Our 10 Most Wanted stories for 2006

[We’re reposting this story from earlier this month, in case you missed it.] In the most recent issue of Adweek, we present AdFreak’s “10 Most Wanted” stories for 2006. The selection process was rigorously unscientific. Basically, these were the 10 topics we enjoyed covering the most. Many of them got mad hits and provoked nasty debates in the comments section. Others were too silly not to revisit. If future generations want a snapshot of the advertising business in 2006, they should ignore this post and seek a more reputable source of news. Check out Adweek for the splashy two-page AdFreak spread. As always, thanks for reading. We couldn’t waste this much time without you. 10. Folgers has “Happy Mornings.” Who could forget Saatchi & Saatchi’s insane band of neon-yellow Folgers singers? Having escaped from the sun asylum, they crept into bedrooms across the country and, in a 90-second reign of terror, delivered a waking nightmare in verse to a nation of sleepy heads. Death and insanity never smelled so good. 9. The Burger King dates Brooke Burke. The King got a hot girlfriend, Brooke Burke, this year. And over a period of four months, the mock celebrity couple got the full paparazzi treament. They broke up before the King had a chance to develop an eating disorder. [Read all the follow-up posts here, here and here.] 8. Justin Long plays the Mac. Much to the displeasure of many readers, this story wouldn’t die. And neither would Long, who weathered false rumors of getting fired and remains part of the “Get a Mac” campaign. [Excessive follow-up posts here, here and here and here.] 7. Ikea spices up its catalog. What had been missing from Ikea’s catalogs over the years? A dog with a human penis, that’s what. Ikea said it was just the dog’s leg, but no one really believed them. 6. Washington state says “SayWA.” Stupid tourism slogans abounded in 2006, but Washington state took first prize for “SayWA,” confusing and infuriating its residents. Seattle’s “Metronatural” was among the runners-up. [Follow-up posts here, here and here.] 5. Good magazine profiles W+K 12. The in-house ad school at Wieden + Kennedy took a beating from innumerable “haters” on AdFreak after Good magazine interviewed its students and posted the video on YouTube. Sales of stuffed raccoons plummeted. 4. TBWA chases the toilet bandit. Probably the best internal agency memo of the year, chastising an unknown bathroom bandit for clogging toilets at TBWA\Chiat\Day in New York. The criminal remains on the loose. 3. DraftFCB gets on top, ends up on bottom. The copulating-lions ad did the newly merged agency no favors. And the piling-on from AdFreak readers was impressive. [Follow-up post here.] 2. Bank of America covers U2. A high/low point in the history of corporate meetings. Ethan Chandler and Jim DeBois put on a show that unfortunately will not soon be forgotten. [Follow-up posts here and here.] 1. Agency.com pitches Subway. If we roll, we roll big. What else is there to say? After this video came out, the word “viral” officially surrendered. We’d encourage you to go back and give it another look, but that would be cruel. Still, we’re hoping for more of the same in 2007. —Posted by Tim Nudd

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Our 10 Most Wanted stories for 2006

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd