Nutella Thanks Its Biggest Fan, Founder of World Nutella Day, by Sending Her a Cease-and-Desist That's nuts!
Most brand marketers can only dream of having a superfan who organizes a global holiday dedicated to their product. And then there's Nutella. The chocolate-hazelnut spread's parent company, Italy-based Ferrero, SpA, has sent a cease-and-desist letter to World Nutella Day founder and organizer Sara Rosso. This Saturday, she plans to deactivate NutellaDay.com and the 7-year-old event's social-media channels in response to the legal notice from the company. "I've seen the event grow from a few hundred food bloggers posting recipes to thousands of people Tweeting about it, pinning recipes on Pinterest, and posting their own contributions on Facebook," Rosso writes in a blog post about the cease-and-desist. "There have been songs sung about it, short films created for it, poems written for it, recipes tested for it, and photos taken for it. The cease-and-desist letter was a bit of a surprise and a disappointment, as over the years I've had contact and positive experiences with several employees of Ferrero, SpA, and with their public relations and brand strategy consultants." So far, the parent company has not responded to several media requests for comment and clarification. Via Consumerist and Neatorama. Photo via chaojikazu.
May 21, 2013, 12:30 PM EDT
Diaper-Buying, Sex-Starved, Death-Obsessed Lonely Island Guys Promote New Album Life of a 'grown-ass man'
Are the guys from Lonely Island trying to say that marriage and kids are shortcuts to the grave? They sure don't seem too happy to be "grown-ass" men, maybe because they're starving for sex, wiping baby bums and visiting their own funeral plots in "Diaper Money," posted below. The video, released as part of YouTube's Comedy Week, also promotes the trio's latest musical effort, The Wack Album, due June 11. Look for more promos in the coming weeks.
Video is NSFW (language).
May 21, 2013, 10:40 AM EDT
Jack Link's Will Never Get Tired of Messin' With Sasquatch Three more hairy situations
Just when you thought you ran out of ways to mess with Sasquatch, someone comes along with lipstick and press-on nails. And as you'd guess, Sasquatch does not care for his glam makeover. In the ongoing saga for Jack Link's beef jerky, the hirsute man-beast gets punked yet again—three times, in fact, in new TV spots from longtime agency Carmichael Lynch. He's just come out of hibernation, so his backstory goes, and roams too close to civilization, where he's an easy target for public humiliation. He gets "beautified," doused with slop and hosed. Who could resist? Retaliation, which has become a hallmark and creative flourish of these ads, ensues. Those folks will never learn. More spots and credits below.
May 21, 2013, 10:17 AM EDT
Introducing Beardvertising: Tiny Billboards That Clip on to Your Beard This could work, right?
I'm not sure which is more disturbing—the hirsute images that adorn the Beardvertising site from Kentucky ad agency Cornett-IMS, or creative Whit Hiler's use of the work "mancessory" to describe such facial hair. You might recall Hiler from past wacky ventures such as conquering Reddit with fake fliers (including a meetup to recreate scenes from Human Centipede—"Guys only") and crafting a tourism campaign that was presumably too "kick-ass" for the Bluegrass State. Here's his latest pitch: "Do you wanna get paid for having an epic beard? Of course you do. Join the world's first Beardvertising network. Get paid. It's simple—turn your beard into a business. Just like Duck Dynasty. Hang a BeardBoard (Patent Pending) in your beard. Sit back and get paid up to $5 per day." So far, A&W Restaurants and Eagle One Automotive have slapped their messages on Beardvertising mini-billboard clips. Maybe Schick, Gillette, Old Spice and DollarShaveClub.com should join in to cut through the clutter and carve out some unique ad space.
May 21, 2013, 9:44 AM EDT
Advertising Student Ships His Pants to Kmart's Agency, Lands Internship Alf Zapata shows Draftfcb the goods
If you can ship your pants skillfully and creatively, you have a good chance of working at Kmart's ad agency, Draftfcb. The agency said today that it has brought in a new intern in large part because of his pants-shipping abilities. Alf Zapata shipped his actual pants and résumé to Draftfcb's recruiting department. That got him an interview; his "portfolio, witty humor and enthusiasm" got him the internship, the agency says. This raises the possibility that you could get an internship at Y&R in New York simply by apologizing and then acting superior. More images below.
May 20, 2013, 3:28 PM EDT
Girl Barfs Up Her Own Dad in Baffling Anti-Drinking Ad From Spain Something's making her sick
"Every time you get drunk, you separate yourself from the things that matter most. Like your family." That's the voiceover in this weird anti-drinking ad from Spain, aimed at young adults. The girl in the ad is seen vomiting up what is apparently her father. The sound effects are nasty, and the metaphor isn't much better. Second spot after the jump, in which a guy gets "separated" from his girlfriend—by upchucking her on a bathroom floor. Agency: Bungalow 25. Via Ads of the World.
May 20, 2013, 2:43 PM EDT
Even Home Intruders Get the Girl in Campaign for Axe's New Hair Products Quite the first impression
'Tis the season for male-grooming brand extensions. Old Spice introduced its shaving gel last week. And now, Axe has updated its range of hair products for men. It's advertising them with four new 20-second ads from BBH London that have launched in Europe and will reach North America this weekend. The creative idea is that well-styled hair is crucial when you meet someone for the first time. The spots present various quirky first-meeting scenarios—the most faux-provocative of which is probably the home-invasion scenario, in which burglar seduces buglee with his perfectly slicked 'do. "We wanted to capture a simple truth about guys and their grooming habits," says David Kolbusz, deputy executive creative director at BBH. "Whenever a man sees a woman he fancies, he tends to touch up his hair before making the initial approach. We dramatized this behavior by setting it in the most extreme of circumstances." More spots and credits below.
May 20, 2013, 12:55 PM EDT
Oily Bohunk Josh Button Makes Landfall in Ad for Diet Dr Pepper Yet another one-of-a-kind
Damn you, hot hunks of advertising! Damn you to hot, hunky hell! Your Grecian glutes mock me as I polish off another nacho platter, and your six-pack abs shame me as I knock back my six-pack of beer! Shirtless Josh Button is the latest addition to the ad-hunk trend, rising seductively from the sea in Deutsch L.A.'s new tongue-in-cheek commercial for Diet Dr Pepper. (They make diet soda now?) "Millions of guys are born good looking," Button's voiceover begins, as the number 70,611,600 flashes on screen. "But not many are really good looking." The number 64,891 appears. "Even fewer are really, really, really, really, really good looking. At least, that's what I'm told." The number 45 zips by. "I'm Josh Button, and I'm one of a kind." We then get a full-on view of his chiseled torso as the red number 1 appears, thrust like a dagger into my cholesterol-clogged heart. (Hey, I'm at least one of the 70 million fairly OK-looking dudes, right?!) "We're poking fun at ourselves and the trend of hot guys in advertising," Dr Pepper svp of marketing Jaxie Alt tells USA Today, alluding to hunk sightings in spots for brands like Kraft Zesty Italian dressing and Diet Coke. After decades of impossibly trim bikini babes making women feel insecure, I guess it's men's turn to suffer. At least one advertiser out there is providing a more realistic depiction of the male form. But when you consider the state of that beach bum's liver, and his life expectancy, it's cold comfort indeed. Credits below.
May 20, 2013, 12:10 PM EDT
Meet San Diego's Worst Rapper, Real Estate Agent Rafael A. Perez With initials like those, it was meant to be
Today, everyone does everything. You have actor-writer-rappers (Donald Glover, Jamie Foxx), dancers turned actors (Jennifer Lopez, Channing Tatum), pro athletes attempting to rap (Shaq, Allen Iverson), and so on. So, when Rafael A. Perez, a San Diego realtor, decided to produce a rap video to "express the state of real estate" there, who was going to stop him? Yes, the housing market in the U.S. collapsed a few years ago, but R.A.P. (Rafael A. Perez's emcee moniker) is here to tell you that it's BACK! Along with the American dream! At least in San Diego! The YouTube video, titled "Welcome to the 619," is a hopeful and amusing bid to get people excited about the area again. It's filled with bad lip-syncing, a barely conscious Perez, zooms of Google images, MLK Jr. quotes, and of course American flags. I don't know about you, but I think it's about to get real crowded in the 619.
May 20, 2013, 11:08 AM EDT
Charmin Welcomes Fans to Nascar Race With Billboard Potty Humor Important message from giant underwear
I love it when brands finally catch on to jokes the rest of us were making in fourth grade. This time it's Charmin, which treated fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Sprint All-Star Race to an underwear-shaped billboard that said "Stop Skidmarks." That phrase also applies to cars, you see. Given the kinds of ostentatious crap we often see with billboard design, this idea was refreshingly concise and to the point, if a tad juvenile. And it's certainly less offensive than the "Back Got Back" commercial. Photo via @trippmickle.
May 20, 2013, 8:18 AM EDT
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