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Advertising News and Know-How

Advertising News and Know-How Since 2004

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Gerry Graf Talks Commercials, And The Team That Creates Great Ones

There's no doubt that Gerry Graf, now head of Barton F. Graf 9000, has done, or overseen, a lot of great TV commercials in his career. Here's just one: On FastCoCreates, a project of Fast Company magazine, Graf shares the ingredients of a great commercial. Here's the part that caught my eye, as Graf describes "The Ideal Team": Account people: no one who has a vested interest in making sure the client is …

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Social Is Another Channel Entirely

Old Milwaukee rolled out a new TV commercial starring comedian Will Ferrell during the Super Bowl. You probably didn't see it though, as it only ran in one place--the country’s second-smallest TV market, North Platte, Neb. According to BusinessWeek, despite its tiny TV audience, the Old Milwaukee ad managed to outperform some of the nationally broadcast Super Bowl commercials in an increasingly important …

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Lots Of Weak, Recycled Spots That Don’t Lead Anybody Anywhere

The other day, Gary Vaynerchuk predicted that Super Bowl advertisers would extend the story told in their Super Bowl ads to online venues, and that these extensions would have us talking on Monday morning. Didn't happen (except in a few rare exceptions). In fact, if you look at the Toyota Camry spot, to name just one, it ends with the point that all Camry drivers have stories to tell. Yet, there's no pointer for …

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Service Advertising Is A Content Opportunity

Public service advertising has been around for a long time. But there's a new kind of public service advertising today, which should not be confused with the pro-bono work agencies do for charities. No, this new service work is done by brands to directly benefit a community. It might be Tide helping people do laundry after a hurricane or tornado. In this case it's a candy maker, helping to fund a hockey …

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Advertising’s Top Creatives For A More Creative Economy

Why do I feel like Dan Wieden and crew have a not-so-secret deal with the White House to promote American values in this time of trouble? Probably because it shows in the agency's reel. Clearly, bailing out Wall Street and Detroit's automakers was a political act; therefore, reshaping those brands is an also a political act, to some degree. Here's the original ad from Hal Riney that this new Clint …

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Bud Light Gets Crafty With A “Six Point 0” Line Extension

I didn't care for this ad when I saw it during the Super Bowl, but now I see an unhidden message in it. Bud Light Platinum is a 6.0% alcohol by volume. Why the brand and its agency didn't make the entire spot about that significant point of difference, it's hard to say. "Man has long dreamed of turning lead into gold. We dreamed of turning gold into platinum." What? Who cares what "you" dreamed of …

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OK Go Makes Music In A Chevy

Indie rock and the Super Bowl? Thanks to Chevy and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, they do indeed mix. OK Go set up over 1000 instruments spread out over two miles of desert near Los Angeles. A Chevy Sonic was outfitted with retractable pneumatic arms designed to play the instruments, and the band recorded this version of "Needing/Getting," singing as they played the instrument array with the car. "Car …

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Super Bowl Ad Rewind: Seven That Stick

I didn't see any great ads during the Super Bowl tonight. But there were a handful of good ads. Given the big stage, and the exorbitant cost to make and run these spots, there really should be a number of great ads every year. But no. Regardless, let's have another look at some of the best of this year's sub-premium lot. Volkswagen: The Dog Strikes Back (my favorite ad of the bunch) Budweiser: Return …

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