Commentary

Out to Launch

Tourism campaigns. Branded subway cars. Let's launch!

Northern Lights Post handled the design and Mr. Wonderful provided visual effects for an ad that Saatchi & Saatchi New York created for Reese's Puffs Cereal. When it comes to peanut butter, I'm often reminded of a quote from a wise man who said, "Nothing takes the taste out of peanut butter quite like unrequited love." Readers, that wise man was Charlie Brown. "Car" takes viewers inside an auto repair shop where two male teens wash a '60s muscle car and discuss their choices for breakfast. One declares that he had Reese's, which the other finds hard to believe. The skeptic tastes the chocolate and peanut butter cereal and immediately embarks on a wild ride down a car engine and into a souped-up chocolate and peanut butter car. "My chocolate-y peanut butter taste turbo charge trick out my wheels and puff up my ride!" says the teen. The teens snap back to reality when the auto shop owner splashes water on the car's windshield upon finding them inside the car eating bowls of Reese's Puffs cereal.

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This campaign walks a fine line between creative use of the outdoor medium and the question, is there anything sacred? What can't be used as an ad medium at this point? That said, the ad is quite ingenious. Zippo bought holiday ad space at two Chicago malls on elevator doors. The ad is on the inside of the elevator--as the doors close, the ad becomes "complete." A picture of the Zippo Multi-Purpose Lighter appears on the left side of the elevator door and comes together with a steak on a grill image on the right side of the elevator. The ads launched November 15 and will run through the holiday season at a price of $8000 per mall. That's hot. Blattner Brunner created the campaign.

I love branded subway cars. HBO branded the inside of the Times Square-Grand Central shuttle train (S) to resemble the bar portrayed in HBO's "Deadwood." Now, The New York Times has jumped on track. The Times is launching a month-long "Get Closer to Broadway Every Day with The New York Times" promotion tomorrow. Events will include live performances by Broadway singers in the Times Square and Grand Central subway stations; a branded (S) train featuring a trompe l'oeilinterior painted to resemble a Broadway theater complete with chandelier; advertising on the Shubert Alley billboard as well as on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road commuter trains; and a game card promotion offering chances to win Broadway tickets and gift certificates to area stores. A baby grand piano will be brought into the subway (this, I'll have to see) to accompany the singers as they entertain commuters with transit-themed Broadway show tunes such as "42nd Street," "The Trolley Song," "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and "Take the A Train." To support the campaign, the Times will run print house ads and radio spots on WQXR, WCBS, WPLJ, WRKS, WKTU, Clear Channel and Metro Traffic radio. Anomaly created the campaign promoting the Times' theater coverage. The ads promoting the Broadway Gift Card instant-win and the wrapped shuttle train were created by The New York Times Marketing Services Group.

Turbulence Advertising created "The Story Matters," a branding campaign for Miami's The SunPost Newspaper, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary.The campaign's theme revolves around the transformation of Miami over the last 20 years. The cornerstone is the redesign of the newspaper, which launches early next month with a front cover "manifesto" that summarizes the philosophy of "The Story Matters." The creative features bright orange ads with iconic illustrations and headlines including: "How we got from Miami vice to the magic city is one outrageous freakin' story" and "Stories are like nose jobs. A good one is hard to find." The campaign consists of redesigned street-level newspaper boxes, bus stop posters, wild postings, mobile billboards, street teams, branded home-delivery bags, and t-shirts.

This next campaign will make you yearn for the good ole days of spring break. Spring Break Travel launched a hysterical print and e-mail campaign showing what really happens on spring break--and why you should always look your best while it's happening. The travel agency is promoting its vacation packages to Florida, Bahamas, and Mexico. The campaign theme is "Spring Break practice exercises," and uses the tag line "Shape up. Ship out." Creative includes a split view of a young man wearing sunglasses and not wearing sunglasses. The copy states: "Covert thong inspection." Another ad shows a guy holding a can of beer at his side and then holding the beer up in the air with "Posing for photographs" as the adjoining copy. The Republik created the campaign.

Looking to attract more sophisticated, upscale visitors and increase the number of travelers who visit during the summer months, theGreater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau unveiled its 2006 marketing strategy--using ads that drive traffic to Sunny.org.The $4 million budget includes significant increases in media spending by MARC USA, particularly throughout the summer. In addition, the CVB will increase its outdoor ad spending by 200 percent and online spending by fifty percent. Print ads will run in magazines such as Vogue, Men's Vogue,Smithsonian magazine and Harper's Bazaar. Be on the lookout for some unconventional campaign components such as wall projections, "legal" graffiti andhand-warmer inserts in home delivered newspapers.

Pennsylvania State Tourism has launched a $2 million national print, radio, and online campaign encouraging tourists to not only stay overnight in the state, but to stay at least two nights. The campaign uses the platform "Fall is Bigger Here," and positions Pennsylvania as an ideal roadtrip destination. One ad shows a leaf in the shape of a wine glass and states: "Drink in the scenery. Oh, and try the wine, too." Another ad shows a car driving inside a leaf vein--the car looks ant-sized, making fall look enormous. Red Tettemer created the campaign.

TAXI has created a poignant TV spot for Covenant House Toronto, a nonprofit organization that offers food, shelter, and support services for homeless kids in Canada. The ad begins with elated parents holding their newborn child in the hospital. A close-up of the baby's face fades into a teenage boy lying in a sleeping bag in an alleyway. The spot, using the song "Answer," by Sarah McLachlan, concludes with telling copy: "Now you know where street kids come from."

Le Printemps, a Paris-based department store, launched a direct mail campaign this fall for its loyalty & payment card. The "Printemps, another idea of fashion"campaign debuted on leaflets as part of bank statements, individual direct mail pieces and a newly designed card. The campaign repositions the card as the core of the Le Printemps experience, giving users "more fashion, more information, more services, more deals and more events." Draft Paris created the campaign. The agency won the business in July, besting Proximity, Rapp Collins and Tequila for the win.

This week's Web site's launches include a tool designed to pick a present for that special (or not so special) someone and a site promoting Austrian tourism.

Having a tough time deciding what to get friends, relatives, your boss, or even yourself for the Holidays? HBO has launched GoodGiftSeeker.com to decrease holiday shopping stress. The site supports HBO's "Bringing back the good gift" holiday campaign. Gifts are selected based on recipient, personality and hobby. Recipients can be anyone from your evil twin, mistress, imaginary friend, or couch potato; the list of Personalities range from misunderstood, loose, gloomy, and chipper; and some of the creative Hobby categories are knocking boots, massaging egos, faking orgasms and burning bridges. The gift seeker recommends HBO DVD collections such as "Sex and the City," "Entourage," "Six Feet Under," and "Band of Brothers." The site has a "Thank you in advance" option, allowing users to drop hints. I suggest checking out the "bad gift gallery." It has a slide show of bad gifts to give. For example: a bad gift is a dog leash from your uncle. Why? "Pepper died two years ago." Atmosphere BBDO created the site.

The hills are alive with the sound of tourists... The Austrian Tourist Office has relaunched its Web site. The site offers facts and figures about Austria (98 percent of the country speaks German, for example), travel planning tools and package deals. Users can order travel literature and book train tickets and sightseeing packages via the site, and learn about special promotions such as a Mozart concert series moderated by Academy Award winner Jeremy Irons on classical radio stations through December.

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