Entries Tagged 'Uncategorized' ↓

Goofy pupils aside, this new spot for travel website Kayak—the latest in a series of absurd spots from ad agency Barton F. Graf 9000—has a bit of a blurred vision. Why did the guy think dilating his pupils would help him see better? That's not how it works. And I think the ad would have been funnier if he'd given his wife a weird compliment she didn't know what to do with, instead of just insulting her. That said, you won't shake the image of Mr. Pupils for a while—and he does reinforce the brand message. A good long vacation from this guy is just what the doctor ordered.

Automakers are getting ever more inventive with the literature they package with new vehicles. In the U.K., we saw the guide to Britain's tiny roads that came free with Volkswagen's compact Up! car. Now, here's a more rugged offering from Land Rover in Dubai—a survival guide created by Y&R that explains the basics of staying alive in the Arabian Desert, and is actually edible, just in case you find yourself in truly dire circumstances. "Scorching temperatures, deadly animals and sinkholes are just a few things they might encounter," says the agency. "We researched every indigenous animal and plant that people could encounter in the Arabian Desert and how they could be used to survive. We studied the topography of the region to guide people to safety. We used a reflective packaging similar to army rations, which could be used to signal for help, and bound the book with a metal spiral, which could be used for cooking. Finally, we even took an extra step so that in case of emergency, people could always EAT the book. It was made out of edible ink and paper, and it had a nutritional value close to that of a cheeseburger." The book was sent to 5,000 existing Land Rover customers, given away to new customers as a supplement to the owner's manual, and made freely available in sports shops. The only thing missing, really, is a cyanide pill. The lawyers probably objected.

Walmart's "Get on the Shelf" contest, which saw more than 4,000 inventors and small businesses compete for the chance to get their product into Walmart stores, has wrapped up, and the winners have been announced. They are: HumanKind Water, PlateTopper and SnapIt Eyeglass Repair Kit. Wait, really? Huh. Well, at least two of the three are ethical companies. HumanKind gives 100 percent of its net profits to organizations that provide access to clean drinking water in underdeveloped communities worldwide. And PlateTopper—a plastic gizmo that covers food on plates, replacing plastic wrap—donates to the anti-bullying campaign Jaylen's Challenge. SnapIt offers no such pretensions, but that also means they'll spend less time talking around their decision to work with retailers as unethical as Walmart. See ads for all three products after the jump.