Hilton:

Is this a joke? This has to be joke.

TELL US THAT THIS IS JOKE!

It's been a long time since the world has had a talented, relevant, five-piece boy band thrusted into their face, and perhaps with good reason. There's some much to live up to - NKOTB, BSB, NSYNC - how could any newbie group every dream of competing. Maybe with a little help from a former boy band member…

Lance Bass would like to introduce you to his new boy band, Heart2Heart. Their first single, Facebook Official, hit the web this week, and it's getting a lot of attention … because people are trying to figure it out!

What is this? Is it a parody? An homage to 2Gether, perhaps? Or has Lance fallen into RB-Rebbecca Black territory? You know, like, he's completely serious with this - the video, the costumes, the horrifying lyrics - and people will jump on board only because the enjoy the sheer ridiculousness of it!

Nobody can tell if ex-'N Syncer Bass is serious or not. Everyone from Queerty to Business Insider is speculating. And that's kind of brilliant.

See more at the band web site 

Netflix presents: How to fail at social media branding

Image via Gizmodo

Meet Jason Castillo. Thanks to Netflix's failure to secure the Twitter name for Netflix's new spinoff mail-order DVD business, he is now the unintentional brand ambassador for Qwikster:

(The profile picture is a recent change. Until yesterday it was an illustration of Sesame Street's Elmos smoking a massive joint, but Castillo got scared that the media attention would lead to a bust.)

Those of us charged with making up odd names for new brands that are both "intuitive" and twisted enough to be "ownable" generally go through a checklist of diligence before even getting trademark lawyers involved. We Google, check all top-level domains, and search all the major social media channels (Facebook and Twitter primarily) to make sure someone hasn't already claimed it. This oversight, for a brand as big as Netflix, is actually pretty astounding.

So astounding, as AdFreak's David Kiefaber quips, it is " so dumb that I'd think it was staged if there were anything for the company to gain from it."

Is it possible? I doubt it. Considering the many gaffes that Netflix has committed recently, it's not stretching credibility to think that they simple dropped the ball. And while this kind of situation is usually dealt with by a quiet negotiation and modest cheque, Castillo is so gloriously stoned that he continues to play his hopes for making "bank" on this as the slow-motion trainwreck only social media can provide.

Meanwhile, Business Insider points out that Twitter's TOS expressly forbid the selling of Twitter names. So by being so publicly greedy, Castillo could blow the whole deal.

And Netflix? Everyone hates the split anyway. It may be time to cut bait and run in a different marketing direction.