• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, June 8, 2005

New York's bid as an Olympic host goes down the drain, but the ads keep running. Ronald McDonald gets active. Time Out New York turns 10. Let's launch!

Time Out New York kicked off its tenth anniversary celebration with the launch of an ad campaign. The magazine partnered with the IN:NYC Card from American Express, which will incorporate both a series of consumer promotions and an outdoor ad campaign. TONY and the IN:NYC Card will generate buzz for the magazine's birthday with a seven-month campaign of consumer promotions. Beginning June 10 and occurring on the tenth of each month through December, TONY will visit a different neighborhood in the city to unveil a surprise activity where consumers can interact with both brands. The outdoor campaign launched on phone kiosks and taxi tops June 6. The ads feature headlines such as "10-year-old advertises own birthday" for phone booths and "We're 10. Go ahead, card us." All ads will feature a birthday message from the IN:NYC Card from American Express. The campaign was designed in-house.

What a difference a day makes. Now that New York won't be getting its West Side stadium, the city's hope for becoming the Olympic host in 2012 is fading fast. And new creative featuring Donald Trump and Whoppi Goldberg just launched. If you haven't seen them yet, fear not. The ads will continue their international run until the location announcement on July 6. kirshenbaum bond new york created the ads for NYC2012 as part of the bid's "Let the Dreams Begin" campaign. The spots launched on May 27 with Whoopi Goldberg and Donald Trump relating real life Olympic stories and feats against the backdrop of the City. In one spot, Donald Trump narrates a story about Ukranian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva, who scored a 9.8 on the balance beam at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. In the other spot, Goldberg narrates the story of Tanzanian marathoner John Stephen Akhwari, one of the gold medal favorites at the 1968 Mexico City Games. He finished the race despite cutting his knee and dislocating the joint. Goldberg's spot concludes with "no better drama than the Olympics and no better stage than ours." Right on to the drama reference. London, Madrid, Moscow and Paris are the remaining host contenders.

Agency.com created an online campaign for "The Greatest American," the Discovery Channel's new program hosted by Matt Lauer. One hundred nominees were selected by the American public and will be narrowed down each week, when viewers can vote via phone, SMS or online after every program, airing Sundays in June. The campaign targets 24- to 54-year-olds through a series of ads featuring American icons (such as Oprah Winfrey and Thomas Edison), and a link to the "Greatest American" program blog, where viewers can debate their choice. Banner ads are running on various entertainment Web sites, message boards and blogs, including AOL Entertainment TV, Gawker, Friendster, New York Times Reader's Forum, EzBoard and TVguide.com.

Sun Microsystems bowed a branding campaign with an emphasis on sharing. The campaign launched in May via outdoor teaser ads in New York City, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Boston. A micro-sized placement followed in the Wall Street Journal's Marketplace section and will run twice weekly for the next year. Print ads launched nationwide this month in the San Jose Mercury News, Financial Times, Forbes, Information Week, and eWeek. The campaign also includes online components ranging from RSS feeds and blog placements, to online banners on CNET, Forbes.com, WSJ.com, Yahoo!, BusinessWeek.com and the New York Times online. Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners created the campaign.

I wonder if this is campaign hopes to combat all the bad press regarding the increase in childhood obesity in America? McDonald's new global TV commercial,"Come Out and Play," features Ronald, sans his Big Red Shoes, showing kids that getting active plus making balanced food choices equates to having fun. The spot shows Ronald getting kids up off the couch and bike riding, snowboarding and playing basketball with NBA superstar Yao Ming. Ronald juggles vegetables with his friends and dodges strawberries as he snowboards down a yogurt mountain. Developed by Leo Burnett Worldwide, the commercial debuts in the U.S. on June 10 and will air in numerous countries, including Canada, Germany, Italy, Portugal, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Chile and Argentina throughout the year.

TBS, PEOPLE magazine and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare have joined together for a six-month marketing initiative debuting this month. The "Close Moments," developed by Turner Entertainment Sales and Marketing and PEOPLE magazine, will promote the Listerine PocketPaks oral care strips via segments on TBS Movie Extra and exclusive print ads in PEOPLE magazine. The TV spot shows just how close the quarters of an airplane are when you're seated next to a less than perfect passenger. The spot shows how Listerine PocketPaks make an unbearable situation (read: man with bad breath inches away from you) a bearable one.

DGWB Advertising and Communications launched a campaign for Toshiba America Business Solutions entitled "I Love My Copier." The campaign, for Toshiba's dealers to support their sales efforts, begins in June and includes TV spots, two print ads, bumper stickers and posters. The TV spot spoofs various compilation CDs sold on television. In addition, a "romantic" compilation CD containing lyrics explaining the features and benefits of the Toshiba product will be given to all to Toshiba dealers to support sales.

Jennifer Love Hewitt is the latest celebrity to sign on as a Hanes spokesperson. She will appear in a series of print ads in numerous women's publications beginning this month. Hewitt poses in The Perfect Panty - Hanes' new underwear line. She is also featured in items from the Authentic Daywear and Sleepwear Collection. Hewitt joins fellow Hanes hawkers Michael Jordan, Matthew Perry, Marisa Tomei, and Damon Wayans.

In Web site launches this week:

As part of the Pepsi Lime launch, Tribal DDB Dallas developed "Pepsi Lime Straw Fight," a game where two limes engage in a wacky duel for superiority. A single player version of the game is live, with a multiplayer version to follow. Players choose a straw and a series of signature moves for their respective limes. I chose the Slurpus Maximus straw to go along with all the Gladiator-themed headlines describing Russell Crowe's most recent run-in with the law (and a telephone). Next, players choose five moves that will outwit their opponent (such as the seed shooter, the action movie, beach baseball spike and sure shot). Then, using the moves, the limes go head-to-head in a best out of five battle.

Lee Jeans has launched its first e-commerce site. The site offers juniors tops, jeans, capris, shorts and skirts in sizes 0 through 17. Named after the year Lee Jeans was founded, Lee1889.com features product descriptions and size charts as well as images of the front, back and detail on each product. The site also features a store locator to help customers find a local retailer. Look and Feel New Media created the site.