Inside That Ad

Yesterday, September 30th marked the 50th anniversary of the Flintstones cartoon. This was brought to my attention when I visited Google’s homepage and saw that they had put up a Google Doodle featuring a Flintstones theme. Yes, I know that it would have been better if I’d discussed this post on the day of the anniversary but it just couldn’t be done I was taking the GRE. The design is below. Upon further research I discovered that the Flintstones were not a children’s cartoon when they were first aired. The Flintstones were actually an adult sitcom much like The Simpsons and Family Guy. I know what you all are thinking…

Image via Adfreak If you are pretty, female, outgoing, need a job, and don’t mind the phrase “Double Down” written across your derriere, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has a job opportunity for you. The campaign’s objective is to tempt college guys into trying the company’s new bun-less sandwich. The job does require a uniform; really it’s just sweatpats sporting the phrase “Double Down” and the KFC logo. Ladies, the gig pays $500, which may help you forget about your feminist sensibilities for a little whileanyway. You can apply for the position to become a human billboard or what the company calls “Brand Ambassadors” by leaving them a message on their Facebook…

The Shake Weight, a dumbbell like piece of exercise equipment has enjoyed tremendous notoriety thanks to the suggestive-way the weight is held. The weight is an arm toning workout product. The way the product is held and used is very sexually suggestive. All you have to do to have a full understanding of what I am saying is watch one or both of the videos. “We never intended for the women’s device ad to have innuendo,” says Johann Verheem, the inventor of the Shake Weight according to Adfreak. Verheem goes on to say that if you use the product based on the three exercises provided, it’s not suggestive at all.…

A few days ago, I read an article in the Huffington Post that on a cartoon that was published in the Purdue University student paper known as The Exponent. The cartoon depicted a couple having sex doggy-style, while the man sneaks away he allows his friend to join in on the act without the woman’s knowledge according to the Jezebel article. The Purdue community was enraged and rightly so, we all should know, sex without consent is rape. I didn’t put an image of the cartoon with this post because I don’t want that sort of thing on my blog but you can see the cartoon via the Jezebel article.…

Craig Brimm, founder of the advertising blog Kiss My Black Ads, created the image above. I had to write about the ad because as a guy on the client service side of advertising. I felt truer words were never spoken. Plus, I really like the background design that the text lays on. Best, -A.B.

A sign in South Bend, Indiana. Photo By: Lee MacMillan The creators of the billboard above never had those weekly, Friday spelling tests when they were in school, I’m guessing. It’s even more embarrassing when your message is intended to celebrate your local— pathetic, public—school system. Yeah, a friend sent me this article from MSNBC. By Monday, responsibility for the error was taken by Blue Waters Group. They do feel bad, but they should be held responsible for the egg on their client’s face. And for those of you who didn’t catch the error, the word “Public” is missing an L on the billboard which makes “Pubic.” Best,-A.B.

I saw the above cover page of next month’s Complex Magazine issue and I thought to myself I have to write a post on it. Why, you ask? Because when I saw Nicki Minaj’s picture in another blog that I follow I figured she has to be on my blog too. Well and the other reason is there is a large disparity between the number of posts I write discussing print ads compared to television spots. One of the biggest issues I wonder about when looking at a beautiful celebrity in a magazine is how much the image was photoshopped. This beautiful rappette doesn’t need any retouching in my opinion.…

Southwest is back to using benefit advertising to bag on its competitors with its “Bags Fly Free” campaign. They use a good cop; bad cop routine to point out their competitor’s shortcomings. The bad cop is screaming, “We know your charging for bags, drop the bags and turn around.” Then the good cop screams, “Protect the load.” The majority of the spots revolve around the baggage handlers and how much they care about your bags. Even at the end of the 30-second spot SWA doesn’t miss an opportunity to point out that competitors charge up to $120 as oppose to them where bags fly free. The tone of the spot…