Silly Olympics ad by Head & Shoulders in which Michael Phelps bizarrely washes his hair BEFORE getting in the swimming pool. Being dandruff free helps him win races apparently. His freaky long arms have nothing got to do with it, ok?
Wagon Wheels Fail
Pity UK teenagers.
Most probably don’t know what a wagon wheel is. And with the delicious mallowy chocolate treat launching an interactive game on Bing, they’re not likely to find out any time soon.
Why waste all that money? They’ll be inviting them to email their friends from their yahoo accounts and update people about the contest on their MySpace page next.
Heineken banks on the Bond effect
When you think of Bond you think of gadgets, Audis, women and martinis which is why the internet had a little hissy fit this week when it was revealed in Skyfall, Bond will be ordering up a pint of Vitamin K.
Product placement - or money down the drain?
Despite the fact that Heineken has had a deal in place with the Bond franchise for over 15 years, the brewer has never made such an overt attempt to cash in on Bond mania.
15 years? Have sales gone up? Have Bond wannabes been sipping Heinekin instead of martinis all this time? Nope.
Seriously Heineken, stick to the rugby, music and festival links because this product placement deal stinks.
Cynical PR stunt or genuine viral?
Interesting links doing the rounds on social media reveal today is National Steak and Blow Jobs Day, a holiday that bills itself as the male equivalent of Valentine’s Day.
Perhaps it’s a sign that I’ve turned into a cynical PR that my immediate reaction to this when it first surfaced around mid February was to question whether it was a PR stunt by a brand such as, I don’t know, the National Beef Farmers Association, or some weird pro-oral sex lobbyists.
So far nobody has come out and claimed it, but who knows. Either way, I don’t think anyone will be sending National Steak Day cards this time next year!
Paddy Power are no stranger to controversy, but their latest ad must set some sort of record, being banned after just four days in the UK.
The ‘chav tranquilizer’ sees people be shot down for chav-like behavior so that “civilized people and the Irish” can enjoy horse racing festivals. Ahem.
Is controversy sustainable as a marketing tactic? The number of brands such as paddy power who get more column inches for banned ads than less offensive material seem to think so.
