Commentary

Out to Launch

Every week new ad campaigns and websites are launched, and it’s hard to keep up with them all. To recap some of this week’s highlights: The New York Times is challenging its readers to “Look Deeper,” Hershey Foods has everyday people speaking out about their love of chocolate, and both Nike's Jordan brand and Jose Cuervo have launched new efforts online.

As part of its "Expect The World" advertising campaign, The New York Times is launching new creative in the metropolitan New York and Detroit areas to run through the end of this year. The work features print and outdoor ads that have visually bold graphics and challenge the reader to "Look deeper." The image campaign, designed to reaffirm the insight provided by The New York Times, seeks to engage readers in an involving manner. The campaign design features familiar objects shot in dramatic, extreme close-up in order to attract the reader's eye. Selections for the New York market include the elaborate back of a playing card, a swatch of military camouflage, and the familiar ramp structure of the Guggenheim Museum's exterior. The essence of the campaign is captured in the tag line, "Look deeper." Bozell New York, The New York Times' advertising agency for 13 years, developed the campaign.

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Hershey Foods this week breaks an estimated $20 million campaign for its Hershey's Milk Chocolate candy line, extolling the joy associated with snacking and with chocolate. The effort, targeting consumers 18-34 years old, and the first from Omnicom Group's DDB Worldwide, New York, includes TV, print and out of home. TV spots, the first of which aired Tuesday on network TV, include Hershey Milk Chocolate lovers saying lines such as "It never argues with me," "Girlfriends will leave; chocolate never will," "I think everybody needs a little chocolate in their life" and "This is the original. Small squares of finite joy." A new tag also is being unveiled: "Hershey's. Happiness."

The California Milk Advisory Board knows that "great cheese comes from happy cows," and makes its case humorously in three new spots in the ongoing advertising campaign from Deutsch LA, with visual effects from The Syndicate and Animal. The three-spot campaign employs the voice-over skills of some well-known talents, while re-uniting the animation and effects team of The Syndicate and Animal, which has created California Milk Advisory Board spots for the last three years. In "Wannabe Pig," a :30 spot featuring the voice of The Simpson's Dan Castellaneta, a pig going through an identity crisis tries to infiltrate the in-crowd by pretending he's one of them. In another spot titled "Funky Chicken," comedian Bobcat Golthwaith speaks for a rooster who seeks advice from the cows in adopting their Zen-like attitude. And in "Sprinkler," two bulls get a bit hot under the collar when they spy a cow seductively bathing to the Styx's tune "Lady." Three :10-second cut-downs, entitled "Pig Sneeze,""Hi Mom" and "Bulls Hit," were also produced by blooper footage.

In Expedia.com's latest ad, a couple is planning a romantic getaway. The female is researching hotels online, and has found a resort featuring open air, beachfront bungalows equipped with mosquito nets. She envisions falling asleep under a mosquito net in the imaginary hotel room. She awakens to find various bugs of all sizes buzzing overhead. An attempt to shoo them away results in a tangle with the mosquito net. She quickly realizes that an exotic hotel may not be the desired type of hotel experience. Created by Deutsch L.A., the new commercial broke the week of September 23 on network and national cable TV, and humorously demonstrates how using Expedia.com and its travel tools can help consumers easily find and book the perfect trip, whatever their requirements.

Lucky Brand Dungarees is launching a holiday ad campaign through its in-house agency that will run in November and December issues of fashion, lifestyle and music publications. An outdoor component will include taxi tops, bus benches, phone booths, mall kiosks and buses in major markets. The product-driven ads showcase men’s and women’s jeans framed in shadow boxes, each with complementary backgrounds and themes. Media buy includes GQ, Maxim, Blender, FHM, Seventeen, InStyle, Elle, Flaunt, Lucky and W.

The National Park Foundation announced the arrival of its new and improved website. Aimed at National Park travelers and enthusiasts, the website has a fresh, appealing design and is structured to make planning a National Park adventure easy and fun. The site was created to be a place where National Park enthusiasts can gather online, share their National Park experiences, and learn from the experiences of others. Visitors can learn about individual National Park sites, how to get there, and what to do upon arrival. A helpful Travel Planning section is also available to provide links to deals and offers from some of the leading travel experts in the industry.

Also new online: Nike's Jordan brand extended its "Love"-themed offline campaign to the Web Tuesday in an effort that asks "What do you Love?" The centerpiece of the online push is a website where fans can submit their answer to that question. The site, developed by Canadian i-shop Blast Radius, encourages visitors to "create something that means love … make a video, or music or a photograph. A drawing or poem or anything else you want." The best entries will be published on the site. The site resembles the brand's offline "Love" campaign from Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, Ore., in that it features star athletes who are members of Team Jordan, including Derek Jeter, Michael Finley and Roy Jones Jr.

Jose Cuervo, the world's leading tequila company, recently announced the launch of the Spanish language version of the company's website. The English version was launched in 2001. With three main sections focusing on the Cuervo products, heritage and community, the site provides a hip, yet classic image of Jose Cuervo that speaks directly to Spanish speaking consumers. Created by DraftDigital, the site contains descriptions of the Cuervo brand portfolio and demonstrates how to use Jose Cuervo Especial in different recipes. Some fun suggestions include the Cuervo Tequini, the Cuervopolitan and the Cuervo Mojito. Cuervo.com also offers a detailed overview of the brand's history and production process, including a family tree dating back to 1758 when José Anotoni Cuervo obtained a land grant from the King of Spain and cultivated the first blue agave plant, the source of tequila.

Last but not least: Cramer, a unique integrated marketing communications company, and Lil’ Iguana Corporation, a children’s safety organization, announced the launch of the Lil’ Iguana website. Designed to leverage creative and practical solutions for child safety, the site is an interactive resource for educators, parents, caregivers and children ages 3-7. The new site intends to extend the reach and impact of Lil’ Iguana’s safety programs, which are currently delivered via live stage shows, classroom-based curriculum and music CD-ROMs and videos. An important objective in the initiative was to capture the essence of the live Lil’ Iguana experience and deliver it online, making it engaging and entertaining for children and their parents to learn critical safety lessons.

-- This newsletter is compiled weekly by MediaPost staff writer Lindsey Fadner. Past issues are archived at the MediaPost website. Your comments, questions and submissions are always welcome and appreciated.

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