Arby's is paying Pharrell Williams $44,100 for his Vivienne Westwood designer hat, which achieved Twitter fame when the pop artist wore the eye-catching lid during the Grammys
Imagination and ingenuity can drive you almost anywhere—even to the Academy Awards telecast. So learned Jude Chun, a South Korean independent filmmaker whose delightful minute-long winning entry in Chevrolet and MOFILM's international Oscars competition aired during Sunday night's gala on ABC. The film-within-a-film, created with co-directors Eunhae Cho and Sunyoung Hwang, shows some imaginative kids making a movie of their own, called "Speed Chaser." Chevy's 2014 Cruze is prominently featured, in both life-size and toy-model versions.
Arnold, the incumbent agency in CVS’ creative agency search, has withdrawn from the process. In late January, Arnold advanced to a place within a relatively long list of finalists, including corporate sibling Havas Worldwide, BBDO, Grey, Ogilvy & Mather and Lowe Campbell Ewald, according to sources. CVS' media spend last year was $115 million.
Montreal agency lg2 found a goofy but practical use for all the snow this winter—it made it look like dandruff gone berkserk on outdoor ads for Selsun Blue. Pity the fool who had shoveling duty on this project, though. "Dandruff flakes typically occur in winter," the agency says, "due to the use of heating sources such as electricity. Selsun Blue and lg2 thus decided to launch an offensive at a time when people are most in need of dandruff-fighting shampoo." The headline, "Quand les pellicules vous prennent par surprise," translates to, "When flakes take you by surprise." Credits below.
Twitter stole the Oscars last night, reaching new milestones and just dominating the conversation. It’s not a stretch to say Twitter outshined the actual show. Ellen Degeneres’ selfie with the stars was the most retweeted post of all time. Here’s what else happened on Twitter and at the Academy Awards: 1. Bradley Cooper’s arm wasn’t long enough to get Jared Leto’s full face in the picture, but the now famous selfie has more than 2.6 million retweets as of this morning. That’s more retweets than President Barack Obama’s re-election photo of him hugging the first lady.
The Walt Disney Company is planning to cut funding to the Boy Scouts of America beginning in 2015 because of a policy that bans gay adult leaders, The Washington Post reported.
Late-night talk-show hosts already commandeer your living room in the wee hours. Now they're expanding their purview. Following Jimmy Kimmel's bit before Sunday's Oscars in which he pretended to climb through the camera into a couple's living room to berate them, today we have this new Time Warner Cable ad starring Jimmy Fallon—in which the Tonight Show host shows up (with his whole band) in a guy's home just as he's eating breakfast. The point: Now you can watch NBC shows anytime as part of TWC's on-demand services.
After meeting widespread ridicule for a lofty first attempt at brand advertising in 2012 (and subsequent stumbles pitching its Facebook Home product), the social network has quietly been rolling out ads online this year that are quite a bit more grounded. And they focus more on promoting the core utility of the social network—in particular, its role as a motivator for non-virtual self-improvement. Don't worry, the campaign, created by Wieden + Kennedy, doesn't wholly commit to the mundane.
Google Glass’ role in advertising and content may be a bit out of focus—but initial use of the nascent technology may change that perception, as agencies and brands prepare for a wearable ad tech future. Kenneth Cole recently became the first advertiser to incorporate a Google Glass app into its marketing—just one of the new ways the Internet specs are used to sell products.
It’s late on a Monday morning and eight staffers at MediaCom are watching Argo. No, they’re not slacking off but rather learning how to tell a story from two Italian filmmakers: Giuseppe De Angelis, the media agency’s director of visual experience, and independent producer/director Diana Santi. For two full days, the staffers will also learn how to apply dramatic principles in their day jobs as strategic planners, account directors and department leaders.
