• by Phyllis Fine , Staff Writer, September 26, 2007

S&M taglines to auction off used books? Sleeping outdoors? Talking furniture? Let's launch!

 

Everybody's trying to get comfortable enough for a nap in the 30-second TV spot created by zig for Ikea Canada, but no one's quite making it - from various folks hunkering down in a tennis net, on top of a pile of books (ouch!), to the guy with the pillows strapped to his head in the back seat of a car. Obviously, they're part of the collective "you" that "should be sleeping better," according to the tagline. The solution: new mattresses and boxsprings from Ikea. The commercial, seen here, is just one element in a campaign that includes radio, print (see one ad here) rich media online banners and an outdoor guerilla event last month in Toronto, where 14 people were found sleeping in various public places. Mindshare handled the media buy.

OK, on a boring day at work it might be fun to have talking office furniture, especially the kind that sound off kind of wittily in the HON radio spots created by Campbell-Ewald. Each of the HON pieces has its own distinct personality, like the desk who's "pretty buff -- go ahead, slam my drawers like you mean it." Then again, what if you couldn't get your chair to shut up -- just like the Firefox icon on my computer that annoyingly demands my attention. HON's radio campaign will air on such programs as, "The Wall Street Journal Report," "Dow Jones Money Report" and "The Osgood Files." Hear it, um, here, here, here and here. There's also a print campaign featuring HON products situated in "atypical" environments, such as among statues in an art museum, with the tagline "Yes, it's that beautiful." Media outlets featuring the print campaign will include national business publications such as Entrepreneur, Fortune Small Business, Inc., and My Business; and national business-to-business publications such as Buildings and Today's Facility Manager. See the print ads here, here and here. Campbell-Ewald also handled the media buy.

Just how strong are Panasonic Toughbook laptops? "Legally, we cannot say it will survive a category five" hurricane, reads the headline for one of the striking, mostly black-and-white print ads created by Sigma Group. Called "Legally," the ads have appeared in national print, online, and trade publications in August. They also targeted professionals at airports and heavy commuter spots such as New York's Grand Central Station and Montgomery Station in San Francisco. Sample the ads here and here. Sigma Group also did the media buy.

"Discover the pleasure of being bound in leather" reads the headline -- and no, it's not fronting a campaign for S&M paraphernalia. In fact, what's being promoted is the most proper item possible -- Bloomsbury New York, reportedly the first dedicated literary auction house in the United States. The campaign, created by Seiter & Miller, is actually meant to emphasize the love of books in a visceral way, with shots of what's undoubtedly a classy leather-bound volume behind that headline. However, I'm beginning to think that some double meanings may be intentional; another headline reads, "Share the passion between the covers." See the ads here and here. Seiter & Miller also handled media-buying duties.

A visual story with the bare minimum of copy is at the heart of the print campaign TDA ADVERTISING & DESIGN created for General Electric's eVent, the waterproof, breathable fabric that's a competitor to Gore-Tex. Five spreads show a view of the wilderness with touches of home, as in a forest that now boasts an intercom, a snow cave to which the morning's newspaper has been delivered, an ice wall with a mailbox, a mossy glade bearing street numbers, and, rising above tall mountain pines, a weathervane. Only copy is "Live Outdoors," the product's new tag . The campaign will break in October issues of U.S. publications including Outside, Backcountry, Climbing, Freeskier, and Snowboard, and also in the U.K. and, translated, in France, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and Finland. See samples here, here, here, here and here. General Electric handled media-buying itself.

It's a given that firefighters are heroes - and Shine Advertising puts that heroism to good effect in its pro bono ads created to recruit more volunteers for the Jackson, Wisc. Fire Department. Instead of showing blazing fires, the campaign focuses on the way firefighters touch lives in a community, with headlines like "Camaraderie. Catastrophes. And the occasional kitten stuck in a tree." Ads show the firefighters (one of whom is a woman) posed with the tools of their trade against a background of graphic flames. See samples here, here and here.

Amy Corr, the regular OTL columnist, is on vacation. She will be back next week.