Tokyo resident and blogger on all things Japanese, Danny Choo, caught this image of Spiderman in a suit, selling apartments in the classy Bloom tower project. Japanese people can’t get enough of masked uperheros.

I’d love to know how much the Bloom tower folks had to pay Marvel for that one image.

Danny Choo’s 7pm in Tokyo

During a time of controversy, the best way to win over public opinion is to convince the public that there is no controversy. Sometimes, when an issue is too complicated for the general public to make an informed decision on their own, they rely on the opinions of experts, and politicians stop debating the points of the issue, and start debating the consensus. That’s a consensus war. It’s happening with the global warming issue, and it’s happening with the economy. A reasoned, logical debate of the finer points of the fiscal policy won’t convince the average American. The only way to win the hearts and minds of the American people is to tell them the experts opinion.

Recently, Obama attempted to shut down the controversy surrounding his so-called “stimulus” package by saying “there is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy.” Then later saying “economists from across the political spectrum agree” on the need for this massive government spending package. Of course, that is not the case. In actuality, many, if not most, economists disagree with the stimulus package. So in response, the Cato Institute took out a full page ad in the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Times, and Roll Call disputing the president’s claim. Hundreds of top economists, including Nobel laureates and prominent scholars from major universities, signed the statement. There were more than 200 economists signatures on the original ad, and over 100 more have signed on since then. Read on to see the original ad:


the original, full-page Cato ad can be found here in pdf form

Text from the ad:
“There is no disagreement that we need action by our government, a recovery plan that will help to jumpstart the economy.”
— PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA, JANUARY 9 , 2009

Notwithstanding reports that all economists are now Keynesians and that we all support a big increase in the burden of government, we do not believe that more government spending is a way to improve economic performance. More government spending by Hoover and Roosevelt did not pull the United States economy out of the Great Depression in the 1930s. More government spending did not solve Japan’s “lost decade” in the 1990s. As such, it is a triumph of hope over experience to believe that more government spending will help the U.S. today. To improve the economy, policy makers should focus on reforms that remove impediments to work, saving, investment and production. Lower tax rates and a reduction in the burden of government are the best ways of using fiscal policy to boost growth.”

The UK is the most watched country on Earth, and still the citizens seem to be increasingly preoccupied with crime. As of 2004, England had one surveillance camera for every fourteen citizens, and it’s gone up since then, all in the name of security.

But do CCTV cameras actually reduce crime? The statistics aren’t all that spectacular for the studies that show a positive result, and most studies suggest that camera density has no overall impact on the levels of crime at all, especially in residential areas. A better idea might be along the lines of the West Midlands Police’s ‘Operation Momentum’ – using posters and an understanding of psychology, instead of cameras, to try to limit crime. Read on:


this controversial poster went up in the London Underground in 2002

The above poster, Secure Beneath the Watchful Eyes, is an exceedingly creepy 1984-esque public service announcement poster that went up in London a few years ago. The point of the poster is the eyes. Those bizarre, disembodied eyes may be a way to actually cut crime rates without resorting to intrusive and expensive cameras. Psychologists from Newcastle University found people put nearly three times as much money into an ‘honesty box’ when there was a pair of eyes on a poster above the box, compared with a poster that featured an image of flowers. And it may not just be an image of eyes either, the cameras in the first poster may have the same effect by triggering the feeling of being watched.

(via BoingBoing)

Calculus teacher Tom Farber is using the free market to help make up for the school district’s budget cuts – by putting paid advertising on his exams. The school district reduced Farber’s budget to $316, far less than the $500 he says he needs to prepare his students for Advanced Placement exams.

Farber’s pricing: ads on a semester final cost $30; chapter tests and quizes are only $20 and $10 respectively. So far the ads have raised $350, although most of the advertising so far has come from parents who put in good luck and other inspirational messages to the kids. Only about 1/3rd of the space has been sold to local businesses. One particularly clever ad was a local dentist’s “Brace Yourself for a Great Semester!”

But interesting question here is, why is Tom Farber forced to do this to get the money he needs? Public schools are, on average, twice as expensive as private schools, and yet, public schools are having funding shortages, what’s going on?

The answer is simple, public schools operate outside of the free market. So the natural pressures of the market that push businesses to increase quality while decreasing price aren’t there. If a school lacks quality, often times it gets increased funding, so the pool of funds gets sucked away by the inefficient parts. CSInvestor has a post about a similar issue.

Kraft Foods Stove Top brand will be pumping warm air and delicious stuffing into some the chilly bus stations around Chicago this month. Out of the 50 bus shelters getting Stove Top print ads, ten lucky shelters will get specialized Stove Top ads with temporary heating units in the ceilings. The company also plans to hand out samples of it’s new Stove Top Quick Cups instant stuffing in the streets of the windy city.

The new ads read, “Cold, provided by winter. Warmth, provided by Stove Top.” Apparently, this is the first time heated bus shelters have been used for advertising in the US. Why don’t they pump delicious stuffing smell in with the heat? Well, we all remember what happened with the GOT MILK? cookie smell campaign. They pumped in the delicious smell of cookies into various bus shelters around San Fransisco hoping that the smell would get people craving a glass of milk, but instead of making commuters get all hungry for cookies and milk, the snooty SanFransiscans complained. Only in San Fransisco could people complain about the scent of freshly baked cookies.

Anyway, check out a list of all the heated locations and the locations of the free samples:

Here’s a list of the heated bus stop locations, and more importantly… the locations of the proposed free stuffing samples (the * denotes a location with free stuffing samples):

— 16 S. Clark Street (Clark Street & Madison Street)
— 197 N. State Street (State Street & Lake Street)
— 300 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Wacker Place)
— 431 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Hubbard Street)*
— 757 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Chicago Street)*
— 538 W. Madison Street (Madison Street & Clinton Street)*
— 1 E. Washington Avenue (Washington Avenue & State Street)*
— 5 N. Michigan Avenue (Michigan Avenue & Madison Street)*
— 221 N. LaSalle Drive (LaSalle Drive & Haddock Place)
— 533 N. Dearborn Street (Dearborn Street & Grand Street)

So any AdSavvy readers in Chicago, print this list out and head to your nearest homeless man. The homeless will be fed this season, on Kraft Foods.

We’re big fans of Agent Provocateur here at AdSavvy. They’re hip, they have quality collections, and their advertising is top notch. Plus they always have the hottest models. We can’t get enough, and neither can consumers apparently. Even in economic tough times, AD is doing well.

The company is poised for some rapid expansion following last years’s $120 million dollar acquisition by the private equity firm, 3i Group. There are already 40 boutiques worldwide, including 8 in the US, and their planning on building even more: Boston, Chicago, Bahrain, Geneva, Puerto Barres, Madrid, St. Petersburg, and Germany to name a few. AD also had a fragrance launch party in London recently where Daisy Lowe showed off the goods on the catwalk.
Check out Daisy Lowe’s near-naked hotness; plus more recent sexy adverts:

AD recently launched a new fragrance called DD. At the launch party at the Dolce nightclub in London, recent post girl Daisy Lowe hit the catwalk in only a thong and nipple tassels. Good times.
Runway audience included: Kate Moss, Kelly Osborne and Sadie Frost. How do I get in to these parties?

Also, check out some of the recent ads for AD’s planned expansion:

Agent Provocateur is known for it’s very sexy ad campaigns. In the past they’ve had Kate Moss, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peaches Geldof, and recently, Daisy Lowe; all ultra-hotties in their own right. But supermodel Helena Christensen is the newest freshbody in the AP ads.

Agent Provocateur’s ads are always interesting and usually have some sort of story line or theme. This time is pirates; mind-bogglingly sexy pirates. The Danish model stars as a female pirate who’s seducing the captain of the ship she’s attempting to plunder. Their website also has an insanely sexy video starring Christensen and Alice Dellal with cryptic clues and a choose-your-own-adventure feel.

Check out the hotness: