Procter and Gamble just bought Wella, and the EC ruled that it would be unfair competition if P&G had all the shampoo brands so they have to give up their orgasmic Herbal Essences. They will either sell or licence the brand out.
Or maybe kill it, like they did to Vidal Sassoons brand shampoo. Lord knows we won't miss those cheesy ads.

In Paris a new poster campaign has launched to promote condoms. The campaign of 13 different designs depicts famous romantic - or should I say amourous - neighbourhoods in Paris like Pompidou Centre, Montmartre and Le Marais, illustrated with condoms.

read mo' for mo' and a poster.

Germany said on Friday, August 1st, it would take legal action against a decision to extend a European Union ban on tobacco advertising to radio, newspapers and the Internet, in an effort to help its cash-strapped press.

"But Germany wants national newspapers and magazines that are not sold in other countries to be excluded from the ban.

'We intend to take legal action,' a spokesman for the German finance ministry said, adding the complaint was being prepared now and could be handed to the European Court of Justice in the next few weeks.

Asked about Germany's intention to contest the ban, EU Commission spokesman Thorsten Muench said: 'I would not be surprised, but nevertheless disappointed as the German government speaks out in favour of tobacco control measures.' "

ABC News tells the story of the Telemarketeers sueing a second government agency over the do-not-call lists. The American Teleservices Association claims that the list could cut their business in half, costing up to $50 billion in sales per year. It could also eliminate up to two million jobs.

A fight for naming rights sponsored by Yahoo! News.

Fighting out of the red corner: a company who is famous for producing canned meats and tries to uphold it's own name since 1937 where they introduced Spam. Hormel "The greasy type to enjoy meat" Foods.

And fighting out of the blue corner: a company who wants to keep their own name, Spam as e-mail clean up crew and blocking junk e-mail. Spam "The Junk collector" Arrest!

After 189 complaints that the ads were demeaning to women and trivialized the war in Iraq, EasyJet "Weapons of Mass Distraction" ad gets the green light. From the ASA site:
"The advertisers stated that the advertisement was the latest of a series of topical, humorous and irreverent advertisements. The advertisers said they believed the advertisement was not sexist or demeaning to women; they asserted that they had received positive feedback from both male and female customers."

Gordon Jump is hopping out of the commercial limelight after fifteen years as the long-suffering Maytag Repairman. The Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier reports.

Favorite Gordon Jump quotes from Adlist/WKRP:
"As God as my witness, I thought that turkeys could fly."
"Help me Andy, I've got a monkey on my foot!"

Suppose you're an organization that encourages other to explore, enjoy and protect the planet...

Are you properly supposed? Good.

So what do you do when rich yahoos start threatening Gaea with their behemoth Hummer H2s? Why, you'd make fun of them, that's what.

The Sierra Club is roasting Hummer at their new website, Hummerdinger.com, complete with Flash commercial. The New York Times reports here.

Some call it a mark. Others call it a point.
Old schoolers refer to it as a bang.
And hacks? They call it their best friend.

Eric Connor of The Greenville News takes on the most abused
and overused bit of punctuation in the English language.

Amen, Eric. Amen.

Mountain Dew Code Red... Mountain Dew LiveWire... 7up's dnl... Pepsi Blue... Dr Pepper Red Fusion... Sprite Remix... Mr. Pibb's Ravin' Bladderbuster... America has been swamped with a deluge of soda pop brand extensions, much like last year's flood of "premium" malt beverages.

Well, the novelty is wearing off. So who will survive, and who will go the way of Pepsi Clear? Time will tell. In the meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution examines what's been going on with Vanilla Coke, and it ain't pretty.

The Chevy Chase ad for the Turkish alternative Cola 'Turka' that I told you about yesterday is available to view at Adage today. Follow this link to their page where they keep the windows media web version of the commercial.

MSNBC and Forbes take the high road and proclaim Us Brands still going strong while the Daily Herald says that a survey shows; "30,000 consumers in 30 major economies found that those who felt an increasing alienation from American culture were also likely to report a growing disinclination to eat at McDonald's, or to buy Nike shoes."

Zaman Daily reports that Turkish consumers are shunning US brands, based on The Roper Report 2003, from RoperASW (NYC). Down in SouthAfrica, IOL read the ropert report with interest and concluded that american brands are indeed slipping. Or showing no change at all on the brand-power index, like Coca-Cola and American Express.
Back in april The Guardian ran an article warning about 'flag waving' ads, saying that Advertising agencies in the UK warned clients in the UK and US to play down the nationality.

Meanwhile, Chevy Chase stars in a commercial for Turkeys brand Cola Turka. Much like Mecca Cola in france, Zam Zam Cola from Iran (also sold in Denmark)and Qibla Cola in Britain, this cola is marketed as a political statement alternative to Coca-Cola .

Consumers find Diet Coke ads flat-
"Diet Coke ads show cavorting Diet Coke drinkers who "canoodle" and "nuzzle" their way around a room as they sip Diet Coke. The message:'Do what feels good.' The campaign behind the low-calorie bubbly brand had little fizz, however, for consumers surveyed by Ad Track, USA TODAY's weekly exclusive consumer poll. Only 8% like the "canoodle" Diet Coke ads "a lot," vs. a 22% average score for all ads surveyed by Ad Track this year. And 19% disliked the work, vs. a 13% average. Castell says the results may reflect that the campaign aimed predominantly at current Diet Coke fans. They represent about 80% of the brand's business. The approach is evident in the ads, which show a mix of fit-looking men and women, many of whom are north, not south, of age 30."

Those annoying pop-ups with fake user interfaces that mimic Microsoft operating system error messages are getting Doubleclick into trouble.
Ference & Associates are trying to win $5 for each computer warning ad served by Doubleclick.com .
The suit accuses the New York-based company of deceptive business practices and fraud. No court date has been set yet, Nj newsflash has the full story.

The Statesman worries about advertising oversaturation. Apparantly even the Pope is sponsored, or he was at a pray-in held in May at a Madrids airport. Some 500,000 attendees were given backpacks filled with goodies that included vouchers for food from McDonald's. Don't forget to say grace over your fried burger.

Schools have sponsors too, as public funding only stretches so far. Not all people think this is a bad thing, Joel Ehrlich, president of Youth Marketing International said to the Statesman:

"We're not in the classroom giving out something that tells kids to go out and buy Care Bears," he said. "The company does get exposure, but it is a very subtle, very soft sell."

Nissan Quest. More room to screw. Nissan harnesses the MILF factor? Well apparantly Minivans arent just for soccer moms, Nissan tries to attract sexy younger couples away from the SUV's and into the minivans.

More on automotives: The Four Ugliest Vehicles on the Road - Could this be the evolution of the 60s VW Beetle marketing approach? Naaaah. Good fun though. And last but not least, Automotive News has noticed that automakers are actually starting to sell the vehicles instead of incentives, discounts, and low APRs. For better or worse.

Recently, Jenny Everett of Popular Science called up Dockers customer service after seeing Dockers Go Khakis advertised as being stain resistant thanks to nanotechnology.

Anytime you can combine advertising, pants, tiny robots and a smartass, you know you're gonna be in for a good time. CNN online relates the exchange.

"I'm beginning to think that Brits do nothing but argue about slogans", said Clayton on adlist. Older posts on this topic include Beanz meanz Heinz and Linez Meanz Salez.
Dailyrecord reports that; Interflora's famous Say it with Flowers motto was yesterday voted the nation's favourite one-liner from television's commercial breaks.

The Sloganmaven is british, it might be a national pastime. ;)

"Some think cool is a cliche. Bruce Crouch, partner and creative director at the advertising agency Soul, calls the word 'the most overused one in advertising. I don't find it very cool to use the word cool.'" from charlotte.com

So does that mean we can now use "cool" in a surfeited, triple-post-ironic sorta way?

hat tip: clayton/adlist

Well, this should certainly change the dynamics of the game...

The Day (login needed for old news) reports that impotence drug Levitra has become a sponsor of NFL. The multimillion-dollar agreement allows Levitra to use the NFL logo in advertisements and other marketing materials, said Brian McCarthy, a spokesman for the NFL.