Commentary

Out to Launch

Game Boy Micro lets a player's personality shine. Toyota goes tribal for its 2006 4Runner campaign. Football players are hungry... all the time. Let's launch!

72andSunny has launched an integrated campaign for Bugaboo's latest strollers, the "Gecko" and the "Cameleon." Haven't we had enough Gecko exposure (thank you, GEICO)? How about the iguana or the chuckwalla? Just a thought. The campaign consists of a two-page magazine spread, a 40-page booklet available in stores, and online and outdoor ads. The two-page ad launched in the September issues of InStyle, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine, Kids Today, Child, Bundle and Dwell, as well as select European publications, including Pregnancy & Baby and Junior Magazine. The ad's left page highlights the Cameleon, showing, against brightly colored squares, the stroller's many customizations available. The Gecko side features the stroller against grey blocks to convey Gecko's sleek design. The word "Go" appears in the center of the spread.

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Saks Fifth Avenue unveiled WILD ABOUT CASHMERE throughout its stores on September 22, featuring an array of exclusive Italian merchandise commissioned in part by designer Rebecca Moses. How does one promote this on a street level? By getting your goat... or eight goats. The michael alan group "hired" eight cashmere goats, along with four promotional models to walk them around Manhattan on leashes. The models (not the goats) wore Saks tees and carried Saks shopping bags. The unlikely pairs made stops at the Fashion Week tents in Bryant Park, on Wall Street, Union Square, and Fifth Avenue.

If I had to choose someone famous to be the spokesperson for Hungry-Man, I'd go for hulking football players, too. The company uses the Oakland Raiders' Warren Sapp, the New York Giants' Jeremy Shockey, and the Washington Redskins' Clinton Portis in its latest campaign. All three spots take place in a supermarket and use the tagline: "Hungry-Man. It's Good To Be Full." One spot shows Sapp browsing the frozen food aisle with an empty cart looking to curb his appetite. When he sees the Hungry-Man case, he opens the door and tips the case, emptying all the dinners into his cart. In another, Shockey waits at the cash register as a clerk slides dozens of Hungry-Man dinners across the scanner. Shoppers behind him become annoyed, since everyone is waiting in the "5 Items or less" line. Shockey responds, "It's one item!" before swiping a dinner from a customer's cart. LaunchPad Inc. created the campaign.

Last week, Duracell proved how effective its batteries were in the Amazon rainforests. This week, Toyota spotlights a remote tribe in its TV spot for the 2006 4Runner. Originally targeting Hispanic SUV consumers, the spot will also air on general market broadcast television and cable networks. "Singers" illustrates how the 2006 4Runner is "ready for anything you can think of." The thirty-second spot shows a 4Runner being maneuvered through tough jungle terrain while actual members of the native Yanomami tribe from Brazil are being driven back to their camp.  The ad contains tribal-sounding music, but the twist is that that the music is actually coming from the passengers in the back seats of the 4Runner.... It's not background music! The Spanish-language ad begin airing October 3 on Spanish-language broadcast and cable networks such as Univision, Telemundo, Telefutura, and Fox Sports Español. The English-language version will debut shortly after, during "Monday Night Football," the NFL on Fox, and CBS NFL Football. Conill Advertising created the campaign.

Nintendo launched a TV, print, and online campaign for its Game Boy Micro on September 19. Game Boy Micro has interchangeable faceplates to match a player's mood or personality, so the ad emphasizes the message "make it yours." (Useless fact: The Game Boy Micro is 4 inches wide, 2 inches long and weighs 2.8 ounces, or the weight of 80 paper clips!) The ad is running for five weeks, through Oct. 23. Print ads can be found in Teen People, Boys' Life, and Seventeen. Online ads are running on the Cartoon Network, Yahoo! and MTV.com, targeting 9- to 17-year-olds. Leo Burnett created the campaign.

The NHL has returned. There are 25 people out there who are really happy to hear this--but I'm not one of them. To support the upcoming season, OLN has launched an aggressive tune-in campaign using the tagline "We Believe in Hockey." In the series of 30-second TV spots, clips of memorable hockey footage are accompanied by a voiceover of thousands of fans making statements like "we believe we can score on the opening face-off." and "we believe in the unbelievable." "We Believe in Hockey" also includes a print component, consisting of full-page ads in newspapers, consumer and trade magazines including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Outside Magazine and Advertising Age. There's also a massive online component to the campaign: I saw ads on CNN.com this morning. McCoy and Magnotta developed the campaign, which was created by Fort Franklin.

The Aluminum Association and Habitat for Humanity have launched a PSA campaign to promote their joint program, Cans for Habitat. The national programencourages Americans to recycle aluminum cans on behalf of Habitat for Humanity affiliates around the country. "Recycling for the American Dream" shows viewers how they can help Habitat without ever picking up a hammer, by doing something many do already -- recycle aluminum cans. AdWorks created the campaign.

This week's Web site launches include a politician and a luxury car.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid launched a new campaign headquarters -- GiveEmHellHarry.com -- to provide Democrats with the tools to help fight for control of the U.S. Senate. Reid is also spearheading a campaign dubbed Energy Independence 2020, an effort to reduce gas prices and America's dependence on Middle East oil. Billboards in Albuquerque, Phoenix, and Helena, Montana, will support the site's formal launch. The name of the site was inspired by an event that occurred during Harry Truman's successful 1948 presidential campaign. While delivering a speech, a supporter yelled to Truman, "Give 'em hell, Harry!" Truman responded, "I don't give them hell, I just tell the truth and they think it's hell."

Cadillac.com has been revamped. The Web site now integrates driving footage, animation, sound, and other advanced technological features. Other additions include video presentations by automotive engineers, simulated drives, interior and exterior photos, and 360-degree views. Leo Burnett Detroit and Arc Worldwide created the site. The pair also partnered earlier this year to create the Cadillac Under 5 campaign promoting the three V-Series vehicles that go from 0 mph to 60 mph in five seconds.

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