• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, July 5, 2006

Detox online and offline. Look outside for Man Laws. Let's launch!

Keep your foam fingers at home. British Airways launched an online campaign that schools American travelers on proper Wimbledon etiquette. Wimbledon watchers snack on strawberries and cream as opposed to chilidogs. What a bloody shame. The campaign is similar to the airline's popular "Brit-Speak" campaign, which translates British-English words and phrases for Americans to understand. The etiquette ads can be sent to a friend and viewers can enter to win a trip to London. The ads are narrated by a British voiceover that educates viewers on debenture tickets (get one from a departing guest to attend a Wimbledon match), and supplies the recipe for Pimms Cup, a popular drink served at Wimbledon. The campaign will run through July 10th on Yahoo News, ESPN.com and CBS Sportsline.com. Agency.com handled all aspects of the campaign.

The Bank of New York has launched a period piece called "Wisdom," highlighting the bank's 222 years of experience. The ad shows people from the past working with customers from the present day, signifying the bank's wisdom being passed down from generation to generation. Print ads play off the bank's heritage by placing bankers next to historic backdrops. "Wisdom" is running until November on PBS, NY1, CNBC, CNN, ESPN, MSNBC, TNT, and USA. The Concept Farm created the campaign and OMD handled the media buying.

Miller Lite has launched a series of outdoor ads promoting Man Laws, part of the "Men of the Square Table" campaign. ManLaws.com has received roughly 50,000 submissions. Here are some Man Law highlights. "Man Law: A man shall never ask for help opening his Miller Lite. Good Call." "Man Law: Cooler protocol--Miller Lite placed in first, then add ice. Good Call." "Man Law: Fireworks are always in season. Good Call." Last, and my personal favorite: "Man Law: Unless you're a pro athlete, flip-up sunglasses are inadvisable this summer. Good Call." Crispin Porter + Bogusky created the campaign and Starcom handled the media buying.

Evian water (naïve spelled backwards) is detoxing in 2006. Print ads are heavy on attractive women and light on clothing, as the ladies make snow angels in the French Alps (the source of "pure" Evian water, natch) above the tag line: "Return To Purity." The ads are running in Allure, InStyle, Elle, Vogue, GQ, Food & Wine, Black Book, Paper, Surface, Out Magazine and other lifestyle books. If you read Page Six and Gawker as often as I do, then you've seen Evian's online takeovers, for they're hard to miss. Users who subscribe to Gawker's RSS feed were given The Evian "Detox Feature," which allowed them to take their existing RSS feed and detox it of advertising, save for an Evian tag at the top of the page. Euro RSCG created the campaign and MediaVest handled the media buying.

Here's another take on water. This one takes the "drinking more water gives you more energy" route. A toga party with water as the only beverage served? Only in Aquafina's world. "Toga" shows a frat house toga party and all the alcohol is replaced with... you guessed it. Guests chug water, do shots of Aquafina, play drinking games, and offer a beverage to the cops who've come to silence the party. The ad is running on national network and cable TV. BBDO New York created the ad and OMD handled the media buying. Click here to watch "Toga."

Ask.com launched an unscripted ad campaign featuring the search engine's creator, Dr. Apostolos Gerasoulis. "Poetry" features Gerasoulis' son Eli explaining how Ask.com goes a step further with search results, unlike Google. Eli ends the spot by saying, "Google's not better, it's just more popular." Oh, snap! "Bear Attack" explains that in the unlikely event you have access to the Internet prior to a bear attack, you'll be prepared to defend yourself. "Rims" shows how Ask.com can offer further information on a search for pimped out cars. "Libarians" details how librarians use the search engine to group together information when conducting research. The ads are running during morning, prime time and late night programming on broadcast and cable stations. Click here to watch the ads.Berlin Cameron United New York created the ads and OMD handled the media buying.

Keeping with things that are pimped out, Cooper Tire & Rubber Company launched a national TV, print, and online campaign running on MTV, MTV2 and ESPN. "Go" was shot in black and white and uses heavy metal music coupled with fast cars and pretty women. "Unpaved" is virtually identical, except the cars are driving down the off road path. Print ads target a youthful audience; one features Funkmaster Flex, hip-hop DJ and host of "Ride with Funkmaster Flex," on Spike TV. Think of it as "Pimp My Ride" for adults. Online ads are running on weather.com and cardomain.com. Fahlgren handled all aspects of the campaign.