Out to Launch
Thursday, November 3, 2005
Mr. Mucus takes a bride. Campbell's does not want soup lovers to settle. LaRosa's doesn't encourage calzone sharing. Let's launch!
  • Mr. Mucus takes a bride. Campbell's does not want soup lovers to settle. LaRosa's doesn't encourage calzone sharing. Let's launch!

    HALLS cough drops has launched its first broadcast TV campaign in five years with a take on "The Three Little Pigs." Sometimes placing a present-day spin on fairy tales doesn't work, like on the first episode of Martha Stewart's version of "The Apprentice" -- am I the only one who watches the show? OK, scratch that, I probably am the only one watching. The ad ponders how the Big Bad Wolf could blow down the Three Little Pigs' brick house. "Wolfboy" opens with the the pigs taunting the wolf, and ends with the wolf sucking on a cough drop, and getting ready to blow down the brick house. The tagline for the campaign is "Breathe Big," and the launch coincides with the cold and flu season. Hey, we all target in our own ways, people. The campaign was created by JWT.

    Keeping with the cold and flu season, if there's someone out there for Mr. Mucinex, then there's truly someone for everyone. Adams Respiratory Therapeutics, the maker of Mucinex, has given Mr. Mucus a phlegmatic bride named Mrs. Mucus. "Married to Mucus" launched on Oct. 27 via national television, radio, print and online ads. The 30-second TV spot features Mr. Mucus carrying Mrs. Mucus across the threshold of his bachelor pad--the lungs of a cold sufferer. Domestic bliss is short-lived when a dose of Mucinex is taken, and the medication breaks up the honeymoon and kicks out the married mucus entities. The "Married to Mucus" ad is running during episodes of "Desperate Housewives," "NCIS," "Law & Order" and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" as well as national cable and network news programming including "Today," "Good Morning America" and "CBS Morning News," and "Primetime." Print ads, sans Mrs. Mucus, are running in national weeklies and key publications such as People, Time, Family Circle and Reader's Digest. Torre Lazur McCann Healthcare Worldwide created the campaign.

    The tagline for Campbell Soup Company's new Campbell'sSelect soups is "Why settle when you can select?" That's my mantra when it comes to dating. I was further impressed to see John Lithgow starring in the ad campaign. One 30-second spot begin with Lithgow sitting in a kitchen, which then dissolves into a Broadway-esque song and dance routine about Golden Butternut Squash and Creamy Portobello Mushroom soups. There are three 30-second spots and three 15-second  spots. The ads will air this fall during prime-time programs such as "Apprentice Martha Stewart," "West Wing," "Boston Legal," "Three Wishes," "E-Ring," and "7th Heaven." BBDO New York created the campaign.

    Meyer & Wallis Milwaukee has launched a print and broadcast campaign highlighting Shorewest Realtors' new 24-hour digital cable television channel on Time Warner Cable. One spot features a woman about to be married who notices a young hunk outside the church window. The woman must now contemplate her impending nuptials. Does she or doesn't she? The gist of the campaign is that it never hurts to look. The outdoor portion of the campaign uses phrases such as "Really, truly the home shopping network" and "Tune into 'Little House on the cul de sac.'"

    LaRosa's latest campaign targets the inner only child in all of us. The campaign highlights calzones as an alternative for those not looking to share their mea. According to LaRosa, pizza is a group meal; calzones are a one-man operation. Blattner Brunner created two 30-second TV spots, in-store ads, including posters and two-sided "camouflage" placemats, and outdoor ads. The campaign's new tag line is "That's what makes us LaRosa's." Ads are running throughout the tri-state Cincinnati DMA on all broadcast networks and on ESPN, TNT, USA, Sci-Fi, and TBS cable networks.

    Citi has launched a TV and print campaign touting its "Simplicity" credit card program. The card makes it easier for consumers to use their card, pay their bills, and get to a customer service representative faster (now that's something I'd like to see. The TV spots feature "Tom," who finds himself dealing with a series of unfortunate events when he can't pay his bill on time. The ads focus on the card's "no late fees" feature. Future TV spots will focus on the difficulties of speaking to a living, breathing person at a credit card company. Fallon Minneapolis created the campaign.

    The Trust for Public Land, a nonprofit organization working to protect land as parks and open space, has launched three 30-second TV spots that are part of the organization's "Green Open Space" campaign. The new work features a green rectangle that symbolizes "Green Open Space." In one spot, viewers see gray rectangles, representing city blocks, turn to a single green rectangle with copy stating: "Please help the Trust for Public Land create new parks in cities." Additional spots focus on the green rectangle disappearing, illustrating that 3 million acres of green open space vanish in America each year. Y&R San Francisco created the campaign.

    To celebrate the organization's sixtieth year, Florida Citrus Sports (FCSports) has taken a different approach in its efforts to sell football tickets. Past marketing campaigns have focused on the Champs Sports Bowl and Capital One Bowl ticket sales. "The Voice of FCSports" highlights the FCSports membership benefits as collegiate fight songs are played in the background. These benefits include priority seating for the Champs Sports Bowl and Capital One Bowl; celebrity speaker luncheons; and pre-game event VIP invitations. The campaign consists of print, radio, TV, online and guerilla marketing tactics--such as bar coasters--to spread the word. "The Voice of FCSports" will run through college football bowl games and the first week of January 2006. PUSH created the campaign.

    This week's Web site launches consist of jewelry and a branded entertainment site for the Honda Element.

    What does a burro have to do with a Honda Element? That's just one of the questions being answered in a campaign that likens the traits of unusual animals with the Honda Element. (The Element and the burro both carry a lot of stuff; feel free to tuck this away with your other useless trivia). The campaign was created by RPA and was designed to showcase the features of the Element in an offbeat and humorous way. In one of the six TV spots, the Element is referred to as a "hodgepodge." The Element's response? "Where does a platypus learn a word like 'hodgepodge?'" The TV, Web, print and outdoor, ads drive consumers to the Element and Friends Web site, where visitors are given their own virtual Honda Element to maneuver around an island in an online game. Along the way, they encounter the animals from the TV commercials.

    Geyrhalter Design has launched an e-commerce site for Ron Herman. Prior to the site launch, Ron Herman products were sold exclusively in Herman's five Southern California shops. The site is divided into four categories: Women's Shop (selling accessories, shoes, lingerie, pants, skirts, sweaters, and dresses); Looks (featuring selected items); Music and Brands (listing all the brands sold).