Dutch Anti-Discrimination Ad

The Netherlands haven't received much good press over the past few years with respect to Dutch-Muslim relations, and for good reason: xenophobic politicians such as Geert Wilders and the late Pym Fortuyn have tarnished The Netherlands' image. So when the Dutch do something right in this area, they need to be congratulated.

Above is one of three new ads that have been produced for Discriminatie.nl, the anti-discrimination agency (along with the below video).



To view the other two ads, see here.

Evian Skate Babies

If my daughter A'ishah is anything like her old man, she'll never be able to do a quarter - no, an eighth - of this stuff. ;)

Eyesight Problems?

ROTFLMAO! Don't drink the yoghurt! ;)

Soyjoy: Much Effort, Little Effort

Two very crazy commercials have started airing here in Singapore for a Japanese fruit bar product called Soyjoy. Although the ad campaign was developed locally, the commercials have a very Japanese feel to them. According to BrandRepublic-Asia:

Developed by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore, the campaign targets working women who are health and weight conscious. To appeal to them, the campaign takes on the biggest obstacle that women face when it comes to keeping the pounds off: the amount of ‘effort’ required.

Soyjoy was thus positioned as the secret to staying slim using minimal, or little effort.

Of course I don't buy that last claim for a second, but the commercials are certainly unique (at least to me).

Just Do It!

This is a three-part series of commercials from Thailand that promote the benefits of daily exercise. All three commercials are rather humorous. Check it out!

Maria Sharapova - "I Feel Pretty"

I've seen this ad for Nike on Eurosport's Watts several times now. It's quite amusing if you've never seen it before. Check it out!

Bedtime Music: Trio - Da Da Da

And now for something completely different. :)

In 1982, a small German band by the name of Trio recorded a song that became very popular for a brief time, but has continued to remain popular over the decades from its use as a cover song and in TV commercials. The song is most commonly known as "Da Da Da," although the full title is "Da da da, ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha", or Da Da Da, I Don't Love You, You Don't Love Me, Aha Aha Aha." The song peaked at #2 in Germany and the UK, and #3 in Canada.



In 1997, Volkswagen produced a commercial called Sunday Afternoon, which used "Da Da Da" for its background music. This revived the song and led to a spurt of covers and parodies.



And then there's this very odd Pepsi commercial for the 2006 World Cup in Germany where a number of international soccer stars (David Beckham, Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry, etc.) are invited to "play for Pepsi" against a "team" of dancing men wearing lederhosen, all to the music of "Da Da Da." Strange.

What a Guy!

Oops, maybe not so much. Hope your wife didn't mind you giving all that satisfaction. ;)

HT: Advertising is Good for You

Tower Mas Extra Hot Chili Sauce

This second set of ads (see here and here for the other two in the series) is also getting some attention, albeit for the wrong reason: everyone's focusing on the, er, lack of genitalia on the "chili pepper." "WOW! penisless angry, jumping, high kicking ketchup! very dangerous shit!" as one commenter put it on Ads of the World. Still, probably a chili sauce Milady would be interested in trying, if it's halal.


Agency: Leo Burnett Singapore; HT: Advertising is Good for You

Canon EOS: Vision First

Two sets of ads I thought I'd share. This first set, "Vision First" for Canon Eos, was confusing a lot of the commenters over at Ads of the World. At first glance, without knowing what company the ads are for or the tag line, the ads are confusing. But, knowing that the ads are for a camera, the highlighting of the womens' eyes with the niqab and the ninja outfit makes a lot more sense. As photographers we rely so very much on our vision, both literally and artistically, to make a great photo. Vision, then, comes first, thus the highlighting of the eyes.



Agency: Dentsu, Beijing, China

Little Ducky

This is a very sweet, very understated commercial for Huggies' Super Premium Wipes. The reputation for the art of commercial-making would improve tremendously if more commercials were made like this one. By JWT New York.



HT: Advertising is Good for You

Incredible, Uniquely, Sparkling, Bloody Asia

Over the past few weeks, Milady and I have been discussing some of the regional tourism campaigns. The problem, IMO, is that several of these campaigns have rather simple and, thus, boring slogans. The three primary offenders are Incredible India, Korea Sparkling (which is normally said as if there’s a comma between "Korea" and "Sparkling"), and the local slogan, Uniquely Singapore. It’s not that the advertising campaigns are done badly; in fact, all three campaigns are quite professional with decent television commercials. It’s just that the slogans are not terribly interesting.

Two slogans that I find a little better are Malaysia, Truly Asia and Australia’s So Where the Bloody Hell Are You?, which, apparently, had generated some controversy in the UK and Canada; in the UK because of the word "bloody," and in Canada due to the "unbranded alcohol consumption" at the beginning of one of the commercials (and also for the use of the word "hell"). Singapore avoided the problem by having the slogan advertised here as "So where are you?"

There are a couple of countries that don’t advertise regionally, which is a little surprising, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. The most recent entrant in the tourism sweepstakes is Vietnam, the Hidden Charm, which, unfortunately, seems to have followed the lead of India, Korea and Singapore with a simplistic slogan.

Ouch!

A print ad for the Head snowboard ad campaign, "Jump Higher." From the advertising agency Advico Young & Rubicam of Zurich, Switzerland.


(HT: Advertising is Good for You)

Levi's Copper Jeans X-Ray Female and Male

While walking to lunch today, I came across the above poster for Levi's Copper Jeans, featuring an x-ray of a young woman wearing the jeans (below is the poster for a young man's x-ray). Per Ads of the World:

"Reconstructed" is the new Fall/Winter 07 print campaign for Levi's Copper Jeans. Much the same way Copper Jeans' seams and pockets are held in place with metal rivets, broken bones can be reconstructed with metal pins and plates. The vintage x-ray treatment is a nod to Levi's 154 year heritage, as well helping to showcase Copper's product features in an interesting, new light.

Advertising Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty Asia-Pacific, Singapore

Ramadan Moon

In late August, I posted a photo I took back in July of the moon over Singapore. About a week ago, I saw the moon in the late afternoon. On the one hand, I wanted to take a picture, having been inspired by a recent photo on Lunar Photo of the Day (LPOD); on the other hand, I was too tired from fasting to wander outside with the camera to get my shot. So I found the only place in the apartment where such a photo could be taken at that time: in the bathroom, through the slot of the window panes, underneath the ledge of another apartment (which is the dark shadow in the upper left corner). And as I took the photo, the only thing that was going through my mind was that old McDonalds' commercial with Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, except that this time it was, "Through the slat, under the ledge, nothing but net." ;)

Some year I gotta buy myself a good telescope.

The "Bad" Old Days

Credit: Vintage Computing and Gaming

This is a fascinating ad when you have the advantage of 26 years' worth of hindsight and technological improvements in computer memory. This company, Morrow Designs, had two hard disk drives available for sale in January 1981 (advertised in BYTE magazine): a 10-megabyte HDD for a mere $3,695, and a 26-megabyte HDD for only $4,995. That's in 1981 dollars. Factor in inflation and, today, the prices of those two hard drives would be equivalent to $8,451.63 and $11,425.14, respectively.

Now, factor in the technological improvements. The older of our two home computers has a 150-gigabyte HDD in it (I've used up about 65-70 gig in the three years or so we've owned it; the newer computer, I have no idea how much memory it has except that it's more). The first thumbdrive I bought, back in late 2003, was 128-meg for S$88 (that number's etched in my brain for some reason). The most recent thumbdrive that I bought was a 4-gig model for S$55.

Now if only cars and homes could have such huge increases in quality and decreases in prices.

(HT: IZ Reloaded)

"Only Hear the Good Stuff"

Speaking of good local TV commercials, this commercial for Gold 90FM is classic. And Gold 90FM's a pretty good radio station as well.

"There It Is!"

The local cable TV and Internet provider, Starhub, has a very cute commercial that's playing now. The commercial is for their HubStation product. The husband's dance at the end is funny, and I love how the wife keels over in a faint.

Du@n: Can You Spot a Hubber?

One of my bro-in-laws, Du@n (the video genius), has entered a local contest to produce a Starhub commercial. (Starhub is a cable TV and internet provider here in S'pore.) Du@n had told me yesterday he was looking for some footage we had taken of the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station several years ago. Apparently he found it because this is the visual portion of the commercial. (For the contest, everyone must use the Starhub theme song.) Unfortunately, Du@n also edited out Milady and I from the video because we were in the original footage. Please do us a favor and vote for Du@n's video!

For some other videos that Du@n's done, check out this post I made back in June.

"Life's Short. Your Marriage Doesn't Have To Be"

Update: Click here for more information on Corri's sexual harassment lawsuit.

Corri Fetman is back in the news. A month ago, the Chicago divorce attorney made waves with her billboard that read "Life's short. Get a divorce." That billboard was taken down within a week after Alderman Burton Natarus ordered the sign taken down on the grounds that Fetman, Garland & Associates didn't have a proper permit. Fetman believes, however, that the ad was taken down due to "unconventional censorship" and has created a new, mobile billboard. From the law firm's press release:

An early preview of the next phase of our “Life’s Short. Get a Divorce.” advertising campaign will be displayed for the media on June 7, 2007 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 612 North Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois. Our message will be presented on two color two sided mobile billboard media trucks which will roam through various Chicago neighborhoods from June 7, 2007 through June 9, 2007, including but not limited to the infamous “Viagra Triangle.”

Apparently, this is not the last ad we will be hearing about with regard to Fetman's firm.

On a positive note, "An Arlington Heights couple upset with Fetman's ad campaign erected their own billboard, which reads: 'Life's short. Your marriage doesn't have to be.'" (Emphasis mine.)

Sources:
Racy Billboard Goes Mobile
Racy Billboard Gone, But Ad Campaign Continues

Update: Panem et circenses time: I've been weathering the Corri Fetman storm these past few days. Beginning last Friday, the number of hits went well over my recent daily average, spiking at 586 on Monday (that's about four times my average). Interest on the Internet in Fetman is due largely to the size of her chest (as opposed to the ads), and a recent picture of Corri that I've seen (but not posted) shows that Corri is more interested in "advertising" for her law firm based upon her "personal attributes," rather than any ability of hers to practice law.

And so Corri single-handedly lowers the reputation of the legal profession even further. No wonder other attorneys are upset with her. Do you think Playboy has contacted Fetman yet? It wouldn't surprise me if they had.