No stranger to controversy (see #1 #2 #3) Music channel Fuse is at it again with a little help from their agency, Amalgamated, N.Y.
Amalgamated's Charles Rosen on the conceptual homage: "Much like Mother's Lilt soda spot spoofing BBH's Levi's 'Odyssey,' or the many commercials spoofing the Honda 'Cog' spot, our campaign is paying tribute to the cultural impact of the Chiat/Day ads. As with any parody, there are elements borrowed from the original that are transformed or twisted, in this case to capture Fuse's brand personality and the lifestyle of its viewers."
The new york post reports that apple is "outraged" about the parodies.
Apple lawyers have been calling Fuse and threatening to sue unless the ads — which went up in outdoor locations in New York City on Monday — are taken down.Not only do the ads resemble Apple's iPod ads, but they also are quite risque: one depicts a man masturbating, while another shows a woman pole dancing.
Apparently, Apple has received numerous calls from iPod users who have expressed outrage over the advertisements, a source said.
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I agree. I was going to make the exact same comment but andromeda beat me to the punch.
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PermalinkNot only am I stupid. I'm blind to... (or it's just the fact that I'm a cw :))
Like this? ;)
http://w1.243.telia.com/~u24314771/adbusting_chilipot.jpg
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PermalinkNobody is being whipped - they're setting farts on fire. You could see the fart-man do that over ten years ago on David Letterman.
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PermalinkWell... being whipped, getting beer through a hose isn't mainstream for me. ;)
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PermalinkIt surely do.
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PermalinkThey are well-crafted spoofs. I'll give them that. Nicely mimiced design and all.
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PermalinkSure the ads are getting attention. But if people are confused and thinking they are Apple ads, I don't see how that builds any branding or gets any sales for Fuse. Plus, the imagry they are using is supposed to portraying non-mainstream stuff but I don't think that it is. So they're trying to use shocking images to get the attention of their target who isn't into the mainstream stuff, using images that portray stuff that is pretty mainstream these days.
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Permalinkandromeda is correct - I did mean "shocking for attentions sake", which as you can see nulls your argument.
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PermalinkHm... I think I heard it somewhere... where can it be... maybe on the Buzzword Channel :).
The thing is: branding and selling isn't possible without getting the attention. The saying "not attention for attention's sake" is therefore meaningless. Seems more like talk from the ad-men, trying to be artists.
Of course there's no need for more noise, but that's different from trying to get the consumer's attention. The latter is what's the game is about. Or have you found some strange way to brand and sell without getting the consumers' attention?
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PermalinkWe are supposed to sell and brand our clients, not make the most noise that falls on deaf ears. I guess you never heard the expression before deep.ed.
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PermalinkAttention for attention's sake is the name of the game. Serious... isn't it what advertising is all about? No attention, no dough.
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PermalinkFunny me too. They are getting attention though, at least on the web (as any apple parody does). Gizmodo just linked it for instance.
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PermalinkAbsolutely fucking brilliant!
If you never knew FUSE or Amalgamated before, you sure as hell do now!
Advertising at its very best...
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PermalinkMy Milage is the same - while the Sally Struthers ad spoof was a great parody with just the right tone of voice, this fails and falls into a classic trap. Attention for attentions sake is nothing but a cheap trick.
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PermalinkDon't spoil your bloodpressure...
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PermalinkCheap.Trick.
I understand that "fuse" campaign idea seems to be "parody". I loved the sally struthers - that idea kicked bootay - this "idea" does not. First - people are confusing these for actual apple ads - how does that "brand" fuse? Answer - it doesn't! Second - strippers and lighting farts is not mainstream? Since when? That stopped being "shocking" ten years ago. This is the poorest FUSE campaign to date. IMHO and YMMV.
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PermalinkCopy Whore made a good point .. these ads are true attention grabers.
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Permalinkahahah :) gsus they're great .. quite corrosive but with the type of language that Fuse viewers will relate to, no doubt!
ps
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Permalink*giggle* I like it. It says more about the state of Apple than about the said-to-be bad tasting in these ads. Apple is afraid of the Moral Majority. And have forgotten how themselves used to mock other companies. Sad.
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PermalinkTruth is, this FUSE campaign is actually more "creative" than the iPod campaign in that there's an actual idea in the FUSE ads. It seems the iPod bit was just cool iconography...(which, it could be argued, WAS the idea...But that's a different discussion altogether)
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PermalinkThen again, the ipod campaign is hardly a case of unbridled creativity itself. Great media buy and PR yes, but as for an actual creative idea...? Amalgamated has done some much funnier, creative stuff. But this piss-take was great just because heavyweights like apple and mtv got their feathers ruffled...they both could use a reality check, don't you think?
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PermalinkYeah, the campaign will get your attention, but it lacks creativity...or maybe that wasn't Amalgamated's plan. I'm a big fan of MTV's advertising. You can always expect MTV to be original and different.
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PermalinkSeems Amalgamated is the NY hotshop with balls at the moment. Controversial? Brash? Isn't that what NY advertising used to be famous for? Kudos guys, keep it up!
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