Alex Bogusky - PRNewser

‘SodaStream’ Ad Pulled in UK (For Being Effective?)

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 11:54:26 +0000

If you’ve been watching TV in the US over the past several days, you may have seen this new ad for SodaStream, a device that allows bubble-lovers to create their own soft drinks at home, thereby saving both money and bottles.

Personally, we found the 30-second spot created by Alex Bogusky clever and visually appealing. Authorities in the UK pulled the commercial, however, citing their own opinion that it “could be seen to tell people not to go to supermarkets and buy soft drinks, [and] instead help to save the environment by buying a SodaStream”. This message, they determined, could be seen as “denigration of the bottled-drinks market”. Um…gee, a commercial that encourages customers to ditch the competition in favor of the product it’s pushing? Witchcraft!

OK…so what’s the problem?

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‘Real’ Polar Bears with Diabetes Take on Coca-Cola Fakers

Elizabeth S. Mitchell — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 13:36:34 +0000

We’re all familiar with those famously cute ‘n cuddly Coca-Cola ads starring the CGI polar bears that cast the classic soda as a symbol of unity, pure joy, and holiday cheer. But sugary soft drinks have been gaining a distinctly negative reputation as of late thanks to highly-publicized links to weight gain and other health problems. What was once a personal dietary choice has become a stigmatized, politicized issue, resulting in everything from honest labeling campaigns to anti-soda legislation.

Now, in an effort to remind the public that over-consumption of soda leads less to joy and world peace and more to diabetes and obesity, Ad Man Alex Bogusky has partnered with the Center for Science in the Public Interest to create a decidedly disturbing parody of Coke’s polar bear ads. The below video, titled “The Real Bears,”, features many things viewers have come to expect from the classic ads, including fuzzy-faced creatures wearing scarves, a winter wonderland backdrop, and even an overly-cheerful song (in this case courtesy of Jason Mraz).

But unless we’re mistaken, we don’t remember insulin-filled syringes and references to erectile dysfunction in the original commercials. Let’s just put it this way — if you’d like your childhood memories of the Coca-Cola bears to remain sweet and untarnished, you’ll probably want to skip the video… continued…

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Al Gore’s ‘Climate Reality Project’ To Host 24-Hour Broadcast Event

Celeste Altus — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 17:36:57 +0000

The Glover Park Group, working with “retired” advertising super star Alex Bogusky, is launching two short ads for the Climate Reality Project, former Vice President Al Gore’s crusade against climate change. The Project will kick off “24 Hours of Reality” on September 14, a round-the-clock online broadcast event that will show the impact of climate change across 24 time zones. It’ll air once every hour in 13 languages.

The ads are called “The Fat Lady Sings” and “The Denial Has Hit the Fan,” and they show an overweight opera singer, and something brown hitting a fan, respectively.

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Boutique Ad Firm Known for “Elf Yourself” Closes

Jason Chupick — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:19:23 +0000

Toy, the small marketing and ad firm who surprised the corporate world with the success of the “Elf Yourself” campaign for Office Max closed today after just four years in business, according to AdAge.

The story notes that at its peak, the campaign had 11 people “elfing” themselves per second. Toy is also known for designing the cool black packaging for the Amazon Kindle, the Extended Stay fart joke, and a number of other successful viral campaigns.

The firm has ten employees, a number of freelancers, and was founded by ex-Fallon talent Anne Bologna, Ari Merkin and David Dabill.

Toy enjoyed the adoration of an influential fan, Crispin Porter & Bogusky founding partner Alex Bogusky, who wore a Toy t-shirt and gave the agency big props in an AdAge column (pull quote after the jump):

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