Our man in India [also known as bittertruth] spots these posters that take simplicity to ... well it's simplest form.

We all know that India seldom makes big bangs on the adworlds worldwide awards - and we wondered why. To prove that Indian posters can compete we're pleased to show you this neat little poster campaign for Excelsior movie theatres in Mumbai....

The National Park Service have gotten heartburn over an ad where a mav pours a glass of Metamucil into Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park to help the geyser stay regular.

Super adgrunts - click to view advert

Procter & Gamble Co., suggests Old Faithful's guardians lighten up a bit.

Besides Old Faithful is not as regular as many believe. It erupts every 45 minutes to two hours, on average every 92 minutes.

Commericals steal show at the movies- "Cinema advertising becomes a viable option when "you've got a brand that's connected to the fabric of the culture and if you've got great creative that fits the environment," said Steve Moynihan, managing director at ArnoldMPG, a media-planning agency in Boston. "It's not the best place to sell diapers or green beans."

Regal CineMedia plans to kick off a digitally formatted pre-show full of content and advertising, beginning in select markets at the end of this month. The pre-show is slated to begin about 20 minutes before the advertised movie time. "The idea is to give patrons a better experience and give the marketer a better environment," Mr. Marks said. "Rather than showing trivia, we'll give them a real entertaining bonus. We know they came there for the movie."

Article in Slate about a gross Hyundai ad and old people in ads in general. The article also uses the phrase "ad-land"!

Here's an article about the spam I recieved this morning! Spammers lie to me, try anything they can think of to get my demographic data, try to get me in on a pyramid scheme, insult my luck with the ladies and just send me lots and lots of Chinese. Yes, it's high comedy.

Part of the reason I wrote this was to have something on YankTheChain that was appropriate to be linked from Ad-Rag.

First there were ads linking doing drugs to supporting Terrorists. Now there are ads linking driving an SUV to supporting Terrorists. The two ads are already generating controversy even before they begin airing.

A group opposed to U.S. reliance on foreign oil are behind the 30-second ads, which their creator said are intended to be humorous parodies.

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"Envisioning the possible demise of the traditional 30-second television commercial, a number of advertisers have banded together to buy six prime-time hours on an American broadcast network this summer to present a variety show that will contain no commercials at all.

The advertisers, which so far include Pepsi-Cola and Nokia phones, aim to create what the program's producer, Michael Davies, called "a contemporary, hip Ed Sullivan show" for the youth-oriented WB Network. The program will try to highlight the companies' products in creative ways, like building them into a singer's performance or a comedian's routines."
Read the full article here... or at New york times

For years there's been the battle between Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Last year we got bombarded by Britney Spears (and soon Beyonce Knowles) hawking Pepsi. Now get ready for Coke to fight back and try to take back the youth market. Starting during the "American Music Awards" on ABC, Coke will break the first of more than a dozen new spots. The concept behind these new spots is Coke (not the sniffing kind) celebrities in their "real" life.

(Continue for more...)

Pepsi is getting ready to kick off some new spots for Sierra Mist in an effort to get some more market share in the un-cola market. They intend to use about half of the airtime purchased during the Super Bowl to air two 30 second commercials which started airing nationally (US) on Wednesday. Three more spots will come later.

(click Continue... to read more)

Adage.com has two articles that take a look back at the year in advertising.
Adage best and worst spots of 2002. " ...because 2002 was a year in which the industry was asked to accomplish things advertising has seldom -- at least in this society -- been called upon to do."
The 20 most effective ads of 2002. Survey looks back on what consumers actually remembered.

Two kids who wanted to "sing along with Barney" instead discovered a photo of a man and woman in a naked embrace.

The photo, which ran under the words "Wilder Sex," was in a "Sing-Along Songs Barney" book a couple bought for their 4- and 7-year-old children.

The billboard is listening.

"In an advertising ploy right out of Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," electronic billboards in the Bay Area and Sacramento are being equipped to profile commuters as they whiz by -- and then instantly personalize freeway ads based on the wealth and habits of those drivers."

These billboards key into the radio station a driver is listening to and then tailor the ads to the suggested demographic.

Marketing to a miserable economy. Takes a look at the best and worst of ad trends in 2002.
Independent Ad Awards 2002
Globe and Mail (Canada) looks back at memorable moments in 2002 advertising.
Of course there will most likely be similar stories to come in the next week or two.

Another article about ad companies attempts to make annoying ads more annoying... pop-up ads are, apparently, too easy to ignore:

"A relatively new feature may make it harder for people to avoid these windows. Using a technique called the "kick through," advertisers can direct a person to another Web site if they simply move their cursor across the pop-up ad--no clicking is necessary."

The Bailey Lauerman Research department has kindly put together a spirit survey to graph out if you are a Santa or a Scrooge.

The Interactive Ad Bureau has judged that all current forms of online advertising, including banner ads, pop ups, flash ads, etc., are all ineffective, and they've recommended a new "Universal Ad Package", with (*GULP*) bigger sizes...

"We know that larger ad sizes work better," said Mr. Stuart. "Instead of having to produce for 15 or 20 different sites that all have different requirements, if agencies produce in these four [sizes], they're pretty much guaranteed to reach everyone."

Two articles on it: AdAge and IAB

New Zealand ad-man Dene Waring woke up one morning tired of his ad-life. He concieved of the "world worst business plan" offering discount multimedia services from his 65-year-old 39ft kauri ketch the Wayfarer and embarked on an adventure.

Formerly the Creative Director for Taylormade Media, Mr Waring, his wife, Pam, and three youngest children abandoned shore life in March and embarked on an adventure to take "our skills where they are needed most". You got it - Pro Bono advertising with a new twist. ....[read more]

Tobacco giant Gallaher, who makes Silk Cut and Hamlet, are putting together one last press and poster push in tribute to its past successes.

Gallaher has called upon the Saatchi brothers - who's agency Saatchi and Saatchi produced the iconic Silk Cut campaign with the help of their Creative Director Paul Arden - to do a swansong campaign for the brand before Tobacco advertising is banned in the UK next year.

Apparantly, Kikkoman Soy Sauce has one helluva rabid Nipponese fan.

(continue to shoyu more...)

Sometimes they're cute. Sometimes they're ugly. And sometimes there's a damn good reason companies like Jack in the Box give away over two million of 'em a year. They're antenna balls!