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Posts Tagged “Advertising”

nsfw

The Most Horrifying Playstation 3 Ad Ever Makes Me Loyal to the Xbox 360 for Life (NSFW)

This is the most horrifying ad ever. It's for the Playstation 3, done by the geniuses at TBWA\Wien in Vienna, Austria. I don't know if it ever ran anywhere, but it's definitely a legit Sony advertisement. You don't want to see it, trust me. Look, I won't even tease it, I'll tell you what it is so you don't have to look at it. It's a guy who has a thumb for a penis. There, I told you what it is and now you won't have to look for yourself. But you will, won't you? And you'll regret it. But I warned you. Never say I didn't warn you. And yes, this is NSFW if you haven't figured that out already.
Update: Sony says this isn't an official ad, so it may be a concept whipped up by TBWA. We're looking into its actual origin and will let you know. More »

12:20 PM on Tue May 13 2008
By Adam Frucci
82,204 views, 164 comments

Latest by Sora57: I give it 3 thumbs up. more »

adwatch

HTC's First Big Ad Push Focuses on Fingering

This is HTC's first big TV ad in the US. Rather than focus on their devices individually, HTC's going for a general "brand" awareness. Seeing as how they've previously marketed their phones under the four big providers' own names (AT&T TilT, T-Mobile MDA, Verizon 6700), it's a smart step in breaking away from their control. This particular ad, one of a few that will hit print and online outlets, is underwhelming. It wants compare the HTC Touch with the iPhone (implicitly), but if you've read any of the many reviews of the device, you'll see that it's nowhere near as usable. If we were HTC, we'd focus more on their slide-out QWERTY devices that are like Sidekicks, but for businessmen.

8:30 PM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Jason Chen
2,015 views, 18 comments

Latest by hanswurst0815: Anyone else thinking of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"?+ Watch video more »

sony

Sony's New Ad Campaign Teaser: Crazy Stuff With Cameras

Sony's launching a new ad campaign on April 22, following up all those other spots we're crazy about. We got our hands on the teaser, entitled "Nothing," and it is both very cool and totally irritating at the same time, because "Nothing" is exactly what happens. Kind of. It's a bunch of smug film dudes talking with British accents about explosions and special effects, while doing increasingly crazy things with their cameras. If I was one of those cameras in the video, I'd be praying for a stunt double—look for the one that gets tossed off a bungee platform, and the other that gets rolled down a friggin' mountain. But all of this build-up is for what, Sony? WHAT ARE THEY SHOOTING!!??! [Sony]

4:15 PM on Wed Apr 16 2008
By Wilson Rothman
13,064 views, 28 comments

Latest by davecw: Flash-based camcorders (e.g. Ex1), laptops with SSDs etc - able to take a lot of rough & tumble...no moving parts. more »

advertising

Sony "Foam City" Ad Turns Miami Into World's Biggest Bubble Bath

In Sony's new "Foam City" ad, Miami becomes a soapy free-for-all when 120 million gallons of bubbles are unleashed in the streets. The world's largest foam machine was custom-built for the shoot, and pumped out over 500,000 gallons of foam per minute. The commercial is for Sony's cameras, and locals got Alpha DSLRs, Cyber-shots, and Handycams to shoot the experience. The amateur footage wasn't in the ad, but you will eventually be able to see it in an online gallery. While it follows the same urban pwnage theme of the Bravia ads—think clay bunnies and Superballs—we can't help but wonder, "Where's all the color?" See the making-of video after the jump. [Sony] More »

7:00 PM on Mon Apr 14 2008
By Benny Goldman
36,729 views, 46 comments

Latest by Manve: yiiihay this is very bad for the enviroment, but hey, it's a tv ad man!!!!!i mean that justifies it... more »

printers

Big Pussy Beats The Shit Out of a Printer in the Name of Low Ink Prices

In a new spot for Kodak EasyShare printers, Vincent "Big Pussy" Pastore takes a cheap HP out to the docks and yells at it for conning him into buying high-priced ink, before giving it a beating-and-a-half, Office Space style. After sending the printer off to sleep with the fishes, he welcomes the new EasyShare to the family. It's a shame seeing the commercialization of all the goombahs since the Sopranos ended, but at least this one is filmed with some dignity; if I were Paulie Walnuts, I'd be looking for whoever put me up to that terrible Denny's ad and introduce their kneecaps to my baseball bat. [Kodak]

2:00 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Benny Goldman
22,623 views, 39 comments

Latest by yoni: Needs more F-Bombs. more »

media

Foam City

How the hell did this travesty happen? The wrong soap in the dishwasher? Ibiza party gone awry?

Nope.

More »

8:40 AM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Mark Wilson
26,976 views, 33 comments

Latest by ekasbury: The city's finally doing something about the epic stench of pee in the parking garage. more »

reality distortion

Just Seeing an Apple Logo Makes You More Creative, Says Study

Ask someone to describe an Apple advert and I bet you they'll say "different," "artistic," and maybe even "funny," and that's all very nice for Apple (we'll ignore those who'd respond "irritating.") But according to a study due for publication next month, years of seeing those funky ads may have had an unexpected psychological side effect. Apparently showing someone an Apple logo —even subliminally— will make them use more creative thinking to perform a task. That's something I bet even Steve himself couldn't have predicted: a real Reality Distortion Field. More »

4:00 PM on Fri Mar 21 2008
By Kit Eaton
6,379 views, 70 comments

Latest by smayton: @Linux_all_the_way: Smelling my own farts is actually a glorious experience in that I eat LOTS of habanero peppers. I highly recommend it for you since, obviously, you need some brain stimulus. more »

hungry aliens

Snack Advert to be Beamed Into Space: Will Aliens Like Doritos?

The makers of the cheesy snack Doritos launched a new competition today, asking the UK public to design a new advert for a unique audience: ETs. The winner's 30-second video clip will actually be beamed from the high frequency radar telescope in Svalbard, Norway, in June, directed toward a likely looking star in Ursa Major. Doritos are calling it the world's first interstellar advertising campaign, and who are we to argue with a claim like that? We do have one question, though, which all humankind should ponder on— is a snack food the best way to advertise intelligent life on Earth? More »

11:23 AM on Fri Mar 7 2008
By Kit Eaton
5,413 views, 46 comments

Latest by johnnyabnormal: Purists, indeed. That same ad agency had me re-create Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" using only bicycle sounds: [www.johnnyrandom.com] I'd say the Doritos job was pretty easy compared to that. But, I'm not complaining: It ended up on more »

advertising

Turbine Ad Showcases a Bored, Possibly Brain Damaged Troublemaker


This ad for Epuron Wind Power won the prize for best film advertising at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes this past summer, and you can see why: it's downright wonderful. While we've recently seen the destructive power of the wind as it wreaks havoc on one poor turbine, it's nice to see the wind humanized a bit. C'mon, people. Give that poor guy something constructive to do. He doesn't mean any harm. [YouTube]

3:20 PM on Wed Feb 27 2008
By Adam Frucci
6,209 views, 42 comments

roundup

Afternoon News: Dark Knight Tomatoes, Woz's Odor, Shopping With Microsoft and More

• In 1950, a guy who cuts a tomato in half and finds its center bears resemblance to the Batman logo laughs and eats it. In 2008, he sells it on eBay. [eBay]
• Fake Steve says "There's something in the air" is really just a joke about Woz's gas problems. That's the best guess I've heard yet. [FSJ]
• Microsoft is working on grocery carts with video displays that show commercials and allow self-checkout. [Yahoo!/AP]
• The Japanese government is working with private companies on ultra high-definition video, which will show images up to 33 million pixels and may be seen as early as 2015. First they one-up us on the ladder to heaven, now this, I can't take it anymore! [Google News/AFP]

4:00 PM on Mon Jan 14 2008
By Benny Goldman
951 views, 5 comments

Latest by EagleEye: The Batman tomato guy has actually stumbled upon something much more sinister: if he rotated that tomato he'd see that it was a mushroom cloud and it's own reflection. I therefore suggest we rename it the Isaac Mendez tomato. more »

ces 2008

IBM Wins Most Sexist and Degrading Promotional Device

I have so many issues with this LCD shirt that IBM is making women wear at CES, I don't know where to start. First off, they're instructed to say "Are you looking at my chest?" as people pass by. And supposing I do just that, why have her feminine curves been replaced with a grotesque bionic interface? Don't tell me this thing is a touchscreen. The end result is that I pay no attention to the ad at all. Sorry, IBM, there are some things technology can't improve. Spare this poor woman—bring back the sandwich board. [CES 2008] Thanks to Mark W. for that extra reporting!

1:20 PM on Thu Jan 10 2008
By Wilson Rothman
30,452 views, 42 comments

Latest by Wwhat: Actually no, I don't wear t-shirts with logo's nor hats with ads, although in the interest of honesty I do wear sneakers with logo's but I actually pick ones that have as subtle a logo as possible and I don't more »

roadkill

iPod May Shuffle You From Rolling Stone to Roadkill, Australian Ad Says

A new ad in Australia highlights the dangers of crossing the road with your MP3 player rumbling your inner ear canal at full volume. And of course, it shows the iPod in a new twist of Apple's original silhouettes campaign, now using the headphones cable as a way to draw the place in which a body lies dead. Ah, nothing like a great morbid image to start up a pre-MacWorld wednesday. More »

9:15 AM on Wed Jan 9 2008
By Jesus Diaz
7,019 views, 67 comments

Latest by dcartist: @ninjatales: "I wish I coulda been there to pick up their iPods." Sorry, these ipods are mine. Go kill your own ipod carriers. It's not difficult. They have earpieces and can't hear your car coming. more »

drunk driving

Xbox Racing Games To Combat Real-Life Drunk Driving

The country that invented Scotch is paying to have virtual billboards implanted in Need for Speed: Carbon, Project Gotham Racing 4 and other titles, telling 15-to-24-year-olds not to drink and drive. At least not in real cars. It's probably okay for them to drink and drive virtual cars, because all they risk there is hitting those virtual "don't drink and drive" billboards. This comes on the heels of the British government putting intelligence-agency employment ads in games like Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent. The Scottish transport minister says that if this $20,000 pilot project is a success, other road-safety messages may soon appear, too. Like "Don't Drive Like You're Playing Need For Speed." [Kotaku]

10:00 AM on Wed Dec 26 2007
By Wilson Rothman
1,040 views, 3 comments

Latest by Daimyo Nintendo: That is a sweet photoshop image! more »

advertising

Apple Goes Claymation with PC and Mac for the Holidays

Apple's gone and turned good old PC/Mac representatives John Hodgman and Justin Long into claymation figures, just like the ones you remember from those sweet Rankin/Bass Christmas specials from back in the day. Sure, these ads are starting to wear a little thin, but this is pretty great. And I appreciate that Justin Long looks like even more of a dork in claymation form while John Hodgman just looks funnier and more likable. It just needs some Burl Ives and it would be perfect. [Apple]

12:00 AM on Fri Dec 14 2007
By Adam Frucci
21,265 views, 49 comments

Latest by Tomahawk214: Too bad all these Mac and PC commercials misinform and are unfunny as hell. more »

gaming

Upside-Down XBox 360, Sofas Kill Fat Children

According to the Health Care System Foundation, a lack of diet and exercise combined with a sedentary lifestyle (that includes playing an upside-down Xbox 360) leads to childhood obesity and an untimely death. Yeah, the kid is definitely fat—but if I were his parents I would be more worried about the fact that he is playing games with a controller that isn't plugged in. Could it be that an abundance of fat and Xbox 360 playing leads to insanity? [Kotaku]

7:20 PM on Fri Nov 30 2007
By Sean Fallon
7,123 views, 71 comments

Latest by LadySparx: Although it doesn't appear that anyone has commented in this forum recently and therefore my comment may never be seen (or maybe that is why I feel brave enough to make it) I feel I should confess to something that more »

led display

Lifefast Transparent 360 Ad Display is LED Craziness in a (Big) Can

Technohouse showed off the Lifefast, a radical transparent, 360 LED display unit at the Inter BEE 2007 fair in Japan. Placed at right angles to each other in the Lifefast's cylindrical design are four bars, each fitted with 600 three-color LEDs, which revolve between 12 and 13 times per second, flashing up images. More info and pics below. More »

8:01 AM on Fri Nov 23 2007
By Addy Dugdale
4,839 views, 11 comments

ads done right

New Guinness Rube Goldberg Ad Directed by Bravia 'Bouncing Balls' Creator

This new Guinness ad, airing for the first time tonight in the UK and shot over the course of a week in a village in Argentina, features a sweet Rube Goldberg contraption made out of everything from dominoes to old cars to flaming bales of hay. Apparently sequences of it were shot upwards of 15 times, so it probably wasn't a true Rube Goldberg contraption from start to finish, but that doesn't make it any less cool. It was directed by Nicolai Fuglsig, the brains behind Sony's iconic "bouncing balls" Bravia ad. Dude sure knows how to make a commercial, no? [Telegraph via Boing Boing]

9:46 AM on Fri Nov 9 2007
By Adam Frucci
52,723 views, 41 comments

Latest by soundengineer: loveitloveitloveit! Adults playing dominoes with big things...brings out my inner child. more »

verizon wireless

Verizon Shares Your Call Data Unless You Opt-Out

The folks from Skydeck just received a written notice from Verizon Wireless for an opt-out system for sharing your call records to third-party advertisers. Unless you call them and opt-out, Verizon will sell what numbers you called, how often you called, and your call length with "authorized companies," which includes their "affiliates, agents, and parent companies." Although it doesn't include your own name, number or address, something like this should be opt-in, not opt-out. If you're a Verizon customer, call 1-800-333-9956 and tell them you want to opt-out. Why should you let Verizon get even richer off your data for nothing in return? [Skydeck via Crunchgear]

6:20 PM on Mon Oct 15 2007
By Jason Chen
7,246 views, 27 comments

Latest by ideaman2020: It's not a joke. I got this notice in last month's bill. So did my other Verizon friends. It is definitely sucky that they made this opt-in, but that's life in the big city... It took me 1:29 to make that call more »