A week without advertising

I just got back from a week in Cuba. For Americans and others who have never visited, apart from the Communist dictatorship and the old cars, it's not that weird a place. People are friendly, tourist areas are well-developed, and they are very slowly starting to evolve into a more entrepreneurial economy.

However, for someone who spends the majority of his waking hours creating advertising and consuming social media, there were two major media differences between my world and theirs:

• Almost no commercial advertising, with the exception of nationally-owned brands; and
• Very limited access to wifi or any internet

Cubans are not officially allowed private internet access, to allow the regime to control what news they get from the outside world. They can access at specific public (presumably monitored) areas, and their mobile phones are voice and text only.

My hotel had wifi available in the lobby for a fee, and I could have roamed on a foreign data network, but it seemed like a good opportunity to put myself on a modern media fast. And man! Was that ever refreshing.

I have a reputation for being addicted to Facebook and Twitter, so when I came back home people were surprised that I didn't feel any withdrawal whatsoever. I'm glad I have access to digital media at home, but a short vacation from the 24-hour news cycle and the constant international networking opportunities did wonders for my state-of-mind.

The saddest thing I saw, at our resort, was Canadian and European teenagers hanging out in the lobby to keep their smartphones connected to their peers. They were right beside the finest beach in the Caribbean, surrounded by one of the world's most interesting national cultures, and they couldn't live without knowing what Becky said about Madison today. Their loss.

We even avoided turning on our hotel TV, with its international cable channels, so I literally did not see a private-sector ad all week. Every poster, every billboard, and even every graffiti in Varadero, Matanzas, and Havana was part of the government propaganda machine (see above). But even those communications were few and far between.

Even business signs (this one for Hemingway's hideout in Old Havana) are subtle.

It wasn't until I was stuck in the endless bureaucratic lineups to leave Varadero airport that I spotted what I recognized as advertising, albeit government-owned. And that's just because this Cuban tourism campaign runs in Canada all winter:

Advertising has been my livelihood for 25 years, so I certainly appreciate the industry. But what an interesting experience to be cut off from media saturation, even for a week. It really gives you a sense of perspective.

As Cuba-US relations begin to thaw, I hope my American friends will get a chance to see this country, with its oppressive government but irrepressible culture. Maybe they'll even find a way to somehow embrace democracy and a little capitalism without turning themselves into overstimulated media junkies.

Toronto printer "quotes" Jian Ghomeshi on mailer

Jezebel 

Using, or parodying, a famous quote is one of the laziest creative tricks in the book. But Toronto's Corktown Printing Co. decided to take it in an extra-creepy direction by doing a word-for-word sendup of Jian Ghomeshi. 

The ex-CBC radio host was fired over accusations that he hit, choked, and otherwise abused women on dates going back years. 

When he was first fired, Ghomeshi wrote a Facebook rant outing himself as a BDSM enthusiast, and painting himself as a victim of corporate prudery. Part of it read:

Let me be the first to say that my tastes in the bedroom may not be palatable to some folks. They may be strange, enticing, weird, normal, or outright offensive to others. We all have our secret life. But that is my private life. That is my personal life. And no one, and certainly no employer, should have dominion over what people do consensually in their private life.

Here's the inside of the Mailer:

Jezebel 

Ghomeshi's attempt at rallying sympathy was quickly overtaken by an expose of his non-consensual abuse of women on dates and sexual harassment of colleagues. Since then, several women have come forward to media with creepily similar stories about his violence, including Trailer Park Boys actress (and RCAF Captain) Lucy DeCoutere and author Reva Seth.

Jezebel reports that a spokesperson for Corktown didn't see any problem with the mailer. "It's a little satire," she told them. "There's no intention for it to be offensive."

The mailer was created by Toronto's Agency Next Door, and has been featured on their Facebook Page for more than two weeks.

There was just an intention to make light of a high-profile case of violence against women. Nothing offensive in that, is there?

Esquire's guide to buying your way out of the "friend zone"

The "friend zone" is a myth, but it's a powerful one. It's a fantasy created and maintained by boys and men who think they have been unfairly denied sexual access to a woman who — as far as they're concerned — should be interested in them physically but isn't.

Other people have written about how problematic this myth is. It's based on some pretty primitive ideas about sexual relations, such as that "nice guys" are tragic figures who women take for granted and that women are possessions to be won. Articles about "how to get out of the friend zone" are even more insulting to women, suggesting manipulative tactics straight out of the "pick-up artist" handbook.

Enter Esquire's "THE DO'S AND DON'TS OF DRESSING TO GET OUT OF THE FRIEND ZONE" an advertising feature that tells men the best way to convince those selfish vagina-hoarders (aka "women") that their own feelings and agency have nothing to do with who they are attracted to.

It's really just a matter of buying the right clothes:

That's right, lads: For just a $350 investment, you could turn that "no" into a "yo". Who could resist a man in this shirt? (Truth be told, it's making me question my own sexuality. And I'm not even friends with expressionless Beard Guy.)

It's nice to know that all those dry spells could have easily have been solved with $500 worth of shaving gear. What was I thinking? The friend zone doesn't stand a chance against a good shave. (Don't tell Beard Guy!)

One of the more affordable ways to show her that you only hang out with her for possible sex.

I'll have to admit, I used stinky stuff as a teen. I didn't know it was still a thing. (Hope she's not allergic.)

I had no idea that not being trendy was so expensive. But if these not-at-all trendy jeans make her think about getting me out of them, take my money! TAKE IT!!!

Bwahahaha!

No, really? It's $3,500 worth of "Look, I know you said I wasn't like those other guys, but I kind of am. Just much, much worse."

What is that even, and how will it help me convince this woman that friendship is just the gentleman's prelude to banging?

Because actually putting yourself in her shoes is way too much to ask.

"So, Madison, you don't think he's kind of cute?"

"You know the rules, Dakota. I'd be all over him, but he wears boring sweaters. So I think I'll spend a lot of my valuable time with him, and tell him all my thoughts and feelings, but withhold my sexual favours until he gets better fashion sense."

Wear your edgiest shades when you meet her, and when she asks to try them on know that she's starting to come around to you. 

(I didn't write that, BTW. It's actually in the article!)

This scarf says one thing, and that's "our friendship feels like a consolation prize".


The author disagrees with me that this article is regressive, creepy, PUA bullshit. But it's time to put this "friend zone" nonsense to rest.

If a woman is not interested in you sexually, your job is to respect her feelings. If she wants to be friends with you, that is not an invitation to spend your time together trying to manipulate her into giving in to your advances. It means she actually wants to be your friend. Or at least let you down easy. (You'll know soon enough.)

If you don't get that women's friendship is valuable in itself, then no amount of shopping can make you less of an asshole.

Nike accidentally endorses NRA pro-assault-rifle PSA

Meet Dom Raso. He totally isn't reading a teleprompter. He would also like you to know that you can't trust the media, but you should trust him because he totally doesn't have a political agenda.

Mr. Raso works for NRA News. He is also a Navy Seal veteran, wearing a t-shirt promoting Operation Hawkeye, an organization that works for honour and recognition of special operations soldiers killed in the line of duty.

Operation Hawkeye, in turn, gets support from Nike. Which explains the logo on the shirt.

Only problem is, the Nike logo has now been used to endorse assault rifles, or at least an insistence that civilians have access to them and be able to take them everywhere.

I wonder how Nike feels about that?

H/T Gawker

Canada vs. The USA: An Infographic

American adblogger Steve Hall posted this promo piece from Media-Corps, an American media sales firm specializing in Canadian media sales.

What's funny for me, as a Canadian, is that it's another example of how one-sided our relationship with "The States" really is. Steve prefaced his post with a bunch of "did you knows" (Canadians spell differently than Americans; Canadians call a couch a chesterfield; Canada has a higher concentration of Asians; Most Canadians live near the American border...)

Meanwhile, I wonder if there are more than a couple of USA facts here that Canadians did not already know about our neighbour (see what I did there?) to the south:

See the full-size version here.

So, what do you think? Does it ring true? (I'm pretty sure "yogourt" is a deliberate joke...)

1972 Bowie review is a good reminder for all music critics

Via That Eric Alper

Every once in a while, I find it good to remind myself that every new movement in popular music provokes curmudgeonly dismissal. Jazz, country, early rock 'n' roll, funk, electronica, rap, dance... no matter how good an artist is, there's never a shortage of people who simply don't get it.

This news clipping from Memphis in 1972 is one of those reminders:

Via Guerrilla Monster Films

"David Bowie probably could be a talented musician. But his show is not selling music. He has substituted noise for music, freaky stage gimmicks for talent, and covers it all up with volume."

The live album recorded in California slightly later on that tour, long a favourite bootleg for Bowie fans, had its first "official" release in 2008. It has 4.5/5 stars on Allmusic. (Not to mention that the studio album he was touring ranks on almost everyone's all-time "top" lists.)

How many of today's musicians have been described in similar terms? And how will history judge them?

"College Humor" grows up, shows us all how it's done

How many times have we seen links like this? It's kind of what you'd expect from a site called "College Humor".

Here's the same link from the main page of their site:

Same old, same old, eh? A little internet T&A to get you through your day. As The Onion brilliantly pointed out, even CNN is in the sexual voyeurism business now.

But let me tell you something: You really should click that College Humor link. Do it!

You won't regret it.

H/T Nat

Are liquor gift cards inappropriate teacher gifts?

According to Metro, this on-site promo from Ontario's liquor monopoly is not sitting well with parents:

Parents watching their kids play outside the Waterfront School at the foot of Bathurst Street on Monday afternoon were surprised by the campaign, and felt LCBO ads shouldn’t appear geared to kids. 

“Why target children?” asked a flabbergasted Jackie Allen, who was there to pick up her son Jaden, 7. “Since when is it OK for kids to give liquor to their teachers?”

The response from the LCBO, quite naturally, is that this online seasonal are not targeted to children. It's for the parents.

My wife is an elementary school teacher, and she occasionally gets LCBO gift cards from parents. It's a  welcome gift, and avoids the awkwardness of sending your child to school with a bottle of Chianti.

Perhaps the real scandal here is Metro going out of its way to manufacture outrage.

To review, here is the extent of their research:

Parents watching their kids play outside the Waterfront School at the foot of Bathurst Street on Monday afternoon were surprised by the campaign, and felt LCBO ads shouldn’t appear geared to kids.

That's right. They apparently ambushed some parents, showed them the "ad" out of context, and pressed for reactions. Poor.

Branding women's thighs for fun and profit

I first heard of this trend when Copyranter posted about it yesterday.

Absolute Territory PR is a Japanese company that is renting and selling ad space on young women's thighs.

You heard that right. According to Oddity Central, more than 1,300 women (all over 18) have applied for the agency’s service.

Clients include a number of Japanese domestic brands, but what got the West's attention was their promotion for Green Day's latest album release.

Why the thigh? A 2009 survey of Japanese men on their favourite fetishes ranked "Skin between knee socks and skirt" as the most attractive part of women's bodies. This stretch of upper thigh is known as "absolute territory" — explaining the name of the media buyer.

The idea is that creepy older men are transfixed by these women's thighs anyway, so you might as well put an ad there. As you can see by the screencap above, some of the ads have really small copy, which would require really close inspection. 

If anyone who speaks Japanese cares to wade through the Absolute Territory PR site to see if there are any details on the ad placement contract, please let me know. I wonder if this company is asking women to sign away their rights to not getting eye-groped everywhere they go.

Times of India responds to sexual violence with "definition of a man"

Less than half, in my opinion. But good on the Times of India for taking a stand.

ourmobileworld.org says that these ads are currently running 1/4 page in the paper, which has the largest circulation of an English-language newspaper in the world.

The macho approach against sexism seems a little old fashioned, but anything to speak out against horrors like this.

H/T Cosmo

Weight loss ads appear on pro-anorexia Tumblr posts

Buzzfeed is a funny place. Although still dominated by lazily-recycled content, it is continuing to build a reasonable stable of actual writers doing interesting work.

Staff writer Katie Notopoulos recently discovered a disturbing connection between "Pro-Ana" Tumblr posts (where anorexia sufferers proudly share their emaciated pictures) and targeted ads for a diet program.

It turns out that these keyword-targeted ads point to FatLossFactor.com. Ms. Notopoulos notes that they appear to be targeting the words "thinspo" (short for "thin-spiration") and "starve":

The ads are targeted by someone with an intimate knowledge of how the pro-ana Tumblr community works, exploiting the types of tags popular among young women encouraging one another in eating disorders, and targeting the ultra-thin images they find most appealing. In many instances, the ads are reblogged by others in the community, amplifying the ad’s message further. 

She also found FatLossFactor.com ads linked to the keyword “scars”:

Eating disorders and the direct self-harm of "cutting" are often linked, and are believed to stem from the same types of anxiety.

When contacted by Buzzfeed, FatLossFactor.com founder insisted he was not knowingly involved in placing the pro-ana ads for his products, and said he had instructed his vendor to "blacklist the affiliate" when he learned of the campaign. (However, he added that it was not possible for him to determine the identity of the affiliate based on the information he had.) The ads were placed by third parties using the ClickBank affiliate network.

This isn't the first time social media ads have shown up on pro-anorexia posts. In another Buzzfeed staff post, Amy Odell discovered that by purchasing the keywords "thigh" and "Gap" on Twitter (the latter presumably to stick it to the competition) Levi's accidentally endorsed a bunch of Pro-Ana "thigh gap" posts:

Internet advertising can be a sketchy business.

Ottawa Sun co-opts Aboriginal rights meme to welcome back NHL hockey

My sister-in-law, Bonnie, sent me this picture of The Ottawa Sun. Now that the NHL lockout is over, most people here are happy that hockey is coming back. Less happy will be the thousands of aboriginal rights activists for whom #idlenomore has become an important and passionate call-to-arms.

The first horrific media placement of the year

Via Buzzfeed comes Page 5 of The Stamford Advocate, in which a gun show ad appears next to a story about Sandy Hook Elementary School reopening after last year's horrible shooting rampage that killed 20 children and 6 adults.

These mistakes happen, and nobody would dare suggest that anyone in the community would purposely place this ad right there. It's more of an issue of quality control, or rather lack of it, in today's mainstream media.

But accidental or not, I was just served up this ad by the homepage of the online edition:

The ad is actually for an arts exhibition. But once again, a chilling combination of images.

Pymes Magazine doesn't know what babies eat

I understand where the idea came from. But the all-male creative team at ADN Comunicación, in Buenos Aires,  don't seem to know the difference between human breastmilk, infant formula, and cow's milk.

While human milk is recognized by all health authorities as the ideal infant food for the first one-two years of life, manufactured formulas are a reasonable substitute. But while many formulas include cow's milk as an ingredient, it is highly processed to extract purified whey and casein as protein sources.

Normal cow's milk is actually bad for babies. From the American National Institutes of Health:

Cow's milk is not recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics for children under 1 year old. Infants fed whole cow's milk don't get enough vitamin E, iron, and essential fatty acids. They also get too much protein, sodium, and potassium. These levels may be too high for the infant's system to handle. Also, whole cow's milk protein and fat are more difficult for an infant to digest and absorb.

Cow's milk could actually make a baby quite sick.

You could rationalize that the concept implies that more babies means a need for more formula, which will increase demand for cow's milk. But that's a rather indirect way of communicating the idea.

The other two ads in the series indicate that a much more direct link is intended:

I won't even get in to the other awkwardness here...

...or the fact that nobody has used quills for 200 years or so.

Overall, it's just bad advertising. But bedsides that, it might have unintended negative consequences of making women without good prenatal education think that giving "milk" to their baby is OK. And that's a bad idea.

Let's fix it, shall we?

Yay!

Campaign found on Ads of the World

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.

The Sun's latest sleaze — and my 3000th post

The naked Prince Harry scandal has made for some good old internet Schadenfreude, and understandably the British tabloids are all over it.

But, facing a Royally requested "media blackout" on the image in the UK media, the Sun decided that it would be a good idea to recreate the infamous image with Sun reporter Harry Miller standing in for the spare heir to the throne. The woman in the back, however, cause almost as much scandal: she is a 21-year-old fashion intern at the paper.

The Guardian's Lara Whyte wrote:

The image of the 21-year-old intern made me, like many of my female colleagues and friends, feel sickened and sad: sickened by this reminder of the unrelenting male chauvinism of popular media culture, and sad that a young woman was having this early experience of the industry, and that she agreed to do it.

Meanwhile, The Sun decided to publish the real naked prince pics anyway, in the name of freedom of the press. Yeah, sure.

*** 

I noticed on my blog dashboard that this is my 3000th post. Yikes!

I started this blog in 2009 as a way to stay current and relevant in a rapidly changing advertising landscape.

Originally called "Change Marketing", it was an unofficial blog of Acart Communications, the agency where I work as a Creative Director, and focussed on strategy and social marketing. Over the years, it has evolved into more of a column on ad and media trends that either delight me or piss me off. But there are plenty of adblogs like that out there.

I have also become more specialized. Since joining Osocio, I have found that to be a better outlet for reviewing social marketing campaigns. And the official Acart blog, to which I surrendered the Change Marketing brand, has become a better place for me to feature strategy and agency work.

I think it's almost time for a new evolution of this blog. I am planning to spin it off into two distinct brands — one for "advertising news, views and abuse" but more focussed on ethics. The other will be something entirely new.

Stay tuned.

"Girls Get Curves" - combining math and body positivism

Danica McKellar  charmed teenage boys in the '80s as Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years has grown up to be something of a nerd heartthrob.

Having attained her math degree from UCLA, and coauthoring the paper Percolation and Gibbs State Multiplicity for Ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller Models in Two Dimensions, she went on to author a series of books encouraging young girls to be confident and pursue mathematics: Math Doesn't Suck, Kiss My Math, and Hot X: Algebra Exposed.

Recently, Ms. McKellar published her fourth, Girls Get Curves. This one appears to take on body image issues with her play on words.

It's a weird combination on the cover, though, flaunting her now-mature sexuality and offering advice on attracting "guys" more prominently than she actually pushes math.

Meanwhile, she told BuzzFeed:

People tell us our value lies in our appearance, and that's what we need to focus on instead of realizing hair and makeup and fashion — that's all fun but it's really decoration. It's not where our value lies, and it's not where our self-esteem should come from, because that's extremely damaging. Girls forget that the things that are going to make them feel happy and fulfilled are the things you do from the inside — like succeeding in math. If you look at a really hard math problem, and you persevere and you do solve it, then you build internal fortitude, and you see that you're stronger and smarter.

Ms. McKellar also comments on media and advertising:

In the book I talk about how we can’t compare ourselves to the images in magazines — they’re not real. If you want to aspire to look like somebody, aspire to look like somebody you have in your real life. 

I also have a section about how advertisements are designed to make us feel bad about ourselves, because if we’re not happy about how we look we don’t need their products. So it’s in the advertisers’ best interest to make us look less than. It’s really damaging — it’s damaging to girls and it’s not going to stop. So I’m hoping to give them a different perspective.

I agree. But I would have asked her about how this applies to the spread she did in Maxim.

Might these two sides of the actress/mathematician give girls a mixed message about where their real value lies? I'd love to hear your opinion.

Read the whole interview here.

The Photoshop Workout, with Jennifer Lawrence

UPDATE: Fake

Suck in that gut! Suck in that butt! Suck in those... arms? Talk about a hunger game!

BuzzFeed contributor blckgifs shared this disturbingly hypnotic gif created by comparing a shot of the 20-year-old actress as she appeared in GQ and an anonymous "source" photo.

Does "pussy" have the same connotation in Estonian? #FdAdFriday

Without the benefit of Google Translate, my guess is "yes"

Via Copyranter, who notes that Elu24 is the country's largest newspaper.

It's part of a pudenda-obsessed poster campaign which, (this time with the help of Google Translate) is apparently causing quite a bit of controversy.

The martini and the trowel, apparently, do not translate...

F'd Ad Fridays: Effing hilarious media placement

Via Adland and Copyranter