"Five dollar...five dollar footlooooonggg!" Who comes up with this stuff?
So goes the jingle for the Subway $5 footlong campaign whose success has the sandwich chain within striking distance of McDonald's, and is all the more surprising considering that the idea started not at headquarters or in an ad-agency, but was the brainchild of a guy who only owned two Subways trying to boost sagging weekend sales.
It's a cool story that shows how entrepreneurs can break through even in a tough economy by creatively offering customers a little more value.
This summer, Ivar's restaurant claimed to pull an old sign out of Pudget Sound. They claimed Ivar placed the signs in the sound in the 1950s because he believed the future of travel in Seattle would include submarines. We were told Ivar wanted to advertise to future sub-commuters.
The Seattle Times bought the story, and so did the rest of the city. I even believed it. Seattle is a quirky city, with a ridiculous history. At one point people had to clime ladders to get up to street level. Horses and people regularly fell off the streets and died. When it rained, enormous puddles would form and people drowned in them.
Considering our past's insanity, a submarine advertising campaign seemed plausible. Particularly because Ivar was known to engage in absurd publicity stunts when he was alive.
This hoax had the help of notable historians and business people who supported the myth while secretly knowing the truth. Documents were forged by Ivar's marketing agency. The sign appeared weathered and even had barnacles.
It was all a farce, and today the Seattle Times is reviewing it's relationship with the historian who helped prank the city. Unfortunately.
Seattle residents are unscathed. Most of us are enjoying the joke. It is nice to know our culture still has a sense of humor, even if it is fueled by corporations and huge advertising agencies. Rarely do we get to laugh when we read the Times, or any news paper for that matter. I'm grateful for today's laugh.This summer, Ivar's restaurant claimed to pull an old sign out of Pudget Sound. They... more
Pay per view (PPV) and pay per click (PPC) are two forms of marketing advertisings used by the advertisers to reach a targeted group of people. Between them, which marketing strategy performs better? Read more http://webupon.com/marketing/between-pay-per-view-and-pay-per-click-which-works-better/Pay per view (PPV) and pay per click (PPC) are two forms of marketing advertisings... more
Pepper the Dog talks about how awesome HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web printers are.
This is a VCAM, a Viewer Created Ad Message. Learn how you can earn money by making a VCAM here: http://current.com/vcamPepper the Dog talks about how awesome HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web... more
HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web makes life easier for the whole family!
This is a VCAM, a Viewer Created Ad Message. Learn how you can earn money by making a VCAM here: http://current.com/vcamHP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web makes life easier for the whole... more
With HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, you have no excuses not to print.
This is a VCAM, Viewer Created Ad Message. Learn more here: http://current.com/vcamWith HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web, you have no excuses not to... more
Meet the world of features in HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web.
This is a VCAM, a Viewer Created Ad Message. Learn how you can earn money by making a VCAM here: http://current.com/vcamMeet the world of features in HP's new Photosmart Premium with TouchSmart Web.
This... more
Remove ads from your browser of choice and surf more safely. Extra security and NO ads...sounds like a win-win unless you depend on them for your site revenues.;contentBody
Remove ads from your browser of choice and surf more safely. Extra... more
The previous Levi's ad campaign was titled "Live Unbuttoned." It featured smiling, attractive people dancing around to jumpy pop music. Watching those ads now (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym_Z9tFv650), it seems clear they were conceived before the fall 2008 financial plunge. They already feel irrelevant—an attempt to capture a zeitgeist that's evaporated.
In December 2008, Levi's ditched its old ad agency and signed on with Wieden + Kennedy (the talented ad makers responsible for creating many of Nike's epic, stirring, one-minute anthems). The spots that W+K came up with—this new campaign is labeled "Go Forth"—have been running since the summer in movie theaters and, increasingly, on television. From the moment we see that "America" sign half-sunk in inky water, we know we're watching something new. The campaign inhabits a different universe from the one depicted in "Live Unbuttoned."
For one thing, it's a universe in which the ever-present soundtrack is Walt Whitman poetry. This spot uses a wax cylinder recording believed to be audio of Whitman himself reading from his poem "America." The second spot in the campaign employs a recording of an actor reading Whitman's "Pioneers! O Pioneers!"
Whitman is an involuntary spokes-celebrity here, and perhaps you deem this ad a desecration of all he stood for. I can't say I blame you. But were you forced to choose a clothing line for our favorite barbaric yawper to rep, you might choose this one. Levi's is the rare American brand that was actually around when Whitman was alive. And there's logic to this match between a quintessentially American poet and a quintessentially American product. Whitman's verse allows Levi's to evoke not only its proud history but a forward-looking present—the pioneering, American mindset that Whitman captured and that Levi's hopes to embody.The previous Levi's ad campaign was titled "Live Unbuttoned." It featured smiling,... more
President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to include a public insurance option with a state opt-out clause as part of health care reform. In its place, say multiple Democratic sources, Obama has indicated a preference for an alternative policy, favored by the insurance industry, which would see a public plan "triggered" into effect in the future by a failure of the industry to meet certain benchmarks.
The administration retreat runs counter to the letter and the spirit of Obama's presidential campaign. The man who ran on the "Audacity of Hope" has now taken a more conservative stand than Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), leaving progressives with a mix of confusion and outrage. Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill have battled conservatives in their own party in an effort to get the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. Now tantalizingly close, they are calling for Obama to step up.
"The leadership understands that this is a somewhat risky strategy, but we may be within striking distance. A signal from the president could be enough to put us over the top," said one Senate Democratic leadership aide. Such pleading is exceedingly rare on Capitol Hill and comes only after Senate leaders exhausted every effort to encourage Obama to engage.
(Continued at Link)President Barack Obama is actively discouraging Senate Democrats in their effort to... more
During his Fox News show on Tuesday night, right-wing pundit Sean Hannity attacked a new ad campaign soon to be appearing in New York City subway stations that raises awareness about atheism. The ad, sponsored by The Big Apple Coalition of Reason, reads: “A million New Yorkers are good without God. Are you?”
“These ads inform New Yorkers that a million or more of their neighbors are good without God,” said Michael De Dora Jr., the executive director for the New York branch of the Center for Inquiry. “That is, a million of us have found or created natural morality, and lead good, productive, and meaningful lives without appeal to religious dogma or God.”
Sensing an opportunity to exploit the ads for political benefit, Hannity told his audience that a Christian group could never get away with airing ads like that.
Hannity doesn’t seem to ride the subway. He has said, “I travel on private planes, I have an SUV that I’m proud of.” But his lack of knowledge never stops him from opining on things he knows little about.
More @ linkDuring his Fox News show on Tuesday night, right-wing pundit Sean Hannity attacked a... more
25th anniversary screening of a truly surreal film
Here's what the NLF wiki has to say:
The plot concerns a young man (Galligan) who dreams of becoming an artist. On returning to his relatives in Manhattan, he finds that the Port Authority has taken control of the city, and is forced to work in a menial job under a trigger-happy boss (Aykroyd). His kindness to a tramp leads him to be taken into an underground network where he discovers that the city's tramps are controlling the destiny of all the cities in the world. They instruct him to travel to the moon on a mission to spread peace and find his true love (Lauren Tom). Galligan accidentally finds a bus travelling to the moon. Bill Murray plays the bus conductor.lunartinis!
a bus to the moon!
directed by tom schiller (SNL's schiller's reel)... more
Facebook's chief operating officer said the social networking company was targeting a bigger ad market than the search ad market that has made Google Inc rich.Facebook's chief operating officer said the social networking company was targeting a... more
The x-rated advertisement, for Jamieson's Raspberry Ale, depicts the fairytale heroine blowing smoke rings while lying in bed with seven semi-clad dwarves.The x-rated advertisement, for Jamieson's Raspberry Ale, depicts the fairytale heroine... more
![HP VCAM: Pepper the Dog [Official Selection] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/epg/vcam/HPPhotoPepper/1_60x45.jpg)
![HP VCAM: Ready, Steady, Print [Official Selection] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/epg/vcam/HpPhotoReadySteady/1_60x45.jpg)
![HP VCAM: No Excuses [Official Selection] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/epg/vcam/HpPhotoNoExcuses/1_60x45.jpg)
![HP VCAM: Meet the Photosmart Premium [Official Selection] - video](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/epg/vcam/HpPhotoMeetTheWeb/1_60x45.jpg)
