Articles from AdWeek Advertising and branding

Before you take a sip of that beer, stop and take note of the weather outside. The Weather Company’s Weather FX ad exchange believes that higher- and lower-than-average temperatures, along with precipitation, can help advertisers predict consumer desires. The platform uses real-time data from users, who opt in to share their locations.

MasterCard is taking its Priceless campaign to the links. The credit and debit card issuer is launching a new Priceless Golf program to coincide with its sponsorship of the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 20-23 in Orlando.    “Priceless has been iconic as an ad platform for 15 years now and it celebrates moments in people’s lives,” MasterCard chief marketing officer Raja Rajamannar told Adweek. “About four years ago we launched Priceless Cities which was successful and it was expanded year after year. I came into the (CMO job) and said ‘Where do we take this further?

There's an ad blog called Creative Criminals, but here's the real thing—federal prison inmates who are trying their hand at copywriting and art directing thanks to a program called Concepting With Convicts, launched by two interns at DigitasLBi in San Francisco. Ben Pfutzenreuter and Pat Davis used prison pen-pal websites to contact the inmates and get them involved in the program. The inmates provide either the copywriting or the art direction on each ad.

Sometimes a little stupid is just right. Chips Ahoy delivers with a series of spots from The Martin Agency featuring an animated cookie prone to minor, entertaining mischief. The 30- and 15-second shorts get all the key details right—the pauses, and the simple but absurd expressions. It's a good play for the kids who'll clamor after the product. The moms who do the grocery shopping may not be so thrilled that the brand is egging on their little angels. Then again, who could stay mad at a face like that?