Agency Spy

Orbital founder Paul Hartnoll has created the soundtrack for the latest Volkswagen Golf ad by DDB in the UK.

The music was created from sounds experienced during driving the car, including the car door shutting and a man playing guitar outside.

The ad was directed by Scott Lyon, the creator of videos for artists including Mark Ronson and The Zutons.

VW UK communications manager Morna Steel said: “It is all the little things in the car that work so well and when experienced on a daily basis it is these things that add up to make a long and rewarding ownership experience.”

It sounds like a bad mashup if you ask me — but some old electronica fans are probably going to love it anyway.

(FYI: Orbital was an English techno duo consisting of brothers Phil Hartnoll and Paul Hartnoll whose career lasted from 1989 until 2004. They took their name from Greater London’s own circular orbital motorway, the M25 which was central to the early Rave scene and party network in the South East during the halcyon ‘daze’ of Acid House. One of the biggest names in British electronica during the 1990s, Orbital were both critically and commercially successful, being particularly known for an element of live improvisation during their shows, a rarity with techno acts.)

Remember we mentioned that Dove was going to be doing something with MTV and Alicia Keyes in an effort to get a little younger, get the hip ladies using social media? Here’s the spot for their seemingly episodic show, “Fresh Takes,” that takes a jab at the Lipstick Jungle’s of the world.

Unilever owns Dove and Axe. The latter brand had a huge success with the Game Killers via BBH. Makes sense that strategy would filter across agencies and brands beneath the banner.

ARGs are tough. Ask any advertising agency who has gotten burned by playing with a fire they didn’t really understand. Often, companies fail to realize how savvy, quick and talented their players are at scoping out the lay of the land often ending games before they ever really get started.

A new way of getting scorched has arrived. PPC Interactive created an ARG with the point of promoting the new movie UNTRACEABLE, in which a serial killer sets up shop on the internet and from an unknown I.P, tortures his victims over live feed. On a video blogging site called, seesmic, a clip was uploaded of a planted member named ‘Sharpshooter’ being electrocuted to death. This resulted in the moderator freaking out and speed dialing the police.

Other mishaps for this promotion of the film include the Head of PPC, Dan Light, twittering that Facebook had removed an associated interactive ad titled, “Kill With Me,” from the site for being “hateful.” Major media ended up covering the resulting fall out. The text of the ad read:

“This guy is going to die. You want to see his stinking flesh burn and bleed and blacken? Until he’s some twisted dead thing? This is what you want. And I’ve filmed it especially for you. The more fans I get, the more I’ll show …”

Dan told Variety that he was “I am surprised and disappointed that Facebook has taken this action. These sorts of social media campaigns are the only way to be competitive at the moment.”

He’s surprised? Riiiight. Dude, when print ads like the one below from W+K get banned, you better believe that this little Facebook spot is going to be silenced. Also, consider that the UK has been pulling offensive, misleading and certainly violent spots of all kinds since the summer.

Oh… wait. Later, Light admitted the company had expected the campaign to be pulled from the social networking site, so had “other things in place.” Ah, yes. The Go Daddy theory of advertising success. His final comments to the Guardian about the ARG panic:

“There’s that interesting question of whether people are desensitised to things on screen,” he added. “They will watch these things, but won’t say they watched them.”

“But my view is that if you are entertaining or stimulating the user then you go some way towards earning the right for their attention.”

So readers… you be the judge. Is this the right attention? How do you feel about the whole debacle?

We reported that Terry Richardson is working on a new campaign for Belvedere Vodka and here’s a first look at what they’ve got in store to capture (as we all suspected) a hipper, younger demographic.

The Boys Club is the agency here. Berlin is good at getting the young guys attention and so for once, we’re going to say that yes… Da Boyz are a suitable match for the brand’s needs. If you can’t tell what’s going on in the print ad above, the woman is applying her lipstick by looking in a man’s belt buckle. We like it, but do you think that NOW (considering their latest high level campaign) would have something to say about this?

Vincent Gallo is also featured in a 30-second commercial where he crashes a Upper East Side dinner party. That part we don’t really understand. Many, many men wandering around the LES and Nolita can’t stand Gallo, but maybe, just maybe, Da Boyz have considered the ladies for once. We know lots of chicks dig the director of The Brown Bunny (um… if you saw the film, we bet you know why).

WWD is reporting that “the ad is the most expensive in Belvedere history — $20 million, more than triple the cost of the 2006 campaign.”

Read More: Dove Should Hire Jennifer Love Hewitt 

In homage to the wonderful discussion going on in the comment section on our post about the launch of Womenkind, we thought we’d highlight the NOW Foundation’s new campaign titled “Love Your Body,” which focuses on ads they have deemed “Offensive to Women.” The group has selected eights print ads and created a larger PDF with more examples along with explanations of themes NOW finds offensive. They also offer a few examples of male advertising (strength, authority, age is sexy, etc.). What do you think?

Here are examples of more ads along with their themes:

1. An unachievable beauty standard via airbrushing (L’Oreal) and false beauty claims (St. Ives)

2. Women as a product (St Pauli Girl)

3. The use of women’s body parts as a selling device (Lynx Shower Gel and Tom Ford)

4. Sexualized violence (Dolce & Gabbana)

5. Women as a marker of success (Three Olives Vodka)

6. Belitting women’s real bodies for the purpose of male bonding (Maker’s Mark)

7. Women as servers (Lucky Jeans and Skyy Vodka)

8. Women preening for male pleasure (Bortaga)

To see one male’s response to these ads, please go here.

There’s a new 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hitting the market on November 1 with the accompanying campaign launching October 17. Part of Chevy’s “American Revolution” campaign the press release informs us that: an “unprecedented one-day digital takeover of the leading online portals and automotive, sports and lifestyle Web sites” will ensue. So, you guys just did a HUGE media buy? How exciting.

As well, Malibu advertising will hit the broadcast and online coverage of the Major League Baseball 2007 League Championships and World Series, and some other spots on primetime television. Blah, blah, blah… print. Blah, blah, blah… billboards. There’s also special efforts out for women, Hispanics and minorities.

“We are introducing the all-new Malibu to America with a ‘no stone left unturned’ marketing effort. We want the entire country to know that this car, which is designed to be the best in the mid-size segment, is coming, and that it has bulletproof quality, coupled with beautiful interior and exterior design,” said Ed Peper, Chevrolet General Manager.

Okay, one problem with that - this car looks like every other car. Hope the creative coming from Campbell-Ewald is strong considering that the press release makes its sound pretty darn similar to all the other crap coming out about cars.

“-the campaign will include messages about the Malibu’s quality, reliability and durability; the highly designed interior and exterior; its quietness and safety features; and the hybrid version, which will be the most-affordable in the midsize segment.”

We’ll see.

The New York has a new ad campaign out to promote the NYTimes.com and its new sections. Playing off of their iconic slogan “All The News That’s Fit To Print” the new slogan swaps out the last word for click to promote various functions of their website (or blog, stream, archive, email, inspire etc.,). Ads are running in advertising trade publications, on a variety of Web sites, in television and radio spots, outdoors on digital taxi tops and in The Times itself. Unclear as to whether this was created in house or whether an agency was involved. Hope it was in-house. Can you imagine being the Times and paying for this little twist? Waiting for The Times to get back to us. Let ya’ know.

Read More: Newspapers Try To Speak To Teenagers

Dita Von Teese is starring in a new round of ads for PETA UK in support of animal birth control. We like its unpretentious flair. Much better than Alicia”my fifteen minutes expired five years ago” Silverstone’s glossy veggie testimonial.

Dita said, “Every year, thousands of dogs and cats are put to death in Britain because there are not enough good homes. You can help prevent this always spay or neuter your animals, and if you’re considering adding a dog or cat to your family, please adopt from your local rescue shelter.“

Read More Here: Go Get Naked

OpenAd is a new online marketplace where brands can view pitches from anyone and everyone. Think that’s a crazy idea? Gillette doesn’t. The shaving products manufacturer recently heard pitches for its Fusion razor from amateur creatives through the site, which has 9,000 creatives already signed up. Gillette paid the winners of their pitch $1,000 a piece. Not bad if you’re a struggling creative. Heads up! The site is headed Stateside just to mess with the industry a little bit more.

The site could turn out to be the great equalizer offering fresh on-demand ideas and talent to brands. Never fear. As AdAge points out, agencies still have a lock on consulting, strategic guidance, executional abilities or account management. Instead, founder Katarina Skoberne is hoping that “agencies will use OpenAd on behalf of clients.”

Once in full swing, the site could turn into a dynamic resource for creatives looking to advance their career, their portfolio or just make some extra cash. It could also turn out to be a resource for advertisers who are looking for something to jolt their agency into a more creative mindset. However, let’s say you’re JWT and your creatives are caught in a rut for a new spot for Ford - would you turn to OpenAd? We’re guessing that the industry is too proud and too protective, as well as bogged down in big creative salaries to turn to the site.

The incredible edible egg. That tagline really worked didn’t it? Well, it’s being freshened up with today’s debut of an integrated advertising effort brought to you by Grey Worldwide. The new campaign is aimed at moms with spots appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America; in Better Homes and Gardens, Everyday with Rachael Ray; online via Yahoo.com, Foodtv.com and Weightwatchers.com and of course, there’s going to be some radio and billboards, too.

We just love it when food producers get together to sell their products like the fab-o Milk campaign or the peanut ads blanketing the subways. What we’d love more is if Grey got um… you know… what’s that word? Crap… Oh yeah! Creative!

“The centerpiece of the campaign is the visual image of individuals breaking out of an egg — literally — to demonstrate how eggs keep them going all day long,” says Tim Mellors, vice chairman and global chief creative officer of Grey Worldwide.

Maybe Tim is thinking that the now required companion website is the really hot creative bit of this campaign? Designed by Chicago-based Envisionit Media, the site features recipes, nutritional information, interactive games for families (which we couldn’t find) and a blog by Howard Helmer (who seems very sweet), the world’s fastest omelet maker.

Oh! And no sight of any of the “creative centerpiece” imagery.  Way to integrate Grey.