• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, October 4, 2006

The Louvre in Atlanta? Marie Antoinette hits New York bathrooms. CAT scans don't lie. Let's launch!

Norwegian Cruise Line launched a massive campaign this week consisting of TV, print, outdoor and online components. One 30-second spot, "Watches," opens with a series of synchronized vacationers sunbathing, playing shuffleboard, eating dinner and checking their watches to ensure they stay on schedule. The ad then pans to "Freestyle Cruising" found on NCL, where watches are checked at the port and vacationers make their own schedule. The ads conclude with "NCL: Where You're Free to Whatever." "Dinner Bell" also begins with synchronized men and women in blue bathing suits, stressing that NCL cruises let you eat dinner with whomever you want. Eight print spreads featuring bright colors and tongue-in-cheek headlines, including "Our dress code: Wear something" and "Dinner will be served promptly at whatever o'clock," are running in issues of InStyle, Bon Appetit, CondeNast Traveler, Martha Stewart Living, Time and The New Yorker. Animated online banner ads offer games, including a "paper doll" game in which users drag and drop clothes onto a pair of cruise travelers. No matter what the dolls are wearing, they all "look great." Even dry cleaning bags received the royal treatment, emblazoned with the copy: "Whatever this is, you can wear it onboard." This, I gotta see. GSD&M handled all aspects of the campaign.

AKQA, in conjunction with Maverick Media, has created a series of online films promoting Windows Live Messenger.Three videos can be found at CommunicationEvolved.com and show the agony of low-tech messaging. "Pigeon" illlustrates the possible dangers that carrier pigeons are subjected to, especially when sending heavy documents. Another video shows the dangers of sending a message in a bottle--especially when water is not involved. The final video posits a woman dangerously attempting to send smoke signals in the hopes her contact will notice.

"Cat Scan," the latest installment in the "What happens here, stays here" ads for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, launched late last month on ABC, NBC and CBS during their early morning shows, along with cable networks, such as A&E, BET, Bravo, Comedy Central, E!, ESPN, ESPN2, Fine Living, Food, Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Network, Golf Channel, Speed Channel, Style, TBS, Travel Channel and VH1. The ad begins on a serious note, with a man undergoing a CAT scan. The results come in, and he's fine, which angers his wife. She finds it impossible to believe that her husband can literally forget an entire week of his life and not have anything wrong. Even the doctor feels the man's pain. Click here to watch "Cat Scan."R&R Partners created the campaign, and Initiative handled the broadcast media buying.

Parlez-vous Southern? Yes, it sounds like a strange combination, and that's precisely the tone Eric Mower and Associates set out to create for Atlanta's High Museum of Art. The campaign promotes a three-year partnership between the Atlanta museum and the Louvre, called "Louvre Atlanta," where hundreds of works of art from the famed museum will be loaned to Atlanta from October 2006 through 2009. Many of the artworks will be on display for the first time in the United States. EMA developed a print, outdoor and radio campaign to drive traffic to the exhibitions. The campaign combines imagery from the Atlanta Braves, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia with works from the exhibitions, coupled with the tagline: "Paris and Atlanta in a partnership like no other." Ads include a beret with an Atlanta Braves logo, a bottle of orange perfume that says "Peach" and a street sign that reads "Rue de Péachtrée." My personal favorite is a billboard that reads: "Bonjour y'all." Newspaper ads are running in The New York Times and Atlanta Journal-Constitution; print ads are running in art trade publications, such as Art and Auction and ARTnews and magazines such as Culture & Travel, Encore and Atlanta Parent.

The MazdaSpeed3 is a wild child. Sarkissian Mason created an online film positioning the car as a rebellious hunk of metal. The car lives up to its "Wild Child" moniker. "The Awesome Adventures of Wild Child" is viewed in the style of a movie trailer and follows the MazdaSpeed3 as it races through city streets. This car is so fast it zips past a sports car and blows its doors off. Watch the movie trailer at www.mazdausa.com/wildchild. The movie can also be downloaded to your computer or an iPod. Print ads for the MazdaSpeed3 also use the "Wild Child" theme and were created by Doner.

Syntax-Brillian has launched a national TV and print campaign promoting its Olevia brand of HDTVs. The ad shows extreme close-ups of various athletes in action--from football and soccer players to gymnasts and synchronized swimmers--and serves as both a brand builder and platform to drive consumers to purchase HDTVs during football season. The ad is running on ABC, ESPN, ESPN HD, ESPN2 and ESPNews. Print ads are running from September through November in ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Business Week, Forbes, Money, Dwell and Electronic House. remerinc created the campaign and media buying was handled in-house.

Sofia Coppola's movie "Marie Antoinette" is set to hit theatres later this month. But the wild woman will first leave her mark in New York and Los Angeles bathrooms. Hot pink mirror clings, complete with a lipstick kiss, tell visitors, "For a good time... Marie Antoinette. 10-20-06." Click here to see a larger version of the ad.Cornerstone Promotions created the campaign.

Bushmills Irish Whiskey launched a U.S. campaign last month designed to build the whiskey's brand position in the Irish whiskey category. The ads launched in September issues of Sporting News, USA Today Ryder's Cup Supplement and The New York Times. One ad specifically targeted the Ryder Cup with copy stating, "Irish at its best. After you've spent some time in the rough, we suggest you spend some time with the smooth." Another ad says, "Almost 400 years--AH, how time flies when you're making whiskey." The campaign continues through the rest of the year in magazines such as Blender, The Onion, Men's Fitness and Men's Journal.BBH New York was in charge of the campaign.

Bombay Sapphire launched "Martial Arts" and "Elephant" earlier this summer to promote its premium gin. "Martial Arts" targets younger males and resembles the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," minus the subtitles. Click here to watch "Martial Arts." "Elephant" shows an animal navigating through a room of martinis, until it finds the perfect drink to drop its olives. Click here to watch "Elephant." The spots are airing on national cable networks, including Comedy Central, Bravo, BBC America, F/X and History Channel. Sugartown Creative produced the campaign and KSL handled the media buying.