Doing more with le$$.

In the ad world, budgets keep shrinking (regardless of the economy) and we're often asked to do more with less.

Not a problem when you work at a small agency--we do it all the time. Especially with television production, which can quickly get expensive.

But it's always nice to see a big agency (in this case, Carmichael Lynch, Philadelphia doing their voodoo for Subaru) pull off the low-budget spot.

Short. Sweet. Perfect.

The Devil Wears Lanvin.

Thought I'd share some of the advertising "highlights" from the latest edition of The New York Times magazine called (ironically) "Style."

Insiders tip: apparently the Marilyn Manson look is going to be haute this year!

When marketing goes horribly wrong.

The trouble with putting your logo on a cap is that any asshole can wear it. Like the guy who blew up the Pan Am flight over Scotland.

Probably not the kind of endorsement Nike had in mind.

To compete with Axe, Old Spice pulls out the chainsaw.

Axe commercials are genuinely offbeat and (mostly) funny. I mean, you're selling deodorant to pubescent teens. How serious does it need to be?

Old Spice, not having an idea of their own, is trying to do the Axe look for themselves. But their commercials are never funny. They're just cheap, wanna-be knock-offs.

The "Create-Your-Own-Commercial-and Win-$$$" tag at the end of the spot is another indication of a low-brow brand trying to get by on the cheap. Guess they realize how shitty the work is their own agency is doing for them.

how low can you go?

Low budget commercials are everywhere these days.

But then, who needs production values when you can cram an annoying little ditty in someone's head?

The band that keeps on giving.

Saw Coldplay in concert last week. It was a great show, and as we were leaving, someone handed me this CD. It was dark by then, and because it was free I assumed it was a demo CD from some unheard of band.

It wasn't until I put it in my car CD player that I realized it's a nine-track live CD from Coldplay!

How cool is that? You get to relive the concert all over again on the drive home. That's what I call guerilla marketing!

I would tell you that with this unexpected gift, Coldplay is now one of my favorite bands. But, they had me at the concert...

Mini haha

Being timely is important for any marketer. Mini found a way to have some fun with the Cash for Clunkers program.

Bad acting is distracting.

Sorry, but I've seen this commercial one too many times and want to share my pain. Note how bad the acting is at the end of this spot. She can't quite pull off the appropriate expression.