• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, April 2, 2003

Lara Croft comes to the small screen. Chock Full o'Nuts needs a new jingle. Smith and Wollensky and Ford Explorer go golfing. Those are just a few of the campaigns launched this week. Read on for more details.

First she was a video game, then a movie, and now she appears in ads for Jeep. That's right - Lara Croft, portrayed by Angelina Jolie in both Tomb Raider movies, will drive a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon on the big screen and in ads on your TV screen beginning in June. Print ads will follow. The ads were designed by BBDO, Detroit and The Arnell Group and will coincide with, the release of Tomb Raider II: Cradle of Life, which opens July 25. The tagline of the ad will be "Let's see them catch me now" and will showcase Croft in her Jeep, going through many rugged and extreme situations and eluding pursuers in the process. The three one of a kind Tomb Raider Rubicon vehicles built for the movie will later be used for promotions, including appearances at "Camp Jeep" events this summer.

Another new car campaign is from J.Walter Thompson and A52. They worked together to design and add visual effects to Ford Explorer's new TV campaigns. The two :30 ads called "Sand Trap" and "Water Hazard" broke during the Ford Championship at Doral in March. The spots feature golfer Phil Mickelson practicing his game in the desert, where he drives the ball from the top of one dune into a bucket on another, and in the swamp, where he tees off amid alligators to land balls on lily pads. The copy explains, "To stay at the top of his game, Phil Mickelson will go to any extreme. We engineered Ford Expedition the same way."

Staying with the golf theme, restaurant Smith and Wollensky launched a new print and TV campaign focusing on golf and golfers last week. The campaign is in conjunction with the opening of a Smith & Wollensky's restaurant in Dallas and an upcoming restaurant in Houston opening in October. The advertising stars Craig Stadler, aka "The Walrus," a renowned touring pro. Stadler appears in humorous print and television ads along with Smith & Wollensky waiters. The campaign was created by Seiter & Miller Advertising in New York, and the $2.5 million dollar campaign will run exclusively in golf media including The Golf Channel, CBS, NBC, and ABC Network Golf Tournaments and print vehicles including Golf Digest, Golf Magazine and Golf Week.

Remember the old Chock Full o'Nuts jingle? Well, the company has launched a contest throughout New York and Boston that gives people the chance to brew their own creative rendition of the famous Chock Full o' Nuts jingle. The contestants can perform a capella, solo, in quartets, and even Karaoke-style. The winner of each event gets $1,000 and the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at the Knicks' home game on April 11th. First-place winners from each venue will then battle it out for the grand prize of $10,000. To support the contest, radio ads, created by Convergence Marketing will be airing in New York and Boston, along with a Jingle in the Can sweepstakes in stores, which gives consumers the chance to win cash prizes up to $5,000 if they open a Chock Full o'Nuts coffee can that plays the famous jingle. Chock Full o'Nuts street vendor carts will also appear at contest locations.

HomeGoods, a division of The TJX Companies, launched a TV campaign late last month to motivate and excite shoppers by depicting HomeGoods' incredible values and assortment of in home fashions. The ads were designed by Allen & Gerritsen and will run in Boston, Detroit, New York, St. Louis and Cincinnati. The campaign's audience is women ages 25-54. The ad, entitled "Store Manager", puts a face on the company by featuring a store manager and his interactions within the store setting. The spots center on the manager's attempts to manage a very enthusiastic group of HomeGoods customers and their desires to learn about the incoming merchandise.

META Group, an IT research and advisory services company, has launched a nationwide advertising campaign intended to build international brand awareness. The "META vs. Mega" campaign highlights META Group's key market differentiators - including their industry reputation for being a higher-value, objective, and trusted IT advisor. The print campaign launched March 24, and will appear in various technology and business publications, including InformationWeek, Business 2.0, CIO, and Forbes. The print campaign will continue during the course of the year, with an online ad campaign to follow. The ads were designed by The Boston Group.

Deutsch LA has created two :30 spots for Coors Light, which debuted during CBS' Survivor. The first spot entitled "Guy Anthem", celebrates young male insights from the perspective of several men recounting humorous memories that help define their 20's and tales that they will likely recount for the rest of their lives. "I have called shot gun 11 hours before a road trip. I have eaten condiments as a meal." The second ad, called "Wingman celebrates the guy who helps make those magic moments happen. He's the guy who talks you up in front of the right girl and who gives you a pep talk when you need one; and who baby-sits the anchor when your prospects with her friend are looking good.

The New York Sun has launched a multi-media advertising campaign throughout the New York City region. The campaign is an $800,000 effort and will include print, television, cable, radio, OOH advertising and direct marketing to promote the newspaper's new tagline, "Expect a Different Point of View." The ads were developed by Leapfrog Advertising, and marks the first time the year old newspaper has run television advertising. The ads began running on March 31 and will run for four weeks. The television spot shows a man boarding the subway during rush hour traffic with his copy of The New York Sun. Upon opening the paper, he is illuminated by a beam of sunlight, which also shines on the people around him. Now their worlds, too, are illuminated by The New York Sun. The campaign highlights the value proposition of The New York Sun.

Carton Donofrio Partners has designed a print ad for The United States Tennis Association's upcoming Youth tournament. The ad will run in April issues of tennis magazines (East Coast buys only), along with regional newspapers like the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, Washington Times, Baltimore CityPaper, and small local dailies. The May 17-21 event will showcase top ranked boys and girls up to age 12, and proceeds from the event will go to benefit the Baltimore Tennis Patrons and Campaign for Our Children, a non-profit corporation that addresses teen pregnancy prevention and a broad range of additional social issues affecting youth, including adolescent sexual health, male responsibility, infant mortality prevention and child support enforcement.

This week's website launches include:

Bandujo Donker & Brothers has recently completed the redesign and re-launch of the website for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of New Jersey. The website for Make-A-Wish is a continuation of a re-branding initiative to better reflect the joy and happiness Make-A-Wish brings to the lives of children and their families. The new website will also serve as an integral part of the Foundation's fundraising and volunteer recruitment efforts.

BAM! The Food Network has redesigned their website. The upgrade comes as the website continues to maintain its large user base and to attract new users. The new design will integrate new features with Food Network chefs as well as unique ideas from culinary experts at the Food Network Kitchens. The site also introduces a simpler navigation system to highlight its range of topics. Look for an easier way to find recipes as FoodNetwork.com has also improved its search function, which gives users access to more than 25,000 recipes.

 

 

Estco Medical has redesigned the websites for Biopharmaceutical Company Panacea Pharmaceuticals and tissue regeneration company ReGen Biologics. The Panacea Pharmaceuticals redesigned website is the primary location for the company's most recent research and development advancements and will allow Panacea administrators to upload, update and organize content specific to the various projects that are in development. The ReGen Biologics website was designed to provide specialized and detailed subject matter to patients, surgeons, investors, and distributors regarding ReGen's variety of therapeutic applications and tissue regrowth products.