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Category — Anticipation

How Accurate Were AT&T’s “You Will” Ads From 1993

AT&T had a series of commercials back in 1993 that had examples of some of the cool new technologies that the company had hoped to develop in the future. The ad agency that did the commercials must have had a professional futurist working for them, because they were strikingly accurate.

It’s now 15 years later, lets see how well they did:
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March 4, 2009   Comments Off

The Star Wars Force Trainer May Be The Toy Of The Year

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I am so looking forward to the Star Wars Force Trainer.

The Force Trainer is basically a simplified type of EEG machine. It comes with a headset that measures a players brain waves and allows them to manipulate a ball inside a clear 10-inch-tall tube. It translates your brain waves into action, just like a biofeedback machine. This is the first time EEG technology is being used in toy, and the potential uses are endless.

Not only can it work as a fairly inexpensive (it’ll be $90-$100) biofeedback machine to help children learn how to achieve a relaxed state of mind quickly… but imagine what can be done with this thing by some enterprising “home engineers”. This machine translates brain waves into electrical signals, that means with minimal effort, a person could perhaps rig a light switch to the headset, or the power on your TV.
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January 14, 2009   Comments Off

Weird Toyota Prius “Commercial” Featuring The Blue Man Group

This looks to me to be a re-edit of some actual footage of the new Toyota Prius commercial. The Blue Man Group is apparently in the commercial, but judging from some of the bizarre, unprofessional cuts used in this video, I don’t think this is the official version. I could be wrong, but something about this video just doesn’t seem right.

Any Adsavvy readers out there care to correct or enlighten me, please do. I’d love to get to the bottom of this.

December 28, 2008   1 Comment

Tough Economic Times May Be Helping Craft Sales

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Many holiday gift givers are trying to save money by making their own gifts this year, or buying handmade gifts from others. Scrapbooks, jewelery, homemade soap, various knitted bits, etc. As a result craft stores are seeing a boom in sales. Sales of handmade crafts on eBay climbed 34 percent; and the online craft marketplace, Etsy, has been breaking records for the past 2 months. Last month, artists sold $10.8 million of goods on the site, compared to $4.2 million in November 2007.

The big craft chains are seeing profits too. The Michaels Stores chain has been selling record numbers of craft supplies and things used to make jewelry, baked goods, scrapbooks and decorated clothing. It’s going to be a Bedazzled Christmas.
Meanwhile, during this craft boom, the nation’s overall retail sales in November fell 7.4 percent from the same time last year.
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December 23, 2008   Comments Off

Viral Marketing For The Upcoming Film ‘The Mother Of Invention’

Meet Vincent Dooley, as played by Andrew Bowser. He’s the star of the upcoming film The Mother of Invention, a mockumentary about an aspiring inventor who dreams of winning the annual young inventor’s award. Unfortunately, he’s tried and failed for years, usually losing to Martin Wooderson, his arch-enemy.

Picture a cross between Napoleon Dynamite and The King of Kong, plus it’s about inventors. According to the film’s website, it was shot for an ultra-slim budget of $75,000, raised mostly by their friends and family. And judging from the viral videos online and the trailer for the film, I have a feeling it’s going to be a future cult classic, and make that money back plus plenty. So I’ve compiled all the viral videos related to the film here on one page. Enjoy:
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December 16, 2008   Comments Off

Burger King’s ‘Whopper Virgins’ Ad Is Great

Burger King has finally kicked off it’s slighted twisted take on the classic taste test this weekend. If you haven’t yet seen the set of 15-second teaser ads leading up to the launch, the campaign is a taste test with participants who’ve basically never heard of a hamburger. It features various isolated peoples from around the world, hence “Whopper Virgins”, to participate in the “world’s purest taste test”. They asked Thai Hmong tribesmen, Transylvanian farmers, and some Inuit from Greenland to choose either the Whopper or the McDonald’s Big Mac.

This is the latest bit of marketing from BK’s agency, Crispin Porter & Bogusky. CP+B is also responsible for previous ads like the motivational spoof Dr. Angus, the Whopper Freakout day where customers were told Burger King no longer sold Whoppers, and all the ads featuring the exceedingly bizarre King. This ad seems like the most ambitious to date though. “We wanted to see how the Whopper would perform in a world that didn’t have ad or marketing awareness or any sentimental attachments” says Russ Klein, president of BK’s global marketing. Of course, even before the main ads came out, tons of people were offended, as people often are. Read on:
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December 8, 2008   2 Comments

Be Prepared For Black Friday and Cyber Monday

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If you’re unaware, have forgotten, or have been living in Soviet Russia for the past decade, step out of your time machine and onto the fertile ground of faux-capitalist America… it’s almost BLACK FRIDAY. The time of great discounts is nearly upon us. Prepare, prepare!

Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, and it’s generally considered the first day of the holiday shopping season when stores start their special deals and discounts, and when you can usually get some of the best deals of pre-Christmas season. Cyber Monday, on the other hand, is the online shopping equivalent of Black Friday. It’s the Monday right after Black Friday and is really more of an advertising gimmick than an actual heavy shopping day. Either way, there are deals to be had on both days, and they’re fast approaching, so you need to get yourself together and make sure you’re ready for the traditional ultra-feast of American consumerism.
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November 27, 2008   Comments Off

Remember Kylie Minogue’s Banned Agent Provocateur Commercial?

Let me refresh your memory:

Agent Provocateur constantly pushes the envelope when it comes to sexy advertising. This Kylie Minogue ad came out in December of 2001 and caused a huge hullabaloo. It was banned by UK TV networks (all 1 of them, the BBC), and it ended up only able to be shown in movie theaters.

Luckily it made it’s way to the internet and became one of the most viewed videos ever. Some estimates say this particular video has been viewed over 360 million times. Sex sells.

Finished watching? Ok, stand up…

November 7, 2008   Comments Off

All Three Episodes of Audi’s New “Meet The Beckers” Campaign: The Start of Attack Ads?


Episode III: Raising the Stakes

The final episode of the Audi’s Arrested Development inspired advertising campaign, Meet the Beckers, has been released, and I’m excited.

In a world without new episodes of Arrested Development, it doesn’t take much to excite me. Even a commercial that’s vaguely similar to the greatest show of all time can give me a reason to get up in the morning.

Anyway, in the first episode, we meet the whole family. Jason is the regular guy, and the Audi driver of course. He’s bringing his girlfriend to meet his dysfunctional family for the first time. His aggressive brother Billy drives a BWM cuts off a Prius. His drunken, country club-visiting father (The Commander) drives a Mercedes. And his doormat brother (or brother-in-law, maybe) Lewis, drives a Lexus. It’s hilariously accurate and has lots of subtle jokes you may miss if you’re not paying attention.
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November 4, 2008   1 Comment

New Ad for the 2008 Blip Festival: Lo-Rez/High-Impact


Blip Festival 2008: The Promo from Richard Alexander Caraballo on Vimeo.

The BLIP FESTIVAL 2008 is a four-day (Dec 4-7) event showcasing nearly 40 musicians and visual artists in the lo-fi chipscene. It’s presented by the Manhattan art organization THE TANK and NYC artist collective 8BITPEOPLES.

The chipmusic phenomenon is like 8-bit punk. They essentially use old video game equipment and home computer hardware as musical instruments. The NES, Commodore 64, Atari ST, Nintendo Game Boy act as the lo-fit, low-res, high-impact electronic music makers.
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October 9, 2008   Comments Off