The 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of the Month
Naked admen! Rude clients! Woody Allen and Vince Shlomi! Here's BNET's weirdest advertising stories of May.
- Unemployed copywriter poses naked for work Lawson Clarke's MaleCopywriter.com is a hilarious parody of 70's porn (and Bob Garfield phones in another column ...)
- "It's like a fireman came in your mouth" Copywriter for whom English is a second language puts together storyboard for Gaviscom ad, with "hilarious" consequences.
- Woody Allen settles with American Apparel for $5 million The bonkers clothing retailer used an image of the director dressed as a rabbi in an ad without his permission.
- The "worst" hotel in the world advertises status; it works Ogilvy & Mather adman touts Hans Brinker Budget Hotel in Amsterdam with "rude fellow guests, terrible food and even the possibility of dog mess in the lobby."
Vince Shlomi's Slap Chop ad given strangely addictive hip hop remix
Despite beating up a prostitute, filling a hotel room with human blood, and suing his fellow Scientologists, Vince "you'll love my nuts" Shlomi retains his oddly compelling charm in this YouTube video mashup.- Terse emails, chiselling bills -- the recession is making clients ruder "It is truly a symptom of lower revenues, lost customers, shrinking market share, irate shareholders, scared senior management and an overall sense of fear." Note that one example of "rudeness" is "Demanding greater transparency on timesheets, all estimates and invoices." Only in the agency biz!
- Lawyer attempts to blame Lamar for bus stop that wasn't there Truck hits pole. Pole hits woman. Woman hires lawyer. Lawyer blames outdoor advertising company. Go figure.
Cliff Freeman & Partners is not dead yet!
New work TV for Baskin Robbins aired by the troubled shop. Keep hope alive!- Ski gear retailer uses Natasha Richardson's death in free shipping offer Oh yes they did. "To encourage the wearing of ski helmets, we have reduced the prices of both kids and adults ski helmets and are offering FREE POSTAGE on all ski helmets."
- Procter & Gamble tries to give away $15,000 in diamonds; no one wants them The June 30 deadline is approaching and the odds in this contest look really good!