A radio ad you can read

Here's a radio ad created for Gandhi Bookstores from Mexico City that you can actually read:

In congested Mexico City, people spend hours sitting in traffic.  Using RDS systems that is used to identify stations and artist and tracks played, they transmitted a short message on commuters car radios.

Announcer:  If you are stuck in traffic look at your stereo's screen.  

Screen:  This advert promotes reading.  That's why you are reading it.  

Announcer:  Gandhi Bookstores.  Keep reading.

Condom mess

Here is a postcard for Tulipan condoms in Argentina:

 

The postcard features an image of a stylish living room that looks like it has been ravaged by a rockstar with a Tulipan condom affixed on the corner of the card.  When you remove the condom, then we see the possible source of this mess... 

Let's stop this Weezer madness

What did I say about Weezer...

This needs to stop!

Everywhere I go there's Weezer...

Waterproof camera

Here's a bathroom sticker from Sao Paulo, Brazil for Canon's Powershot D10 waterproof camera.  It was placed in public restroom sinks:

Heineken date

What happens on a Heineken date?  

What DOESN'T happen?  

Chinese dudes are rocking out to Bollywood songs in the background with their star-shaped tambourines, eels obey your commands, you have the magical ability to slay Chinese dragons, showgirls fondle you to pieces....

Everything seems to go perfectly.

What I like about this beer ad is that it is incredibly sexy without using the stereotypical images of sex.   He's trying to impress this woman on their first date, experiencing some really cool stuff - a visual foreplay of sorts - and the entire time he keeps getting denied a beer.  At the end, he finally "gets the girl" and the Heineken. 

Even the Making Of film is magically awesome:

Edible ad

Here's another print ad for Volkswagen that features a road.  But this one is from South Africa and -- yes this print ad is edible. 

To demonstrate the Volkswagen's "road eating" capabilities, why not have people literally eat the Volkswagen ad?  This insert was made out of glutinous rice flour.

Bikini time

Summer's coming so here are a couple bikini ads.

Flash mobs are getting pretty old now, but this one actually works for Pac Sun.  This one is appropriate for the swimwear brand as people at the Grove in Los Angeles gathered to strip and dance to Passion Pit's rendition of La Roux's "I'm Not Your Toy" and Young the Giant's "My Body" to create the mashup "My Body's Not Your Toy."

Dress Irresponsibly.

This is an ad is for La Senza swimwear UK.  It's kind of hokey in a good way, like 80s music video hokey.  A gaggle of bikini-clad girls storm a nudist beach to the sounds of the Naked and the Famous.  Those judge-y nudist shake their heads in disapproval as these sexy ladies ruin their beach day by showing up with ...clothing.  The audacity.  

When the lifeguard tries to wrangle up these bikini gals that are upsetting the nudists, and these trouble-making girls pin him to ground and douse him with oil in an orgy-esque manner. 

There are embedded links to "See More Nudists!" [No thank you.]  "To meet the lifeguard" and to "Meet the girls!"

 

 

Be Bold.

Minatures are the new flash mob

Here is the "What's Inside" miniature-esque ad for Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie flavor:

This Behind the Scenes video shows how all the models were hand crafted with hand drawn backgrounds, and all the intricate details of the dioramas. 

Little girls for sale

Here is a video that just seems like an ordinary video of a little girl selling her toys, but when you mouse over the girl... WTF!  Little Sharon is for sale too!

When you click on Sharon you get an explanation of Love146:

Test driver

Here is an ambient ad in Argentina for Quilmes beer:

They set up six "stage" areas in front of clubs in Buenos Aires.  Instead of test driving a car, intoxicated club-goers were "test driving" a cab driver.  So tipsy people would get a free ride home on the condition they leave their vehicle at the club.

McDonald's fresh vegetable salad

To illustrate how fresh their new vegetable salad is at McDonald's in Israel they created this paper placemat:

It was made to resemble a wooden cutting board with knife marks.  The copy roughly translates to "Cut on the Spot, Only Upon Ordering"

Coca-Cola's drive-in

In Bogota, Colombia, they took a stretch of road filled with pretty bored passengers stuck in traffic and converted the street into an impromptu drive-in movie theatre for Coca Cola. 

A large screen was set up by the side of the road and people driving by could set their radios to a station to hear the accompanying audio from the film.  Coca-Cola representatives passed out movie theatre food: popcorn, hot dogs ... and of course, free Coke. 

Honda breakfast prize

This out-of-home ad is for Honda in Vancouver:

The Prize on Vimeo.

They constructed a large breakfast cereal box with cereal O's that people could actually play with.  The Honda Civic was arranged so it looked like the car was the special prize inside the box.

You have to press play more than once

I had to press play seven times to be able to read the copy on this video ad for the International OCD Foundation: 

When you can finally see the copy, it reads:

"For some people,

performing simple actions repeatedly is an everyday matter.  

But this is just one of the issues people with

obsessive compulsive disorder deal with."

A very simple, one-frame video communicates a powerful message.

Flash mob joy

I'm fairly sick of flash mobs at this point, but this one caught my eye because it has the elements that made flash mobs so great in the first place:

Not that this this routine stunningly choreographed.  It's pretty clumsy actually.  It begins with the head teacher of Bell Baxter in Scotland scanning the assembly room as the intro of YMCA begins blaring.  It seems like any other ordinary day with their ordinarily stern head teacher searching for potential student shenanigans.  

But what occurs is kind of magical.  He erupts into a dance routine which genuinely shocks the student population.  The head teacher is joined by faculty and others for a dance routine that makes the student population crack up.  It was unexpected and it was spectacle that was enjoyed.

Expresso Newspaper: Osama

This is a print ad for the Expresso Newspaper in Portugal:

Here we see the death dates of numerous people's lives that were cut short on 2001.  But one death date at the very end: 1957-2011, makes a powerful statement.

Digital fragrance

This "scented" banner ad was for men's fragrance Kaiak in Brazil.  Special computers were set up in internet cafes that showcased this banner ad.  The copy: "The best selling men's fragrance in the country just changed.  Wanna try it?  Click on this banner ad  IT'S SCENTED."  

When internet cafe users would click on the banner, the ad itself slowly shifts right, where a black scented sample emerges from the side of the computer.  These special computers were designed so they held up to 50 scented banners. 

Lonely Planet bookmarks

To promote the Lonely Planet magazine in India, large bookmarks were placed in front of tourist attractions and restaurants:

Breakfast toast reminder

This Brazilian case study video is for Danone's Actimel, a breakfast yoghurt drink.   To position Actimel as the "indispensable" breakfast item for Brazilian families they launched the "Breakfast Reminder."

Breakfast Reminder from Vimeo.

Special Actimel toasters were given to influential moms.  These toasters were designed so that a personalized message would should up on the toast.  Mothers that posted pictures of their kids eating Actimel in their social networks would receive Actimel for an additional month.

Noiseless wind chimes

Here are "wind chimes" created for Brazilian electric fan company Latina.

 

They used metallic-painted rubber to create noiseless wind chimes with a tag Wind is Not Necessarily Noisy.

Pop-up beach party

This pop-up shop for Tommy Hilfiger showed up in the Meatpacking district in New York and is modeled after a Hamptons-style beach home for their summer collection Prep World.

Hot Wheels for adults

I've been featuring a lot for Hot Wheels, and here are a few more.  This was a celebrity-studded event in Hollywood for Hot Wheels and Indy racing featuring Mark Wahlberg and P. Ditty.

It's a great event since it appeals to the adults who are actually purchasing the toy cars for their children.  

Here's a daredevil stunt created for Hot Wheels.  They created a replica of the Hot Wheels V-Drop track where a driver will make the ten-story plunge at the Indy 500. 

This gives junk mail a new meaning

In order to educate beach goers on the importance of putting garbage in bins, this direct mailer was created for Surfrider Foundation in Brazil:

They used targeted mailing lists from surf shops to send out boxes with a little bit of garbage picked up from the beaches with a sticker that read: "The rubbish that is thrown into the ocean eventually returns.  To everybody."

Real tweets in real life

Here's a cool vid where they place real life tweets on stickers affixed in real life:

Real Tweet from Real Tweet on Vimeo.

Balloon animation

Amazing video from Brazil for MTV:

To make this stop-motion video they used a laser guide to line up hundreds of balloons to show you this amazing rockin animation with Slash, Ozzy, and KiSS...

I redact my former statement. Flash mobs need to stop.

This "flash mob" for Wells Fargo never really reveals the fact that this dance was orchestrated by the banking giant, and it just comes off as a bunch of street performers. Which is cool, giving the experience an air of authenticity.  Just another ordinary day in Times Square: 

It begins with a bucket drummers, which is always entertaining, and soon other garbage drummers join along, creating a wall of bucket percussive sound.  Dancers join in and they get a couple of breakdancers to join in, and the whole spectacle maintains a sense of realism to the whole street performer vibe.  

But the thing that gets me is song choice.  One Singular Sensation?  Is it because they are in the Big Apple and they gotta do an homage to A Chorus Line?  It just seems kind of lame to me.  The song selection taste levels are not appropriate to the spectacular they are building up to. 

In the end, they never mention it's for Wells Fargo, which is fine.  But what does a dance routine have to do with your checking account?  Is this supposed to inspire me to open a savings account? 

Speaking of lame, here's one from the Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas: 

Well, I gotta give them a few points for trying to be "hip" and "cool" with a flash mob for the congregation.  First off, this is NOT a flash mob.  They have an entire field cleared out for this ... aerobics class.  [Step-touch-step-touch and grapevine...]  There's nothing really surprising about this "flash mob."  Um...there is a professional camera guy in the shot.  And when there are more people dancing than there are watching, that is not a flash mob.  It's a flash-cult.

The "Dance Your Shoes Off" dancers donated a pair of new shoes for missionary people to give to the needy, which is a good thing.  This aspect of social good is completely ignored in this video.  By subtly tying in this idea, it would have made the video stronger in its statement and a lot less creepy to watch. 

What's with Brazilians and elevators?

Kudos to this Fanta elevator experience from Brazil: 

I love the expression of the guy (0.16) who automatically says 'hi' back and then is struck with the realization that there is no one in the elevator with him.  

Unlike Brazilian elevator antics of the SOS Fauna campaign, which has a high risk of annoying someone, people seem genuinely happy to be participating in the Fanta elevator.  

I want to be in the Fanta elevator!  This is much better than the elevator I have to be in at work that will cut your arm off if you don't get in fast enough.  The Fanta elevator becomes extremely awesome when the orange plastic balls fall from above and transforms the lift into a Fanta ball pit.   

QR speaks for us

There has been some very interesting QR code stuff lately. 

Now here's a campaign for Reporters Without Borders that has the same feel:

Ketchup packaging

Here's a cool package design for Vantage stain remover in Brazil: 

Orange power

Here is a billboard in France for Tropicana that uses about 2,500 oranges for "Energie Naturelle:"

Using copper, zinc spikes and a lot of oranges, they were able to create a multi-cell battery strong enough to light up this neon sign in Paris' Place des Abbesses.

More elevator antics in Brazil

Here is an obtrusive campaign for SOS Fauna in Sao Paulo for wildlife nonprofit SOS Fauna.  They stopped the elevator and recorded the reactions of people as they were "caged up" in the lift.  They didn't say how long they were stuck in the elevator, but people were in there long enough to be uncomfortable.  *Except for that one couple who seemed like they were happy with the extra snuggle time.

When people were finally "released from captivity" they were given postcards about SOS Fauna's causes.  So people in the elevator come to the realization that this was just an elaborate prank.  They've been punked for some cause?  

Most out-of-home media is fairly unobtrusive, but this one crosses the line when it comes to inconveniencing people.  Sure it may have been only a minute or two, but we have no idea what kind of day the people in the elevator is having, and it seemed like one person was on the verge of hyperventilating.  What if someone was taking the elevator to rush to the hospital and you stop their dire situation to promote your cause?  It just seems disruptive and not in a good way.  Pissing off potential supporters seems like a bad start.

Deep freeze elevator

Here's an elevator wrap from Brazil for LinkTrade where stickers affixed to the elevator makes it look like it is a deep freezer.  The copy is in Portuguese and roughly translates to "Don't get into a cold situation with your investments"