• by Dacia Ray , August 11, 2004

Shark fins in New York waters, vitamin-packed sorority girls, and a missing angel. Take a look at the industry's upcoming campaigns.

In a campaign created by guerilla marketing agency Interference Inc., the world's largest aerial banner, an 80-foot by 160-foot behemoth, was flown by helicopter from Long Beach to Santa Monica asking the question ' Is It Safe To Go Back In The Water?' A 30-foot high replica of a shark fin was towed from the Hamptons to Coney Island in New York. Both stunts were performed to gear people up for the Discovery Channel's Shark Week.

The Advertising Council, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (ACF), the Adoption Exchange Association and the Collaboration to AdoptUSKids announced today the launch of a new public service ad campaign designed to encourage the adoption of children currently in the foster care system. According to the Administration for Children and Families, approximately 300,000 children in the United States enter the foster care system each year. There are currently 532,000 children in the foster care system in the United States, of these almost 130,000 are waiting for an adoptive family. The new, multi-media campaign, which includes television, radio, print, and Internet, issues a national call-to-action for parents to adopt children by offering important, accurate information about the foster care system and the adoption process. It also aims to significantly increase awareness of the need to provide loving, permanent homes for children in the foster care system, as well as to communicate to prospective parents that they don't have to be perfect to be a parent. Created pro bono by ad agency kirshenbaum bond + partners, the PSAs encourage prospective adults to rethink their idea of what it means to be a parent.

Water bottler Glacéau, known to provide Vitaminwater to the likes of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and Paris Hilton, is unveiling its first national marketing campaign. Through the campaign, consumers will learn about the benefits of drinking the vitamin-packed water beyond hydration, like enabling the visually challenged to focus better at strip clubs, giving sorority girls energy to win pillow fights against their sisters, and providing 'lucky' people with the endurance to perform like an animal in bed. The campaign spend is estimated to total more than $10 million. The campaign was created by the in-house marketing department with support from boutique creative agency Rocket Dog NYC.

Kaiser Permanente has introduced a series of ads to complement their recently launched image campaign. The effort will include direct mail, interactive, outdoor, and broadcast media. Oscar nominee James Woods directed the TV spot included in the campaign that aims to capture the balance people try to maintain in their lives while spotlighting the importance of a healthy lifestyle. The spot breaks the week of Aug. 9. Draft Health, a division of Draft Chicago, partnered with the health care company to create the ads.

The creators of ultra-premium Tequila Gran Centenario, a division of Jose Cuervo, have announced the launch of the brand 's first print advertising in Los Angeles. Created by the Arnell Group, the new creative features the illustrated Gran Centenario angel that appears on the bottle label. The ad claims that the quality of the tequila is so exceptional that it must have been sent from heaven. In the ad, the fallen angel tempts the viewers with a bottle of Gran Centenario next to the phrase "Heaven's Been Missing an Angel." The ads will appear in magazines such as Angelino, LA Confidential, Los Angeles Magazine and Wine Spectator. Aggressive growth in the tequila market spurred the campaign.

Screenvision, the world leader in cinema advertising, has teamed with the Clarins Fragrance Group to introduce Touch of Pink and Style in Play, the newest women and men's fragrances from Lacoste. The Lacoste campaign will run in 262 theatres in 27 states. In addition to the on-screen 30-second spots, two million scent-strip handouts will be distributed in the lobbies prior to the film feature. One spot introduces Touch of Pink, the new women's fragrance from Lacoste and the other 15-second spot introduces the men's fragrance Lacoste Style in Play, which targets active, competitive men, ages 18 to 24. Euro RSCG Magnet helped create the campaign.

Subaru of America has launched a redesigned All-Wheel Drive micro site within Subaru.com. Developed by TM Interactive, the revised micro site was designed to make the five Subaru All-Wheel Drive systems and corresponding technologies accessible to its entire consumer base through easier navigation and clear and concise information. The highly technical All-Wheel Drive content has been simplified by segmenting the information into four basic questions. The micro site has also been enhanced with animated visuals that demonstrate how the different types of All-Wheel Drive react to specific road conditions.

Wachovia Corporation announced today it has launched a financial Web site in Spanish, http://www.wachovia.com/espanol, offering Hispanic consumers and other Spanish-speaking customers in the United States access to a full- service site where visitors can manage many of their banking needs on the Internet. The new site has the same look and feel as the English-language Web site.