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"Career women make bad mothers" ads withdrawn

 Post date: Jan 7 2010 - 11:38

The Guardian reports that the OAA campaign designed to promote the effectiveness of billboard advertising has withdrawn the poster that read: "Career women make bad mothers" after an outcry from the offended public. "Educashun Isn't Working" and "1966. It Won't Happen This Year" will be running instead.

The campaign was devised by veteran creative Garry Lace, from the Beta agency, to show the power of billboard advertising as an alternative to digital advertising. He was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
'Career women make bad mothers'

Audi A5 Suicide vs Citroën Suicide by car: Carbon monoxide poisoning isn't what it used to be

 Post date: Jan 7 2010 - 10:37

There's a spec ad running around the web right now, touting the clean emissions from the Audi A5 by demonstrating a mans failed suicide attempt. You must have seen it, even AgencySpy showed it off. Would be good for the spec director and/or creative team if the credits ran around the web with it.

Heineken vs Mini and the giant boxes in Amsterdam.

 Post date: Jan 5 2010 - 18:55

This Badlander is hilarious, and classic. The ideas are good, and unusual, they appeared in the same city, only ten days apart (or less even). If there was ever a time I'd bet on the idea-God messing with creatives heads, this one is it.

Around the 16th/17 of December, TBWA\Neboko sent people with giant boxes out in the Christmas shopping crowd. Presumably, they had bought some lucky fellar a walk-in-fridge, just like in that ad. This made for eye-catching ambient, especially as people were trying to bring them on trams.

Heineken Walk In Fridge Box
Mini Boxes

Transparent ads as PSA's. Amnesty vs Kids Company

 Post date: Jan 5 2010 - 14:04

Ever since Caff posted it, the Amnesty international ads shows what's happening have been a huge hit in Adland and beyond. 371399 folks have read it so far. Reminiscent (or maybe even inspired by) the transparent meme on Flickr where people do silly things like this, the Amnesty ads wowed the world.

Clearchannel promote their bus handle ad space for watch campaign, and in doing so Badland themselves

 Post date: Dec 11 2009 - 12:37

Clearchannel have been looking at the plethora of bus handle ad stunts created around the world and thought it was high time to promote this possible ad-space to be used on a regular basis in Stockholm. They reached out to Triwa and offered the space coupled with an idea on how they might use it, and Triwa jumped on the opportunity of getting their "colorful watch" message out to commuters. Now that the ads are running we can't help but notice how it looks cribbed straight from Jung von Matt's award winning IWA Large Pilot Watch campaign. Tsssk.
Triwa & IWA Pilot Watch Bus Handle Ad

Shiny Suds ad pulled as it triggers rape flashbacks: loofah loofah loofah!

 Post date: Dec 8 2009 - 12:56

Adage reports that this Method ad from Droga5 was pulled after sexism complaints.

the viral Phone Box Experiment reminds me of the Mojave Phone Booth

 Post date: Dec 1 2009 - 14:30

Anyone who is a bit of a geek (like me) knows about the Mojave Phone Booth. It has its own "Mojave Phone booth" wikipedia page summarizing its raise to fame and later demise due to all the traffic of geeks who went there just to play with it. It was removed in 2000, and even the plaque placed there has been removed by the National Park Service. *sigh*

It was the very first thing I thought of when I read this:

Here at TVF we have just launched the very first attempt of live viral ever. 
We put a guy in the desert of the south of Spain, his name is Rob, with a camp and a phone box, and he will be there answering calls of anyone from
around the world. And there will be an amazing suprise...
Check this out: phoneboxexperiment.com

Who will be the first one to enter this viral into the Mojave phone booth wikpedia page, I wonder. I should probably care about the sender, or wonder what the surprise may be, instead I'm busy pouring out a little jolt on the ground for old desert phone-booths no longer with us.

The Eurobest Badlanders

 Post date: Nov 30 2009 - 12:50

You can't have an award show without at least a few repeat images, and thanks to Joelapompe the French Badland-ninja, we have three.

Lets start with the Big Bubbles , since the image of kids crying over shaven heads in this Angel Hair Badlander was the first thing I thought of when I saw it. Joelapompe found the same idea, one-upping me on the visual memory meter.

The Harvey Nichols Sale campaign might be a second hand idea as well.

Last but not least, a sumo wrestler and tornado in notes, then the same two in Duracell bunnies. What an odd visual coincidence the Duracell batteries vs the Göteborg Symfoniker Orchestra is.
Big Bubbles
Scared Mannequin Dolls
Sumo Wrestlers

Old Spice Red Zone now inspires Lynx (Axe) ads.

Post date: Nov 29 2009 - 18:52

It's already five years ago that Caff wrote Tag mimicking Axe and warned about the dangers of copying someone elses exact strategy. " if a consumer doesn't watch through to the end when the board comes up with the tag line and brand name, there's every reason to assume that people will be thinking that Tag's advertising is for Axe (or even Old Spice Red Zone). Causing confusion for consumers isn't really what I'm sure Arnold was intending to do. But by letting this ad get out to the airwaves, that's most likely what is going to happen."

Funny, the only thing she didn't predict was that Lynx (Axe) would be copying visual executions of Old Spice Red Zone. It's come full circle with the new "Bullet" campaign showing Lynx snow angels.

The idea is the same as in the 2005 execution of Old Spice Red Zone. Funny.

Toshibas new "Chairs in space" looks like Simon Faithfull's escape vehicles

 Post date: Nov 18 2009 - 11:39

Toshiba have gone all out weird and send chairs to space in their new campaign to support Toshiba’s SV REGZA LCD TV and Satellite T series laptops. When you can watch TV anywhere, where do you want your easy chair to be? Doing a ballon-boy? You got it.

Killer Hamster Trend

 Post date: Nov 6 2009 - 13:31

To be honest, I don't think this is much of a Badlander, but I hafta keep up my title of most hated person on the ad-intarwebs in order to keep my rightful place on your dart boards, so here ya go.

The recently released HiFi-klubben hamster ad created by Lowe Brindfors, Stockholm and shot by Bacon, Copenhagen has been accused in emails to the hostmaster of borrowing its murderous hamster legs from G4/Midnight Spank. Lets watch, shall we. Get the the popcorn.

And, as it aired back in April, the G4 midnight spank from BBDO/ New York and shot by Daniel Kleinman at Kleinman Productions.

Fair enough, they both have deadly hamsters in it. Had they been white bunny rabbits with pointy teeth the Rabbit of Caerbannog comparisons would never end. What do you think, total coincidence or borrowed idea?

Calling Tarek Nour a copy-cat gets you arrested in Egypt.

 Post date: Oct 29 2009 - 01:09

Looks like I'll never set foot in Egypt again, as I did say Tareknour.tv copies pretty much everyone when I badlanded their series of rip-off films after a tip from Marketing 3.0

There was even a facebook group started in the rip-off artists honor, where it almost became an informal contest in finding originals for each film on Tareknour.tv - new pairings were added daily.

The Daily News Egypt reports Student Tamer Azab remains in police custody for allegedly defaming advertising mogul Tarek Nour.

McDonald's vs Arby's - fast food as erotica has gone too far.

 Post date: Oct 9 2009 - 13:16

Today's mini-badlander is brought to you by burgers. Or fast food as erotica gone overboard. Yes, I have laughed as hard at the "I'd hit it" flash banner and the 'piece of meat' burger poster as you have. These guys take it one step further and fancy their women dressing up as.... wait for it... Burger workers.

Yeah that's pretty kinky. Without further ado, McDonald's (Germany - pan european) vs Arby's (USA). [after the jump!]

Sexist ad ban of the week: Nice Headlamps.

 Post date: Oct 8 2009 - 11:37

Sexist ad ban of the week goes to UlsterTrader.com who ran this billboard, featuring a bra-clad cleavage with the headline Nice headlamps and below that asking asking what do you look for in a car?

Since the ban was invariable, and the ASA clampdown will, as always, result in more exposure for this piss poor excuse of an ad, one might think this was the idea in the first place. Either that, or the creators of the ad hoped that punters would see it, and unable to tear their eyes away they'd crash their cars and then need to buy a new one at Ulstertrader.com. Or they were simply really crap creatives and an even worse client who thought this would fly. Wake up and smell the coffee, like adlib says in our previous post about sexist ads, " my reptilian brain does not make expensive car purchasing decisions". Ads like these are as insulting to men as they are women. But you'd have to have half a brain of your own to know that, and clearly nobody at Ulstertrader.com does.

Hat tip to Grahamcreative who sighed about the extra exposure. The Guardian:

The complainants argued that the poster was offensive because it objectified women, degraded them, was sexist and that it implied that women, like cars, were commodities to be bought and sold.

UlsterTrader.com said its brand values included the "use of humour and fun" and that the ad used "light-hearted slang, to what people of both sexes would regard as attractive attributes". The ads ran in 20 high-profile and high-traffic locations in Northern Ireland.

"We considered the image of the woman's cleavage coupled with the strapline ... was likely to be seen to objectify and degrade women by linking attributes of a woman [and] her cleavage to attributes of a car, [namely] the headlamps, in a way that would be seen to imply a woman, like a car, was to be selected for those attributes," said the ASA. "We concluded that the poster had caused serious offence to some readers and was likely to cause widespread offence."

Both Jeep and Hyundai cars park anywhere and everywhere.

 Post date: Oct 6 2009 - 13:59

Once upon a time, there was a Jeep ad from BBDO Copenhagen where the car was not to be seen. Presumably it had parked somewhere quite remote because all that witnessed of the Jeeps existence was the parking attendant/police decked out in full mountain climbing gear with ropes and an axe. Hardy har, Jeeps can park anywhere! Sold!

A couple of years later TANK Y&R Stockholm had a think for Hyundai, and struck upon the same idea. Failing to grasp "less is more" they dressed the ad up with a headline to write the viewer on the nose with insolently easy to park, while the parking attendant/police was dressed up in full fishing gear. Presumably to protect her from mud, and perhaps wade through a creek or two - but it would have been rather funny had the Hyundai in question been an amphibious car.

Since it's not, we'll just badland you. Bo-yah!
Jeep parking attendant
Hyundai parking attendant

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