the circus

crafted visual treat for the butter brand

2012-01-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Vegetables can taste good, too, says dairy brand Lurpak—so long as you drench them in a buttery spread.
Wieden + Kennedy in London is doubling down on a bid to create the ultimate food porn in Britain—following up last year's epic omelet ad for Lurpak butter with a new singsong spot that promotes the brand's healthier "Lightest Spreadable" offering, made from butter and vegetable oil. The new ad takes a more playful tone than its fattier predecessor but reprises the same meticulous production values, focusing on brilliant colors, sharp timing, masterful close-up camera work and a well-seasoned soundtrack.

"Whoever said green things were boring was so . . . un . . . cool," opens the voiceover, punctuating a bright green pea's descent into a pot of boiling water. A montage of healthy-food prep progresses, as Rutger Hauer offers a nursery-rhyme narration of the action—chopping, dicing, peeling, mashing and so forth. (The less-appetizing verb "gutting" is left to the imagination, as one cook cuts his thumb while slicing open the belly of a fish.) "We're cooking up a rainbow today . . . Healthy doesn't have to taste humdrum," assures Hauer, an apparent nod to the kid who appears earlier, looking bored out of his mind.

The ad grates a bit on repeated listening, and if you watch too intently, some of the camera work might actually quell, rather than stir up, your appetite. Overall, though, the ad does a great job of dramatizing the mundane, delivering an on-product message about the apparently magical power of butter to make everything more delicious.

THE CIRCUS - creative & development solutions for your business
www.thecircus.biz

thief makes a memorable argument

2012-01-10T06:04:00.000-08:00

One of these years, advertisers are going to stop posting bogus video clips on YouTube that purport to be something other than shameless marketing plays. Alas, 2012 will not be that year. The best we can hope for, probably, is that advertisers make these clips entertaining, or at least not flat-out irritating.

Y&R in Amsterdam gets things off to a decent start with this LG clip. Posted to YouTube on Dec. 28 under the innocuous title "smart thief caught on cam," the video shows the odd behavior of an electronics-store thief, who seems to have a curious relationship with the shop's security cameras, moving stealthily toward and away from them while always facing them directly—never turning to show himself in profile. At the end, it becomes clear what he's been up to—in a fun little payoff that shows him bolting for freedom, with a clerk in hot pursuit.

The final shot includes an LG poster in the store window advertising the very product feature that's just been cleverly (if exaggeratedly) illustrated in the video. Viral marketing clips have been headed in this direction for some time. Making the ads' provenance more obvious, and letting the viewer in on the joke more quickly, perhaps makes their mercenary ends more palatable. The other way to do that is to make them legitimately fun to watch, and even to rewatch—and this spot encourages the latter in particular.
With 1.4 million views and counting, off a tiny budget, this one was a steal.
THE CIRCUS - creative & development solutions for your business
www.thecircus.biz

changes flavors as you chew

2012-01-09T01:10:00.000-08:00

Mars's consolidation of creative duties on its global brands at Omnicom last year saw the Starburst and Skittles accounts move from TBWA\Chiat\Day to DDB. Now, we get DDB's first effort for Starburst—and it aims for the same kind of intriguing quirkiness as TBWA's celebrated oddvertising on the candy brands.
The new spot pitches Starburst's Flavor Morph candies—a strange, Willy Wonka-like creation that somehow changes flavors as you chew. It opens with a prim girl giving a Flavor Morph to a guy who thinks he's an urban youth, despite his clearly affluent surroundings. She's hoping he can be like the candy and change too—pick himself up and start fresh. But he refuses—and tools away on his scooter, through the lush gardens of suburbia, giving a little bunny hop as he declares his allegiance to "the streets."

The spot was directed by Matt Aselton, who did some Starburst work for TBWA. (He also did the Boost Mobile "Pigs" ad, which was probably the best of the "Unwrong'd" spots.) And while it may not be an instant classic, "Mean Streets" is nicely executed—with a character that 14-year-old suburban kids everywhere will think is hilarious.

THE CIRCUS - creative & development solutions for your business
www.thecircus.biz

Vinnie Jones' hard and fast Hands-only CPR

2012-01-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

At some point in our lives, we've probably all taken some sort of mandatory CPR course. And at a later point, we've probably all forgotten most of what we learned—something about chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth breathing and airway blockage?—and hoped to the high heavens that no one near us ever stops breathing, because they'll be sore out of luck. Well, thanks to a new PSA from the British Heart Foundation and Grey London, you can learn a new and idiot-proof way of performing CPR that should be difficult to forget.

To guide us through this life-saving procedure is Vinnie Jones, a famously thuggish former British soccer player (and current actor), who is joined by two intimidating assistants who look like they might cause you bodily harm if you don't pay attention.

The gist is this: First, call the police. Then, you get to perform "hands-only CPR" ("no kissin' " is involved, because, as Jones open-mindedly explains, "You only kiss your missus on the lips") by pressing your interlocked palms on the person's chest to the beat of the Bee Gees' classic "Stayin' Alive" (get it?!) while your menacing cronies dance awkwardly in the background. And if you happen to crack one of your person's ribs, don't worry—at least he might not die!

Watch the PSA for yourself, and you too can make up for not paying attention while your gym teacher tried to resuscitate a limbless dummy.

Posted by : THE CIRCUS - Creative & Development solutions for your business.

Website : www.thecircus.biz

Unilever Logo: The Icons Explained

2012-01-04T20:53:00.000-08:00

Unilever, the gigantic corporation behind a lot of popular consumer brands, has an interesting tidbit about their logo: all those little icons (25 in total), woven together to form a U, actually mean something.

In 2005, Unilever changed the logo to represent their new theme of vitality, replacing the old logo that had been used since 1970. The new logo was also planned to coincide with the company’s 75th anniversary. Today, Unilever owns more than 400 brands, but the 25 largest brands account for over 70% of total sales.

Tostitos - A talking spokesbag

2012-01-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

Remember that time you were high at a friend's house and had a conversation with a bag of tortilla chips? Odds are they were Tostitos, suggests a new campaign.

The commercials from TBWA\Chiat\Day center on a new "spokesbag," an anthropomorphic sack of snacks. He talks, of course, and he's charismatic, hamming up fellow revelers with tales that make him the life of any party. At one, he remembers the 1990s, explaining how increasingly heavy dips kept breaking his flat chips, forcing him into an existential crisis. "I wandered the world looking for answers. I looked at stuff," he says. After stumbling across an ice-cream scoop, a painting of a hand scooping water, and a construction tractor with a scoop . . . inspiration struck. He changed his shape to a scoop, strong enough to withstand the biggest, heaviest of dips, he brags. A second spot stretches the fantasy even further, as the bag recounts his promising football career, cut short by an injury.

Both "Life of the Football Party" and "Inspired to Dip" are amusingly absurd, working nicely to entertain while spinning a little lore around Tostitos. Sure, the main character might be obnoxiously corny. But, given the brand, that only seems right.

Posted by : THE CIRCUS - creative & development solutions for your business
Date: 2012-01-04
Website: www.thecircus.biz

The Next Great American Consumer Infants to 3-year-olds

2012-01-02T21:32:00.000-08:00

Jenny Gill was in New York’s Cornell Weill hospital earlier this year for the birth of her son, Jack, when a photographer stopped by to take snapshots of the mother and newborn. The practice is common in hospitals, but what the photographer did next surprised Gill.

“In the middle of taking the pictures, she pulls out this cutely wrapped onesie and says, ‘Oh, here’s a free Disney onesie. We’ll just need your email address,’” Gill recalls. “It weirded me out. I just gave birth, please lay off with the Disney already!”

Disney is unlikely to lay off anytime soon, and neither are the countless other brands in need of dollars. They’re part of a trend—fueled in part by the growth of digital devices—toward aggressively targeting a demographic that didn’t exist, in marketers’ eyes, until recently: infants to 3-year-olds. By getting their logos and iconic characters in front of babies—even those with still-blurry eyesight—they hope to establish brand-name preference before she or he has uttered a word.

Licensed characters, of course, have been plastered on packaged foods, toys, and every piece of clothing and accessory imaginable for decades—some reach back a century. But over the course of the past couple of years something has shifted. Now the strategy of marketing branded goods to tots has ramped up to the point that even high-end fashion brands are jumping in. Designers including Versace, Fendi, and Marc Jacobs have all recently released lines for kids barely walking, and Cynthia Rowley has even come out with designer diapers.

“It’s a segment where, particularly in the luxe category, it’s an attractive target,” says Marty Brochstein, senior vice president at the International Licensing Industry Merchandisers’ Association. “People like to dress up their kids and show off their kids. For that luxe brand itself…it’s beginning the relationship with the child.”

There are an awful lot of logos vying for that relationship. This summer, for instance, Maclaren, the stroller company, teamed up with Manhattan-based Dylan’s Candy Store to co-brand a brightly colored $150 stroller. Audi manufactures branded teddy bears.

“[Brands] are going younger and younger all the time,” says Dan Acuff, a former marketing consultant to Hasbro, Mattel, Nestlé, and others. “Babies don’t distinguish between reality and fantasy, so they think, ‘Let’s get them while they’re susceptible.’”

Martin Lindstrom, a brand consultant whose new book, Brandwashed, was released last week, says, “Marketers are getting more and more desperate to generate sales, so we’re slowly moving the ethical lines. When it comes to families, parents are much more influenced by the kids’ and babies’ preferences for brands.” And babies do have preferences. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood reports that by six months, babies are forming mental images of corporate logos and mascots, and that babies request brands as soon as they can speak. Other studies show that by the time an American child is 3 years old, he or she can recognize an average of 100 brand logos.

Texas A&M marketing professor James McNeal calls it the “drool factor.” Put your baby in a bib imprinted with an image of a branded character or in front of a video on a tablet, and voila: brand recognition in the crib.

The free Disney hospital goodie, in fact—a team effort with Our365, a company that sells bedside baby pictures—was no one-off, but an integral facet of Disney Baby, which launched early this year and targets infants in a more focused manner than past efforts. Disney has also been a leader in reaching the young set online and in the fast-growing sector of baby-geared apps. (Disney’s many such downloads include Toy Story Read-Along; Finding Nemo: My Puzzle Book; and Disney Princess Dress Up.) The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which estimates that 14 percent of children under 2 years old spend more than two hours a day with screen media, believes marketers are subtly encouraging parents to soothe fussy babies with cell phone videos and games from sites that also sell a host of baby-targeted goods.

www.thecircus.biz

Stabilo Store

2011-12-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

I spotted a new and stylish store by pen supplier STABILO. It’s the brand’s first flagship store and the architects have done a great job reconstructing a former jewellery shop. The store has the typical color-pen shape and even the entrance door makes you recognize their pens. I love those little details and people taking care of them.

Fake Body And Real Head

2011-12-27T21:03:00.000-08:00

Even though this doesn’t surprise me, after having read various stories and seen fake photos within the advertising industry, this is somewhat the biggest scam so far. H&M has admitted that model photos on their website are computer-generated and completely virtual. H&M designs a body that can display clothes made for humans, then dresses it by drawing on its clothes and pastes the heads of real women onto it. We’ll probably see fake faces in the future since they are imperfect too.

Knife-In-Knife

2011-12-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

The Deglon Meeting Knife Set is one of a kind. It not only cuts your meat or vegetables and is practical for storage, it also looks great in your kitchen. Designed by Mia Schmallenbach and produced by Deglon it won first prize in the 5th European Cutlery Design Award (I didn’t even know an award like this existed :). It seemingly appears to be created from a single block of stainless steel and each knife nests within the other. If it wouldn’t be that expensive I’d buy this as christmas present.

Freshly polished for the Holidays

2011-12-25T20:41:00.000-08:00

"Freshly polished for the Holidays". 'Tis the season to make anything sound good. We mean anything, even this

Collects Great Graphic Design by Brewers

2011-12-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Man, beer has gotten really arty in the last year or so. Muskoka's Double Chocolate Cranberry Stout is the obvious winner—because come on, beards. Sadly, most of the other labels here are too orthodox. The fact that Harrumph! Brewing's label isn't an ink drawing of an offended plutocrat strikes me as a wasted opportunity. Looking at this stuff reminds me that it's too bad Edward Gorey never designed a beer label like Ralph Steadman did. I'm sure The Dwindling Pilsner would have looked great. Via PSFK. More images after the jump. Visit the blog for the real buzz.

VOLKSWAGEN • The Force

2011-12-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

Big video numbers from America's biggest companies

2011-12-20T21:29:00.000-08:00

Give something that means something - red cross +++

2011-12-19T23:07:00.000-08:00

Never has there been a more auspicious time to take a stand against holiday shopping gone berserk. The economy is still in a shambles, and the Occupy movements have hyper-consumerism in their targets—with Adbusters, which coined the term Occupy Wall Street, orchestrating a whole Occupy Xmas initiative to go along with its traditional Buy Nothing Day on Black Friday. Really, the table is set for any advertiser that can benefit from a wholesale rethink of the gift-giving season.

Last week, we looked at the Unicef spot from Sweden that urged donations for kids in areas where Santa Claus doesn't bother to show up. And now, we have an animated spot from the Red Cross (via BBDO, New York) that likewise suggests taking some of the money that would otherwise go to more and more presents and funneling it into a more worthy cause—a donation to the Red Cross, which can buy assistance for a human being in need, not just more junk.

The animation by Elastic and director Andy Hall is gorgeously simple (it looks like stop motion but is actually CGI), and the spot tells the most straightforward of stories—dramatizing the buildup of "stuff" as stressful and unnecessary, and resolving with the clay everyman packaging hope, help and compassion into a red box and making a real difference to someone's life. Topping it off is a strong voiceover from Ted Danson.

A second spot is linked to New Year's resolutions—urging viewers to resolve to donate to the Red Cross cause in 2012. Naturally, there's also a social component, with the Red Cross Facebook page devoted to the 2011 Holiday Giving Catalog, where you can buy everything from hot meals to blankets to vaccinations to military comfort kits. On Twitter, the Red Cross is using the #perfectgift hashtag to spread the word. For every #perfectgift tweet made, Craigslist's Craig Newmark is donating $1 to the Red Cross, up to $10,000.

opposite effect on the target

2011-12-18T21:07:00.000-08:00

There's so much anti-drug advertising out there. And so much of it, in so many ways, actually makes people want to take drugs. Not all such efforts are ineffectual, but some are truly ridiculous, and surely have the opposite effect on the target than what was intended.

Smirnoff Get fluffed and whipped

2011-12-15T20:29:00.000-08:00

From "bubblegum" to "cupcake," there seem to be an infinite number of dessert-flavored vodkas on the market, much of which is probably being ingested by freshman girls whose interests include Forever 21 and their "besties." But this holiday season, Smirnoff wants you to know that its sugary spirits are way less juvenile and a lot more sexy.

To promote Smirnoff's newest vodka products, "Fluffed" (as in marshmallow) and "Whipped" (like the cream), JWT New York brought in celebrity photographer and director David LaChapelle to try to convince us that candy-coated flavors aren't just for your underage cousin. The resulting spot, starring model-slash-actress Amber Rose (of "Kanye West's ex-girlfriend" and "Wiz Khalifa's current girlfriend" fame), is the definition of a hot mess.

The premise here is that Fluffed is all cool and fun, while Whipped is edgy and erotic. (What makes whipped cream any more badass than marshmallow fluff is a mystery to me.) To illustrate the difference between the two highly dissimilar flavors, Rose goes from one diabetes-inducing fantasy to another. "I might choose Fluffed," says the enigmatic star, as she cavorts in a marshmallow-y dream, before hopping in a limo to board her private jet. "Then again, I might choose Whipped," she coos, as golden canisters of aerated cream are squirted into women's open mouths. (In case you're still confused about what's what, here's a quick primer: Dance music, the color blue, and Poodles—all marshmallow fluff. Head banging, hard rock, and Doberman Pinschers—that's whipped cream. It makes total sense.)

By the end of this crazy spot, you're probably very confused and/or having flashbacks to Tommy Lee Jones's debauched Two-Face lair from the sixth-best Batman movie of the modern era, Batman Forever. (I am, at least.) Either way, in the words of Amber Rose, "Vodka never felt this good." Or this nauseating.

Don't Text & Drive

2011-12-14T20:19:00.000-08:00

Nothing quite spoils the holidays like crashing through the windshield of your car because you were texting behind the wheel. Dummy. This PSA from Allstate from Leo Burnett—made in 2010 but driving into theaters this holiday—takes a slow and agonizing look at what could happen when drivers are distracted by gadgets and can't wait to respond to those emails until they're no longer operating heavy machinery. Lest you think they're making too big a deal of this phenomenon, the Department of Transportation says that 6,000 people now die each year, and 500,000 more are seriously injured, because of texting and driving. The spots will be airing on some 14,400 movie screens in a deal with theater ad network Screenvision. That will inevitably pair it with the self-proclaimed "feel-bad movie of the season," The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Might need some mood elevators with your Milk Duds.

Coffee Branding

2011-12-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

I spotted this on a facebook profile so I don’t know whether it’s taken at Audi’s headquarters or another place. What is sure though is this brew of capuccino has a tiny but cool detail for spreading the brand and making it stand out. (It has a little blemish but anyway…)

This would also work nicely for other “simpler” logos like McDonald’s, Apple, etc. even though Starbucks should probably bring it to the masses :)

Drink Less, Don't Get Raped Ad

2011-12-12T20:38:00.000-08:00

Pennsylvania's Liquor Control Commission, a real hip crowd if ever there was one, has pulled one of its ads warning about the link between drinking and rape after it was roundly criticized for victim-blaming. While some, including the commission itself, are still defending the ad's content, critics says the easy association between rape and drinking puts too much responsibility on the victim. "Rape is not just a bad thing that happens to someone after drinking too much," says Jezebel blogger Erin Gloria Ryan. "It's a deliberate act on the part of the rapist . . . the sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we'll be rid of stupid, finger-wagging ads like these." Fair enough, although I think the real lesson here is to remember to take a copy of this infographic with you to the office holiday party. See the full ad after the jump.

A cat yodels 'Jingle Bells' - walmart

2011-12-12T02:28:00.000-08:00

Animals are forced to do lots of humiliating things in the name of holiday cheer. In particular, advertisers like to make them sing "Jingle Bells." Earlier this week, we saw the Brooks Brothers lambs perform a charming little version. Now, Walmart delivers the opposite—a terrifying rendition by a freaky cat yodeling with a CGI mouth.

The video, from The Martin Agency—Walmart's lead shop, which was recently named its digital agency as well—is basically what you would get if you fed the Quiznos Spongmonkeys (also created by Martin, you'll remember) through the John St. catvertising grinder. Designed to appall, it does just that. It's nearing 100,000 views on YouTube in just a couple of days, and the comments are uniformly flabbergasted—for better or worse. (The top-rated comment is unprintable here, but it involves asking, in a colorful turn of phrase, what just happened.)

Walmart is going all off-kilter with its digital campaigns this season, having already introduced Frank the Talking Fruitcake in a series of videos. The yodeling cat might seem like a one-off, but in fact Martin is working on a whole new commercial based around the creature, due about a week from now. As you wait anxiously for that day to arrive, you can practice singing along with the cat. The yodel-ified lyrics are on the YouTube page.

the circus - creative and development solutions for your business

2011-12-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

Agency: The Circus
Client: D.A.R Jewellery, INDIA
Director: Sreenagh Ramesh Chandran
Customer Relations: Riyaz Ahamed
Animation & visualizing : Sivaprasad Velayudhan
Photography: Sathish
Sound: Ravi
Producers: The Circus
Published: August 2010

the circus - creative and development solutions for your business

2011-11-29T21:32:00.000-08:00

Agency: The Circus
Client: Mayan Builders, INDIA
Director: Sreenagh Ramesh Chandran
Customer Relations: Riyaz Ahamed
Animation & visualizing : Sivaprasad Velayudhan
Photography: Sathish
Sound: Kannan
Producers: The Circus
Published: December 2010

the circus - creative and development solutions for your business

2011-11-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

Agency: The Circus
Client: Suman Jewellery, India
Director: Sreenagh Ramesh Chandran
Customer Relations: Riyaz Ahamed
Animator: Sivaprasad Velayudhan
Art Director: Ramesh
Photography: Sathish
Sound: Kannan
Producers: The Circus
Published: October 2011

Honest Logos

2011-11-24T20:39:00.000-08:00

An idea for a series with honest logos, revealing the actual content of the company, what they really should be called. Some are cheap, some might be a bit funny, some will maybe be brilliant. I don't know.

Macy's Justin Bieber Black Friday Ad Has Everybody Screaming

2011-11-23T20:39:00.000-08:00

Holiday-sale commercials are usually inane. Alas, mega retailers and their ad creatives seem to have figured out this year that Internet tween sensations can help them reach new, mind-numbing lows. First, there was Kohl's relentlessly dumb rendition of Rebecca Black's "Friday." Now, Macy's wants to make your ears bleed with this ad from JWT New York starring Justin Bieber—and a bunch of grown men screeching like 13-year-old girls. "Yo, I'm going to Macy's Black Friday Sale," intones a characteristically well-preened Biebs as he sets out for the store, setting off a string of piercing, inappropriate screams along the way. All the more reason to stay far, far away. And with turkeys like these flocking the airwaves, everyone may as well have indulged PETA and spared the real birds—we'll be comatose by Thanksgiving anyway.

simply the best_____apple

2011-11-22T20:47:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest commercial for Apple's iPad 2 from TBWA\Media Arts Lab, and the first since Steve Jobs died in October. It continues the campaign's big-picture positioning of the device—i.e., how it fits into your real life, not your virtual one. The new spot is called "Love," and it plays up the iPad as a co-conspirator in your pursuit of whatever you're passionate about. It's the sixth ad in the series. Earlier spots outlined the device's philosophy ("We Believe") and versatility ("If You Asked"), how it's revolutionary ("Now") yet still familiar ("We'll Always"), and how it can be a great teaching tool ("Learn"). See all the other spots after the jump.

'Smell better than yourself' - Old Spice

2011-11-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the second commercial (following the "Sea Captain" one) in Wieden + Kennedy's new "Smell better than yourself" campaign for Old Spice. It features a chubby guy in a locker room who takes a whiff of Old Spice Swagger—and suddenly starts literally falling to pieces. He cracks apart like porcelain, with bits of his unmanly husk shattering on the floor, revealing a super manly biker dude inside. The whole locker room falls away, too, as the hot tub next to him transforms into a gigantic sidecar—with its pair of occupants making humorous metamorphoses as well. The sight gags here, while pretty standard for an Old Spice spot, nonetheless feel fresh and funny. "The scents of Old Spice turn embarrassingly normal guys into face model champions who smell like adventure and fine cutlery," says the YouTube description.

Last-Minute Shoppers Like Luxury Brands?

2011-11-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

Study compares behavior of early-bird and 11th-hour consumers By Ki Mae Heussner

Don’t be too hard on the last minute shoppers in your life. In fact, you should probably encourage their procrastination: New data suggest last minute shoppers just might end up giving the most expensive gifts.
Anticipating the holiday shopping mania, consumer Internet company Meebo mined its data and ran a study of more than 2,000 shoppers (using its Mindset Media technology) to look at how personality traits could determine consumer preferences.

They found that beyond being “irresponsible,” “spontaneous,” and “fanciful," last minute shoppers were 45 percent more likely than regular shoppers to purchase luxury brands and 27 percent more likely to plan to spend more on holiday shopping this year than last year.

Early bird shoppers, on the other hand, are “super responsible,” “risk averse” and more likely to “think of others." But they are a third (34 percent) more likely to say they’re bargain hunters and 30 percent more likely to use coupons.

Shoppers who were neither early birds nor last minute laggards were two-thirds (65 percent) more likely to be a careful spender, Meebo said.

Meebo president Martin Green says that for brand advertisers, demographic data is insufficient for web targeting because it doesn’t provide insight into purchase intent and context.

“Rather your taste and personality traits are the big determinants of whether you buy Coke or Pepsi or a BMW or an Audi,” he says.

Those choices aren’t always either/or scenarios. But psychographic information still provides a deeper window into the kinds of purchases consumers are likely to make.

To divine consumer preferences by personality trait, says Green, Meebo used data from its 250 million monthly unique users as well as surveys from its Mindset Media research arm.

“We formed patterns around people and what their personality traits are. Are they extroverted, introverted, more likely to be creative or pragmatic?” he says. “And then we associated those traits with validated brand preferences and behavioral data.”

Ah, perfume commercials...

2011-10-23T21:48:00.000-07:00

Ah, perfume commercials. The beautiful women, the graceful music, the complete lack of logic . . . what's not to love? As the rest of the advertising industry moves forward, scent-inspired ads have stubbornly remained the same. Whether they show an anorexic model writhing around on concrete for Calvin Klein or a French ingénue floating about in a black dress for Chanel, they've all been done before, and they always seem to border on complete parody. Dolce & Gabbana's new, grandly self-indulgent "film" for The One certainly does.

"Oh, I love Italy," our "eternal diva" tells her unseen interviewer, cameras flashing in her face. "I had an Italian boyfriend once. His mother broke up with me. . . . How do I know it was a lie? Because I read it in your newspaper. . . . Music inspires me. Art inspires me. And so does the wind." And on and on and on it goes, until she reveals the precious bottle of golden liquid, proclaiming, "Oh, I'm not looking for a million things, just that one perfect thing: Love. That's the one." Try not to snicker.

Luckily, you can tune out the drone of clichés, because the source is none other than Scarlett Johansson, who, with her over-teased '50s hair and coyly covered-up décolletage, is still impossibly, distractingly exquisite. Even as she recites a series of phrases that make us cringe, we can't help but marvel at her radiant self. And in a "film" that's apparently supposed to celebrate the eternal power of the Hollywood diva, isn't that the point?

There's no way around the fact that almost all perfume commercials, including this one, are, at their core, completely ridiculous. But they're also a fantasy, an attempt to embody the idea of the scent, which in this case, seems to be a classic, luxurious sort of glamour. (Not that I'd have any clue what that smells like. Expensive hairspray?) And in that sense, it works—as long as we can suspend our better judgment. Because listening to Johanssen claim, "I'm not an actress, I just play one in the movies," without a major eye-roll, takes some serious self-control.

The auto brand celebrates its 100th birthday

2011-10-20T21:35:00.000-07:00

On Nov. 3, General Motors' Chevrolet brand will reach a major milestone—its 100th birthday. What better way to celebrate than by taking a drive down memory lane?

Chevy debuted its new 60-second "Then and Now" spot, from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners and Park Pictures director Lance Acord, on Wednesday night during Game 1 of the World Series—a logical placement, given the brand's long association with the sport and its deep-rooted sense of Americana. The spot is fairly simple. It opens with a soulful rendition of "America the Beautiful," which plays throughout, and attempts to connect today's viewer to the past through vintage photos of Chevrolet vehicles held up over modern-day footage of those very same locations. (As many have pointed out, it's a technique that's been celebrated on a website called Dear Photograph for some time now.) The ad concludes with a male voiceover: "For the first 100 years and for the generations to come, thanks for making us apart of your life." Then comes the brand logo and tagline, amended with a date: "Chevy runs deep. Since 1911."

"Of all car brands, Chevrolet is the most eternal," said Jeff Goodby. "Chevy suggests our past, our present, and our future as individuals and families. Even if you've never owned one, you know the feeling." Of course, getting people to own one is the whole point of the campaign—no matter how soft the sell. The ad definitely hits a nerve and does make you feel a bit more American. Let's see if it moves Camaros.

100 percent insect-powered

2011-10-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Qualcomm goes even smaller—getting insects, spiders and scorpions to power its latest smartphones.
The company's latest online video, "Bug Circus Generator," created by the Denizen Company, shows just that—a customized miniature bug circus that generates power to charge a Qualcomm cell phone. You've got a praying mantis riding a unicycle, a tarantula on a treadmill, Darkling beetles balanced on Ping-Pong balls, and a scorpion walking the "Wheel of Death." (It's a wonder no one got bitten or stung.) Denizen took the whimsical job seriously, bringing in an electrical engineering consultant to accurately calculate the real-world amps the insects would generate, and what would be required to actually power the phone. The result, says the agency, is a functional bug-circus generator that is scientifically sound—emphasizing the super-high energy efficiency of Qualcomm's Snapdragon mobile processor technology.

The inspiration is the flea circus—a classic circus sideshow attraction in which fleas perform acts in a tiny house. "Taking a bizarre slant on that concept shows that Snapdragon can be powered on virtually nothing," says Denizen co-founder Joseph Matsushima.

"No bugs were harmed in the process," the video says at the end. So, presumably they needed only one take to shoot that beetle out of the cannon through the flaming ring of fire. Hopefully it was paid—or at least fed—well.

Company of Heroes

2011-10-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

Gaming has become a family affair in recent years, mostly thanks to motion control. But PlayStation wanted to reconnect with the hardcore gamer. Deutsch proposed a grand spot that would bring 15 years of game characters together and celebrate their exploits—feats accomplished, of course, by the gamer who controls them. The two-minute live-action ad shows 25 characters, many rendered in the flesh for the first time, gathered in an all-species-welcome saloon like an upscale Star Wars cantina. They reverently relate stories of their darkest hour, when a mysterious "Michael" came to their aid. "To Michael!" they all shout at the end, as the innkeeper makes the big reveal—a framed photo of a kid with a PS3 controller. It's a more emotional appeal than the past two years of PS3 ads, which focused on product features with the line "It only does everything." "We wanted to do a spot that was really big and spoke to gamers in their own language," says Deutsch group creative director Jason Elm. "About once a decade, somebody nails that. We wanted to do that for the PS3."

Sometimes a sauna isn't just a sauna

2011-10-18T00:48:00.000-07:00

Here's the latest commercial from cheeky British eyewear brand Specsavers. In it, a blind-as-a-bat man enjoys a nice relaxing time in the hotel sauna—before everything suddenly goes to pot. Gordon Ramsay makes an appearance, but for once is left speechless. Specsavers has a cult following in the U.K. thanks to its comical spots, having pioneered sperm spectacles and also done an amusing spoof of Lynx's "Billions" ad.

British Airways - Our advert 2011

2011-10-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Twinings Another unknown indie singer

2011-10-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

Music is so key to so many commercials these days—it's often literally the centerpiece. When it comes to indie artists, there's a formula to it. Find an undiscovered singer with a single striking track, build a spot around it, and partner with the artist for promotions. The singer gets exposure; the brand gets a measure of authenticity and coolness.

Target's been doing it. Lowe's just started as well. And here's a good example from the U.K.—the new 60-second commercial for Twinings tea from AMV BBDO, Psyop, Smuggler, and most notably, the young unknown singer Charlene Soraia, whose new cover of the Calling's 2001 song "Wherever You Will Go" serves as the soundtrack. The spot shows a woman rowing on a stormy ocean, a metaphor for her hectic life. She's completely at sea, and things are looking grim—she loses one oar, then the other. But thankfully, Twinings intervenes. Or at least, some sea-foam birds do—carrying her rowboat out of the roiling surf and toward a calm shore, where the woman encounters a second, mellower version of herself on the sand. They embrace. "Twinings gets you back to you," says the copy.

The Psyop animation, led by creative director Kylie Matulick, is lovely and ethereal, almost watercolor like. But it's Soraia's track that stands out the most. It's rising in the U.K. charts entirely thanks to the ad; the brand is promoting sales of the song on iTunes; and Soraia is pushing the collaboration on her website. (Her debut album will be out next month.) Twinings even recorded a video of Soraia singing the song in the studio (see below).

A wonderful, authentic collaboration, right? Well, maybe. On Facebook, Soraia is already moderating expectations. "Glad you like the stuff," she writes to one fan. "My actual music is kinda different to the single thats out... cos... thats from an advert that i did for twinings... but... im glad you like it still... cos its my voice.. but... yknow...... im predominantly a guitarist really." In other words, the commercial is OK. But for some "actual music," come and see a show.

Müller

2011-10-13T21:55:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you combine robots, '80s pop-culture icons, and giant vats of yogurt in an epic battle? The latest commercial from Müller, Britain's "most popular chilled pot dessert brand." (Sounds appetizing, right?) As part of the "Wünderful Stuff" campaign, its biggest-ever marketing push (which includes £20 million in integrated advertising), the company enlisted TBWA\London to create a commercial that premiered during the first round of The X Factor's live finals. They managed to get the rights to a slew of nostalgic characters, and this, it appears, was the result.

The spot opens with KITT, the talking car from Knight Rider, swinging into a parking spot, only to get a ticket from a traffic cop. This is when things start to get freaky (which isn't to say a talking car is exactly normal). The Müller dairy truck in front of KITT transforms into a giant round robot with a terrifying, red, Joker-esque mouth, and proceeds to gobble up the cop and spit him out as … Yogi Bear. Now, as Yogi walks off into a crowd of working stiffs, giant berries begin flying from the sky, hitting the people below and turning them into Mr. Men characters (you remember the books). Soon, a fleet of glowing unicorns pulling Müller containers are racing down the street, as spoons catapult fruit at more unsuspecting people. This is followed by another inexplicable episode involving a tiny Tudor house about to be hit by a wrecking ball, which is saved by the Hanna-Barbera dog Muttley wielding a super-sized rice-pudding container.

Just when all looks safe (apart from the mayhem of innocent people being turned into cartoon characters), a menacing storm approaches. But it's no match for a set of magical yogurt hands that emerge from yet another Müller tub, which destroy the clouds and turn them into smiling rainbows. The city streets, which are now completely human-free, rejoice beneath.

According to Dedé Laurentino, executive creative director at TBWA\London, the ad is supposed to "remind us to stir a bit of wonder in our days, and beat the mundane out of our lives." But it seems considerably more like the product of a rather intense drug trip gone wrong (there's nothing fun about that nightmarish, people-eating robot). The spot might "stir a bit of wonder" in some otherwise confused adults, but it also could instill a serious fear of fresh fruit in their children.

Canal+

2011-10-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

Bears are usually just comic props in commercials. Not so in this wonderful, hilarious spot for the French movie channel Canal+ by Paris ad agency BETC Euro RSCG.

Here, the bear runs the show—as the director of a medieval action film. The spot opens with a hectic, violent scene from the film itself. But soon, the bear—his name is Paul Bearman—stops the action and strolls out on to the set to dispense advice on everything from the special effects to the acting. The spot then progresses as a mockumentary, with the bear explaining how he developed his passion for cinema. It turns out he's the prototypical Hollywood director—a bit of douchebag, a bit of a diva, but really a true Renaissance bear when it comes to filmmaking. (He even conducts the orchestra when they record the score.) The only thing that's a little weird is that he appears extraordinarily thin, and his whole underside has a taxidermied, rug-like appearance. This is all explained in the great visual punch line at the end of the spot.

"The more you love Canal+, the more you love cinema," says the onscreen line at the end. Likewise, the more you watch the spot, the more you love Canal+. (Note: The agency has also done some nice press materials, including a very funny interview with Mr. Bearman. Check out that Q&A below the spot itself. Creative credits are below that.)

A woman with cancer regains her hair, and her hope, in a quietly magical ad

2011-10-11T22:18:00.000-07:00

GENESIS: The University of Oklahoma wanted to position its new cancer center as the best in the region with a message of hope. Milwaukee agency BVK didn't want a maudlin ad full of hand holding, hugs, and worried children. "How do we do another spot about hope that feels fresh?" asks creative director Mike Holicek. They chose to focus on the hair loss that comes with chemotherapy—an often traumatic experience for women, who feel they are losing their femininity. Their 60-second spot flips that script: It opens with a woman at her lowest point, alone at dawn, head bald, a tear falling down her cheek. Then, as she goes about her morning routine, her hair grows back, little by little, scene by scene, until she has a full head of hair. The change is so gradual that there's a sudden moment of recognition when the viewer realizes what is happening—a spark of delight that hints at the longer glow of hope the client can provide.

COPYWRITING: The ad is understated and uncomplicated—ordinary domestic scenes with "little moments of real life that are not spectacular," says director Rafael Fernandez. The woman showers, dresses, and makes a sandwich for her daughter. "It's the mother's struggle, it's her moment," explains BVK executive creative director Rich Kohnke. The action takes place over several months, but it's shot as though it were a single morning—which makes the healing process feel quietly magical. At the end, a female voiceover says: "When you have every resource for beating cancer, you have every reason for hope. Pioneering research and treatments from the new cancer center at OU Medicine. Another level of medicine." On-screen copy adds: "Oklahoma's only comprehensive cancer center," followed by the OU Medicine logo and Web address.

ART DIRECTION: The woman's hair is the main visual motif. The agency considered using CGI to show the hair growing continuously. That felt over the top. Instead, Fernandez shot everything in camera. He filmed the scenes in reverse order, and had the actress cut her hair between each one—seven trims in all. The spot begins in gloomy dark blues, and then brightens—but not excessively. "We wanted to stay within the same universe and just come to the brighter version of that world," says Fernandez.

FILMING: The ad was shot in a single day in a house in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles. The camerawork is subtle and elegant. "Most of the shots have just a little bit of floating to them," says Fernandez. "It has that feeling that you're witnessing these scenes as a person there."

TALENT: The actress, Heather Ann Smith, was able to transition from despair to measured hope with simple movements and gestures. For the first scene (the last one shot), Fernandez helped to get Smith in the mind-set by narrating a piece of text he had written about "what I thought would go through someone's mind who is faced with a situation where the hopes and dreams of their life may never come to fruition." Shaving one's head is a drastic move for an actress, but after shooting, Smith landed a role on Torchwood that called for short hair. She also had the support of her fiancé, even though their wedding was approaching.

SOUND: The composer, Bryan Mir, came up with a Spanish-flavored acoustic-guitar track that the creatives felt, against all odds, fit perfectly. The client hated it. They went with an acoustic guitar track that was more toned down.

MEDIA: Broadcast and cable across Oklahoma and into neighboring states, where there aren't other major medical centers.

Mitsubishi: The brand starts an electric-car revolution

2011-10-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

Normal, Ill., is one of those American towns—like Intercourse, Pa., or Goobertown, Ariz.—that's known mostly for its goofy name. But unlike many oddly named places, Normal has the added authenticity of largely living up to its name. Sitting inconspicuously amid the corn fields of Illinois and projecting a stubborn Midwestern unpretentiousness, it is indeed one of the most ordinary-seeming places around.

All the better for a marketer to swoop in and remake it in its own image! That's the somewhat exploitative but mostly well-meaning idea behind 180LA's new campaign for the Mitsubishi i electric car. (By the way, you couldn't come up with a brand name that's more invisible in print than "i," which handicaps this vehicle at the starting line.) Mitsubishi operates a manufacturing plant in Normal, so it has a bit of an excuse to use the town like this. It has promised to make 1,000 of the new vehicles—out of 15,000 being made in the first batch—available to the town's residents. (They have to pay for them, but they skip the waiting list.) The automaker is also helping to install 30 high-speed Level 3 electric quick charge "refueling" stations in town. All of which is designed to turn Normal into "the new Normal"—i.e., a model electric vehicle (EV) community—which it's documenting in a series of folksy commercials from 180.

It may seem like just a play on words, but the marketer hopes to truly make Normal seem revolutionary. "Normal EVTown is a community that is embracing new technology in an environmentally sound way," says Mayor Chris Koos, who came up with the idea after visiting Mitsubishi executives. "It is a way of imagining the future, and Normal is that future." (Koos has been trying, so far unsuccessfully, to get Mitsubishi to actually make the new cars at its Normal plant.) William Gelner, executive creative director at 180LA, adds, "Normal challenges the preconceptions of where innovation is coming from today. What if it's not coming from the coasts, but from somewhere in the middle of America. Maybe it's not coming from the large automakers, but from Mitsubishi."

The work has a Hal-Riney-era Saturn vibe—it's certainly a different kind of car, and Mitsubishi wants to be seen as a different kind of company. The documentary style of the spots never drags (which is a rarity in this kind of work), and the residents profiled are pleasantly goofy and guileless, giving the whole project a rustic charm—a nice counterpoint to the futuristic vehicles and forward-thinking green message. Also, the real-world nature of the campaign—a particularly munificent gesture in a time of recession, when gas prices are sky high—clearly has the potential for a load of positive press (or negative press, of course, if something goes wrong). It's ambitious and feels like good timing.

And who knows, maybe Mitsubishi could help some of America's other strangely named locales. It could straighten out Oblong, Ill., for one.

John Jameson, the founder of his namesake Irish whiskey

2011-10-10T00:49:00.000-07:00

John Jameson, the founder of his namesake Irish whiskey, has already proven himself a foolhardy, if courageous, devotee of his drink, willing to brave any danger to ensure not a drop goes to waste.

Lest any doubt remains, this new ad—the third in a consistently entertaining series from TBWA\Chiat\Day mythicizing the brand's founder—cements the fact that Jameson's rash actions aren't some byproduct of senility. In the ad, a younger Jameson and his more-lush hair take on the "Hawk of Achill," a gluttonous, oversized fowl with an penchant for terrorizing the island's inhabitants and, worse, snatching Jameson's whiskey. After stowing away in one of his own barrels, Jameson finds himself carried off to the bird's nest. He returns, of course, with his beloved liquor and an understandably charmed stonemason's daughter, another victim of the beast's thievery. Presuming he's a virtuous man, this is perhaps the same redhead he kisses farewell during a later adventure (presented in an earlier spot), before jumping off the edge of a ship to rescue another wayward barrel.

Either way, he's fair, killing the hawk and serving it up—in a stroke of comedic justice—as a feast for townspeople. Alongside, of course, lots of Jameson's whiskey.

we will always remember you...through your work

2011-10-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

"Crazy Ones," the iconic Apple commercial by TBWA\Chiat\Day from the "Think different" campaign of the late 1990s, was always, in a way, about Steve Jobs. Voiced by Richard Dreyfuss, it celebrated "the rebels, the troublemakers, the ones who see things differently" and would therefore change the world. The images showed everyone from John Lennon to Gandhi, but the inference was that Apple's visionary leader was one these remarkable souls. We've now added him to the end of the "Crazy Ones" spot—a place he rightfully earned, even if he would never have come right out and said so. Jobs died Wednesday at age 56.

Intelligent Design : Polyvore creates a monthly magazine

2011-10-03T21:56:00.000-07:00

It’s hard to believe that a new-ish, niche-y social network could succeed in a Facebook world.
But Polyvore, a website where users make digital collages of clothing and accessories, has amassed 11 million loyal users, many of whom return each day—and spend an average of eight minutes a visit. For apparel industry execs, it’s an engagement dream. Users interact with Polyvore’s database of 42 million articles of clothing; the items are clearly identified by brand name; and they all link to shopping sites.

Polyvore capitalizes on its humming community by selling ad space and paid promotions of products, which typically see a boost of 5 million to 10 million impressions, says Lester Lee, the company’s head of business development. But Polyvore has something even more precious than eyeballs. It has a giant instant focus group at its disposal, and the data it spins out is highly sought after. The site offers rag trade players valuable engagement analytics on everything from apparel categories (for example, shoes) to individual brands (say, Yves Saint Laurent) to specific products (Yves Saint Laurent’s Tribute sandal garnered 227,114 impressions in August). To further capitalize on that information trove, Polyvore last month launched a sleek monthly analytics magazine called Intelligence Report. Free for retailers, brands, and editors, the publication aims to share its wealth of engagement data, including top brands (last month, Wet Seal), top e-commerce destinations (HM.com), top trends (capes…rejoice super heros and magicians), and top products (Miu Miu’s velvet bow bootie).

More importantly, Polyvore is distributing the data in a way the apparel industry is accustomed to digesting its news, with pretty pictures in a glossy print format. “There was something interesting about doing it in print with a high production quality,” Lee says. “We would love every agency to have it on their coffee table.”
While Intelligence Report isn’t a direct play for new revenue for the VC-backed startup—the monthly is free and does not run ad pages—it is a way to keep info-hungry retail buyers plugged into trends, highlight up-and-coming designers for brands, and give apparel marketers an instant idea of which items resonate with Polyvore’s growing audience.
Oh, and it’s a gentle little reminder to its pool of potential advertisers: Polyvore’s audience is available for the buying.

Ireland Bans Powerful Child-Abuse Ad

2011-10-02T22:07:00.000-07:00

Ireland's advertising watchdog has made itself a laughingstock—except nobody's laughing—by banning an anti-child-abuse PSA that was powerful enough to get noticed worldwide. The brutal spot by Ogilvy Dublin, which covered at length here, shows a boy being beaten up while still articulating, in grown-up language, a manifesto for children's rights. After getting 13 complaints, the country's Advertising Standards Authority has banned the spot from all "Irish media" (this does not include YouTube) because it supposedly breaches gender-equality rules. "Complainants objected to the advertisement on the basis that it was unbalanced in its treatment of the subject of abuse in the home. The advertisement only depicted a male as being the aggressor, and the complainants considered this to be unbalanced," the ASA ruled, according to Adland. The stupidity of such a ruling is self-evident. It means you couldn't dramatize abuse without having both a man and a woman whaling on the kid at once—which would be weird and completely shift the focus of the ad from the abused to the abusers. The Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which produced the ad, is understandably flabbergasted and is in the ludicrous position of having to explain what should be common sense. "The video makes no reference to physical abuse being carried out exclusively by either men or women or indeed by fathers or mothers," it writes. "This advertisement does not focus on the adult; its focus is entirely on the child. Any attempt to focus on whether the adult is a male or female is clearly missing the point and purpose of the ad in the first instance." The ISPCC is appealing the ruling.

Fedex - Zombie

2011-09-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

Like it or not, there's life in the undead yet.

Zombies are refusing to go quietly in pop culture, and so, of course, the same is true in advertising. In this new FedEx commercial from the Philippines, the savages are closing in on a convenience store, where some friends are holed up, waiting for a delivery that will supposedly help one of them, who's been bitten. In classic panic mode, they're bickering with each other when suddenly there's a rattling at the back door. What could it be?! A horrible stinking corpse come to gnaw on your gray matter? Of course, it's just the FedEx man, blissfully oblivious to the shuffling pandemonium outside and apparently privy to all secret convenience-store entrances. And he's brought the anti-virus with him! So, they can treat the pale, shivering guy with it—and if that doesn't work, they can install it on the nearest computer and really clean out that hard drive.

Zombie ads are all about the execution. The gorier and grosser, the better. A recent highlight was TBWA's Call of Duty: Black Ops Rezurrection spot—cinematic in its disgustingness. This FedEx spot is pretty good, too. Just don't try this anti-virus stuff at home. In the event of an actual zombie bite, sorry, but that leg will have to come off.

All new audi A6 avant

2011-09-29T22:43:00.000-07:00

The hummingbird fascinates advertisers because it's a marvel of engineering. It's no surprise when the creature turns up in ads for cutting-edge technology. We saw this back in 2009 with the colorful Samsung hummingbird spot introducing the LED Series 7 as "a whole new species of television." Now, Audi spreads its wings and flies with the A6 Avant spot below, from BBH London, in which a metal hummingbird—complete with the distinctive Audi grill for a breast and LED-shaped eyes—flits nimbly around a surreal CGI world of trees, flowers and fauna made from gas pumps, road signs and traffic cones.
The point is that the A6 Avant was built with "Audi ultra-lightweight technology." Being birdlike, it is thus agile and efficient. The metaphor works OK, even if it's a little odd to use flying machines to symbolize driving ones. The fairy-tale world is pleasantly loopy, brought to life by Knucklehead director Daniel Barber (an Oscar nominee in 2008 for his short film The Tonto Woman) along with Tom Bussell at The Mill. The giant bumblebee trucks, in particular, are a nice touch.

But despite the bright colors in many scenes, the visuals are actually quite cold, and lend a feeling of aloofness, especially when paired with the operatic music—Johann Strauss's "Open Road, Open Sky," as sung by American baritone John Charles Thomas. Compare it to the folksy charm of Honda's "Grrr," with its glowing color palettes and whistling, sing-song music—and, yes, its pair of hummingbirds, who get the honor of closing out the spot.

"We wanted to show that the car was light, fuel efficient but maneuverable and fun to drive," says Kevin Stark, creative director at BBH. They did an admirable job on all fronts—except it could be a little more fun.

Volkswagen Drivers of the 2012 Beetle

2011-09-28T01:01:00.000-07:00

For decades, sightings of Volkswagen Beetles have prompted children and adolescents to stop, scream, and punch their nearest friend.

In new work that introduces the latest, redesigned iteration of the classic model, Deutsch/LA posits a calmer, more adult alternative to Punch Buggy. The goal of the game: Upon spotting a Beetle, demand a high five from the driver. Get enough people playing, and he'll be so busy slapping hands that he'll have a hard time actually getting anywhere in his car.

The spot below follows one such young man as he attempts to go about his daily business, only to find himself beset by well-wishers reaching out to congratulate him, ostensibly for being behind the wheel of such a totally cool car. While cruising the city and stopped at red lights and in parking lots, the surprisingly patient driver fields high fives from a varied cast of characters—the looming truck driver, the friendly construction worker, the cop on horseback, the cheerful little girl, the well-coordinated dog, and of course, the obligatory pretty woman. Then, as the commercial comes to a close, the protagonist rounds the corner to find himself, to his dismay, facing a cavalcade of spandex-clad bicyclists. Still, he acquiesces.

The ad's feel-good, if not particularly groundbreaking, message, boiled down: Buy this, and everyone will want to be your friend. "That's the power of German engineering," reads the tagline. Listen too closely to the verse lyrics on the mostly perfect soundtrack—Shirley Ellis' 1960s hit "The Clapping Song"—and you might wonder what vice-prone animals going to heaven in a rowboat has to do with selling VWs. Meanwhile, Friendly's latest campaign is also all about high fives, promising to hand out a trillion of them to promote its "High Five" value menu. Maybe all of the buzz around Contagion has made us more paranoid than usual, but running around rubbing palms with strangers doesn't seem like the best way to avoid a global epidemic.

Diet Pepsi Commercial Starring Sofia Vergara and David Beckham

2011-09-26T21:55:00.000-07:00

the god of hamburgers

2011-09-20T22:23:00.000-07:00

Funny Mercedes Car Commercial

2011-09-20T01:22:00.001-07:00

Freakiest ads_Luftal

2011-09-19T00:31:00.000-07:00

FORTNIGHT LINGERIE commercial : awesome!!!

2011-09-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

SoBe Gives Kate Upton's Cleavage Its Own Commercial

2011-09-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

Just five months after being named Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Rookie of the Year, 19-year-old Kate Upton is already proving that she's more than just a bountiful bikini filler. Oh wait, no, that's still all she's really doing as star of the new SoBe ad, in which a guy is challenged not to "break the horizon." (You can attempt the challenge yourself on SoBe's site.) Recently teased on Pandora, the attention-grabbing national ad is likely to give Upton a bit more name recognition among groups other than frat boys, mechanics, and aficionados of "The Dougie."

Top 10 Global Brands

2011-09-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

1. Coca-Cola
2. Microsoft
3. IBM
4. General Electric
5. Intel
6. Nokia
7. Disney
8. McDonald’s
9. Toyota
10. Marlboro

Nokia, the first european company in the list is on 6th place. The german car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz comes in as 11th. Where’s Red Bull

Branding as Art – The Fake Prada Store

2011-09-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

Artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset recently unveiled their newest sculpture, entitled Prada Marfa. The work is located on the outskirts of Valentine, Texas (pop. 120) near Marfa on desolate land with no other visible trace of civilization. It looks to be a luxury boutique with a display of Fall 2005 Prada shoes and bags. Yet, one cannot open the door. There is more information here and here.

Palmers Lingerie gets Facelift

2011-09-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

The Austrian traditional lingerie company Palmers has introduced its new branding, developed by the agency Desgrippes GobÃ©. According to official sources the brand wants to position itself in front of H&M, which has been taking away lingerie customers over the past year.

Palmers is eager to get back its younger customers, thus presenting their products in a fresher, more modern way while keeping focus on the better quality they’re producing. Next to changing its logo and redefining the traditional green tone, the company will renovate the shops’ interior design and assistants dress code. The cost of rebranding totals around 25 million Euro, says Palmers CEO Thomas Weber.

Supermodels like Cindy Crawford and Tricia Helfer have worked with Palmers in the past. It will be interesting to see whether Palmers sticks with the supermodel strategy or introduces more natural models like bathing lotion company Dove has done.

New Logo

Old Logo, till 2005

Old advertisement, extremely popular among men

Company History: Palmers
1914: first Palmers shop opens in Innsbruck, Austria
1936: first shop operated through franchise, after the 2nd world war there are 45 shops in Austria
1950-1992: expansion in Germany and around Europe
1992: Palmers Textil AG is founded to organise the activities of Palmers, their younger brand p2 and the shop line Gazelle

Artistic Advertising

2011-09-09T01:34:00.000-07:00

I just discovered the advertising series for Tesa’s Tesapack Ultra Strong and think it’s a great and creative campaign that fits the duct tape product perfectly. By using Tesapack illustrator Mark Khaisman carefully crafted unusual photo-like pictures for the advertisements commissioned by Jung von Matt. Look at the “making of” and you might imagine how long it took to complete them.

Tesapack Ultra Strong Advertisement - Boxer

Tesapack Ultra Strong Advertisement - Bodybuilder

Tesapack Ultra Strong Advertisement - Sumo

Making Of Tesapack Ultra Strong Advertisement

Smelly packaging shall enforce impulse purchases

2011-09-07T22:14:00.000-07:00

The scent of chocolate is now being incorporated into a new packaging method with hopes that it will induce impulse purchasing in would-be consumers. â€˜Chocolatine,â€™ as the product is being called, doesnâ€™t have any specific product ties yet. At this stage, itâ€™s basically a new style of glass capsule designed to emit fragrances and distribute them over long periods of time. The project combines technologies from Eastman Chemical Company, Eurofragance, Rotuba and EJ Pack.
Rotuba is responsible for the development of the jar lid that captures the fragrance of Chocolatine, which also has notes of vanilla and orange. In time, project developers say that the smelly packaging could be used to market products such as DVDs. Also, here’s a Chocolatine press release from EMG.

Thank God, You’re A Man

2011-09-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

A (girl) friend of mine sent this ad to me: What happens if someone asks if you want to have a drink with them? The ad makes fun of the obvious cliché but I found it funny and wanted to share it with you. Beer is easy, men are too. Women are different.

Get it on - Durex

2011-09-04T22:56:00.000-07:00

A strangely amusing and hilarious Durex condom commercial: plastic condom dogs getting it on. Good those condoms don’t squeak in real life. Durex condoms are the most popular brand of condoms in the UK and were trademarked in 1929 by the London Rubber Company.

Pepsi Redesign Gets Official

2011-09-01T22:00:00.001-07:00

Pepsi reached out to 25 “digital and social media influencers” with three separately-shipped packages. The first contained five cans representing logo design from 1898 to 1950. The second contained five cans from 1962 to 1998. The third contained the newly launched can design – six of them full of actual Pepsi. Also included was a short video which you can watch here.

Barclays_Video Advertisement

2011-08-30T21:37:00.000-07:00

KOOL Cigarettes With Wild Style Packaging

2011-08-29T22:30:00.001-07:00

To lure trendy and fashion-conscious Japanese KOOL cigarettes uses a very cool packaging. The box was developed specifically for distribution through Japan’s Circle K Sunkus convenience store chain and features a snake style design without any warnings like Europe and the USA have to display. “With packaging like this available, it’s no wonder that a lot of fashion-conscious Japanese youth continue to smoke.”, says Japan Marketing News.

IKEA Subway Advertising In Paris

2011-08-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

IKEA develops an interesting event in four important metro stations in Paris. Furniture collections are currently displayed in high-traffic spots, giving the potential customers a chance to interact with the brand by checking out the products. At the same time subway walls are filled with prints showcasing IKEA interiors.

Pizza Hut’s Delicious iPhone App – A Huge Success

2011-08-26T00:49:00.000-07:00

Just two weeks ago Pizza Hut launched an iPhone application (iTunes link) that has already been downloaded over 100,000 times the company informed TechCrunch.

The company dubbed the software as “killer app for your appetite” and it surely is a good example for a company producing a mobile phone application. Aside from the ability to order food, users are also able to collect coupons or play “Pizza Hut Racer” while waiting for their food to arrive. Check out the video showing a bit of the functionality.

Fieldvertising

2011-08-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

Here’s one for Switzerland’s airline group Swiss Air, created by Artfield (website in German), a company shaping agricultural land into art but also advertising. Using fields between 50.000 and 100.000 square meters the company can create characters of up to 100meters length while only using natural colors and elements.
Pretty crazy but hey, this works perfectly next to airports where people already see the advertising from far up.

visuals can do wonders...AWESOME!!!

2011-08-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

microsoft search engine in chinese

2011-08-19T22:43:00.000-07:00

Some of you might have heard of Microsoft’s new search engine which was being developed in stealth mode under the name of Kumo. Now that it’s nearly ready to “fight” Google’s dominance Microsoft announced the official name bing and will launch a $100 million marketing campaign to introduce the brand.

Too bad, bing means disease in Chinese

Does Microsoft not research the meaning before introducing a new brand, or, will Microsoft rebrand the product in China, or, did Microsoft never intent to market it their, or, does Microsoft not care…?

Will “I googled you” translate into “I banged / bonged you” ?

Official Logo

Brand Keyboard

2011-08-18T22:15:00.000-07:00

While this keyboard design concept by Ignacio Pilotto would be hard to use for untrained typists it shows the power of brands when replacing the letters to which the brand logos correspond. The repetition of logos used by the advertising psychology causes us to systematically recognize the brands, getting us to recognize the logos rather than our own alphabet.

BRANDS : Adidas – Burger king – Coca Cola – Disney – Ebay – Facebook - Google – Hp – Intel – J&b – Kodak – Lacoste – Mac donald´s – Nike – O2 – Pepsi – Quaker – Rolling stone – Shell – Twitter – Unilever – Virgin – WordPress – Xerox – You tube – Zippo – (GENIUS)

Sound Branding: Building A Sound Idendity

2011-08-17T23:39:00.000-07:00

An effective brand identity is commonly perceived as a good brand name and logo, trendy package design – dimensions which mainly concern visual senses. However, this common perception of branding is incomplete.
Human beings have five senses, so why would brand strategists leave four of them aside? Over the past few years, senses other than sight have been explored by brand experts and marketers. Although the senses of taste and touch are more difficult for brands to reach, some brands like Singapore Airlines and Rolls Royce have already used scent to build brand identity, also known as olfactive branding. A new area of focus is now sound branding, which will be explored in this article.

Sound can be seen as a vague notion, so let’s define it first. Daniel Jackson, the author of the book Sonic Branding, distinguishes three types of sounds: voice, ambiance, and music.Voice covers any sound produced by human-beings, from a baby crying to Pavarotti singing. Ambiance refers to every sound produced by our environment, from weather to machines. Finally, to define music, we will quote the New Oxford Dictionary of English: “The art or science of combining vocal or instrumental sounds (or both) to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.”

Hearing: A powerful human sense
First of all, while visual, taste or touch features of a product or brand requires people to directly interact with it in order for it to be perceived, a sound characteristic is a good way to reach consumers without them doing anything. We are all exposed to sounds whether we like it or not, and we do not have to do anything to hear them.

Moreover, as Michaël Boumendil, the founder and general manager of Sixième Son* (a leading agency worldwide for sound branding based in Paris) explains, each of us has begun our communication life by decoding sounds as early as when we are in our mother’s belly. At this formative stage of our life, we had already heard and memorized sounds, the most important being the mother’s heart beat. We were able to interpret that a beat of 60 pulsations per minute means a calm and comfortable state. Due to this early biological exposure, human-beings are naturally sensitive to sounds and their meanings.

In addition to influencing our mood by making us feel energized or sleepy, happy or sad, sound has an amazing ability to inspire us and remind us of the past. Psychological studies have shown that humans strongly associate sounds with a particular memory. Thus, sound has this unique power to recall certain experiences, which is a crucial advantage when it comes to building a strong brand in the minds of consumers.

Sound Branding Examples
Many companies are now starting to realize the effectiveness of sound branding, also known as sonic branding, audio branding or auditory branding. Here are some examples of famous and efficient sound trademarks: the Intel jingle, McDonald’s “I’m loving it”, the Yahoo yodel, Apple computer sounds, and Nokia’s ringtone. These major brands evoke a strong and unique identity on their own, but their foothold in customers’ minds is made even stronger when coupled with a distinguished and memorable sound. All of these leading brands have built their own unique sound personality as an integral part of their brand identity, and they are now recognized not only through a logo or a slogan, but also through a few musical notes. The McDonald’s Corporation itself has set out an aggressive sound branding campaign here in China, and even commissioned the famous Chinese pop singer Leehom Wang to sing “I’m loving it” in Chinese.

Example: Intel Inside Chimes

The man behind the ‘Intel Inside’ chimes: ”…Walter Werzowa had never heard of Intel when they asked him to compose a 3 second jingle for them. Last year alone, they spent $350m promoting the sound he created in his home studio by paying PC companies to use it in their ads. It’s played once every five minutes somewhere around the world.

Royal Air Maroc recently reviewed its entire brand identity and created a sound identity with the help of Sixieme Son. Wafaâ Ghiati, the marketing manager of the company, explains that the idea of a sound trademark came naturally with the whole brand revamp. Royal Air Maroc’s sound identity had to convey the five core values of the airlines, which are Moroccan, majestic, magical, maternal and modern, while respecting the oriental roots of the company and being strongly oriented to the future. The goal of this new identity was triple-fold: to better differentiate the airline, express its values, and reinforce the impact of its communication.
Wafaâ Ghiati describes the new sound identity as music which is modern without being too “fashionable”, and which has personality without being aggressive. This sound trademark is used for TV and radio ads, on the company website, as a jingle at air terminals, on CDs for clients, ring tones, and more. Although the sound aspect of Royal Air Maroc’s brand identity is very recent, the success is already measurable: on the internal side, comments about the sound trademark have been very positive, and on the external side, the music of the TV ad has been well received and many people have asked for a way to obtain it.
Sound branding gives a brand a unique audio identity, which can over time become a valuable trademark. Branding in this sense not only helps trigger memory and associations, but it is also perceived as an indication of quality and trustworthiness.

How can a brand create an effective sound identity?
The five most important characteristics of a brand sound identity are:

length and clarity
distinctiveness
relation to the product
pleasantness
familiarity and accessibility

The first four characteristics can be managed during the creation process, and the fifth one can be reached through an effective marketing strategy. However, a sound which is familiar to customers does not mean instant success for the brand. Marketers have to make sure that customers associate this familiar sound with the corresponding brand. An easy and efficient way to guarantee this correlation is to include the brand name within the sound itself.

Although sound branding may at first seem complex and abstract, when prepared and communicated effectively in accordance with brand strategy, it has the power to build your brand in an “unheard of” way.

Make bananas cool

2011-08-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Chiquita Banana recently got a rebranding and introduced their sticker characters. Staying true to themselves with that familiar blue and yellow color scheme, it was imperative that they build upon their brand equity rather than start from scratch.

The client’s goals were kind of like that dream brief you get handed that simply says: “Make bananas cool.”. As a branding and design junkie myself I think this is one of the most awesome rebrands lately.

The cornerstone of the campaign relied on the little blue stickers, the biggest icon for the brand, and the biggest way to get the word out…

iPad Vs Kindle Sunlight Commercial

2011-08-11T22:24:00.000-07:00

Palmolive Shower With Real Models In Moscow

2011-08-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Brand new school

2011-08-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

brand new school + sagmeister team on edp spot

The artists and producers from international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) are very proud to present their recent collaboration with international graphic design icon Stefan Sagmeister for EDP Renovaveis, S.A., the renewable energy subsidiary of Energias de Portugal (EDP) and one of the world’s largest and fastest growing wind energy companies.

Sagmeister, Inc. has recently created and introduced a strikingly fresh brand identity for EDP. To help introduce it throughout Portugal and beyond, Sagmeister teamed with BNS to develop an animated storyline using the brand new illustrative visual language. The resulting :60 commercial debuted last week on broadcast and cable television in Lisbon, Portugal, and along with many shorter versions, it is set to continue airing widely across the country and Europe for many weeks to come.

“It was such a pleasure to see the identity we created together with EDP become alive through the magic of Brand New School, not only were the results lovely but the process getting there also absolutely enjoyable,” Sagmeister said.

For BNS, the project team featured founder and executive creative director Jonathan Notaro, art director Christopher Palazzo, executive producer Devin Brook, producer Derek Macleod and an illustrious team of designers and artists. The animation workflow involved creating vivid illustrated scenes from EDP’s new branding identity created by Sagmeister art director and designer Jessica Walsh along with others created by BNS. “Bringing life-like behavior to the deceptively simple geometric system created by Sagmeister, Inc. was a fun challenge,” Palazzo explained. “The scope of this system is absolutely astounding. A graphic system this rich and smart can do anything, as shown in the final piece. Stefan and his team were an absolute dream to work with.”

“This collaboration with Sagmeister Inc. is special,” Notaro added. “Obviously he is a design god, and as fans of his work over the years we were all super excited with this collaboration, and looking forward to the next one!”

“EDP” features the song “The Gift.” Additional credits for Sagmeister include illustrators Stephane Elbaz, Xavi Garcia, and Michael Freimuth. For BNS, credit also goes to Flame artist Blake Huber, designer/animators Robin Greenwood and Hye Sung Park, designers Caleb Chalter, Phil Intralligi, animators Scott Balles, Andrew Mastrocinque, and artist Andrew Rothschild.

Globus Trans Logistics

2011-08-08T22:50:00.000-07:00

We The Circus team has successfully launched the Brand Identity for a Logistic Solution provider on monday 08 August 2011. Their worldwide presence has made it a unique brand for us to work.Various features and styles are worked out by our graphic designing team to match the global standards. Hope this will have a better reach in the coming years.

Ford Campaign

2011-08-08T22:40:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row, the visual effects team at Ntropic teamed with Venice, CA-based production company Wild Plum on a highly integrated commercial campaign for Ford via Team One Detroit. The fast-paced campaign debuted one new spot a week for 12 weeks, featuring the Ford Focus and the ever-dwindling cast of “American Idol.” Directed by Paul Brown and Shane Drake of Wild Plum, the Ntropic team was headed by Creative Director/Founder Nate Robinson and Senior Flame Artist MB Emigh.

Nike spot - control flywire technology

2011-08-07T22:15:00.000-07:00

The advantage of Nike Zoom Alpha Talon’s exceptional traction is showcased with heart pumping, clanging intensity in a new spot by Superfad. Nike’s desire to convey the robustness of the shoe to its professional football users inspired Superfad to design the spot using the visual metaphor of heavy machinery.

Matching specific shoe attributes with industrial mechanics, the shoe is transformed into a massive machine moving with exacting power under a night sky. The surrounding environment, an empty football stadium, places the shoe at center stage. The high-energy experience of intensive moving parts is supported by a driving music track by World Gang and Sound Design by Clatter & Din.

How to Unlock Password Protected Word Documents

2011-08-04T21:49:00.000-07:00

The following article details the steps for removing Microsoft Word document passwords using the our recommended download for Office document password removal. These instructions are valid for all versions of Microsoft Office including Office 2007. Note: Use this article if you're looking for Excel password recovery.

Step 1: Install the Word Password Recovery Download

To recover your Word document password, you'll need to first download the Petri-recommended Office Password Recovery Pro utility. The direct download is available here. (2.1Mb)

Run the setup file, using the recommended default install options.

Step 2: Start the Password Recovery Wizard

Use the Open command on the toolbar (or in the application’s file menu) and locate the Word document you’d like to access. This launches the Office Password Recovery wizard. Step 3: Choose to Remove or Retrieve the Password Office Password Recovery gives you two ways of accessing your protected file; completely remove the password protection, or reveal the original password. Choose the option that best meets your needs:

Recovery Option 1: Delete the Existing Password

Using a web-based tool, the application gathers information about your document’s encryption and determines the ideal configuration needed to remove your password.

Note: This option removes all password encryption on your file and leaves the document completely unlocked until you choose to re-enable password protection.

Once the process completes, you simply specify where to save the decrypted file and hit OK. Success! Office Password Recovery Pro prompts you to view your recovered document.

Recovery Option 2: Password Retrieval

If it's important for you to know and recover the password used on your file, choose Recover the password to open option. The wizard then leads you through a short series of questions, aimed at gathering clues about the schema of the password. Answering these questions is not required. If you don’t’ have any clues to go on, simply leave the default selections as they are and press the Next button twice and then click Finish. Office Password Recovery will begin trying millions of combinations to crack the password on your file. This process will continue in the background, using a number of different password attack schemes until it locates a match.

Once your password has been recovered, the program clearly notifies you of its success and the results:

When you have critical Word documents and just can’t find the passwords to open them, we highly recommend you download Office Password Recovery PRO.

MTV's brand new look

2011-08-03T22:26:00.000-07:00

MTV launches a spanky new look as of today – as its international brand refresh rolls out across the company's network of 64 channels, created by MTV's creative directors from around the world in collaboration with UK-based studio Universal Everything...

We use the word refresh rather than rebrand as the MTV logo is still recognisable - the new logo (above) is, in fact, the old logo - but in MTV's new look, the logo remains black on a white ground - no colour, pattern or texture will ever adorn it - which is a change from MTV of old where the idents were based on the logo being played around with.

"Now the logo is sacred," says Roberto Bagatti, Vice President of Creative for MTV Networks International and Creative Director of MTV's World Design Studio in Milan, who oversaw the project.

So if the logo's the same, what's new? MTV Networks International now has a new flexible typographic navigation system for displaying onscreen information. The MTV logo remains in a fixed top left position onscreen at all times and acts as an anchor for the new system of information display - with the title of the current programme always appearing immediately to the right of the logo in a blue progress-bar so viewers can guage where they are in the current programme. To the right of this info is where viewers will occasionally see information in yellow text boxes: yellow denotes what's coming up next on the channel. And to the right of this, appears what's coming up later - always in a pink info box. The typeface used for this primary information is Pharma Bold Condensed by Swiss type foundry Optimo.

As well as the main programme info, more playful messages will appear in the lower third of the screen - and for this text, there is a collection of secondary brand typefaces to choose from, depending on the mood of the message. The eight secondary typefaces were selected for their expressive or emotion-inducing nature - and to add an element of fun to the onscreen identity of the channel.

The faces, shown above, are American Typewriter Light Italic, Balloon Bold, Bigcity Maxi, Cozzap Open, Flash ND, Futura SB Bold Italic, Sahara Bodoni and Signpainter House Brush. Here's an example of how these will be used onscreen:

The first six new channel idents make it clear beyond doubt that MTV is sporting a slick new look - based on an idea of "pop x 1000%" which was, says Bagatti, "the rebrand project's title and mantra."

Apple is World's Best Brand, Overtakes Google

2011-08-02T22:35:00.000-07:00

Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone, iPad and iMac, overtook search-engine giant Google Inc. to become the world’s most valuable brand, WPP Plc said in a report today.

Apple’s brand value climbed 84 percent in the past year to $153.3 billion, WPP’s Millward Brown unit said.

Google’s brand lost 2 percent to $111.5 billion, ending four years atop the rankings, while International Business Machines Corp. climbed 17 percent to be the No. 3, ahead of McDonald’s Corp.

New versions of the iPhone and iMac, and the introduction of the iPad tablet, helped Cupertino, California-based Apple almost double sales and profit for the latest quarter. Apple, which overtook Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp., as the most-valuable technology company by market value in May 2010, boosted its share of the global phone market and is the leading seller of tablet computers.

“It’s clear that every single Apple employee, from Steve Jobs and Tim Cook to the summer interns, see protecting and nurturing that brand as a top priority,” Millward Brown Chief Executive Officer Eileen Campbell wrote in the report. “Tablet computing also drove value growth not just for Apple, but also for the providers who support yet another networked device.”

Facebook Inc., operator of the world’s largest social- networking site, had a 246 percent climb in brand value, the fastest, to become the No. 35 brand at $19.1 billion, according to the report. Baidu Inc., Google’s Chinese rival, posted the second-fastest climb at 141 percent, to be the No. 29 brand at $22.6 billion.

Twelve of the top 100 global brands were from China, led by China Mobile Ltd. (941) at No. 9 and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. at No. 11. Amazon.com Inc., which ranked 14th, overtook Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which ranked 15th, to become the most-valuable retail brand.

Default Icon of your removable drives can be changed

2011-08-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

Here is a simple tip to change removable disk default icons in windows. As you can see the default removable disk default icons is similar like windows hard drives icons, which might confuse windows user and very hard to difference them.

To avoid this icons confusing or improves the visibility of the removable drives, you can customize the removable disk icons with other icons within three simple four step only. The customization removable icons step is simple to implement and customize the icons of the USB stick icons.

Step to changes the removable hard drive icons:

1. Choose a nice and pretty icons with .ico extension which the icons will represent the removable disk icons.
2. Create an autorun.inf using notepad and entering text showed below to display Customize Removable drive icons commandicons to represent the removable drive icons.
[AutoRun]
Label= “Name of Removable Disk “
Icon= “Icon’s_Name.ico”
3. Copy both files (autorun.inf and Icon file) to your removable drive and make the both files as hidden files to avoid accidentally delete the autorun files and icons.
4. Unplug and plug it back the removable drives . Then you will see a brand new icons and new name that represent your removable hard drive.

Here is the output of changing removable disk default icons tutorial, now the removable disk can been noticed easier.