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FCC to eliminate “loud” TV commercials

We've all been there. You're watching your favorite television program at a respectable volume. Suddenly, they cut to commercial only to have the volume seemingly doubled. You franticly turn the volume down, trying to not be blasted out of your seat.  These days might be over thanks to the FCC. The "noise" of TV commercials […]

Fathead: The gift that makes you cry

http://youtube.com/watch?v= OXMnGdPobx8[/youtube] Um, so yeah. A kid walks into his room on his 11th birthday and is so excited by whatever he sees that he can't stop saying "oh my god," and essentially starts crying. For that kind of reaction, I'm expecting to see one of three things: His favorite NFL player, ready to play […]

Jared tries to sell jewelry with an awful marriage proposal

It's the holiday season, and you know what that means: jewelry commercials being smashed into your brain until you buy your lady an expensive piece of finger/wrist/neck candy. But this commercial from Jared didn't really focus on the jewelry as the highlight of this commercial, but instead, focused on the actual marriage proposal in which […]

Ricky Rubio is a backyard wrestler in this Footlocker ad

At the end of November Foot Locker released an incredible ad with Kyrie Irving, showing what happens during one of those huge, cinematic dunks. How did the company decide to follow up their recent success? The answer is one part Ricky Rubio, one part backyard wrestling and several parts awful.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=Xufn__4y9_g?rel=0 What a blown opportunity […]

The Pier 1 penguin in a cupcake has one familiar voice

Did you grow up watching Rugrats? If not, this post might go a bit over your head. However, if you enjoyed the classic Nickelodeon cartoon than this ad from Pier 1 might sound a bit familiar.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hp054wMmqK8?rel=0 My first impulse was to rip this ad on how annoying it might be on repeated viewing. Smooshed. […]

What exactly is Dr. Pepper doing?

Dr. Pepper claims to have a unique, bold taste. They also have a pretty unique and bold advertising strategy - one that often doesn't make much sense. From commercials where everyone claims to be unique despite wearing the same shirt to a product - Dr. Pepper 10 - that specifically ignores females, it's pretty clear […]

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These Lego print ads are pretty strange

Legos are awesome. That's really all that needs to be said. With that in mind, it's pretty difficult to write a negative piece on the beloved childhood toy. These print ads were created by a French advertising agency in an attempt to show that as long as you're creative, it's acceptable to get into some […]

The Pennsylvania Lottery changes an awful holiday tradition

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yKP9LQ8KeaE For years, residents of Pennsylvania could count on seeing the above commercial during the holiday season, advertising how great lottery tickets were as gifts. Like clockwork, the commercial would show up on every TV channel starting on Black Friday,and seemingly run every commercial break. The ad has been running since 1992, with occasional edits […]

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New Star Trek poster goes where several movies have gone before

Star Trek Into Darkness has released a new poster promoting the new film that's slated to be released in May of 2013. The poster, seen above, seems pretty familiar doesn't it? The first film that comes to mind is The Dark Knight Rises, which had a poster nearly identical to the Star Trek poster above.  […]

Little Caesars lowers the bar with their “Mime” commercial

Little Caesars is one divisive pizza chain. Some people love it while some absolutely hate it. Very few individuals fall anywhere in the middle. The chain's latest ad, one titled "Mime", is based around a pretty noteworthy selling point. Unfortunately, it's clouded behind some of the worst, and frankly stupidest, execution.  http://youtube.com/watch?v=6kPpPUtFvQo?rel=0 The father, a […]

Coca-Cola’s giant Santa Claus marionette creeps us out

The minds over at Coca-Cola are trying something a bit different this Holiday season. In the past we've always seen Coca-Cola trucks, decked out in lights, traveling through a picturesque snowy landscape. This year we still see one of their trucks but instead of bringing Holiday cheer it delivers an enormous, Santa Claus marionette that's […]

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Mapfre’s posters make us feel old/depressed

    Mapfre Pension Plans is one of the largest insurance companies in Spain. In a recent print campaign, the company wanted to show people that retirement is approaching fast and how time passes more quickly than you might think. The result, the posters seen in this post, are effective in making the viewer feel […]

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2013 Super Bowl ads: A preview

Ah, the Super Bowl. For someone who majored in advertising in college and loves football, it's sensory overload to the max. You're thinking to yourself "okay I really hope I don't have to sit through some ad the director of Vanilla Sky threw together after a four-day bender that no one understands. Funny, I want […]

The Walking Dead and KFC prove timing is everything

Episodes of The Walking Dead are typically loaded with blood, guts and gore. Sounds like the perfect time to market KFC, right? The video below, as first seen on BuzzFeed, shows how some clever timing turned a rather basic sponsorship into a brilliant one. http://youtube.com/watch?v=gRXNce4unN8?rel=0 As the article over at BuzzFeed mentions, it's unclear whether or […]

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