• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, October 27, 2004

Nintendo likes to touch. An interactive billboard in Times Square? Hopefully the last of the political ads. Let's launch!

Nintendo launched its "Touching is good" campaign this week to spread the word about the touch- and dual-screened Nintendo DS. Since childhood, we've been told, "please do not touch" - whether it's a lamp, food, or something in a store. Nintendo DS plans to change those rules. The campaign touts the features of the dual-screened handheld, which includes a touch screen, a built-in chat function, wireless communication, and voice recognition. Three ads show a static-filled screen with a female voice-over that encourages viewers to interact with two blue boxes that appear on the screen. The sultry requests for interaction coincide with the special features of Nintendo DS. In addition, custom advertorials will run exclusively in Dennis Publishing's Maxim, Blender, and Stuff magazines, instructing readers "How to Score." Starting in December, Nintendo will run ads on more than 5,000 movie screens across the country along with print ads in gaming magazines. Leo Burnett USA, created the pre-launch and launch TV ads.

Canon has launched a $30 million national broadcast and print campaign, entitled The "New Day." TV, radio, and print components show how color and integrated workflow solutions empower customers with diverse business needs. The ads spotlight Canon's new imageRUNNER and Color imageRUNNER solutions. The ads target senior business and technology managers in large, enterprise-level organizations. The ad will run during Monday Night Football, The World Series, CSI, The West Wing, and Will & Grace, as well as early morning and late night news. Print ads will appear in The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Forbes, Time and BusinessWeek. DCA created the campaign.

Kotex launched an updated version of its "Red Dot" ad campaign, first released in 2000 that used honest dialogue when discussing feminine care products. The effort includes print, TV, and alternative media elements. The campaign was created by Ogilvy & Mather, led by the agency's Chicago office. The campaign includes three TV spots, three print ads, and a national mall tour (will we be seeing Tiffany?). A sky mural component, developed by Mindshare's WOW Factory in New York and Mindshare Chicago, is a double-sided mural that runs 16 feet high by 12 feet wide and hangs from shopping mall ceilings. Sky murals will be used in markets including New York, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., Seattle, and Miami. Thirty-second spots are presently running; two 15-second spots will air in November and December. Ads will run on ABC, NBC, FOX, UPN, WB, MTV, Fuse, Comedy Central, USA, and VH1. Print ads will appear in Entertainment Weekly, In Touch, InStyle, People, TV Guide, Woman's World, Health, Elle, Teen Vogue, and Lucky.

The holiday season has begun! At least when it comes to advertising. On November 1, Jose Cuervo debuts a holiday point-of-sale campaign, called "Silver & Gold." Created by Frankel, Chicago, the campaign's displays, bottleneckers, and gift bags will be featured in high-traffic areas. Cuervo Holiday Gift Bags will be given out with the purchase of a Cuervo product. The silver and gold bags feature two Cuervo cocktail recipes - the Cuervo Clásico Red Rebel and the Cuervo Gold Margarita. For large displays, the Cuervo Cardboard Cantina has been outfitted with holiday silver and gold décor and have been branded with the holiday tag line: "Add some ho-ho-Jose to your holidays."

Keeping with liquor, Allied Domecq Spirits, North America and Stolichnaya Vodka launched a multi-million dollar campaign for all Stolichnaya products. The "Frozen" campaign launched this month, with the ads depicting a series of environments -- including a music studio, a billiards room, and a living room -- in which everything is frozen, except the Stoli bottle. Print ads will run in FHM, Maxim and Playboy, and out-of-home ads will appear on billboards, kiosks, and bus shelters in major metropolitan markets. During the upcoming holiday season, off-premise retailers will offer a Stoli Ice Shot Glass Maker, pre-packaged with a bottle of Stoli, and a reusable ice tray. The campaign was created by Publicis Worldwide.

Rock the Vote and Mekanism, have launched an integrated campaign to urge America's youth to register and vote. The ads draw attention to key issues such as: health care, jobs, debt, college education, and the possibility of a military draft. Only 38 percent of young people aged 18 to 29 voted in the 2000 election. The campaign includes two 15-second TV spots, banner ads, an e-mail blast which went to musician's (such as Beastie Boys, The Foo Fighters and Counting Crows) fan databases, and a microsite.

New Yorkers have been treated to an interactive billboard in Times Square serving as a public forum for people to debate, "What is beautiful?" Passersby can cast their vote via cell phone and a running tally appears in real-time on the billboard. So what does the billboard look like? It's an image of Irene Sinclair, a 96-year-old woman whose wrinkled face now graces a sixty-nine feet high and forty-four feet wide billboard above the Marriott Marquis. Viewers decide if she's "Wrinkled?" or "Wonderful?" as the ad questions: "Will society ever accept old can be beautiful?" The billboard is part of Unilever brand Dove's global campaign for real beauty, which challenges the stereotypical view of beauty. The "What is Beautiful" campaign was created by Ogilvy & Mather.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops launched a two-week campaign last week highlighting the issue of stem cell research. The ads draw a distinction between embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of human life at the embryonic stage, and adult stem cell research. The ads are running in USA Today, The Washington Times, and the National Catholic Reporter. The campaign is part of an ongoing effort by the bishops to provide more information on the Catholic Church's position on stem cell research and human cloning.

A radio campaign (yes, they're still around) created by boede+partners uses a humorous slant to introduce the combination of the Unisys ES7000 enterprise-class servers and 3D Visible Enterprise (3D VE) methodology. Three 60-second spots employ the theme "a better idea" and highlight the advantages of the Unisys ES7000 server as the foundation for building a 3D Visible Enterprise. The ads target senior business and technology managers in large, enterprise-level organizations. The radio campaign runs locally in Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco and directs listeners to the Unisys Web site for further information. The radio spots coincide a national print campaign developed by Grey NY running in BusinessWeek, Fortune and the Wall Street Journal.

In Web site launches this week:

Red Bull Copilot Air Race has launched. The site is an interactive sports experience that allows users to get close to flying without actually sitting in a cockpit. The second-edition Copilot features U.S. aerobatic champion pilot Kirby Chambliss as he navigates a twisting Red Bull Air Race course. The site offers multiple chapters to learn more about the man, machine, and course that make up the Red Bull Air Race. The race chapter contains eight different camera angles, a multi-plane course simulation, and various audio selections.

Full-Service Interactive Marketing and Advertising agency, UnREAL Marketing Solutions has redesigned its Web site. The company has been in business since 1999 and works with companies such as L'Oreal USA, Footlocker, Howard Stern Ad Networks, and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. The site was designed in-house.