Advertising

Funny Video: The Smart Kids Want to Be In New Jersey’s Advertising Biz

August 9th 2010

When you were a kid, did you want to be in advertising? These kids already get the business at a deep level, and they want to win a Jersey Award.

Update: Kellogg’s False Health Claims on Rice Krispies and Frosted Mini-Wheats Earn FTC Rebuke

June 5th 2010

When Good Brands Behave Unethically Back in February, I pointed out Kellogg’s false health claims on Rice Krispies and Froot Loops.  Specifically, during the worst flu scare in 50 years, Kellogg’s claimed Rice Krispies boosted immunity. They also claimed that Froot Loops were a good source of fiber. This was something I saw in the […]

Viral, Sort of Funny, Personal Injury Lawyer Advertising

June 3rd 2010

If you’re a personal injury lawyer in New York City, how do you cut through the clutter of competition? How about slightly self-conscious humor? Trolman Glaser & Lichtman did. It sounds like they’d do it again, too. Apparently, funny can get a personal injury law firm coverage in the New York Times. And funny can […]

Hulk Hogan Body Slams Post Cereal For Unauthorized Use

June 2nd 2010

Yabba-Dabba-Sue, says Tampa Bay Online, covering the lawsuit filed by Terry Bollea, better known as Hulk Hogan.  Watch the video below, and tell me if you’d want to be in the legal ring with this litigant. Post’s Flintstones cereal ad used a character that not only looks like the Hulkster, but goes by the similar-sounding […]

You Want a Bigger Logo? You Can’t Handle a Bigger Logo!: A Few Good Creative Men

May 27th 2010

Creative Director Jack Nicholson dresses down Account Manager Tom Cruise. “I write ads, or people die.”

Sokolove Law Uses Social Video Contest to Ban a Killer

May 19th 2010

A few weeks ago, I observed that part of a lawyers work involves dealing with misery: explosions, poisonings, fraud, catastrophic medical errors, and — toughest of all — kids whose lives will be framed by the careless act of another. Those are the issues clients bring to us, and any lawyer who has done it […]

On Lawyer Advertising, Free Speech, Personal Injury Law, Ethics and Decency

April 12th 2010

This is  a story about Eric and Jack, who both blog about the law with an eye on topics that are enlightening, ennobling, or at least entertaining. By now you’ve probably heard about Eric Turkewitz, who wrote an April 1st post in his NY Personal Injury Law Blog announcing he was the new Whitehouse blogger. […]

Tiger Woods and Accenture Consulting: When Censure is Your Middle Name

April 6th 2010

Bad Airport Ad #537: Tiger Woods Loses His Ball. By “What you do next,” I assume they mean, “dump your spokesman in favor of Photoshopped elephants.” The high-flying James Gardner sent this image in, reminding us how overextended Accenture’s relationship with Woods became. The Accenture name emerged in discord, as both Andersen Consulting and Arthur […]

Good Airport Ad #2: Natl. Sports Center for the Disabled

April 5th 2010

Another UsefulArts friend, the watchful Dr. Jo Myers Drahos, kindly sent in this clever, well-executed public service advertisement from the airport in Denver. The visual carries the ad. It tells a smart story, has a sense of discovery and strength, and projects reputability and authenticity for the organization. The composition uses negative space to take […]

Bad Airport Ad #536: Welcome to Florida, Conserve Our Water

April 4th 2010

The promise of extensive water conservation is how this public agency welcomes visitors to Florida. This completely wasted public-service ad lacks any sign of investment in creative or execution. And that’s too bad, because, in the age of green-washing, a value proposition can be made for sustainability.  But this ad doesn’t answer the basic question: […]