• by Adam Bernard , July 6, 2001

Every week brings a myriad of ad campaign and website launches and it's nearly impossible to keep up with them all. If you missed a few, here are some the major launches of the week that was, and the week that will be.

Taking their spoofing to the furthest limit, the Wayans brothers produce and star in a timely television commercial with mock reviews and audience testimonials. Given the opportunity to write reviews and reactions to their sequel to Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2, the Wayans couldn't resist injecting their humor into Dimension's marketing campaign.

Still at the movies, the Mplayer Entertainment Network, an online advertising network targeting tech-savvy entertainment enthusiasts, announced the launch of an online advertising campaign for Universal Pictures' summer blockbuster Jurassic Park III. The campaign will run in frequent rotation across the entire network through July 22. Designed to create awareness of Jurassic Park III and drive traffic to the film's official web site, the campaign uses rich media technologies such as Unicast SUPERSTITIALS and Eyeblaster to create an exciting, interactive experience that translates the movie theater experience directly to web users. Universal's Jurassic Park III Eyeblaster concept takes advantage of the full page, as the shadow of a pterodactyl swoops across the screen several times, accompanied by ominous sounds. Immediately after the dinosaur disappears, a rectangular banner materializes, touting the movie and delivering a call to action that encourages viewers to visit the movie's official site. SUPERSTITIALS add to the creative mix by allowing Universal to display a rich media experience in an engaging, near-full screen, animated and audible format.

Don't drop your popcorn yet, because JVC is partnering with New Line Cinema to establish a comprehensive co-branded marketing program. The partnership will cross-promote JVC consumer video products with the theatrical and home video releases of "The Lord of the Rings" motion pictures, and casts JVC as the exclusive electronics sponsor of the highly anticipated epic adventure trilogy. The three year deal, with an estimated value of over $40 million in advertising and promotions, represents a major initiative from the JVC Consumer Video Division and New Line Cinema that will encompass print, radio, and TV outlets. The initial stages of the campaign will kick-off with the unveiling of a JVC Times Square billboard. JVC and New Line Cinema will also collaborate to create additional sweepstakes, bounce back, and bundling opportunities.

On July 9th, a day before the scheduled release of his next album, the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy (Sean Combs) is launching http://www.p-diddy.com/. No word on what exactly this website will be, but judging by Combs' other endeavors, which include Bad Boy Records, the clothing line Sean Johns, and Justin's (his restaurant), it's probably going to be big.

The Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company's Doublemint gum unveiled the first glimpse of its national multi-media "Distinctively Doublemint" campaign with the debut of the broadcast advertisement, "Clean-Up", featuring tennis superstars and sisters - Venus and Serena Williams. "Clean Up" opens with the Williams sisters as young girls going head-to-head to be the first one to clean up their room and get the proffered incentive - a stick of Doublemint Gum. Their competitive spirit and style shine through as young girls and is reinforced again as the spot flashes forward 12 years to show that Venus and Serena haven't lost the flavor of their spirit or style. Creative for the campaign is handled by BBDO, Chicago.

Staying in tennis, Lincoln, official sponsor of the US Open tennis tournament, has signed tennis champion John McEnroe for its new television advertising campaign, which debuted on July 5 and will run throughout the summer. The two 30-second spots, themed "Tennis the Way It Ought to Be," feature McEnroe in his now familiar role as a tennis commentator, opining on proper on-the-court etiquette, in his usual no-holds-barred style. Each spot focuses on a different Lincoln vehicle: the Navigator, Lincoln's luxury SUV, stars in "Change Over"; and the LS, Lincoln's luxury sports sedan, is featured in "Ballboy."

From July 11 through August 9, McDonald's will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Monopoly promotion with a new Pick Your Prize game at participating restaurants nationwide. The new Pick Your Prize game gives winning customers the chance to select from one of three great prize options in eight different categories, including automobiles, vacations and shopping sprees. Today, July 6th, an insert featuring a game board and a game piece will appear in the mail and select magazines to help kick off Pick Your Prize Monopoly Game at McDonald's. Each game piece will be a guaranteed winner, every consumer will win a prize. One game piece is a million dollar winner. Customers can win playing Pick Your Prize Monopoly Game at McDonald's in one of two ways: Instant Win and Collect to Win. To play, customers first peel the stamp from the food or drink packaging. Instant Win stamps will have the name of the prize won indicated on the stamp. When playing Collect to Win, customers will match the property and number on the stamp with the corresponding information on the game board. Customers can work towards the prize of choice in each section be collecting necessary pieces. After securing all the pieces in the section, customers will be awarded the prize of choice in that category. Customers can obtain game boards in-restaurant and on-line at mcdonalds.com.

Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A., a manufacturer of high performance motorcycles, will cast its next international ad campaign by using its motorcycle enthusiasts in a global event to be hosted by Ducati.com. Continuing the spirit of Ducati/People, the company's first global ad campaign launched in 1998 that features Ducati riders, technicians and employees, the new campaign will celebrate fans -- Ducatisti -- from around the globe. The casting for the campaign will be held online at the Ducati website (http://www.ducati.com) which currently receives more than 500,000 visits per month. Ducatisti can submit j-peg images of themselves with their Ducati motorbike (which can be of any model year) to Ducati.com. The casting process began in June 2001 and will run through September 2001. The new Ducati/People campaign, scheduled to launch by the end of this year and continue into 2002, marks the 75-year anniversary of the Bologna-based manufacturer of high performance motorbikes.

International news service Agencia EFE launched EFENEWS, a new website for its English Language News Service (http://www.efenews.com), that focuses principally on the U.S. market. The new site will highlight news on Latin America and on U.S. Hispanics, while continuing to provide coverage of major news developments around the world. Agencia EFE, headquartered in Madrid, has offered a website for several years in Spanish. EFE was recently recognized in Spain as one of the companies that has best developed its information technology and Internet capacity.