F'd Ad Fridays: House O' Bowies

This odd little ad was originally shot for Vittel mineral water, for European and Japanese markets, in the early 2000s. In it, David Bowie is forced to live with all of his classic alter-egos.



It was later repurposed as an ad for Bowie's last (**sob**) to date album, Reality.

In some ways, I wonder if this is what it's like to live inside his head.

PS: Come back, David! In any guise you choose. We miss you.

"Smartmouth" QR pinup ads: ironic or lame?

Rebecca, a designer colleague, sent me a link to this out-of-home campaign from Honest Agency:

40s-style pinup girls with QR codes over their mouths?

Unfortunately, the agency didn't give enough screen resolution to actually read their lips in the portfolio page. But through the magic of the interwebs, I was able to get the link below. It goes with the woman in red:



The acting is pretty appalling, and considering this is for an ad over a urinal, I can't imagine:

1. Whipping out my camera phone while standing with other men who are peeing. That in itself is an ass-kicking offence. You're not even supposed to talk or make eye contact,

2.  Holding it over an ad with my one free hand.

3. Not being embarrassed by having the poster talk about my junk.

If you don't even want to watch the video, these transit (?) ads tell you all you need to know about the trashy copy style:

You see, guys, compliant women of your grandmother's generation won't have sex with you unless you have hair. Because they like their sex the way they like their hair. Or something. Hair.

Augmented reality ghetto blaster

Nice.



By Berlin artist Sweza.

Via Animal NY

Augmented reality hits the streets

KIA took an interesting approach to promoting its new Punto Evo. Rather than using QR codes, which are already common, they developed a smart phone app (iPhone and Android only) that reads standardized, well-defined, high-contrast shapes that are all over the urban landscape: traffic signs.



Here's more explanation:

"For example; a STOP sign will tell the user all about the new breaking system, a CURVE ahead sign will tell the user that the car has an intelligent lighting system that guides you in curves. And the list goes on with every sign and feature of the car."

This is a European campaign by Leo Burnett Iberia in Madrid,  so your mileage may vary if you try it on another continent's standard signs. (See full credits at their YouTube link)

Meanwhile, in New York City, new interactive LED signs are reminding drivers who break the new 30 MPH (~48 km/h) that they are significantly more likely to kill a pedestrian in case of a collision:

I like this approach much better than the KIA one. First of all, as I'm an urban pedestrian it's a cause I feel passionate about. Second, I'm a little worried that the traffic sign game by KIA will actually lead to crashes between distracted walkers and drivers.

CK QR AR FTW

My colleague Lynn sent around an interesting link yesterday. Apparently, Calvin Klein has revolutionized outdoor advertising by running a billboard in major US cities that is just one big QR code:


(Pic taken from Ottawa Citizen)

This 2-dimensional barcode, similar to the Mobio one we used on our iheartmom campaign, is read by camera phones (with the right apps) to unlock online content.

In the case of the Calvin Klein billboard, it was this "uncensored" content:



Not exactly shocking stuff, but I'm sure it will get people with the right technology to check it out. And in advertising, getting people to take the time to interact is everything these days.

As well, this mashup of two hot trends — QR and augmented reality (AR) — is newsworthy in itself. It doesn't matter if many of the people who view your ad don't have the time or hardware to view it properly. As viewers of Mad Men's new season opener are aware, innovation and guts in the marketplace generate its own PR rewards.