The Week on AdFreak

People were in a bitchy mood this week, weren't they? Flying Dog certainly has its hackles up in Michigan, a state that has a particularly dour opinion of the brewer's Raging Bitch beer label. Sealy, meanwhile, inadvertently endorsed bestiality with an unfortunate ad placement online. And Naomi Campbell was seriously hating on a Cadbury ad that compared her to a chocolate bar. Try to remain calm as we recap the week on AdFreak. Flying Dog's Bitchy Label Beware of label? The Michigan Liquor Control Commission has banned Flying Dog brewery's best-selling beer, Raging Bitch, because of its Ralph Steadman-designed label—showing, logically enough, a raging bitch. The board says the name and drawing are insulting to women. The brewer says, basically, that a bitch is a female dog. The legal bitching is now headed for the courts. Can a Beer Label Be Hazardous to Your Health, Safety and Welfare? Sealy's Great Ad Fail This may be the advertising fail of the year so far—definitely up there with the Aflac placement next to the article about anatidaephobia. Of course, Sealy was asking for it with that tagline, and the mildly suggestive messaging that's accompanied it. Whatever You Do in Bed, Sealy Supports It. But Oh God, Not That! Naomi vs. Cadbury In other non-sweet news, Naomi Campbell threatened to sue Cadbury over ads for its Bliss chocolate bars that bear the line, "Move over Naomi, there's a new diva in town." Campbell says it's "upsetting to be described as chocolate, not just for me, but for all black women." Point taken, though it's also upsetting to have a phone thrown at you. Naomi Campbell Rips Cadbury Ad Likening Her to a Chocolate Bar An App That Fights Crime The superhero app of the week was Hidden, a program that installs itself slyly inside a MacBook and can catch anyone who steals the machine—by taking iSight photos of the person and pinpointing his or her location. Joshua Kaufman's Tumblr blog "This Guy Has My MacBook" gave Hidden a big boost of publicity, capped off by Oakland police's arrest of the suspect seen in Kaufman's photos. Sneaky App's Photos Lead to Arrest of Alleged MacBook Thief Axe Sprays Stinky Sites Reading something online that just stinks? Get rid of it easily with the Axe Sprayaway browser widget. Not for use on this site. Clean Up That Stinky Website With Axe Sprayaway Samsung's Iffy Tweet Is it OK to mock people's economic troubles in a jaunty little Twitter ad for your expensive camera? Samsung Camera USA wanted to find out. The post didn't go over well, but the episode fell short of a true Kenneth Cole-style Twittersplosion. Samsung's Tweet About Skipping Out on Rent: Funny or Dumb? Jennifer Aniston Goes Topless The actress stripped down for Smartwater. Why? Why not? Jennifer Aniston Goes Topless in Smartwater Ad Starburst's Contradictory Dog At this point, Starburst is really stretching the definition of a contradiction. A dog hanging its butt out a car window? That's odd, not inherently contradictory. Check the comments section of the original item, where language geeks weigh in. Ass-Backwards Starburst Dog Isn't Really a Contradiction Eugene Mirman vs. Time Warner If you've ever been frustrated with a cable company, you'll enjoy Eugene Mirman's newspaper ads calling out Time Warner Cable for its crappy service. Sample copy from his ad: "Did you know that on Yelp, Time Warner Cable has one and a half stars? That's less stars than Jeffery Dahmer—who killed and ate people, maybe even had sex with their skulls (I don't really know)." Yeah, this guy is good. Comedian Rips Time Warner Cable in Hilarious Newspaper Ads Hot Wheels' Big Jump It was last weekend, and it was awesome. The Mattel brand set a new world-record jump by a four-wheel vehicle at Sunday's Indianapolis 500. Just watch. Hot Wheels Sets World Record With Lunatic Jump at Indy 500

AdFreak

The Week on AdFreak

Bitchy beer labels, Sealy's big ad fail, Naomi vs. Cadbury, and more

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd