There is something so wrong using Michael Jackson to pitch to kids. If they only knew then what we know now.

You think Warhol would be promoting Campbell’s Soup. They asked Andy to paint a picture of the Pioneer receiver. He couldn’t finish because he was so wrapped up in the beautiful sound. What?? That painting doesn’t look like anything he would paint.

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I attended the National Association of Realtors show this past weekend in San Diego, California. I was shocked when I first saw the billboard at this booth and noticed what appeared to say “You Suck.” I was anxious to find out who would display such an audacious message. After approaching the billboard from a different angle, I noticed that it really said “YOUR SUCCESS.” I was curious if this was intentional or completely accidental.  Unfortunately, the message didn’t turn out to be the insult I had first perceived. Either way, because of the position, it mostly looked like “YOU SUCK.”

I love the “Don’t be that guy” spots created by OLSON for Fifth Third bank. They are clever and funny at the same time without ramming the message down your throat. The problem is that I’ve never actually seen any of the spots on TV even thought Fifth Third has a presence in my town.I believe these videos are intended to be viral. With that said, it’s about time some clever spots got some air time.

The “In the dark” spot with the Snuggies is classic. They never mention the product yet the message ties beautifully back to the Fifth Third tag line at the end. Well done!

Several years ago, we created an ad series to promote Foreclosure.com’s new agent listing center. The ad was to run in the leading default real estate trade publications. Thumbing through any of these default real estate pubs was like watching Scooby-Doo run past the same five houses over and over again. Nearly every ad featured a photo of a house and way too much copy. Some ads were copy driven, but not like you would expect … the whole ad WAS copy!

Our goal was to swim upstream on this one. We thought “What if we created a campaign with NO houses, NO photos, and NO long copy?” The result was the lean green vector series. With a right-read placement and the brand’s pulsating neon green background, this ad definitely stood out. Way out!

Copywriter: Tom Myers
Creative Director: Me
Illustration: Simon Oxley | Bortonia

“Stop having a boring tuna, stop having a boring life!”

America’s favorite new pitchman is back with “slap chop.” “You’re going to be in a great mood all day because you’ll be slapping your troubles away with Slap Chop” proclaims Vince. You know, Vince from Sham Wow. This time he’s pitching the the perfect kitchen chopper.

How is this chopper different from the bazillion other choppers out there you ask? Simple. Slap chop is easy to clean. One, two, and bingo, it pops open. The other choppers get bacteria in the food. Not Slap Chop! Face it, those other choppers are worthless because you can’t clean them.

Looks like there’s a new sheriff in town Billy Mays. And he’s gunning for you!