June 16, 2008

Mentally Tough

This spot has been around awhile, but I hadn't seen it until this weekend. On Father's Day, actually. Maybe it was the mood of the day, but this just jumped out of TV and slapped me around a little in terms of relevance. A great example of the right spot placed at just the right time. Creating spots like this seems deceptively simple. Oh, hell you just take a quote from an interview Earl did a few years ago and cut together some old footage. But crafting a spot this tight and this on strategy out of found material is, in no way, as easy as it sounds. WK is just so damn good at this stuff. The Magnificent Bastards strike again.

File under: marketing to men.

Posted by John on June 16, 2008 at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brands , Current Affairs , Entertainment , Marketing to Men , Sports

May 30, 2008

Bushnell: A million bucks for a Bigfoot.

Bushnell makes all kinds of yummy optics and cool electronic gadgets. From binocs, to laser range finders to GPS units to scopes to trail cameras. You know what a trail camera is don't you? You attach it to a tree somewhere deep in the forest and it waits patiently until it senses movement. Then it clicks off a few frames. The idea is to photograph nature without all that human intervention stuff. Sometimes the results are pretty interesting. Like the photo of the raccoon who decided to take a ride on the back of the boar.

Now comes the report that Bushnell seems to be preparing to offer a cool million to the first person who can capture indisputable proof of the Sasquatch with one of their trail cameras. As noted, the Sasquatch is an advertising favorite and probably deserves a spot here.

In any case, a tip of the hat to our friends at Bushnell. The promotion is coming soon. The buzz is starting now.

Posted by John on May 30, 2008 at 01:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Branding , Brave New Marketing , Consumer Content , Marketing to Men , Pop Culture , Science , Sports

February 11, 2008

Will Ferrell smells like a turtle cage.

Will Ferrell + Old Spice + Semi-Pro Co-brand + user participation = pretty fuckin' awesome. Check it. You really gotta hand it Old Spice and WK. This is one helluva brand renovation that's underway. Irrelevant and cheesy to irreverent and, gulp, potentially cool. One can almost drop Old Spice in the shopping cart without shame.

Posted by John on February 11, 2008 at 10:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Branding , Marketing to Men , Movies , Pop Culture , Product placement

February 03, 2008

Maybe the most relevant super ad we'll see today.

A click leads you here to play a surprisingly engaging and difficult advergame. And yeah, I added Alka-Seltzer to today's shopping list. Well played, Speedy. Well played.

Posted by John on February 03, 2008 at 08:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Classics , Food and Drink , Marketing to Men , Super Bowl Stuff

January 08, 2008

Safe. From odor.

Mixed sports metaphors, high-top striped socks and an intentionally cheesy payoff. There's a lot to like here.

Posted by John on January 08, 2008 at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Marketing to Men , Opinion

January 03, 2008

Irene Done speaks for the nation.

When the lady is right, the lady is right. God bless Irene for speaking the truth.

Posted by John on January 03, 2008 at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Marketing to Men , News of the Ad World , Pop Culture , Sports , Weblogs

December 12, 2007

Whopper Freakout really sells.

So, in one fell swoop, we're selling the living hell out of product and freshening up the testimonial. Nice work Crispinites. Nice work.

Posted by John on December 12, 2007 at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brave New Marketing , Design , Marketing to Men , News of the Ad World

November 11, 2007

Viva Viagra. Really!?!

Oh, I get it. Guys don't like to talk about erectile dysfunction so let's show them singing about it! Yeah, that'll take the stigma away.

Hands up, who thought this was a spoof? A spot like this makes it clear why a guy might be embarrassed to ask his doctor for Viagra. And it has nothing at all to do with erectile dysfunction.

Drugs in this category must be worth big bucks. The first pharma brand that figures out a way to talk to men about them in a way that's not goofy or adolescent stands to truly dominate. 

Posted by John on November 11, 2007 at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brands , Marketing to Men , Opinion , Television

October 14, 2007

WWLJD?

I place this in the "homage" category. Am I wrong? What would Leeroy Jenkins do? Either way, it's interesting that this is ad does double duty for two brands. Do you suppose the T-Shirts with, "I am the law giver!" are already printed? Come to think of it, this Toyota campaign must be created by nerds after my own heart. So far, they've worked in Nessie, meteors from space, a mechanized monster and now WOW.
 

Posted by John on October 14, 2007 at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (11) | TrackBack (1)
Categories: Advertising , Brands , Games , Marketing to Men , Opinion , Pop Culture , Product placement

October 09, 2007

Dick Pound. And other manly names.

Dick Pound is a lawyer, author and keeper of one of the 9 manliest names in the world. At least, according to Cracked. My fave?  Magnús Ver Magnússon, of course.

Posted by John on October 09, 2007 at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Entertainment , Marketing to Men , Pop Culture

September 06, 2007

Go mind-to-mind with Manning.

Another NFL season kicks off tonight and that can only mean one thing: a heavy dose of Manning marketing. Here's some from Goodby and Sprint.  This sports trivia advergame let's you take on Peyton (though he seems to go pretty easy on you). Last year, we crowned Peyton as the best of the NFL pitchmen. We can expect to see lots of him in the next few months. Think Brand Manning can get overexposed or spread too thin?

Posted by John on September 06, 2007 at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Brave New Marketing , Current Affairs , Film , Marketing to Men , Pop Culture , Sports

July 13, 2007

Old Spice knows manly fears.

The insight in this new W+K campaign for is a good one. There are things men are expected to know how to do for no good reason other than the fact that they are men. Lack of experience with the manly arts can indeed make you sweat. I love what the magnificent bastards are doing with this brand.

Posted by John on July 13, 2007 at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brands , Marketing to Men

May 15, 2007

Behind-the-scenes with Bruce Campbell.

Here's a "behind-the-scenes" look at Bruce's latest endeavor for Old Spice. I think the original effort was better than the spot that goes with the above. The approach in the new spot itself isn't as refreshingly unexpected. Still, here we are talking about Old Spice again. And this behind-the-scenes thing is certainly a nice way to stretch the campaign. So, I remain a fan. And, truth be told, it's pretty much impossible not to enjoy watching Bruce Campbell sing a Duran Duran song isn't it?

Posted by John on May 15, 2007 at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brave New Marketing , Marketing to Men , Pop Culture , Product placement

March 23, 2007

Now, that's living the High Life.

There's been some smack talk on CP+B of late. And now, this news. But let's not forget that our peeps in Miami and Boulder are pretty damn good. Exhibit Z is this spot, which broke late last year. We saw it last night during the tourney. It's a delight. It even made a room full of nervous fans chuckle during a messy, messy game.

Posted by John on March 23, 2007 at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising , Brands , Food and Drink , Marketing to Men , News of the Ad World

January 16, 2007

Old Spice embraces manliness.

The planners tell us that the metrosexual is dead (irony lives*). Well, it seems that Old Spice and W+K have a concerted effort underway to put a couple of rusty nails in those stainless steel coffins lined with striped shirts. We just talked about the new Bruce Campbell/Old Spice spot here and on the latest podcast. Now, we see the above companion piece that takes the new campaign across Old Spice line extensions. Cheers to the writer who penned, "They'll buy you something that smells like Wildflowers and shame."  Good stuff.

Manliness is back. This spot demonstrates that Old Spice literally puts hair on your chest. Good strategy and good execution. I may not be ready to buy OS aftershave but I could trade in my half-used stick of Degree for this stuff. You?

*Remember, good-natured ribbing among men is a sign of respect and affection.

Posted by John on January 16, 2007 at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (1)
Categories: Marketing to Men