Broadcast

Last year, the folks at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA used animated, biographically-focused TV spots to preview the 53rd Grammy Awards. Judging by the above spot, the agency seems to be employing “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mantra when it comes to marketing the 54th installment of music’s biggest night.

Though Bon Iver is not performing at the Grammys, the band is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Also, the band’s history is one that quickly found its place in folk music lore. Even passive fans know how singer/songwriter Justin Vernon started his project in humility, writing mournful songs from his parents’ cabin during a cold Wisconsin winter. To the ghostly sounds of the band’s track “Holocene,” a snowy scene evolves into a silhouette of Vernon and his guitar.

Could this be the year that Bon Iver becomes a pop sensation, played on Top 40 stations around the country? Well, you have to remember that the Grammys are now finally attempting a stab legitimacy, and Arcade Fire’s Album of the Year victory last year could be a sign of things to come. Bon Iver’s “We are Music” spot is one of four, with the others focusing on pop crooner Adele, middle-aged rockers Foo Fighters, and the worst thing to happen to music in 2011, dub-step phenom Skrillex.

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

Pictured above is a pumpkin portrait of Ryan Rachko, one of eight of Honda’s over 1.3 million Facebook fans who the auto brand honored with a jack-o’-lantern courtesy of Maniac Pumpkin Carvers. Last year, a few Facebook fans paid tribute with Honda-themed pumpkins, which in turned inspired the “True Love Can Be Scary” Facebook photo gallery. As a thank you, Honda and agency RPA’s used the social media campaign “Honda Loves You Back” to create a new gallery featuring the orange mugs of last year’s carvers. Over two years in, “Honda Loves You Back” shows no sign of slowing down, and props to Honda and RPA for consistently finding news ways to use social platforms to extenuate the brand’s devotion to customer service.

While we’re on the subject of Honda and RPA, we would be remiss not to give some mention to Honda’s surprise parade last Thursday for Maine resident Joe LoCicero, whose odometer on his 1990 Accord hit the million-mile mark (or at least 999,999). The celebration included a congratulatory airplane banner, three local marching bands and, as one would hope, a brand new set of wheels. Peep the parade video below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With video streaming site Hulu on its last legs and desparate for a buyer and Netflix a target of popular ridicule, HBO has picked the perfect time to launch its own streaming video product, HBO GO.

Through one’s local cable provider, every HBO original series is available to stream on web browsers, mobile devices, and connected video game consoles and televisions. Helping the company roll out its new product are BBDO and production company B-REEL, who together created this interactive site built to introduce the capabilities of HBO GO and the environments where streaming episodes of True Blood, Boardwalk Empire and Curb Your Enthusiasm would be a handy tool to pass the minutes. Whether you’re at home, at work or waiting for the bus, wouldn’t an episode of Game of Thrones help soothe the pain of your otherwise grueling existence? HBO thinks certainly thinks so.

If only we had the budget to do this with our comment thread. Today, Domino’s has unveiled a 4,630-square-foot billboard in the heart of Times Square that will feature good, bad and neutral (what about ugly?) customer comments derived from the pizza chain’s online ordering Tracker. The feedback, which we’re assuming will be sanitized for the tourist-y Times Square crowd, will be posted by Domino’s at various times throughout the day (don’t envy that job) and through August 23.  The OOH effort, created by CP+B of course, also lets customers post photos and if your comment runs on the billboard, you’ll get a link to a video clip of it to treasure forever.

In addition to the Times Square launch, CP+B also created a complementary TV spot that highlights the Tracker and stars real, New York-based Domino’s managers. You can peep it after the jump.

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Three months after CP+B and Burger King’s well-publicized split, we have what we’ve been told is the final effort from the brand, called “Whopper Lust.” The campaign is exclusively aimed at DirecTV subscribers and essentially comes down to a staring contest with your telly whereby if you win, you get a 1 Free Whopper coupon. Camp CP+B sent us a note claiming that 50,000 whoppers have been given away this week and counting on DirectTV. We’ve been told that at this rate, America will have stared at this spinning Whopper for 13,500 hours (810,000 minutes) before the weekend rolls around. I don’t know if we’d have the attention span, but hey, we’re stuck with Time Warner Cable so guess we’ll never know.

Here are some details (via):

“For DirecTV Subscribers Only

1. Tune to Channel 111
2. Watch the show “Whopper Lust – Get Free Whopper Sandwiches.”
–You’ll need to watch this for ~5 minutes during which you’ll be prompted with remote control commands.
3. After 5 minutes you can accept 1 Free Whopper Coupon (mailed to address used on your DirecTV account). You can double or nothing, or triple or nothing to receive a 2nd or 3rd Free Whopper Coupon (have to wait longer than 5 minutes).”

 

How do they know people are watching? Well, alerts pop up at random intervals and if you don’t press the corresponding button on your remote, then you don’t get the Whopper.  Check out some screen grabs from Whopper Lust after the jump. So what do you think of the final chapter in the BK/CPB relationship? Now, we’ll just wait and see how McBarryBowen manages with the baton in its hands.

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It’s hard to believe that it’s almost been eight months since LeBron James participated in one of the most tasteless media stunts in professional sports history. It still feels like yesterday when almost anyone outside of Miami would tell you that they were no longer a fan of James and would spend the 2010-11 NBA season rooting against the Heat.

Outside of Cleveland and New York, the team that felt the most snubbed by James’ decision was the Chicago Bulls. Most NBA analysts believed that Chicago would be the wisest decision James could make, and the team was stacked with the kind young talent that could hang banners in the United Center next to Michael Jordan’s squads of the 90s. So now, with the NBA playoff run turning into full gear after the All-Star break, Derrick Rose has led the Bulls to third place in the Eastern Conference, right behind the Heat. So, Chicago is going to start upping this rivalry with Miami, and Windy City-based Allstate, with the help of its agency Leo Burnett, has been calling out James–who’s endorsed rival State Farm, of course–for his silly decision.

As actor Dennis Haysbert says, Allstate is “from Chicagoland, for Chicagoland” as the company is offering lower rates to Chicago drivers. Basically, a car insurance company has more integrity than LeBron James, and Allstate isn’t afraid to say it.

With the possible 2011 NFL lockout looming over Super Bowl XLV, fans, players and team owners are becoming increasingly more aware that Feb. 6 might be the last professional football game played this year (the arena league doesn’t count). In order to give light to the players’ side of the debate, the National Football League Players Association made the “Let Them Play” campaign, showing fans and players alike who just want to see the 2011 season unfold in a normal manner with the players’ disgustingly monstrous multimillion dollar contracts still intact.

As The Consumerist reports, the players’ union was attempting to buy some ad space the day before the Super Bowl on CBS, but the network is refusing the air their entry, with the network defending its position stating that it didn’t want to have to show the team owners’ counter-opinion, thus taking a side in the matter. Of course, the NFLPA is accusing television networks of showing their allegiance to the league and owners by not airing the players’ commercial, as networks like CBS, FOX, NBC, and DirecTV will still buy the television rights to the games whether or not the lockout occurs.

Even if the NFLPA somehow convinces some network to air the spot, what with their Twitter hashtag campaign gaining support, it treats all fans as if they’re complete idiots who will blindly follow their favorite athletes’ whims (Lord knows those guys need new Escalades every year). The truth is that all fans care about is paying $100 per ticket, $10 per beer and $25 per parking to see their favorite team play the game they love to watch, so they don’t really care about making the players happy with contracts the average fan can’t even begin to comprehend. They also don’t support the wealthy owners for running their favorite sport like a cutthroat business where the rich get richer. They just want to watch some damn football, and if only there was an alternative, non-profit system to these mean owners and whiny players. Oh wait, there is, and it’s working in Green Bay.

As per usual, Doritos is planning to air a bijillion ads during this year’s Super Bowl. Of course, two of the potential spots would stir up some sort of controversy. That’s just the laws of percentages at work.

This time, the ads are raising an eyebrow for featuring “gay themes,” like the ad above for example. Are your kids safe watching something featuring two hunky gay dudes? Should we just boycott football altogether? Or, are you the type of person who says, “Well, I don’t see how that’s homophobic. It’s good that gay culture gets some exposure on mainstream television.” Is homosexuality the punchline here, or is it just part of a different humorous situation?

Okay, so yes, the ad might be playing a little into exaggerated stereotypes here. But, as Gawker reminds us, is this anything close to the “Gross, dudes kissing” vibe of a Snickers Super Bowl ad from three years ago? We’ll say probably not.

Finally, after the jump, watch another one of Doritos’ potential gay-themed ads for this year’s Super Bowl. Our verdict? It plays a lot more into certain stereotypes that don’t have anything to do with homosexuality. What say you, dear reader? Do Doritos in a sauna make any sense?

Update: Yes, as noted, these spots didn’t make the “Crash the Super Bowl” finalists list.

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As the above video and adorable children will tell you, $500 billion is spent annually on advertising. Today marks the launch of ADD or DELETE, an all caps social initiative dedicated to reallocating five percent of that money (approx. $25 billion) toward positive societal change.

The launch is timed to coincide with Super Bowl XLV and the enormous amount of attention being drawn to the $3 million price of a 30-second ad. Led by Minneapolis-based marketing group Haberman, ADD or DELETE urges consumers to question the value of that expensive advertising in two weeks. In a press release, Haberman MD Eric Block says he wants viewers to ask the question, ‘Is the approximately $3 million dollars being spent on every ad ADDing value or would you rather DELETE it?’”

The company’s namesake/CEO Fred Haberman echoes Block’s plan for the campaign, saying, “ADD or DELETE inspires marketing professionals to consider their legacies; do you want to be known for gaining approvals for lavish ad shoots or for creating campaigns that positively impact our world?”

Given the two participating NFL teams’ large fan bases, it’s a sure bet that a ton of people will be watching the Super Bowl this year, and the price of those 30-second spots isn’t going to drop before the game. What does the average sports fan prefer: watching Robert Goulet climb around on a ceiling, watching a giggling woman ride a seal, or hearing Tim Tebow speak out against abortions?

In response to one of my favorite pop culture journalists being dismissed after fabricating a book review, it’s time to own up to my own biases: Anything that stars William H. Macy as a drunk, deadbeat father with long hair, I will automatically get behind. I don’t know why, but since viewing his role in The Last Dragon (a good hungover Saturday movie to watch if you can get your hands on it), I’ve been a fan of the guy. He doesn’t get a lot of credit really, but he can play out there and crazy with the best of him. Of course, his new series from Showtime Shameless looks very promising from this trailer, but then, so did Boardwalk Empire before it got kind of boring. Will Shameless be another example of a great supporting actor not quite cutting it with a starring role in a TV drama? We’ll have to wait and see.

One of two slow-motion spots from award-winning Station director David Gray (no, not that David Gray), “Macy and Rossum” depicts Macy as an alcoholic father of six being cared for by his eldest daughter (Mystic River and The Phantom of the Opera‘s Emmy Rossum). Set in Chicago (it looks like they borrowed the couch from Roseanne for this show), Macy’s character must hold it together long enough in his wife’s absence to shamelessly pull his family together. Wacky hi-jinks and universal learning experiences are sure to occur when his daughter goes “out,” possibly compounding the problem when she produces six more children of her own. Check it out after the jump.

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