Happy National Gorilla Suit Day

In honor of National Gorilla Suit Day today, I have posted an NBA on ESPN commercial featuring possibly the most famous gorilla suit in the United States, maybe even the world. Enjoy!



Remember, spread the word, today (January 31) is National Gorilla Suit Day.

Pepsi Max and Doritos Crash the Super Bowl

Apparently Pepsi Max has joined forces with its sibling Doritos at this year's Super Bowl. Pepsi Max and Doritos have created a joint effort for this year's "Crash the Super Bowl" ad campaign. Fans of the "Crash the Super Bowl" campaign, can now vote for their favorite consumer generated ad for both Doritos and Pepsi Max.

From all of the ads that were submitted by consumers, five finalists were selected for each brand. Ultimately, consumers will select two Doritos ads and two Pepsi Max ads, while PepsiCo executives will select one spot for each brand. In an effort to entice more people to enter this year's contest, PepsiCo has raise the stakes for this year's contest. This year's winners stand to win up to $5 million if their ads take the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 slots on the USA Today Ad Meter.

Here are my favorite ads from this year's finalists.

Doritos - House Sitting


*Coincidentally, this ad was created by a Detroit native and Michigan State alumna.

Pepsi Max - Torpedo Cooler



To see these ads and ads from the rest of this year's finalists, check out the Crash the Super Bowl website.

Swear Jar vs. Clothing Drive - The Ultimate Matchup

Here are a couple of Bud Light ads that you may not have seen before. Take a look at them and tell me which one you found the funniest. 

Bud Light - Swear Jar


Bud Light - Clothing Drive


Now that you have watched both commercials, let your voice be heard and tell me which one was the funniest by taking the poll below.

Czech or Swede?

Hey Hockeytown, apparently Jiri Hudler and Henrik Zetterberg get a little competitive when playing chess. Who knew?

This ad is brought to you by SMZ Advertising in Troy, Michigan.

Who wants to "Catch VD"

For those of you who drive along Sunset Blvd. or walk through Times Square, you have probably already seen these new billboards. For everyone else, take a look at these pictures of the billboards (pictured below) and guess at what they are actually promoting.

Please note: The billboard is highlighted in red.

If you haven't been able to guess the correct answer, find out after the jump.

The Secrets of Advertising

So that's how ideas in advertising are created.

Who here in the industry can relate to being a Sprinkles?

This ad is brought to you by Copacino + Fujikado in Seattle, Washington.

Sounds like Somebody's Got a Case of the Mondays

Do anyone else have a case of the Mondays?

Super Bowl XLV is Now Set

In honor of the Super Bowl XLV matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers on February 6th, now being set, I have decided to relive three of my favorite commercials from Super Bowl XLIV. Enjoy!

1) Doritos: House Rules



2) E-Trade: Girlfriend



3) Snickers: You're Not You When You're Hungry



I hope this year's Super Bowl commercials do not disappoint. Check back the week of February 7th to find out what commercials were my favorite from Super Bowl XLV.

Tigers Baseball is Just Around the Corner

Even though there is still snow on the ground, Tigers baseball is just around the corner. The Detroit Tigers will open their regular season against the Yankees on March 31 at Yankee Stadium.

In honor of Tigerfest, which is taking place today, down at Comerica Park, I have decided to post the latest Detroit Tigers TV commercial from SMZ Advertising.

Dave Dombrowski, feel free to just mail me my commission check for my help with the increase in ticket sales today.

Obey the Restroom Code

Boston Bruins fans, just remember one thing, "Obey the Restroom Code."

If not, apparently a giant bear will grab you and give you a swirly in one of the bathroom stalls. FYI.

This ad is brought to you by Mullen Advertising in Boston, Massachusetts.

Funny Ad: Utopolis group of cinemas

Note to James Cameron:

Here is how that scene should have looked in the movie Titanic. 

 

 

Funny Ad: Mini Cooper

I will let the picture speak for itself. But, who knew the Mini Cooper could be so much fun.

The Captain Workout: Greatest Idea Ever?

Fans of Captain Morgan will be be happy to hear that the Captain has invaded the workout world. Now you can obtain a body just like the Captain. Here is the description of the workout, that they provided with their video on YouTube: 

"The Captain Morgan Workout is the most intense full body fitness program ever created by a pirate. Forget about fad diets, expensive gyms and complicated machines, if you want a truly chiseled body just follow the Captain."

After viewing the video, I have just one suggestion to make this workout even better..... include 4oz. shot curls with Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. Now that would be the best workout ever.

CareerBuilder Chimps Return to Yeknom Industries in Time for the Super Bowl

Fans of the CareerBuilder chimpanzees will be happy to hear that they will be returning for Super Bowl XLV. The 30 second spot featuring these lovable primates will air during the third quarter of the game. The chimps first appeared in CareerBuilder ads during the company's Super Bowl debut in 2005. This new ad will kick off a national, integrated campaign scheduled to run throughout the year, that will incorporate old favorites with exciting new twists and new elements never seen before. For more details about the return of the chimps, check out the press release from CareerBuilder.

A Not So Pure Michigan

For all of you who know of or enjoy the Pure Michigan ad campaign, should check out Notsopuremichigan.com. This fellow Michigander takes a little different spin on this famous and well known ad campaign. My favorite video so far is titled "Winter Virgins." Check it out below:



Only in Michigan can it be clear and sunny one day, and a god d@#$ blizzard the next. So true!

If you enjoyed this video, make sure you check out his website for all of the others. link

How a Focus Group should be Done

Who would have ever thought, sharks were such great focus group participants. Who knew they had the ability to detect the difference in taste between someone that just finished the new Snickers Peanut Butter Squared and someone that didn't. News to me!

Just remember, eat both squares, please!

What Every Office Needs

Just when you thought your office was safe. Here comes Terry Tate, Office Linebacker.

For all of you who love the movie, Office Space, just remember this one line from this Terry Tate commercial. You should already know what it is. But if you forgot, here it is again:

"You know you need a cover sheet on your TPS report, Richard!!!"

Mmmm, Okaayyy!!!

New Job Opportunity for Creative Directors

For all of those unemployed creative directors out there, here is an interesting job opportunity for you. According to a story posted on AgencySpy (www.mediabistro.com/agencyspy), CetenaGroup is currently looking for a creative director to work in its headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. Thats right, war torn Kabul, Afghanistan.

According to the company's website (www.cetana.com), CetenaGroup is an Afghan owned and managed business formed in early 2005 which has grown rapidly to become the country's premier media, marketing and design company. With our group headquarters in Kabul, CentenaGroup also has five regional office centers and dedicated teams throughout Afghanistan who personally deliver and monitor message dissemination through a range of media formats. They also currently employ over 400 full-time employees.

From a media perspective, CetenaGroup is the only media group in Afghanistan which covers the entire country including regions of the South and the East of the country with the highest security risks. So you won't have to worry about the competition, because there is none.

If you are still interested in this opportunity, feel free to check out their Craiglist listing for the position. Here is the link to the listing: http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/med/2151320652.html. As you can see in the listing, the position is initially for one contract year with possibility for renewal. So if it doesn't work out after year one, you can come back home.

Good luck to all interested candidates.

What a frustrated job seeker thinks of the current ad industry

It seems like the current job market is starting to get to some people. While most people have just sat back and voiced their displeasure about the current state of the market to themselves or their closest friends and family. One person has voiced their displeasure over the internet. I recently saw this story on AgencySpy (www.mediabistro/agencyspy). It appears that this anonymous person decided to take advantage the website's tips box to voice their frustration for the current state of the ad industry. Here is their rant courtesy of the website:

“Dear Ad Industry: A slow economy does not entitle you to treat job candidates like crud on the bottom of your shoe, especially when you’re the ones putting out the want ads and/or contacting us. None of us expect red carpet treatment. But it makes your agency look really, really bad when your HR / recruiting staff doesn’t even show rudimentary professional courtesy. Especially in cases when we are highly qualified for the job in question, and have jumped through multiple hoops at your request. Things shake around really fast in this business, and the creative you’re treating like garbage today might be a highly desirable candidate in a couple of years. Don’t you want to have a positive relationship developed? That’s not a hard concept to get. Yet still, you all treat people this abysmally bad, and you wonder why nobody decent wants to work in advertising anymore.”

To those of you who think that this anonymous rant was written by me, I hate to burst your bubble, but it was not. While I can sympathize with some of the points in this anonymous person's rant. I can only hope that this is an isolated incident and that the industry as a whole has not entered down this treacherous road for its job candidates.