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Even with the Super Bowl behind us, the Sacred Cow Slayings are still on a roll. Check out the slayings for this week!

Stunt Double

You have probably already seen the Lipitor commercial with doctor who dedicated himself to the heart because of his elderly father. The father takes the new cholesterol drug by Lipitor and seems to be as fit as can be. Not so much. The father was apparently paid $1.35 million so serve as a spokesperson and used a stunt double in the rowing scenes. Also, he isn’t a cardiologist or even a practicing physician. Guess you can’t beleive everything you see or hear! A Congressional committee is now investigating the whole thing, looking into "false and misleading statements and the use of celebrity endorsements of prescription medications in direct-to-consumer advertising."

www.foxnews.com

Cable Boxes - not so innocent

Web marketers have always had a pretty easy time connecting which site someone goes to and what they purchase, when they purchase, etc. Television advertisers haven’t been as successful connecting the shows people watch to the products they buy. Not anymore! New media research is taking another crack at the problem. It merges data from people’s cable boxes with consumer-purchase databases, such as the info stores gather from frequent shopper cards. For instance, a company could see whether households that watched an ad for its toothpase later bought that brand of toothpaste. Kind of eerie, huh? This might make you realize the commercials more often now and wonder how they are affecting you!

Wall Street Journal

The Oscars

Oscar Night ad spots are becoming just as popular as the Super Bowl and just as costly. The ad spots are $1.6 million for 30 seconds. About half of what the Super Bowl spots are. J.C. Penny will use its spots to bring out a new line of clothing and home goods under the American Living name, in partnership with Ralph Lauren. Another sponsor, Unilever, will begin one contest for consumers and end another. The new contest will seek video clips for the Bertolli line of food products sold by Unilever. A commercial will feature the chef Rocco DiSpirito asking viewers to submit videos at a Web site, bertollinightsin.com. The winning clip will be shown in move theaters this summer.

New York Times

Coke Zero is at it again

Coke Zero will begin scamming people again, this time, Nascar drivers. After a slow start, Coke Zero has racked up a 1% share of the soft-drink category. In an effort to reinforce the brands selling point, that the diet product tastes like regular coke, the marketer is breaking a Nascar-themed commerical during the Fox broadcast of the Daytona 500 this Sunday. The spot will feature 12 top drivers building on Coke Zero’s "taste infringement" series.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=pv8YgrqUCVU

Lick Here

Welch’s Grape Juice drink has really taken a different spin on advertising its product. As you flip through your daily magazine, you will come across an ad for Welch’s to remove the sticker and lick the yummy taste of the grape juice drink. Some are appalled by this, others quite intrigued. It’s a very unique way to get the product taste out there. Fortunately, the sticker cannot be "re-stuck", therefore, comforting you that you’re the first to arrive and peel the sticker away to taste the yummy drink!

http://yumsugar.com/1041528

Mothership

Check out this sleek ad for Led Zeppelin’s Mothership album. It’s really fresh compared to the same ole’ advertisements we see daily.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7opeGiJyrU

Hema

Another cool thing to take a look at. This Dutch site has an incredible way of letting you know their products and drawing you in at the same time. Seriously, you won’t be able to stop watching the website. Try it!

http://producten.hema.nl/

Facebook 24/7

The new Apple iPhone has a great ad out letting you see how easy it is to access anything, especially Facebook, 24/7 anywhere you are. Not only does it tap into the younger crowd by showing this popular social network, it also demonstrates how easy it is to operate, which can help out with getting "not so hip" generation’s attention :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKi0NuYgGxA

Are you linked in?

You are going to want to be! This social network site called LinkedIn not only lets you create a profile to network with people, but shows all of your credentials starting from college all the way to what job you are doing now. It lets you recommend people for a job or vice versa. Of all the social networks, LinkedIn is probably the most detailed about who you "really" are.

http://www.linkedin.com

Many Super Bowl Sacred Cow slayings this week!

Mobile Ads Find Users

CBS plans to announce on Wednesdau that it is trying on of the first serious experiements with cellphone advertising that is customized for a person’s location. Its CBS Mobile unit is teaming up with the social networking service Loopt, which allows its subscribers to track participating friends and family on their mobile phones. Pretty soon, while walking near a coffee shop, you might receive an ad on your phone like this one, "Pssst, hey you! There’s a cheap latte waiting at the coffee shop on the corner!"

New York Times

Texting for Pizza

Seems as if the getting online to order pizza is just too much work now, although, online pizza orders account for 20% of total sales. You can text an order to Pizza Hut using their new mobile ordering service. This new idea is expected to be a huge hit.

www.pizzahut.com

Charlie and Hank Win!

Coca-Cola had one of the most popular spots during the Super Bowl. The ad, made by Wieden and Kennedy, shows Underdog and Stewie balloons fighting over a Coke balloon durin ghte Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are both defeated by Charlie Brown. This feel good commercial was a big hit.

Another popular ad that really hit home for viewers was the Budweiser spot. The horse, Hank, failed to make the team of Clydesdales chosen to pull the Budweiser wagon. But with the help of a Dalmation who becomes his personal trainer, Hank succeeds the following year in pulling the wagon. At teh end, Hank and his trainer high five victoriously. That surely made everyone smile!

Wall Street Journal

Super Bowl Ads

All of the Super Bowl ads were interesting, some more than others, but overall, very well done this year. Myspace, Hulu and YouTube definitely had their fair share of Super Bowl ad views. Just in case you missed one, you can watch them all over again in laughter on these social networks and sites.

http://www.myspace.com/supebowlads

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8129/super-bowl-xlii-ads-tide-talking-stain

-http:://www.mytalkingstain.com/

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8119/super-bowl-xlii-ads-bud-light-clydesdale-training

http://www.hulu.come/watch/8098/super-bowl-xlii-ads-coca-cola-coke-floats

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8100/super-bowl-xlii-ads-etrade-barfing-baby

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8089/super-bowl-xlii-ads-etrade-bobo-the-clown

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8096/super-bowl-xlii-ads-pepsi-justin-timberlake

-http://pepsistuff.amazon.com/gp/pepsistuff/home.html

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8108/super-bowl-xlii-ads-bridgestone-the-scream

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8139/super-bowl-xlii-ads-bridgestone-headlights

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8125/super-bowl-xlii-ads-vitaminwater-jockey-shaq

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8094/super-bowl-xlii-ads-lifewater-thriller

-http://www.thrillicious.com/

http://www.hulu.com/watch/8128/super-bowl-xlii-ads-sunsilk-tell-your-story

-http://www.lifecantwait.com/us/en

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b38idebP4ag

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffrq6cUoE5A

The Super bowl is creeping closer and so are the sacred cows. Watch your back!

Gentle and Sweet Super Bowl Ads

As opposed to last year’s super bowl spots being quite violent and innappropriate, he tone of this year’s ads will be gentle and sweet, regardless of how gruesome it gets on the field. Jim Nail, chief strategy and marketing officer at Cymfony, states that "So many advertisers are promising to show their soft, friendly side this year. Maybe it’s because people are getting their fill of blood and guts in political advertising."

New York Times

How to Make Sure Americans Will Pay Attention to Your Multimillion Dollar Super Bowl ad

L.A. times states that advertisers are jostling for attention for their spots like never before, posting them online in advance of Sunday’s kick-off, unveiling them at news conferences, screening them at cocktail parties and releasing behing-the-scenes videos about the ads’ production. How do you make sure that millions of Americans will pay attention to your multimillion dollar ad? You show it before the Super Bowl. And after the Super Bowl. And, of course, during the Super Bowl.

L.A. Times

GM Robot Committing Suicide Last Year

Gebbia, executive director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, came to work the day after the Super Bowl last year with phone messages and emails flooding him. They were all complaining about GM’s ad with a suicidal robot. He went to check it out, didn’t like what he saw and decided to write GM a very worded letter demanding that the ad be yanked. A day later, he emailed a press release to the newspapers. Within three days GM changed the ending and dropped the original ad from TV and its website. GM promises no whiff of suice in this year’s ad.

USA Today

Subway vs. Quiznos

Quiznos invited the public to submit homeade commercials in a contest intended to attack a top rival, Subway. The contest rules made it clear that the videos should depict Quiznos sandwiches as "superior" to Subway’s. Not so smart. Subway immediately sued Quiznos and IFilm saying that many of the homeade videos made false claims and were derogatory. New York Times makes a very good point in asking this, Quiznos did not make the insulting submissions, so should it be held liable for user-generated content created at its behest?

New York Times

Sprint’s Neon

Sprint is tapping into make sure people feel loved this valentine’s day or any special holiday. The virtual treat is that your letters are scribbled in a variety of neaon colors by programmer minions, who dwell in neatly arranged rows of tiles when doing their handiwork. You can send pre-written messages or create your own. A very unique idea and it spices up the regular card of ecard you would normally send.

http://www.sprintsweets.com

Happiness Factory

Coca-Cola has taken an interesting approach to draw people into their products. They have created the Happines Factory. You might have seen the commercials during previews at the movie theater. You can go to their site, where they are hiring, and see the various jobs and tasks that are being performed. It lets you interact and learn more about the product.

http://www.coca-cola.com/template1/index.jsp?locale=en_US&site=../happiness_factory/index.html

The End of the World

Greenpeace has created a very convicting ad about the end of the world. It is in the form of a theatrical trailer and everything is falling apart, burning or being destroyed by the environment itself. It really opens your eyes to make you want to help the planet. Nobody knows what will make the end closer, but this ad really depicts the possibilites.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_oXxUfDeswY

http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/take-action

So far, this new year of slayings have been pretty interesting. Here are some more for you to enjoy.

Starbucks vs McDonalds

Seems as if Starbucks is finally realizing their coffee is a little expensive compared to others. McDonalds and other fast-food rivals have upped the ante. Starbucks is testing $1 coffees and free refills as the global coffee chain faces increasing competition from fast-food rivals. You can only participate in these $1 coffee drinks in Seattle, but still, what a great idea!

http://money.aol.com/news/articles/_a/starbucks-testing-1-coffee-free-refills/20080123093409990002

Picking your Doctor Digitally

Health consumers are shopping online for doctors through peer-based sites like FindADoc.com, DoctorScorecard.com, and even social networks like, Yelp. You can either read reviews or post what you think of a doctor. Dr. Vail Reese is one of the most highly rated doctors on local San Francisco search engines. Reese says that about half of his new patients find him through sites like Yelp. It is a great way to help you familiarize yourself with the doctor before going to visit him/her.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyld=18349445

There’s a 60-foot monster loose in Manhattan

This "Gift Monster" comes courtesy of Pepsi-Cola Co. to draw attention to a Pepsi Stuff giveaway. The character will appear at events in New York at the Super Bowl, as well as in a commerical created by Onmicom Group’s BBDO. At each stop, the Gift Monster will give away Pepsi points and merchandise. It’s a really smart way to let people know how huge this promotion is and how Pepsi wants you to be a part of it.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=123223

Dannon Suit

A newly filed class action suit is accusing Dannon Co Inc of creating a false advertising campaign that convinces consumers to pay more for Activia (yogurt containing "probiotic" bacteria) because of the products health benefits. Their are scientific reports that do not support Dannon’s advertising. They are saying that there is no real or "clinical" evidence that bacteria prevents illness or is beneficial to healthy adults. The suit says that Dannon’s own studies failed to supoport its advertised claims and that the company was aware of it the whole time. Many consumers are holding off on buying this product until they see the outcome of the suit.

http://fitsugar.com/984155

Vote Different

An average joe from Washington D.C. decided to make a youtube ad called Vote Different using the 1984 Apple advertisement. Over 3 million people had viewed it at the time of an interview YouTube held with Philip, the creator of the Vote Different ad. He says that it was incredibly easy to create and he was targeting not only people who are interested in politics, but also people who loved the Apple product. Very interesting approach and it really caught peoples attention, and still is today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G=IMZxjo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWH7hB57aSk

The sacred cows have been slayed rapidly this week. Lots of news for you.

Parents Group Slams Producers for Marketing PG-13 Films to Kids

A coalition of 19 pro-children groups have called on filmmakers today to stop promoting PG-13-rated movies to kids through giveaways and promotions. The 19 drafted a letter by the Campaign for a Commerical-Free Childhood to the Motion Pictures Association of America. They contacted the Federal Trade Commission this summer when the film Transformers was allegedly being marketed to kids through TV spots, food promotions and licensed toys. One of the 19, Dr. Susan Linn states, "There is growing evidence that vilent media has a negative impact on children’s attitudes and behavior. PG-13 movies have gotten increasingly violent in recent years, and it’s important for the industry to protect these children.

Various News

McDonalds Pulls Ads Grom Florida Report Cards

McDonald’s Corporation has voluntarily pulled its sponsorship of report card covers in Seminole County, Florida public schools. McDonalds is apparently listening to the parents all over the country who believe that report cards should not be commercialized. McDonald’s has agreed to sponsor the report card jackets for the county’s elementary schools to cover a printing fee of $1,600. There are 27,000 children in the school district.

Adage

Online Networks

Online networks are now rapidly spreading to companies ranging from Coca-Cola to Walt Disney’s ABC Television Studios. They are often cheaper and more effective than phone surveys or traditional focus groups because companies can draw on the participants in a much broader and deeper way than they could in an offline setting. On example as of lately is Del Monte Foods. They were considering a new breakfast treat for dogs and sent out a note to an online community of dog owners asking them what they most wanted to feed their pets in the morning. The answer was something with a bacon-and-egg taste. Last summer, Del Monte introduced Snausages Breakfast Bites. They are flavored like bacon and eggs, and conatin an extra dose of viatmins and minerals.

Wall Street Journal

Athletes New Game

Basketball star Chris Bosh, with help from his girlfriend and brother, recently wrote and shot his own Web commerical. The ad, in which Mr. Bosh takes on the persona of a Texas used car salesman to ask fans to vote him into the National Basketball Association’s All-Star Game. It has racked up more than 376,000 viewings on YouTube. Chris Bosh isn’t the only athlete using this approach though. Steve nash and various other athletes have used this clever technique as well.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Hv7IZP7u9FE&feature=related

http://www.chris-bosh.com/

Yet another week of sacred cow slayings!

Adage - Coke to get deluged by anti-water campaign

Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent will be receiving a lovely welcoming gift this July. Mark DiMassimo, creative director of marketing shop Dimassimo Goldstein, and Eric Yaverbaum, president of public relations agency Ericho Communications, are planning to deliver 1 million used water bottles stuffed with messages to Mr. Kent as part of an awareness campaign they call Tappening. Tappening aims to raise awareness for recycling efforts. Mr. Kent shouldn’t have any problem seeing them get their point across.

Mark Lives in IKEA

Comedian/Filmmaker Mark Malkoff’s apartment in New York City has to be fumigated so he decides finding a new place for a short period of time is a waste of money. He wants to live in IKEA for a week. He didn’t think IKEA would go for it, but they surprised him. Mark moves into IKEA and films the whole experience. It is a unique way to advertise to people who don’t even realize they are seeing advertisments. It didn’t really matter if you were watching to see what Mark was up to or just to see what all he was using in IKEA. There were a variety of items used, therefore a variety of people targeted with advertisements without even being aware of it. Very smart!

www.marklivesinikea.com

"The Director"

GE has a new twist to an ad promoting all of their kitchen and household appliances. You start to watch the video clip and you assume you are watching something as if it were on the food channel. All of the family members are interacting and there are close ups of the food sizzling on the stove top. At the end of the clip, you realize they are just a normal family eating dinner and this is just their nightly routine. Not sure if it was cast from a GE family or not, but that would be very smart and save quite a bit on costs. They are very sneaky by making everything GE that you are seeing over and over. A very fun and interesting way to promote their product.

www.adforum.com/top5/index.asp?top5_email=email

HP with a twist

HP kicked off a new ad with tennis player, Serena. The graphics are amazing and the ad really draws you in. You are watching the ad about the new HP, although, it spins off on Serena’s acting career, design skills, etc. You end up seeing a total of 3 things being advertised at once. Aneres is Serena’s line of clothing and the ad ends with her showing it off. It has a twist to it and definitely has you waiting for more.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DaUHcyiv_3s

Erbert & Gerbert’s

A sandwich sub shop in Wisconsin has a unique ad campaign going. They are placing free sub coupons on random items throughout the city. Their slogan is called "Subs Worth Discovering." One of the various coupons looks like the bottom of a phone that illustrates a public telephone. You peel it off and the coupon is on the other side. Makes your day walking in the city worth while. Free food!

www.erbertandgerberts.com

Got some good slayings for you this week. Enjoy!

Whopper Freakout

Pure genius. I am sure you’ve seen the commercials or at least heard about Burger King taking away the whopper for a day? Burger King randomly selected locations and took the whopper away. They recorded people’s reactions, and then put it on their site. The reactions are priceless. If you didn’t know already, the whopper seems to be one of the most popular burgers around and people were livid when they couldn’t have it. You never know how much something means to you until it is taken away. Even if you weren’t a whopper eater, the fact that people freaked out almost made you want to become one to support it. Genius!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMOPj6-4nDU

www.bk.com/menu=7,-1,-1

United Airlines

United Airlines really went a unique route with their new commercials. They animated different scenarios, such as, a lady having a conference call with some difficult clients. The call doesn’t go so well, so she hops on a plane, has a comfortable flight, lands safely and meets them in person, which ends up with all of them loving the product since everything was hands on and easier to understand in person. There are many different scenarios and they help you relate to various situations. In each, you fly somewhere and return safely, while also enjoying your flying experience. Animations were a smart way to approach it because they really catch your eye rather than the same everyday commercials with random families and actors in them.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU5DasW5nUY&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9vWCKlseus&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDZAgBDf3Qo&feature=related

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ENZaBCYUus&feature=related

The Harry Situation

L’Oreal started an online campaign that includes a Web site, video clips and a blog. Todd Gruyer is the creator of The Harry Situation, but swears he accidentally created it because he does not want to take credit for the trainwreck he says it has become. He trash talks the show on blogs he created on the Harry Situation Web site only to make you even more interested in the video clips and the product they are advertising. It is very entertaining to read his quirky opinions about what he thinks of each clip and they will entice you to watch and read further.

http://theharrysituation.com

Here are some more examples of sacred cow slayings and how the business world is adapting to the changes around us. 

Will it Blend?

Blendtec started a viral video series that has been viewed more than 70 million times.  They're actually making money from their marketing by selling advertising commission to blend things.  Who wouldn't want to watch things being destroyed by the blenders?  Thats if what they put in there is able to be blended.

www.willitblend.com

My Football Club

Starting with a budget of essentially zero, a sports journalist from Britain created My Football Club, a web-based initiative that recruited over 50,000 soccer fans to become owners and managers of football club Ebbsfleet United.  They get to vote for who is on the team and who gets bought and sold.  They have attracted many sponsors, such as, EA Sports with an idea that has expanded rapidly!

www.myfootballteam.co.uk

Let's Talk Colorado

The state of Colorado wants you to come visit and they give you more than a few reasons to become interested.  The site Let's Talk Colorado has stories and marked locations of people's favorite places to go in Colorado.  It offers you a free Colorado vacation guide and even gives you a chance to enter in a Colorado giveaway.  Whether or not you like to ski, hike or camp in the mountains, they list a variety of reasons why you should come visit.  You can submit your own story on the site to let others know where your favorite place in Colorado is, which allows them to contact you via email to send offers and vacation giveaways. 

www.letstalkcolorado.com

Sacred cow slayings are still on a roll!  Here are a few more examples of things changing.

Beauty brand undergoes a more dynamic, diagnostic makeover

L'Oreal's new webside is flaunting a more fashionable and contemporary experience for its clientele.   The hompage features thumbnails of glamour shots and quotes from high-profile celebs like Scarlett Johansson.  These should really get people's attention rather than the same random models that people aren't familiar with, which really lacks on them identifying the product with the person.  There is an interesting "Can I Help You?" section, which is a diagnostic tool that asks customers a series of video guided questions.  From these questions, they can then find the best cosmetic solutions for each individual.  The website is also very user friendly.

www.loreal.com

Facebook

Ads on facebook have really taken over.  You can pretty much click around on anything and you will see banner, or full screen ad ready for you to find out more information on.  Part of Target's ad in December was, "Love Target, you could win a giftcard."  If that doesn't spell it out for you, what does?  The fact that you can just browse the ad or their website means you could have a chance at winning some free money.  Blue Nile jewelers have branched out to many people letting them add a wishlist to their facebook account.  Who wouldn't want to let their "loved one" randomly see what jewelry they like without having to tell them.  Especially around Christmas and Valentine's Day.  You can also place orders online very easily, which is always a crowd pleaser.  By adding Blue Nile, Target or any other company to your facebook account, everyone who views your profile can see that you support those companies, which also advertises to them.  The ads spread to thousands of people or more a day.  It's genius.

www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=2368386201&b&ref=pd

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2345768493

Myspace

Myspace has also hit the target audience with ads that pop up right when you sign on.  Whether you are sending a message to someone, or reading your inbox, there will always be an add randomly on your page somewhere.  The ads aren't as quiet as Facebook, but they still get the message across.  The cool thing is that you can also add your favorite stores, companies, etc to your friends list and everyone can see that you belong to them.  Once again, you are advertising for the company without even realizing it.

www.myspace.com/urbanoutfitters

Coke promotes Itself in a New Virtual World

Coke started an interesting, but very unique new idea.  The target audience is probably a very wide ranged variety of ages.  It plugs in to the younger culture today, but also intrigues the older viewers, considering Coke has been around a long time.  Coca-Cola lovers have a place to hang out now that is an island on the internet in the shape of a Coke bottle.  The island is named CC Metro.  Visitors can set up a virual alter ego known as an avatar, which can then shop and dance at the Coca-Cola diner, visit a movie theater to watch short fils and soar around on a hoverboard.  Customers can buy clothing and accessories for their avatars using reward points that come from codes on the Coke bottle caps, which can also be used at mycokerewards.com. 

www.there.com

www.mycokerewards.com