Author: AdweekMedia

Here’s what you’ll need if you plan to camp out for nearly a week before the June 30 opening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse: a tent, a sleeping bag, posters of Robert Pattinson, the cat you’ve named Jake, and a mini-fridge filled with Glaceau’s Vitaminwater. And the parental guidance you are apparently lacking. (I added that last one myself.) Frequent CW advertiser Vitaminwater, which has made some in-your-face in-show appearances on Gossip Girl, just used the network to launch a new cross-promo for the upcoming Summit Entertainment flick. It’s a commercial developed with the help of a fan named Devon, who lends her voice to the "How to stage a sidewalk vigil" for the third movie in the wildly popular book-based franchise. Something about hanging out on cold concrete for days will make you really thirsty for those antioxidants in Vitaminwater XXX, the ad says. Or maybe it’s just the hormones talking. Nice move, Glaceau, to link with one of the hottest film properties around, and take the message directly to a venue that’s a teen-girl haven. Eclipse may benefit from your media, but there’s little doubt you will benefit somehow from the vamp phenom.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

When KFC introduced its bun-less Double Down sandwich in spot markets last year, bloggers and the lamestream media roasted it as as the gustatory equivalent of the Pontiac Aztek. But who’s laughing now? KFC announced today that it has sold 10 million Double Downs so far, and the chain has decided to keep it around beyond its originally proposed yank date of May 23. "This is truly an example of ‘popular demand,’ " Javier Benito, evp of marketing and food innovation at KFC, said in a written statement. "Our plans were to feature the product only through May 23, but millions of Double Down fans have spoken, and we won’t disappoint them. You’ll continue to be able to get the Double Down at KFC this summer." For all the hue and cry over the sandwich’s purported artery-clogging properties, KFC also points out that the DD contains just 540 calories, or 460 for the grilled version.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

What if Charles Barkley had been cast in the upcoming remake of The A-Team instead of UFC champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson? The former basketball great cuts a fine Mr. T figure, but as many of us know, he’s not big in the acting department. You can see that for yourselves in a cross-promotion airing on TNT during the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. In a deal between the network and Twentieth Century Fox, the studio behind the action adventure, vignettes of "lost auditions" featuring Barkley and fellow TNT commentators Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith are part of the telecasts. Turns out each of those guys had their heart set on that campy, iconic role in the film, opening June 11, and was willing to don the mohawk and bling to nail it. Actually, it’s another in a long line of Hollywood/pro-sports commercial pacts that weave together on-air personalities, game play and upcoming movies in a way that rarely seems to bother fans. As long as viewers get a laugh out of it (Johnson in a leather vest? Hilarious!), they don’t protest the ever-blurring line between content and ads. Whether they show up on opening weekend for the flick remains to be seen.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

If your brand brief for a new purse contains descriptors like "high fashion," "sophisticated," "sleek," "sexy" and "sensuous elegance," you’d surely want to name the thing a "Schitbag." Right? If the fashion world is being duped by this, maybe we’ll all have a good laugh at some point. But press materials went out recently touting The Original Schitbag (pronounced skit-bag?) as a new must-have purse for the fall. Various blogs have picked it up, asking, naturally, what kind of a name is Schitbag? And would you, haute couture maven, be caught dead with one? The product, which just launched from a company called LeSchitte Designs (I am not making this up), is a "hands-free" waist bag, kind of like a fanny pack, that "represents the ultimate combination of beauty, form and function," according to the marketer’s website. It’s suede and comes with an endorsement from celebrity stylist Shari Geffen, who’s worked with celebs like Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker and Johnny Depp. Geffen wears her Schitbag proudly, or so she says in the company’s PR. Did they market test that name? This could be the best branding move ever or the most boneheaded. Image consultants out there, what’s your read on this?

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

The ever-accurate Wikipedia says that Sioux City, Iowa, was originally settled by Native Americans and visited by its first European, a French or Spanish fur trader, sometime before 1804, when Louis and Clark passed through. Wikipedia does note that Sioux City’s rebirth was "built on a foundation of rock and roll," a claim bolstered by this video. "We Built Sioux City" appropriates Starship’s "We Built This City," which Blender magazine named the worst song ever in 2004 (and was used previously in a Starbucks video aimed at boosting employee morale). Produced as a promotional video for an Iowa biking event whose route includes Sioux City, the video does present Sioux City as a place where pasty white people can rock out without fear. And why not? There’s a lot going on. You can even ride a Zamboni around! If you have any doubts, stick around to the end, when Bret Michaels confirms that "Sioux City does rock" … to no less an interviewer than Joan Rivers.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Not only is Hasbro honoring tradition by letting users provide content for its Nerf brand, they’re honoring tradition by acting like they were the first people to think of it. Nerf Battle of the Ads gives Nerf fans a chance to "show off their creativity, athleticism and teamwork" by making their own ads and uploading them to the contest’s special website. In their breathless enthusiasm, they stop just short of calling their fan base lifelong virgins by noting that "Nerf fans are not only very passionate, but incredibly creative when it comes to showing off their growing collections, product reviews and battle styles." An unintentional slight, of course, but the Internet has attached red flags to phrases like "very passionate." Also, "battle styles." Still, Hasbro’s contest looks fun—they supply background music, special effects and official Nerf logos to participants—and the winner gets $10,000 whether the ad airs on TV or not. And most important, it’s not nearly as degrading as writing songs about a cheeseburger.

—Posted by David Kiefaber

Any ad campaign that conjures a Fat Albert memory is starting out on the right foot. And there’s even more nostalgia in the new full-court press for Kraft’s iconic wiggly dessert, Jell-O. Legendary pitchman Bill Cosby is back, as are his interviews with children, à la Kids Say the Darndest Things. This time they’re on the Web in 10-minute Jell-O-sponsored vignettes called "OBKB," which takes its name from the way Mush Mouth said "OK" on Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. There’s a lot going on with this effort, including a Facebook page, a new logo and jingle, FSIs and TV, print, outdoor and in-store ads. A highlight has to be a national contest to find the best giggle (to be judged, ultimately, by Cosby and included in a national TV spot). There’s a cross-country tour via a tricked-out mobile recording studio, where folks in 22 cities will be able to compete for the best giggle (entries accepted online, too). Is snorting allowed? Kraft certainly isn’t the first marketer to go the happiness route to sell its products in these recession-racked, frowny times. But even cynics might have to admit this is just plain fun.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

It’s been 48 years since Andy Warhol demonstrated that an ordinary American food brand could be worth thinking about other than when you’re hungry. Now, Eric Robert Parnes is up to much the same thing, albeit with work that’s a bit more provocative than a can of Campbell’s Condensed Tomato Soup.

  In his paintings, Parnes, a 31-year-old Iranian American artist, portrays brands like McDonald’s, KFC and Starbucks open for business in Middle Eastern countries. Each of his canvases features a group of women in chadors, their backs turned, regarding the fast-food outlets with thoughts that are anyone’s guess. Parnes—whose far-ranging work also includes gold-leafed artillery helmets and nudes equipped with gas masks—says his intent was not to be critical of American fast food’s presence in Muslim countries but to "explore … the dynamics involving Western and Eastern cultures." And for better or worse, Western "culture" these days usually means fast food.

  "Aside from the American flag, people identify the United States via our products’ visual logos," Parnes tells BrandFreak. "These brands have become visual representations that elicit an immediate response of recognition. It really doesn’t even matter that Domino’s or Starbucks is spelled out in another language. All we need is a logo to recognize the company."

  So, good news for all you fast-food marketers out there: Your logo works just as well in Riyadh as it does in Rochester.

—Posted by Robert Klara

Iced-tea maker AriZona is experiencing some collateral damage in the immigration debate over a new law in the state of Arizona. Since the law passed, making it a crime for illegal immigrants to be in the state and requires police to check citizens for evidence of legal status, opponents have called for a boycott of the state. On Tuesday, a comic writer named Travis Nichols suggested—jokingly, we think—that consumers should also boycott AriZona iced tea because it’s "the drink of fascists." For whatever reason, others took Nichols up on the idea, even though the brand, now owned by Ferolito, Vultaggio & Sons, is based in New York. Responding to the bone-headed criticism, Don Vultaggio, founder and chairman of AriZona Beverages, set the record straight on the company’s Web site: "We are very proud to be an American company with roots in New York," he wrote. No word yet if JCPenney brand Arizona Jeans is caught up in the debate as well. The company wisely changed the name to AZ Jeans a while back.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Happy Meals are officially sad in California’s Santa Clara County. After debating the issue, the board of supervisors in that Silicon Valley area has voted 3-2 to ban toys and other promotions from high-fat, sodium-loaded kids meals. The new ordinance won’t take effect for 90 days, giving fast-food restaurants a chance to bring their kids’ offerings up to a better nutritional standard. (Hint: If it hasn’t happened by now, I doubt three months will make much difference.) The ban doesn’t cover a large geographical area—just the unincorporated parts of the county—but the repercussions might be felt far and wide. It’s a bit of a test case for other municipalities that might want to fight the child-obesity epidemic by attacking the trinkets that come with burgers and fries. The delay in enacting the ban means a number of summer movie tie-ins will still happen as planned. The rest of the year? Still to be determined.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

All signs point to yes. That’s the answer when the question is: Will Hollywood continue to raid the toy chest for ideas? The latest in a rash of toy-to-movie deals comes from Paramount, which has optioned Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball for a live-action feature, according to Deadline.com. The studio has already had a money-gushing run with action-movie versions of Hasbro’s Transformers (which has become a billion-dollar franchise) and G.I. Joe. Next up is a Paramount/Mattel collaboration on Max Steel, starring Twilight‘s shapeshifting hunk Taylor Lautner. Others in the plastic-to-celluloid pipeline include Mattel’s View-Master (at DreamWorks, probably in 3D!), He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (at Warner Bros.) and the vintage action figure Major Matt Mason (at Universal). Hasbro’s Oiuja board, Monopoly and Battleship games are set for big-screen treatment, too. What, no My Little Pony? Just give them time.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

In case anyone needed more proof of the power of the Twilight franchise (did you?), there’s a survey out today from Fandango that found that Bryce Dallas Howard is the "most anticipated villain" of the summer blockbuster season. She is? Yes, says 31 percent of the vote. The actress (and Ron Howard offspring) plays the revenge-minded vampire Victoria in the upcoming Eclipse, the third movie in The Twilight Saga. What’s most surprising is that Howard edged out Mickey Rourke, who plays the mayhem-minded Whiplash in Iron Man 2. (He has a Whopper named after him—doesn’t that count for something? Just 29 percent, that’s all. Geez, the guy’s an Oscar nominee!) Other villains to look forward to, according to the poll, are Sam Rockwell (also Iron Man 2), Val Kilmer (MacGruber) and Eric Roberts (The Expendables). On the flip side, Robert Downey Jr. leads the pack of "most anticipated summer movie heroes" with 35 percent of the vote, followed by Angelina Jolie in the action thriller Salt, Russell Crowe in Robin Hood and Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid. The "summer" season at the box office launches May 7.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Without Jon Stewart’s brand of in-depth investigation, I never would’ve known that the Pillsbury Doughboy engaged in some questionable behavior with a strudel or that the helping hand from Hamburger Helper had a Nazi past. On Stewart’s late-night Comedy Central series, The Daily Show, those and other secrets came out during a segment on the voice actor from Geico who lost his job recently after questioning the mental capacity of conservative FreedomWorks members. Stewart figured it was as good a time as any to look at spokescharacters (purportedly) going off the rails. There was that Tony the Tiger mauling incident, and the Michelin man’s sex trafficking charges. (Great mug shot!) Check out the clip, really, it’ll explain everything.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Who knew cheese could be this obnoxious? In this spot from agency Leo Burnett for Kellogg’s Cheez-It brand, an immature round of cheese pokes fun at his "cheese-searcher." "Knock knock." "Who’s there?" the man asks. "Interrupting cheese." "Interrup…" "Cheese!!!" ("Should’ve seen that one coming," the cheese-searcher says patiently.) Point is, not all snack crackers are made with properly mature cheese. (Imagine what would have happened if this juvenile wheel got harvested early.) Luckily for the cheese-searcher, his pupil finally comes around and one day says, "Morning, sir. Beautiful day, isn’t it?" Check mark. This cheese is ready. Yum yum.

—Posted by Elaine Wong

Leave it to the crunchy granola types in California to rain on the Happy Meal parade. County officials in Silicon Valley want to outlaw toys from the famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) McDonald’s kids meals. That way, children won’t want them as much, and they won’t be as fat. Or so the thinking goes. Santa Clara County is proposing a ban on toys in any restaurant meal with more than 485 calories, more than 600 milligrams of salt or high sugar or fat content, according to the Los Angeles Times. If the proposal passes, it won’t affect much—there are only about a dozen fast-food restaurants within the county’s jurisdiction. But its broader implications, and its first-of-a-kind status, have the California Restaurant Association and others in a tizzy about government interference in action-figure and mini-stuffed-animal distribution. For Hollywood studios, it would be disastrous if they couldn’t link their Ice Ages, Shreks and Alvin and the Chipmunks with the caloric, pint-sized meals. Even though Disney got out of that business when it didn’t renew its long-term McDonald’s deal, other movie makers rushed to fill the void, keeping the McD’s calendar packed with entertainment promotions. We’ll keep an eye on the situation, so check back for the vote.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Most anybody can buy outdoor ads to hype an upcoming TV show, but History (formerly known as The History Channel) kicked it up a notch with iconic images from America: The Story of Us projected onto landmark buildings. (Having a banking behemoth sponsor the ambitious series probably wasn’t a bad idea.) The promotions—technically, they’re light shows from a company called Artlumiere—happened for seven straight days last week and bathed the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Los Angeles, Union Station in Washington, D.C., and Grand Central Terminal in New York in multistory images of the Statue of Liberty, the Old West, the Nina, the Pinta and that other ship. The birth-of-a-nation series, which launched Sunday night, has had considerable on- and off-air weight thrown behind it from History and sponsor Bank of America, which produced its own two-minute "story of us" mini-documentaries. Those will air throughout the 12-part series. Our brother blog, The Live Feed, has reported that the initial broadcast broke History ratings records with 5.7 million viewers, making it the network’s most-watched special of all time.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

Prepare to be mildly amused. Trident is launching a star-studded Web series produced by CJP Media called "The Webventures of Justin and Alden" that looks like an updated version of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure or maybe Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. I say mildly amused because the trailer contains no LOL moments, but there’s a chance that in their strenuous attempts to entertain you, Upright Citizens Brigade members Justin Tyler and Alden Ford may at times succeed. There’s George Washington and vampires, for example, and the moment when Tyler breaks the fourth wall is somewhat risible. (He looks like a cross between the Ferris Bueller-era Matthew Broderick and Matt LeBlanc.) "This will be the greatest Web series Web show that’s ever been on the Web computer!" Tyler says, sounding like Joey and Ferris rolled into one. There are lots of cameos, too, including Shannen Doherty, Illeana Douglas and Mark Gantt (who I thought was Christian Slater.) The effort, launched on behalf of its Layers gum, underscores Trident’s Skittles-like focus on absurdist humor hinted at in previous commercials. If Samuel Beckett were alive today, he’d no doubt be making candy ads. UPDATE: Check out the first actual episode here.

—Posted by Todd Wasserman

Listen to this news and try not to get positively giddy: There’s no more waiting list for a Hermès Birkin bag. Yippee for celebrities (who probably didn’t have to wait for the grossly overpriced satchels anyway) and insanely rich folks (who have made this brand so coveted that people actually fight to spend upwards of $120,000. On. A. Purse!). Obviously, I’m not the demo, and I’ve never understood the appeal of an accessory like this, especially at jaw-dropping price points that start at more than $6,500. Waiting lists populated by those with money to burn were either legendary (if you were on one) or ridiculous (if you weren’t). New York magazine’s The Cut blog sums up the situation by saying that though the purse is "still crazily expensive, it’s not crazily exclusive." Mere mortals can have one, too! Never mind the house payment. Now, considering the carefully cultivated image of the "it" bag, is this good for the brand? Maybe the next move will be a surprise "shortage" before a lot of commoners find their way to Portero.

—Posted by T.L. Stanley

We just finished writing a story on deadline when in walks the mailman with a giant yellow package. We tore it open, and lo and behold, there was nothing in it but the current edition of The New York Times wrapped inside a black T-shirt. Oh, but wait! We opened it to page A19 (already tabbed) to see a full-page ad. "Today, our struggle begins against—INJUSTICE!" the copy reads. "Yes, we’re that serious!" a separate color ad tucked inside the newspaper says. Whoa! Turns out it was from Cats Against Clay, an organization that protests the use of clay in cat litter. A post on the group’s Web site reads: "We appreciate the support, New York. Many of you human types have shared enlightened messages about our plight—nice to see you ‘get it.’ It seems that newspaper, while not great in the litter box, is a fantastic way for us to make ourselves heard." We have to admit, it got our attention.

—Posted by Elaine Wong