Michael Bay Makes Me Laugh Without Irony

Check out this ad that he did for Verizon. Pretty funny!

My First Infringement (So Far As I Know)

I got an email today from Josh Moshier, who discovered the above ad for BookRenter.com on Facebook. I've spammed BookRenter with several "cease and desist" emails, and I've filled out an infringement form with Facebook as well! We'll see if I get any response.

UPDATE (1/26): I got a response from Facebook - they want a screen grab of the infringing image, and the URL that the ad links to. I've sent the picture of the ad in my response (thanks again, Josh!), but I don't have the URL. If anyone sees this ad on Facebook again, could you please click on it and send me the page address that it links to? I'd really appreciate it.

UPDATE (1/29): Josh found the URL for the ad (thanks yet again!), so I've sent that along to Facebook. They'd also like to get a screen grab of the entire page where the ad appears, so if anyone out there sees it, please get an image of the whole thing - a screen capture, a digital photo, whatever - and send it along to me. Thanks, everybody!

UPDATE (2/4): Facebook contacted me again to let me know that they can't find any evidence of the ad, so they believe it to be pulled. BookRenter has also written to notify me that the ad has been pulled from their end, so I really think it's gone at this point. Thanks again to everyone for their support!

Toy OTD: Playmates Toys 14" Talking Li'l Penny (Hardaway) Figure (1997)

The Nike ads featuring Li'l Penny didn't really register with me when they aired. But when Chris Rock (who performed the character) appeared on my comedy radar, I got a lot more interested in getting this toy. The sculpt and the paint work are quite good, and it was reasonably priced when it came out (though I forget exactly how much it was).

Considering that the ad campaign wasn't a huge success, and wasn't followed up with short films or a series, this mascot got a fair number of items. Along with the pictured version, there were two non-talking, nine-inch figures - one in a white jersey and trunks, the other in a smoking jacket and slacks (with a cell phone in the bargain).

Penny's phrases are either custom-recorded or lifted from the ads - I can't tell, but they sound good. Playmates wisely added a stand, and one of the hands has a peg so the figure can be set in a shooting pose. Nice! The articulation is moderate, so don't expect to be able to set it up like an Alfrex figure or something. An interesting addition is a movable mouth, like a ventriloquist dummy.

I bought mine on eBay, and I don't remember how much I paid for it. If you don't mind the toy not having its basketball, you can snap one up right now for 99¢ + $8.00 shipping. Hurry, though - the auction ends in fifteen hours!

Toy OTD: Foster's Freeze Premium: Little Foster Wind-Up

I don't have much to say about this little fellow, except that it's another example of a good, cheap toy. The design's been maintained in an appealing way, and there's only three paint passes on one color of plastic. The sculpt's a little stiff, but still cute, especially considering the mechanical nature of the toy. The biggest downside is the same of every wind-up - the winding mechanism is flimsy. Mine was broken when I bought it!

I have no idea how old this is, or how it was sold. I'm assuming it was given away at Foster's Freeze as a premium along with a specific food purchase. I picked this one up at a toy show for just a dollar or two, so if you can find one, I doubt it'll be all that expensive. There's nothing on eBay right now, so keep your eyes peeled!

"When To Take My Name Off The Door": A Speech By Leo Burnett

I don't have a lot of respect for advertising, but this is a pretty stirring declaration of principles from Leo Burnett. Maybe this is part of why he is still considered one of the titans of the field.

PCs Piss Off Santa Claus

Here's a cute new stop-motion Apple spot, with characters designed by Shane Prigmore and directed by Drew Lightfoot. I love the fact that there's so many Rankin-Bass nerds out there eager to make this stuff!

I hope Apple makes dolls of these characters - especially the PC guy. Wouldn't that be the best - making money from merchandising your dig at the competition? Come to think of it, though, I guess South Park does that every week!

Who's Laughing Now?

NEW YORK TIMES: Homemade YouTube Video Lands Singer in a Web Ad
By SARA IVRY - Published: December 10, 2007

If, as the song goes, video killed the radio star, then homemade YouTube heroes like Tay Zonday have put a hit out on traditional advertising.

In April, Mr. Zonday became an Internet phenomenon after he posted a no-frills video for the song “Chocolate Rain” on YouTube featuring his earnest delivery and his deep voice, which he likens to that of Paul Robeson and Barry White.

Two weeks ago, Mr. Zonday, a 25-year-old graduate student in American studies at the University of Minnesota whose real name is Adam Bahner, posted a follow-up called “Cherry Chocolate Rain.” But in this case, the flashier video was an ad. With a little help from the rapper Mista Johnson, Mr. Zonday extols the virtues of Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper, a soft drink that will be available nationally from January through April. (Since November, it has had limited marketing in four states.)

Soft drink companies have often based ad campaigns around pop singers, but they are usually mainstream acts like Michael Jackson or Britney Spears, not an online curiosity like Mr. Zonday, who does not have a record contract.

“We’re doing this to try to do something fun and different and connect with consumers who might not see more traditional media,” said Jaxie Alt, the director for marketing at Dr Pepper, which worked with True Entertainment, a production company, in August to approach Mr. Zonday about reworking “Chocolate Rain.” Neither Mr. Zonday nor Dr Pepper would disclose how much Mr. Zonday received for the "Cherry Chocolate Rain" video.

In the months since it has been up, the video for “Chocolate Rain” has had roughly 12 million hits. “I probably posted it like millions of other people upload themselves singing or doing ordinary things in their lives, and I think that’s very much part of our time, part of our culture,” said Mr. Zonday. “It’s not something one gives a whole lot of more thought to than sending an e-mail or making a phone call,” added Mr. Zonday, who has also landed a television commercial for Comedy Central.

The newer video, for “Cherry Chocolate Rain,” has more than one million hits so far. The newer song has the same melody as the original but different lyrics. The viral approach “was very, very deliberate from a marketing standpoint,” said Shari Solomon Cedar, True Entertainment’s vice president for programming. “Our task was to get something in front of a tech savvy, younger audience, to break through and bring awareness that way. That’s what we achieved.”

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We're encouraged to think that there was a fat payoff at the end of the chocolate rainbow, but I wonder. Since experienced screenwriters are struggling to get their fair share of internet revenue, I hope Mr. Zonday ran out and got an agent and/or an entertainment lawyer as soon as he got the call. I doubt I would have at his age, but I imagine one of the biggest reasons for trotting out YouTube posters is that it's a lot easier and cheaper to 'negotiate' with a grad student than a established recording artist. If the experiment works, I would imagine the gap between budget and revenue is huge.

If he did cut a good deal, more power to him! Student loans aren't getting any cheaper.

Scorcese Directs A Champagne Spot

I'm sure this isn't the most elaborate commercial ever made, nor is it the most expensive, but it could be the nerdiest. For reasons known only to Freixenet and Scorcese, the ad is a 'experimental preservation' of a never-filmed, thought-to-be-lost Hitchcock script fragment. It's fun, especially for Hitchcock geeks. See how many references you can spot!

Thanks to I Watch Stuff! for the link!

PS - The clock near the end of the spot says 6:01. Does anyone know which film that's referring to, and why?

Tootsie Pop Vinyl Toys!

Sweet! Someone (the aptly named Super Rad Toys) is whipping up a line of vinyl toys from that Tootsie Pop commercial (yes, that one)! Mr. Turtle, Mr. Owl and The Boy will all be available next year! From the looks of the article, they'll be pretty affordable.

Thanks to Vinyl Pulse for the scoop!

Two Cool Teaser Posters

These aren't the most dazzling designs, but they are nice and simple. I'll bet they both wind up looking a lot better than the one-sheets that come out with the films!

Unfortunately Named Toy Dept.

Here's an ad from a far more innocent time... uh, 1975 or so. Okay, so maybe this product had a really, really naive project head.

You Know What I Don't Get? - Part 6, I Think

Is it just me, or have the Boomers run out of things to mythologize? We've been over Woodstock, Altamont, JFK and Wavy Gravy so many times we can see through them. So that doesn't leave much, except... to start reminiscing about the establishment.

Which brings us to AMC's new series Mad Men - a show about advertising executives in the 1960s. You know, the good old days of two-martini lunches and slapping your secretary on the ass - while figuring out how to peddle cigarettes. But it's just before the Surgeon General really did the math. Ah, those carefree, innocent days.

As David Spade would say... really, America?

Now I realize my childhood decade - the 70s - didn't have a lot going for it except occasionally some really good, downbeat movies. The seventies were so lame that I remember describing myself as a sixites kid to a friend because I was born in '65, and thought I could squeak through on a technicality.

I know this sounds weird coming from someone who loves the Godfather movies and Goodfellas. Those are portraits of moral bankruptcy, too, right? Sure, but at least those characters - despicable as they could be, had One Thing that they didn't let go of - they'd massacre a hundred people at lunchtime, but get chewed out for being late for dinner. It's a fascinating contrast.

Advertising guys from that era don't strike me as having that One Thing. I picture them making money, wanting more money than the guy on the Ford account, cheating on their spouses, and slowly dissolving their stomach linings over which leggy girl to put in the giant Winston box. Not to mention using lots of cutthroat sport and war metaphors to help themselves forget that their work is about as disposable as it gets - the best that they can hope for is to be able to say, "Remember 'Have it your way?' You don't? Well, that was me."

I'm sorry to all the ad people out there, and I haven't seen the show yet, so it may be great. But I'm just really having trouble seeing this as compelling television.

Cool '60s Japanese TV Spot

This ad is for Tory's Whiskey, designed by Ryohei Yanagihara. The animation isn't very good, but I love the design! Here's more about the "Uncle Tory" mascot, and Ryohei himself from this website:

[Uncle Torys was] an advertising character created in 1958 for Japan's Suntory whiskey. [He] became a popular figure in print ads, TV commercials, collectible figures, and all that kinda jazz. Creator Ryohei Yanagihara started working for Suntory in 1954 and also became editor of their hipster magazine, Yoshu Mame Tengoku (roughly translates as "a little bit of liquor heaven"), which was standard reading at the Tokyo Torys Bar. Like Tony the Tiger or other great advertising characters, Uncle Torys transcended his commercial origin and became one of the most widely recognized icons in postwar Japan. By 1959, Ryo left Suntory to be a freelance artist, although the Uncle Torys campaigns continued into the 60s. In 1960 he co-founded the Animation Sannin No Kai ("Three People in Animation") with Youji Kuri and Hiroshi Manabe, and they started an animation festival, each contributing experimental handmade animated films influenced by opening title sequences from western films. Ryo's animations were characterized by the same bright graphic style as his illustrations, and he continued making short films up until 1966. Apparently Ryo himself created title sequences for over 40 films, including the Japanese version of the American film "Around The World In 80 Days".

Later, Ryo gravitated toward his true love since childhood, ships and vessels of the sea, and was able to combine his interests when he started doing illustrations for Japanese shipping lines, notably the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines which made him an honorary Captain in 1969. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines has a great website called the Ryohei Yanagihara Museum which gives some interesting biographical information in the Library, along with Exhibition Rooms with a huge assortment of his illustrations / paintings of ships, in a wide sprinkling of exotic settings.

Robot Chicken Star Wars Special

Looks pretty funny! I've never watched a full episode, but the clips that I've seen on YouTube are great. Check out some trailers and TV spots here - I think the George Lucas one and the full trailer are the best. I wonder if that's Lucas' real voice?

New Star Trek Previews

If you're curious about the newly-revamped Star Trek (The Original Series, or TOS for short) episodes, you can see previews for four different episodes at startrek.com. The effects do stick out a little by virtue of them being slicker than the live-action footage, but it does look pretty good. It's also interesting to see these ads treat the material as if it's never aired before, with modern "In a world..." sales techniques!

When There Is No More Room In Hell

BUSINESS WIRE: Ground-Breaking Orville Redenbacher’s Ads Launch During Monday’s Golden Globe Award Ceremonies
January 12, 2007 10:23 AM Eastern Time
America’s Legendary Popcorn Icon Returns via Computer-generated Animation To Promote America’s Favorite Gourmet Snack

EDINA, Minn.--Thanks to a history-making leap in innovative advertising, Orville Redenbacher’s image returns to television this coming Monday in new commercials that promote his deliciously light and fluffy gourmet popcorn. Orville, who died in 1995 at age 88, would have turned 100 years old this year, making this a centenary cause for remembering him.

The ads, scheduled to premier during the 64th annual Golden Globe awards, employ computer-generated imaging that allows directors to create and use completely believable digitally created actors in live-action settings. While movie audiences may be familiar with animation of large crowds or stunts, such as the thousands of troops in “Flags of our Fathers,” or the character Gollum from “Lord of the Rings,” this new technology -- being used publicly for the first time -- advances current techniques tenfold to create an authentic digital human with detail, personality and close-up realism.

Monday night viewers will experience an authentic Orville Redenbacher that recalls recent vintage commercials of him that consumers especially enjoyed. But the computer-generated Orville will be set in a modern world of MP3 players and plasma screens. The brand is reintroducing Orville’s likeness to all-new television spots this year after a 15-year hiatus. In addition, the brand will be reintroducing Orville’s likeness to its packaging for the first time since 1998.

“This is an exciting time for us,” said Stan Jacot, vice president of Marketing for the company’s popcorn business. “The Orville Redenbacher’s brand is bringing back the face of popcorn by reintroducing Orville Redenbacher and what he stood for across our brand’s marketing touch points. Our goal is to help reestablish people’s passion for popcorn as only Orville could.”

ConAgra Foods decided to reintroduce Orville via breakthrough computer-generated technology after watching consumers respond so enthusiastically to the vintage ads featuring Orville that aired on both broadcast and online media formats this past year.

To recreate Orville’s likeness digitally, ConAgra Foods, its advertising agency Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, and the Hollywood special-effects wizards of Digital Domain (known for their legendary work on such films as “Titanic,” “The Day after Tomorrow,” “iRobot,” “Cinderella Man” and “Flags of our Fathers,” among others), spent months poring over old photographs and advertisements featuring Orville. The entire process took months and required many phases of execution under acclaimed director David Fincher (“Seven,” “Fight Club” and “Panic Room”). In the end, not only is Orville’s likeness recreated in near- flawless detail, but his honest and passionate delivery also comes through.

“Our work with the Orville Redenbacher team allowed us to stretch the boundaries of what can be done with computer-generated actors to create extremely realistic, digitized personalities that look real, even in close-ups,” said Ed Ulbrich, president of the commercial division of Digital Domain. “This project was the first to benefit from advanced technology developed by Digital Domain for an upcoming feature film, and while the challenge presented in recreating Orville Redenbacher was one of the most difficult things we’ve ever undertaken, most viewers will be surprised when they realize that Orville is computer-generated.”

“People just love seeing Orville,” continued Jacot. “Seeing his image instantly reminds people of his quest for the perfect popping corn. We feel those seeing him for the first time will embrace his return as well.”

Orville the man

Orville Redenbacher was an agricultural genius who dedicated his life and talent to the art and science of popcorn. With an unflinching curiosity and drive for perfection, he sought to grow the perfect popcorn. He spent more than 40 years developing a corn hybrid unlike any other, and after creating and testing more than 40,000 varieties, he produced kernels that popped up lighter and fluffier than the world had ever seen. Finally, Orville found a taste that met his strict standards.

What did that give America? A new standard for America’s favorite snack and an icon who inspired the country with his determination and passion to complete his mission. Today, the Orville Redenbacher’s brand continues to evolve with new varieties and flavors that consumers enjoy.

Orville Redenbacher’s microwave popcorn is made with premium popcorn that is 100 percent whole grain, with zero grams of trans fat per serving. The brand has developed and markets more than 70 items – from lighter to organic to sweet kettle corn.

”Grandpa would have loved these new ads,” said Gary Redenbacher, Orville Redenbacher’s grandson who appeared in several of the vintage Redenbacher’s ads. “He always loved promoting and talking about his popcorn; it was his passion. And these ads capture the passion, sincerity, pride and commitment grandpa brought to television viewers night after night.”
The brand’s innovative future

The Orville Redenbacher’s brand is confident Orville’s return will help bring people back to popcorn as their snack of choice. While the ads employ new technology, the promise to deliver the best popcorn has remained the same. The exciting new ads will set the stage for the brand’s innovation as it continues to reestablish consumers’ connection to popcorn.
About ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods, Inc. (NYSE:CAG), is one of North America's leading packaged food companies, serving grocery retailers, as well as restaurants and other foodservice establishments. Popular ConAgra Foods consumer brands include: Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt's, Marie Callender's, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM and many others. For more information, visit www.conagrafoods.com.
About Digital Domain

Founded in 1993, Digital Domain is an award-winning full-service digital studio and production company that creates special visual effects and other visual imagery for feature films, commercials and music videos. A pioneer in digital effects, Digital Domain’s business units have been recognized with awards from the top industry organizations. In its 13-year history, Digital Domain has won five Academy Awards®: two for Best Visual Effects (“Titanic,” “What Dreams May Come”); and three for Scientific and Technical Achievement for its proprietary imaging software. The company has also been nominated for three other Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects (“Apollo 13,” “True Lies,” “I, Robot”).

Digital Domain’s Commercials division provides digital imagery and animation for television commercials, working with the top commercial directors. Serving Fortune 100 companies, the division has built a reputation as an innovator and industry leader in television commercial production and is the largest and most-awarded creator of digital imagery in its field. To date, it has been awarded 34 Clio Awards, 22 AICP awards, eight Cannes Lion Awards and numerous other advertising honors. For more information about Digital Domain, please see www.digitaldomain.com.

Contacts ConAgra Foods, Inc. Regina DeMars, 402-595-6727 regina.demars@conagrafoods.com or Mitch Delaplane, 312-228-6943 mitch.delaplane@ketchum.com

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You can see the spot here, as well as read plenty of reactions. Why hire an impersonator when you get an A-list director and drop goodness-knows-how-much cash into CG work that looks (at best) cold and unnatural?

Even if it worked, what do you do then? Make a series of hideously expensive commercials just to keep the Frankenbranding alive?

Be A Mind Sticker

"...because keeping your shape in shape has its rewards." Awesome.

Ahh, for the days when a product - even in the foreground - could be out of focus for an entire shot.