HOME

May 22, 2007

Star Wars Holiday

This Friday marks the 30th anniversary of the ground-breaking (if overrated) science-fiction blockbuster "Star Wars." May 25th is 30 years exactly since the first theatrical release of George Lucas's series of movies playing out the epic saga of Luke Skywalker, Darth Vadar, Yoda, and several generations Jedi knights in their war pitting "the force" and "the dark side." From Thursday through the weekend, a massive convention for "Star Wars" fans will be held in Los Angeles to celebrate the landmark film. May the force be with them.

Posted by Supercore at 07:45 AM

May 21, 2007

The New Ridiculously Expensive Maroon 5 CD ...

The widly successful pop-soul-rock outfit Maroon 5 release their second album, titled "It Won't Be Soon Before Long," this week with unusually high financial expectations -- the new CD must sell at least 15 million copies in order for their record-label overlords to break even on their investment i the band. The band's first disc, which was released five years ago, eventually sold 10 million copies worldwide. Pressure? What pressure?

Posted by Supercore at 08:05 AM

April 27, 2007

Video: New GEICO Caveman at Airport Commercial ...

Unlike the previous GEICO Caveman commercial set at an airport, this one is only a 15-second spot instead of a 30-second. Still, it's a nice little "sequel."

Posted by Supercore at 01:42 AM

April 25, 2007

Spiderman 3 May Be the Most Expensive Movie Ever Made

The latest installment of diretcor Sam Raimi's Spidey movie franchise, Spiderman 3, is set to open the summer season and it's already being called the most expensive movie production ever. This is in part thanks to Amy Pascal, the fiscally-loose studio head at Sony Pictures who also is a genuine, passionate film buff. According to Kim Masters' article in Radar Magazine, it may also be due to Pascal's incredible track record of greenlighting one box office mega-success after another in her time at Sony. But when one considers that the success of a movie like Spiderman 3 is as close to a sure thing as film can be in the extremely risky business that is Hollywood, $300 million (or even half a billion, as Spidey 3 is rumored to have cost) seems like a shrewd investment given the recent global box-office take of similar films and Spidey's predecessors, Spiderman 1 and 2.

Posted by Supercore at 12:30 AM

April 19, 2007

Video: The "Unboxing" of a Sony PlayStation 3 Ordered Directly From Amazon Japan ...

Posted by Supercore at 11:37 PM

April 05, 2007

Video: Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer

The trailer for the new "Grand Theft Auto IV" to be released by Rockstar Games in October 2007. "GTA IV" will be set in New York City (though it won't be called New York City in the game itself).

Posted by Supercore at 11:54 PM

April 04, 2007

Grand Theft Auto IV Announced, Trailer Released ...

Few things get us as excited as the announcement by games producer Rockstar Games regarding the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series. "Grand Theft Auto IV" is on its way, kidzzz -- and that promises mo' better GTA to get you through the day. The new title will be rolled out October 16, 2007. When Rockstar make this announcement a couple of days ago, it also released a trailer for "GTA IV."

The game series has evolved dramatically through the "GTA III" phase, which saw the release of the original GTA III (aka, Liberty City), Vice City and finally the epic San Andreas editions. Between Liberty City and San Andreas, the game has grown and improved tremendously.

Meanwhile the evolution of the new crop of higher-performance gaming platforms, from the Microsoft XBox 360 to the new Sony PlayStation 3, have upped the potential for bigger, richer, faster games with even better graphics. It's only fitting that the Rockstar team would revisit Liberty City and develop the game environment to a larger scale and on a more fully visually realized level.

The word is that the Liberty City of "GTA IV" will be a more detailed and realistic carbon copy of New York City (albeit four of its five boroughs plus Jersey) in every way except the actual names. And this time around the main character will be an Eastern European immigrant. Can't fucking wait for this release, dude.

Posted by Supercore at 11:25 PM

March 29, 2007

Dolce & Gabbana Motorola RAZR Phone for Japan

Japanese fashionistas will soon be able to get their Ghetto-fab cell phone bling on when NTT DoCoMo releases a limited edition gold Motorola RAZR phone branded with the "D&G" of Italian design duo Dolce and Gabbana. The phone was jointly "developed" by D&G, Motorola and NTT DoCoMo. Dolce and Gabbana themselves created four ringtones that are unique to the phone. The device is offically called the M702iS DOLCE & GABBANA and will sell for about US $800.00. The Italian label also designed the carrying case for the phone, which will have a D&G-branded screen. Hmm ... no thank you.

Posted by Supercore at 11:11 PM

March 28, 2007

Giant Madonna in H&M Mural in New York

From the Global Graphica file ... there's a bunch recent photos of a new, massive mural being painted in Soho, New York City, that features Madonna in an ad for the H&M clothing store chain.

Posted by Supercore at 12:40 PM

March 25, 2007

Mouth-Watering Celebrity Gossip News Linkage ...

Autopsy Results for Annna Nicole Smith to be Released ...
Report of Prince Harry Drunkenly Assaulting Photographer Outside London Club ...
Snoop Dogg and P. Diddy's European Tour Losing Money Due to Costs of Rappers' Massive Entourages ...
Mel Gibson Blasts Expletive at University Professor Regarding Film "Apocalypto" ...
Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan Have Another Bitch-Slappy Face-Off ...
Amy Winehouse Champions Fellow Rehabbber Lindsay Lohan ...
Is Paris Hilton's Boyfriend Stavros Niarchos Cheating on the Hotel Heiress?
Britney Spears Out of Rehab ...

Posted by Thurston Ali at 09:01 PM

March 23, 2007

Sneakers From Brazilian Designers OEStudio

These strikingly urbane kicks by Brazilian designers OEStudio are an innovative reconcept on the look and feel of the sneaker, something we're seeing more and more of these days when the variety and volume of sporty foootwear designs and models seems inifinite.

Posted by Supercore at 10:33 PM

March 18, 2007

Minimalist "Muji" Brings Japanese Design to New York

Hot damn! Japanese lifestyle-goods chain Mujirushi Ryohin, or "Muji," will open it's first U.S. store this fall in New York City. We're pretty excited about this, being big fans of Muji for a many years.

Over the past decade, we've been buying Muji's minimalist furiniture, clothes, stationary and household goods on visits to Japan, Paris, and London (where Muji opened it's first shop outside of Japan back in the arly 1990s).

For the past couple of years, Muji has been selling a limited line of products in the U.S. through the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) Stores in New Yok City, where they've become something of a cult hit. Prior to MoMA, if you wanted your Muji you had to either go overseas or hunt the stuff down in small boutiques where "unoffically" imported merch (bought by small shop owners at retail prices in Japan and smuggled into the U.S.) could be found for sale at massive mark-up).

The first store in America will be located in the new New York Times Building, which was designed by renowned architect Renzo Piano. Mujirushi Ryohin at Time Square will be the company's U.S. flagship shop.

Posted by Supercore at 12:39 PM

March 07, 2007

And Speaking of Naomi Campbell ....

The ex-supermodel has said that she will never have plastic surgery, unless she was disfigured in a "bad accident." Who gives shit? Well, actually, we do enough for a brief comment anyway...

Naomi Campbell is now 36 years old. That's not even within the "coveted" 18-34 years-old target marketing demographic that advertising wankers are always babbling on about. And Campbell hardly trades in the kind of runway and photo work she used. She is becoming increasingly irrelevant as a media and fashion commodity.

But it doesn't matter -- she looks fucking great! She shouldn't being even thinking about whether or not she needs plastic surgery. Her looks are fine as they are, especially for her age. It's Campbell's personality that needs plastic surgery, not her face and body. She's got to do something about that wicked temper of hers.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:03 PM

March 04, 2007

Rosemary Goes to The Mall

Video and installation artist Rosemary Williams says she had an anxiety attack the first time she visited the famously gargantuan Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an art project and means to deal with her personal mall-shopping issues, Williams created the "Wall of the Mall," an installation made of shopping bags from store in the MOA. She also a produced a podcast series documenting the project, to which the Rosemary Goes to the Mall website is devoted.
The weekly Consumed column by Rob Walker in this week's Sunday new York Times Magazine explores William's project and the phenomenon of the Mall of America as a place that has transcended being just a place to buy stuff to being a tourist attraction in and of itself, comeplte with souvenirs shops and t-shirts.

Posted by Supercore at 01:38 PM

March 02, 2007

GEICO Caveman Golfing with Phil Sims

It looks like the GEICO caveman may be crossing over from a car-insurance commercial icon to a fully realized character fit for long-form television programming. That's if this clip of the GEICO caveman playing golf with NFL icon Phil Sims is anything to go by. In this nearly four-minute sketch, the caveman goes 18 holes with the former Giants star. If the caveman seemed overly sensitive and ornery in the GEICO ads, he's even more so here. In fact, he comes across in this video as an obnoxious, iritable douche-bag. He's freaking hilarious. The caveman should have his own show on Comedy Central. It could a late-night talk-fest hosted by the caveman that would air right after the Colbert Report. And the whole thing would be sponsored by GEICO, of course. A higher quality QuickTime version of the clip is here.

Posted by Supercore at 11:00 PM

March 01, 2007

GEICO Caveman Saga Continues ....

This recent 30-second ad by GEICO featuring the ever-annoyed Caveman has actually already been running for a while, but we're including here along with some posts of the other latest ads. It's not the best nor our favorite of the Caveman spots so far, but it's still amusing work. Whether it's effective advertising or not, the jury may still be out.

Posted by Supercore at 11:43 PM

February 22, 2007

Shepard Fairey's Paste-Ups at 11 Spring St., New York City

Over on Global Graphica we've posted a bunch of images from the recent street art exhibition at 11 Spring Street in New York City. Included are these images of massive art works by Shephard Fairey of "Obey/Giant Has a Posse" fame. Good stuff. Check it out, y'all.

Posted by Supercore at 11:47 PM

February 20, 2007

The Mixtape Dilemma of DJ Drama, the Aphilliates and the Hip Hop Music Business

Another great, illuminating article in last Sunday's New York Times Magazine was about the recent bust of mixtape megastar DJ Drama and his posse of DJs and mixtape entrepeneurs, lncluding Djs Sense and Cannon. Drama who is one of hip-hop's most influential tastemakers is perhaps better known to the wider public for his work with rap star Lil' Wayne. His Atlanta studio was raided in January because of his alleged music piracy, mostly in the form of mixtape CDs containing unlicensed music and samples by other artists. The irony is that the bust was aided in part by the Recording Industry Association of America, which represents many of the same recording labels for whom DJ Drama is unofficially contracted by to manufacture mixtapes to promote its signed roster of hip-hop artists.

Posted by Supercore at 11:20 PM

February 19, 2007

New York Times Mag's "Speed Racer" Cover

Yesterday's New York Times Magazine ran a massive article on Japanese automaking giant Toyota and how the company has surprassed General Motors as the world's largest producer of cars. The magazine's cover touted the feature with an eye-catching piece of illustration. The cover art shows a salaryman in white suit posing in front of a recent model Toyota. The pose and composition of the image is a direct reference to the iconic still frame shown in the intro of every episode of television anime classic "Speed Racer," known in Japanese as Mach Go Go Go.

Posted by Supercore at 10:49 PM

February 15, 2007

"Do Your Own Adventure!" with Sue Teller

This subtly sponsored viral video from Mountain Dew ("Promotional consideration provided by ..." ) is a riot. "Do Your Own Adventure!" with Sue Teller is a fake cable-access-styled show in which octagenarian Sue Teller teaches viewers how to do various youth-oriented DIY projects like spraying graffiti and mixing records. In this episode Teller shows us how to mash up tunes like a professional hip-hop DJ, complete with two turntables and a drum machine. Holla' at ya' girl!

Domo arigato to Jess E. for the tip!

Posted by Supercore at 11:09 PM

February 14, 2007

Video: Anti-Advertising by Graffiti Research Lab

Posted this on sister site Global Graphica ...

The folks at the ever ingenious and creative Graffiti Research Lab have made a clip of their recent anti-advertising campaign. The guerilla effort exploits video panels that display commercials outside subway entrances around New York City. The point is that the thousands of marketing messages we are exposed to on a daily basis is the true graf problem urban dwellers face.

Posted by Supercore at 11:59 PM

February 12, 2007

"Save Boston" Game Lets Players Smoke Out the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Lite-Brite Mooninites

Somebody has developed a quickie Flash game on the Web making fun of Boston and Bostonians and the whole recent brouhaha over the guerilla ad campaign involving LED light boards to promote the television show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." The light boards were mistaken for bombs, and the security response to the supposed terror threat cost the city millions of dollars. Anyway, the silly game is called "Save Boston." It's a whack-a-mole type of amusement that will provide minutes of senseless entertainment on your PC when you should be working.

Posted by Supercore at 11:59 PM

Ooh, It's Really Bad: Vanilla Ice Does Rap Promotion for Turbo Tax Online

Oh, boy, this really stinks. Though to be fair to D-lister Vanilla Ice, his flow actually isn't half bad. No, seriously, he can rap. But dropping rhymes on video for an online TurboTax promo based on the concept of user-generated content really begs the question -- How low can a washed-up, late-80's one-hit-wonder fake white rapper go? Appearing on the Surreal Life is bad enough. But this? C'mon.

Posted by Supercore at 11:59 PM

February 06, 2007

Guerilla Ad Agency "Miami" of Sweden

In the week after a guerilla marketing agency launched an under-the-radar marketing campaign that turned into a massive bomb scare, we've come across a small guerilla marketing agency in Sweden that is starting to explode onto the ad scene and get on the radar. The company has a most intriguing name. The firm is called Miami, as in the Florida city, except that Miami the agency is in Sweden, as in Scandanavian country known for Absolut vodka, IKEA furniture, and the birthplace of the Volvo. Anyhoo, Miami has a cool -- if kind of dorky -- and unconventionally simple and unintuitive website that shows some of its work.

Posted by Supercore at 10:18 PM

February 02, 2007

Video of the Making of Those "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" LED Ads

Here's an excellent video clip showing how those those "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" LED Ads, which caused the bomb scare in Boston earlier this week, were produced and installed.

Posted by Supercore at 01:05 PM

Geniuses Behind "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" LED Ads Give Surreal Press Conference ...

The avant-garde artists and guerilla marketers who were arrested after installing myseterious LED ads for Cartoon Network's "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," give a surreal, ridiculous press conference upon emerging from jail. It's pure theater when a couple of guys tell -- with the straightest of faces -- a throng of reporters that they will answers only questions pertaining to "haircuts in the 70's."

Posted by Supercore at 12:49 PM

Fresh Super Awesomely Delicious Celebrity Gossip Linkage for Your Friday Reading Pleasure ...

"Girls Gone Wild" Impressario Joe Francis Claims Paris Hilton is Better in the Sack Than Linday Lohan, Tara Reid and Kimberly Stewart!
Lindsay Lohan Text Messages Pal from Rehab to Say She WANTS burgers and sex.
Miss USA Confesses to Cocaine Use ... Uh, yeah, no kidding!
Jessica Simpson Botches Lyrics to Boyfriend John Mayer's Song at Concert
Nicole Richie May Go to Jail
Mandy Moore Afraid of Dating
Rosie O' Donnell Rants Get Reviewed

Posted by Thurston Ali at 08:29 AM

January 22, 2007

Cool New Volkswagen German VW Phaeton Commercial

Who knew hand-shadow puppetry could be so modern? Super liquid-awesomely cool. Whatever you may think of the Volkswagen cars (or how well-made or not the cars actually are), the coomercials of VW have always been a cut above.

Posted by Supercore at 12:42 AM

January 16, 2007

In Japan: Another TV Commercial with Tommy Lee Jones Selling Boss Can Coffee ...

Respek!

Posted by Supercore at 03:45 AM

January 15, 2007

In Japan: Tommy Lee Jones Stars in Japanese Commercial for Boss Canned Coffee

Posted by Supercore at 03:42 AM

January 12, 2007

In Japan: Another Pocky Commercial Starring Yui Aragaki ...

Love the voiceover tag at the end -- "... it's thin, it's light ... Pocky!!!"

Posted by Supercore at 03:39 AM

January 11, 2007

In Japan: Loving Japanese TV Commercials ... Let's Eat Pocky!

Posted by Supercore at 03:33 AM

January 10, 2007

The Apple iPhone -- We Want One!

It's here .... it's finally here. Well, almost. The much talked- and speculated-about Apple iPhone was announced at MacWorld by Steve Jobs during his keynote speech. Wow! Wow! Wow! It's a stunner of design. The new phone will be like a video iPod, cell phone and small computer/PDA all rolled up into one. The first phone will be available from Cingular in June. Now, the question is how much of what we're being shown is a reality in terms of what will actually be a functional phone. And will it be buggy? Will it be durable? Nobody is getting a chance to give the device a full test battering yet. We'll have to wait and see. But for now ... yes, we're in love.

Posted by Supercore at 12:16 AM

December 19, 2006

MissBehave Magazine Rocks It!

Though we're probably not as a group part of the target demographic, MissBehave magazine has seriously left an impression on us. The new Brooklyn-based "girls" lifestyle mag reads and looks like an editorial DNA-mashup of Mass Appeal, Nylon, and Tokion, but with more of the streetyness and flava' of Mass Appeal. The magazine design is gorgeous, vibrant, fresh and sick. The second issue features the delicious British poptress Lily Allen on the cover and it's a prize. Check it. Rock it. Love it. Be it.

Posted by Supercore at 11:42 PM

December 13, 2006

The Year in Ideas

In our opinion, it's the most interesting and stimulating annual issue of any magazine in the English-publishing world. It's the New York Times Magazine "The Year in Ideas." Some of the many ideas explored in this issue that got our attention include "Trash-talk Exegesis," "Jujitsu Advertising," "Digital Maoism," and "For-Profit Philanthropy." Kudos, NYTM, for another great issue.

Posted by Supercore at 01:33 AM

December 12, 2006

The GEICO Gecko Has a Blog!

Yes, the GEICO gecko lizard has his very own weblog. The site is tantalizingly titled "Gecko's Fun Stuff - Gecko's Blog." On the site, the iconic reptile (and car-insurance company mascot) writes about all manner of subjects related to saving 15 % on your car insurance, including the low-down on all the music used in the recent GEICO Caveman commercials. So if you've been wondering about things like what the jaunty electronic tune is in the Caveman "Airport" TV ad, here's where you can find out. (By the way, that tune is "Remind Me" by Norwegian group Royksopp.) By now, that an anthropomorphic, computer-animated spokes-lizard with a cockney accent would have a blog should not be surprising -- it really was inevitable, wasn't it? Next thing you know, the toenail on my left pinky toe is going to have its own blog.

Posted by Supercore at 01:57 AM

December 06, 2006

GEICO Caveman Actor Revealed

In case you wanted to know who the GEICO caveman is (and, really, who didn't?), well, brace yourself for this amazing piece of knowledge: the GEICO caveman is actor John Lehr. Wow! Uh, um, uh ... who is John Lehr? Yeah, we were wondering that, too. Lehr's list of acting credits appears short, though he recently landed a gig as a cast member of a new TBC television series called "10 Items or Less." So, now you know who the GEICO caveman is (at least one of them, anyway). Don't you feel better? Don't you feel like a whole new person? No? Nothing? Yeah, same here.

Posted by Supercore at 01:20 AM

December 01, 2006

Funny Japanese Packaging for Frito-Lay Doritos

This has to be one of the all-time greats when it comes to amusing Japanese product packaging. The design for this variation of the "Doritos" bag is ball-bustingly funny. The chips here are touted as having a spicy "black pepper and salt flavor," which, we presume, requires the consumer to have a big pair of cajones. Love it.

Posted by Supercore at 02:57 AM

Clientcopia: Living the Painful Ad Agency Dream

For anybody who works with "clients" in the media or marketing and especially for anybody who works specifically in an ad agency and interactive advertising (like us), you'll want to check out the web site Clientcopia.com to relish in the anecdotes, gripes, tales and observations of that crazy dynamic that can be the client-creative relationship. We're living the dream, we tell you, and it's like pulling teeth. Fun stuff. (Domo arigato to Evan K. for the tip!)

Posted by Supercore at 02:22 AM

November 21, 2006

Video: "Kick, Push" by Lupe Fiasco

Lovin' the Lupe Fiasco CD "Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor," especially the tune "Kick, Push" and its music video. Rad skateboard moves, ill rhymes.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 03:02 AM

November 19, 2006

"Freaky Delicious" Gnarls Barkley Video for "Gone Daddy Gone"

The latest music video from the Dangermouse and Cee Lo collaboration known as Gnarls Barkley is a clever and amusing CG-heavy clip for the track "Gone Daddy Gone." As Air Massive tipster Jess E. put it, the video is "freaky delicious." And indeed it is.

Posted by Supercore at 04:26 AM

November 16, 2006

The Men Who Are James Bond

With the release of the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, this week, BBC has an overview of all the actors who have portrayed the world's most glamorous spy on film, from Sean Connery to Pierce Brosnan and the newest British thespian to take the role, Daniel Craig. It's got lots of factoids, bio details and famous lines of dialog (Shaken, not stirred, of course).

Posted by Robsam at 12:31 AM

November 15, 2006

Tasty Celeb Gossip Linkage for the Mid-Week ...

Supermodel Naomi Campbell Tries to Plea-Bargain Her Way Out of Jail Sentence ...
Porn Producer Offered Alleged Sex Tape of Britney Spears and K-Fed ...
Tom Cruise Reportedly Too Fat to Fit INto His Wedding Suite ...
Nicole Richie Denies Talk of gastric-Bypass Surgery ...
Paris Hilton Goes Out on Date in London ...
The What Made Lindsay Lohan Call Paris Hilton the C-Word ...
The OC's Mischa Barton "Tired" of Being Skinny ...

Posted by Thurston Ali at 11:59 PM

Yet Even More Fun with Japanese Mac Ads

Okay, okay, we admit it -- we can't get enough of these ads. It's interesting to compare the U.S. versions of the ads to the Japanese versions. Apple relies on the advertising agency TBWA/Chiat Day, and the concept for these TV ads campaigns were created out of the Los Angeles office (it handles all of the Apple work).

Posted by Supercore at 11:53 PM

More Fun Japanese Apple Mac vs. PC Commercials

This is one is the spot that talks about "cool apps" and how Macs have that easy-to-use iLife suite of software.

Posted by Supercore at 11:51 PM

Japanese Versions of Those Clever Apple Mac Vs. PC Television Commercials

Now this is what we call being in control of your brand. For the Japanese market, Apple Computer has rolled out a television ad campaign based on the same 30-second concept the company deployed in the U.S. Like the ads broadcast in America, the Japanese commercials (or "CM's," as our friends in the Tokyo ad world call them) feature two men chatting with each other in front of a white backdrop. One man is a stiff, buttoned-up, businessy salaryman who represents a PC (presumably a Windows-based machine). The other guy is a relaxed, casually hip and slightly smug twenty-something. The commercials are doppelgangers of the U.S. spots, except that the actors are Japanese and naturally speak in their native tongue. The music is the same, as are the themes -- how Macs are easy to use, relatively immune to viruses, and so on. Even if you don't understand Japanese, they're fun to watch.

Posted by Supercore at 11:30 PM

November 12, 2006

Delectable Celebrity Gossip Linkage to Kick-Off the Week ...

BRITNEY SPEARS FOUND K-FED WITH OTHER WOMAN WEEKEND BEFORE DIVORCE
Charlie Sheen-ex Denise Richards Throws Laptop at 91-Year Old Lady ...
Oh, It's On Again: Lindsay Lohan Spits C-word About Paris Hilton ...
Madonna Disses Her Fellow Celebs ...
Snoop Dogg in Trouble with the Law Again ...
Nicole vs Nicole: Nicole Appleton Disses Nicole Richie for Being Too Skinny ...

Posted by Thurston Ali at 03:34 PM

How "Snakes on a Plane" Ended Up Promoting It's Hype More Than the Movie

Last summer's most talked-about and anticipated movie was argubly "Snakes on a Plane," the campy action thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson and, er, lots and lots of slithering serpents and on a passenger jet. After all the buzz and hype about the movie, the film was widely released theatrically with a sense of cocksure inevitability in its own financial box office glory. But the film, while not a flop, was only moderately successful and failed to match its expectations. In the end, the marketing behind "Snakes on Plane" created too much buzz for its own good. "SOAP" was a case of movie hype "helping" the promoting the buzz machine (the blogosphere, media, etc.) more than the film itself.

Posted by Robsam at 02:41 PM

November 11, 2006

Yet Another Cool Sony PlayStation 3 TV Commercial

This one is the "eggs" television spot for the soon-to-be-realeased (Nov. 17) Sony PlayStation 3, or PS3. Loving this ad campaign.

Posted by Supercore at 02:44 PM

November 10, 2006

Rubik's Cube Stars in Another Cool New Sony PlayStation 3 TV Ad

Here's another one of those cool new television commercials for the soon-to-be-released PlayStation3 game console. Like the baby-doll TV spot, this one is set in a stark-white, empty room. A Rubik's Cube levitates in the presence of a new PS3, which stands monolith-like and seems to be emanating some invisible, supernatural force that solves the Rubik's Cube puzzle. Cool.

Posted by Supercore at 02:34 AM

Sony's Creepy PlayStation 3 Baby-Doll Commercial

We find this new television commercial for the Sony PlayStation 3 a strangely compelling piece of advertising even though it's totally creepy. In the 30-second spot, a baby doll appears mesmerized and demonically possessed in the presence of a new Sony PlayStation 3 machine, while the new game platform starts to levitate. Word has it that Sony embedded some "clues" within the commercial for the hardcore gaming massive to discover when they watch the ad in frame-by-frame slow motion. (Arigato to Jess for the tip.)

Posted by Supercore at 02:21 AM

November 09, 2006

U.K. Street Art Collective "The London Police" Strike Downtown New York City Once Again

Boo-ya and big up! The London Police have put up a massive new work in downtown New York City. This new piece is at 11 Spring Street, that famous cynosure of street art and graf in the Nolita neighborhood of lower Manhattan. There's a bunch of new photos documenting this latest work over on our sister site Global Graphica. Sick. (Photo courtesy Ivan Corsa / Global Graphica)

Posted by Supercore at 12:55 AM

The Music Used in That GEICO Caveman "Airport" TV Commercial is ...

We've been getting a surprising number of email inquires from the Massive asking if we know what song is used in that recent GEICO Caveman television commercial, the one where the Caveman is at the airport. The music is from a song called "Remind Me" by Royksopp, an indie electronic-pop duo from Norway. The song is on their 2002 CD titled "Melody AM." It's an excellent album from one of our favorite music artists of the moment. We highly recommend it.

Posted by Supercore at 12:01 AM

November 07, 2006

Video: The Workspace "Idea Catcher"

Love what Ethan, a copywriter in New York, has done to his workspace at an advertising agency. With a little help from some colleagues, he's created what has been dubbed the "Idea Catcher," a web of blue tape used to "snag" paper and objects of inspiration. Cool.

Posted by Supercore at 11:01 PM

Borat is Number One at the Box Office

Given the hype, the many funny, much talked-about television appearances and all the YouTube publicity is it really a surprise that the Borat movie came in with the biggest box office receipts of the past weekend? Well, actually, yes, it is a surprise. It's a surpise that this kind of film did this well of an opening weekend. That is to say, we expected the movie to have some degree of financial and critical success, but just not on this scale. On Sunday, we popped by our local movie theater in downtown New York City and saw that Borat had sold out at least a half-dozen screenings, while outside the cinema the lines trailed down the block. The film was produced for only $11 million, so the execs at Fox must be laughing all the way to the bank on this one because, like the Jackass movies, profit margins on low-production (non-"high-concept") movies productions like these are huge. Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) most certainly will not "be execute" (sic) back in his country when Borat's theatrical run ends.

Posted by Robsam at 09:52 AM

November 02, 2006

Video: Borat Meets David Letterman

The Borat publicity juggernaut goes full throttle with yet another television appearance by Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), this time on the Late Show with David Letterman. Good stuff.

Posted by Robsam at 02:13 AM

October 31, 2006

Video: Borat Opening Sketch on "Saturday Night Live"

Live from New York ... Borat does SNL. Freaking hilarious, kidz!

Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:22 AM

Toyota Scion Car Will Be Sold in Second Life

Fo' realzzz, yo ... Japanese carmaker Toyota will soon start to sell digital versions of its popular Scion cars in the online community Second Life (SL). The virtual version of hot box-shaped car will sell for $2.00. The plan to sell the cars in SL came as Toyota's ad agency developed its new marketing campaign for the car, which included advertising and giving away digital Scions in SL. The agency soon realized, however, that people in SL would actually pay to own virtual models. The rest is virtual marketing history.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:03 AM

October 28, 2006

Video: Media "Creatives" Goof Off with BMW Toy

See this what those crazy creative folks who work in interactive media in New York get up to when they're brainstorming ideas or have idle time on their hands.

Posted by Supercore at 03:23 AM

October 25, 2006

Video: Borat Interviewed by Chuck the Movie Guy

The Borat publicity juggernaut continues with this interview of Borat (as played by Sacha Baron Cohen) by Chuck the movie guy. Borat is a riot, as usual.

Posted by Robsam at 01:39 AM

October 24, 2006

Borat Invited to Visit Kazahkastan

In an ongoing campaign to diffuse what it sees the as the tainting of their nation's image at the hands of British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the government of Kazakhstanhas now officially invited Cohen/Borat to visit the country. Borat, the fictional TV journalist from Kazakhstan as portrayed by Cohen, is an anti-semitic, sexist rube who the Kazakhstan government fears is making their country seem like a backward place full of similarly anti-semitic and sexist people. Whether Cohen/Borat will take up the invitation is yet to be seen.

Posted by Robsam at 09:59 PM

October 23, 2006

New GEICO "Talking Head" Caveman Commercial

The recent reappearance of the GEICO caveman in a new commercial (the caveman is gliding along an airport concourse on his way to catch a plane when he spots an insulting GEICO billboard) suggested that there were more 30-second TV spots to come as part of a new series of ads. The latest ad (see above) features the GEICO caveman as a guest on a very Fox News-like TV debate program, where the caveman is one of a pair of guest talking heads verbally tussling with each other and a news anchor. Funny stuff, as usual. Love the caveman.

Posted by Supercore at 11:54 PM

The Best Bad Review of Paris Hilton's Music Debut

Leave it to veteran music scribe Aidin Vaziri writing in the San Francisco Chronicle to pen the funniest and best negative review of Paris Hilton's recently released self-titled CD. This is one of the cheekiest and most irreverent pans of an album we've read in a long time. Good one, Aidin.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 07:58 PM

The Borat Movie Website Rocks

By now many of us know of Borat, the fictional TV journalist from Kazakhstan portayed by British actor-comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and we are eagerly awaiting the soon to be theatrically released movie "Borat - Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan." The website for movie is a clever little dig at the government of Kazakhstan, which has publicly criticized Cohen for his character and the way it supposedly casts the Central Asian nation in a negative light. The movie's site is designed as the official Kazakhstan government's Ministry of Information website. This should really piss off Kazakhstan even more. Like the character Borat himself, the website is a phony. Upon casual inspection it's an obvious joke. As Borat would say, "Very nice! I like!"

Posted by Robsam at 07:43 PM

Starbucks "Salon" Brings Culture to the Latte-Set

Satrbucks recently opened a new type of coffee shop called Starbucks Salon. We visited the one in SoHo, New York City, recently and it's a big, impressive, and arty two-floor Starbucks space complete with coffee bar and an added professional performance space and stage. The Seattle-based coffee retailer and chain has been putting and out selling CDs for years and recently entered the movie business. This is the subject ofan interesting New Times article about the "Starbuck's aesthetic." Which makes us wonder about the extent that a business like Starbucks can play a role as arbiter of popular cultural tastes and patron to the arts. For many Starbucks plays a unique role in their lives. It's not only a place to buy and consume coffee but it has become for many people an extension of their living room, den, study or library. The very spaces that we often relax and consume culture in their homes.

Posted by Supercore at 07:38 PM

Celebrity Perfumes Are a Dime a Dozen

The past couple of years have witnessed a sharp rise in the number of new perfumes and colognes being brought to market. As Rob Walker explains in his always illuminating "Consumed" column in the New York Times Magazine, many of the news scents are being launched by celebrities or for some celeb's as a line-extension of their existing clothing label. A lot of new parfums fail and for those branded with a famous actor's or pop singer's name the track record is bad or the popularity of the bottled scent is short-lived.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 07:34 PM

October 20, 2006

The Comedy of Demetri Martin Goes on the Road and the Web

Demetri Martin is one of the funniest young stand-up comedians in America today. He is truly an original comic. His style brings to mind the deadpan, clever one-liner observations of Steven Wright. You may have seen Martin's concert special on Comedy Central in the past year or caught him doing a segment on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he is an occasional guest reporter and "expert." Though Martin has been playing clubs around the country, he's now on a proper comedy concert tour and has a promotional Web site called Clearification.com that has some of his short sketch comedy videos and audio clips of his routine. Great stuff.

(A big domo arigato to Sam. C for the tip.)

Posted by Supercore at 01:51 AM

There's a Blog About ... Tuna!

Seriously, folks, there's a blog about tuna ... ya' know ... the fish. Well, it's not so much about the fish in and of itself, that is, about the species, but rather about tuna as a food product, and specifically in it's canned form. Tunablog.com is a web site put together by the United States Tuna Foundation (naturally, that's the U.S.T.A. to you and us). The Tuna Blog title is qualified by the tagline "Everything You Need to Know About Canned Tuna in the U.S." We kid you not. (You can't make this stuff up!) Apparently, there's a lot one needs to know about tuna.

Posted by Supercore at 01:49 AM

October 19, 2006

Jay Z Gets a Marketing Job for Beer Brand

That's right, homies. Jay Z is taking on another job title, but this time it's for a company of which he owns no part and it's not involved in music, fashion, basketball or vodka. Jay Z, a.k.a. Shaun Carter, is going into advertising and marketing. He's going to become is going to be "co-brand director" for the Budweiser Select beer line at Anheuser-Busch. The company is HQed in St. Louis, which is territory for rapper Nelly and Chingy, so one has to wonder if these guys will feel at all slighted by not being hooked up with one of the great, iconic brands of their hometown, especially 'cause they like it right thurrr.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:39 AM

October 18, 2006

... And the Project Runway 3 Finale Winner is ...

Jeffrey WINS!!! Woo-hoooooooo!!!

Posted by Supercore at 10:57 PM

The Project Runway Finale

It all comes down to four designers showing at Olympus Fashion Week at Bryant Park, New York City. Within the next 15 minutes we'll know who the Project Runway Season 3 winner is. The question is Who will it be: Jeffrey, Michael, Laura, or Ulli. The designers have just shown and are now being critiqued by Heidi Klum and the judges. Some of our thoughts ... So far, we're disappointed with Michael Knight's collection, though there is no doubt he has enormous talent and potential. Ulli's collection was excellent and far more ambitious in terms of her usual range, but it was mostly predictable. Laura's collection is top class and elegant. Jeffrey's clothes are amazing. In terms of originality and craft, we like Laura and Jeffrey for their quality and innovation. We think Laura, Ulli or Jeffrey can win. Michael won't win it, but he's really popular, so who knows. Ulli would sell big -- her style is accessible. Laura is almost too classic and uptown for her own good. Jeffrey is a total original. Our favortie is Jeffrey and we want him to win. Our money is on him. But we're not convinced that he will win. Fingers crossed, kids. Anyway, in the next ten minutes we will know the winner ...

Posted by Supercore at 10:41 PM

Video: The Dove "Evolution" Commercial Reveals Distortions of Beauty in Advertising

This great 60-second Dove television commercial called "Evolution" is a time-lapse video of a plain model being lit, made-up and styled before a photo shoot, as well as the process of shooting the images and the subsequent and substantial retouching in Photoshop. Eventually we see the image of the model's "distorted beauty" used in a billboard ad. This is awesome to watch over and over again.

Posted by Supercore at 03:34 AM

October 15, 2006

How Friendster Failed and 13 Other Social Networking Sites Won

Remember back in 2003, homies, when Friendster was all the rage? Since then it has quietly dispappeared from the buzz around social-networking, while copycat and better social-net sites likes MySpace emerged, built up a massive base of registered users and were bought for over half a billion dollars by News Copr. in 2005. Freindster practically pioneered the the social-networking phenomenon as we know it. Within a year of its launch in 2003 it was offered $30 million by Google, which the new start-up turned down. From there it gradually failed to capitalize on its momentum and failed to become a huge moneymaking dotcom success story. So much so that it was recently ranked number 14 in social-networking sites. Oh, how those giant egos at Friendster have fallen.

Posted by Supercore at 12:40 PM

September 28, 2006

John Hodgeman is the Man - An Interview with the Daily Show Expert and PC Guy

He's best known as the PC guy in the those Apple Computer commercials compring the Mac to a PC. But you've also seen him on the Daily Show , where he's a fake "expert" with a real journalism career. His name is John Hodgeman, and he's funny. Radar magazine has a Q and A with the man who personifies your average Windows machine.

Posted by Robsam at 01:08 AM

September 22, 2006

GEICO Caveman is Back in a New TV Spot ... Roast Duck with Mango Salsa, Anyone?

The newest television commercial for GEICO shows the Caveman dressed in a sporty, jet-set kind of way, bag slung over shoulder, tennis racket packed, moving along an airport concourse. Suddenly he sees a billboard for GEICO claiming that it's so easy to use GEICO "even a caveman can do it," a tagline used in the first trilogy of caveman commercials that aired in 2005. The Caveman is incredulous and walks away with a seething expression on his face. He seems to be thinking, "NOT COOL!" We love it. We can't wait to see the follow-up spots. All we can say is we'll have the roast duck with mango salsa.

Posted by Supercore at 10:39 PM

August 30, 2006

Funny Faux Japanese Commercial with for Chinese Brand of Japanese Green Tea ... Make Sense?

This commercial for Japanese green tea is quite clever and funny. Though the dialogue is in Japanese, the entire TV spot is sub-titled in English. On closer inspection, we notice that the brand of green tea is Chinese. In other words, the commercial is for a Chinese-language market -- Hong Kong, Taiwan, mainland China , we don't know and can't tell. But as green tea is Japanese and -- and as, presumably, the best green tea is made in Japan -- the commercial makes its point about aunthenticity and quality by being done in a Japanese kawaii style being and in Japanese instead of one of the Chinese languages and dialects. (Props to Sam for the tip.)

Posted by Supercore at 11:49 PM

July 25, 2006

Snickers' "Satisfectellent" Ad Campaign

From New York to Los Angeles, all across the country, you've been seeing those simple, inexplicable ads for Snickers chocolate bars. The ads show the easily recognizable and identifiable brand-logo treatment that's on every Snickers wrapper. Except that when you see these ads, instead of the Snickers name there's some other word, a made mashup of a word that 's supposed to amuse you with its cleverness and make you think about Snickers. The words are "Satisfectellent," "Hungerectomy," "Substantialicious," "Nougatocity," and "Peanutopolis." They're not defined in the ads, but you know what they mean. In a review of the ads, an advertising creative director named Thomas Sherman dissects the campaign and reveals Snickers astonishing falure to capitalize fully on the ad concept. To put in Snickers' terms, while the idea behind the might be satifectellent, it isn't substantialiscious.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 12:38 AM

June 28, 2006

Behind the Scenes - The Adidas Soccer Commercial

Don't where this came from, but it's a short behind-the-scene look at that Adidas series of commercials of the two kids picking teams of superstar footballers.

Posted by Robsam at 03:45 AM

Adidas Commercial - Episode 1

Here's the first version or the kick-off "episode" of the Adidas commercials showing star soccer players and two kids picking sides. The music, which many people have been asking about, is a tune by RJD2 called "D' Alouette." This is not to be confused with the another song called "Eanie Meanie" by Jim Noir that is used in the second episode of the commercial, the one in which the kids and their superstar teams play each other.

Posted by Robsam at 03:44 AM

June 26, 2006

Adidas' Amazing Commercial

We love this Adidas commerical. Seriously, this is an instant classic as as we're concerned. The 30-second spot has been airing in the run-up to and during the 2006 World Cup this summer. It's amazing how many superstar soccer players they got to appear in this ad. Amazing too is the rotoscoping job done to weave in vintage footage of European football legends Platini and Beckenbauer. (Look for the commercial in the America on ESPN, ESPN2, ABC and Fox Soccer Channel during its World Cup coverage.) There are actually several versions of the ad. Embedded above for your viewing pleasure is "Version 3." We love the song used in the TV advert, too. Many people have been asking about it. The tune is called "Eanie Meany" and it's by the Manchester, England-based Jim Noir.

Posted by Supercore at 02:07 AM

June 19, 2006

An Audio Interview the Geico Gekko ... Seriously

An editor of the advertising industry trade magazine Ad Age has conducted an audio interiew with the cockney-accented British reptile who is the Geico car insurance advertising icon, the Geico Gekko. It's all a bit too tongue in cheek for a serious publication, yet the interview questions are serious enough and the answers are suprisingly illuminating enough, too. Anyway, it's a terribly amusing and entertaining bit of journalism, especially for anyone who loves those brilliant Geico Gekko TV commercials.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 08:59 PM

June 18, 2006

Nike's Soccer Ball Vending Machine

From the Global Graphica file this week, lots of a pictures of a cool NIke vending machine that sells soccer balls in New York City. The vending machine is designed with images of the Brazilian superstar soccer player Ronaldinho and is part of the "joga bonito" (which means "beautiful game" in Portugeuse soccer-themed ad campaign Nike has been running in the lead-up to and during the World Cup in Germany. The vending machine is located in front of Pier 40, a recreational facility in downtown Manhattan, where the far West Village meets the Hudson River. Profits from the sales of the balls go to buying new nets for the soccer fields on Pier 40. (Photo courtesy Global Graphica / Ivan Corsa)

Posted by Supercore at 08:34 PM

May 30, 2006

Food + Drink Culture: Getting Caffeinated with Café Sepia

We're suckers for Japanese canned coffee. Every time one of the big Nippon beverage makers launches a new brand of sugar-dosed latte in a can, we've got to try it. And this is especially so when that new brand comes with an unusual screw-top aluminum can design that looks like it was dreamed up by an architect. The new Café Sepia from Ito-En is just the sort of stuff that works us into a frenzied, drooling El Nino of caffeine-jonesing desire. Even Cornelius, the official (living) cat-mascot of Air Massive, was intrigued by this latest beverage to emerge from Tokyo (as the picture above documents). But neither an eye-catching design nor a nuanced product name can make a can of coffee taste great. We're sad to report that Café Sepia tasted weak. It was too watery and diluted than we like. In fact, it lacked the coffee punch of even most established major brands of Japanese can coffee. (Personally, the Boss brand is our gold standard in this East Asian drinks sub-genre.) Café Sepia didn't taste "bad," mind you. It was actually pleasant to the tongue. But we expect more -- much more -- from anything that a drinks maker dares call coffee.

Posted by Supercore at 09:21 PM

April 20, 2006

Vans Billboard in NYC

From this week's Global Graphica street art collection ... images of one of the new Vans sneaker billboards in SoHo, in New York City. For this current advertising campaign, Vans has asked young artists to create "Vans-inspired" works of art to incorporate into its designs. Some of it's really cool.

Posted by Thurston Ali at 02:16 AM

April 04, 2006

A Visual History of Apple Computer Ads

This ad really speaks to how far the personal computer and Apple have come (not to mention how far the marketing has come). This history of ads on Wired magazine's blogs site looks back at Apple ads from the earthy Apple II era to the recent iconic iPod silhouettes. Lots more of these ads here.

Posted by Supercore at 02:30 AM

March 22, 2006

Secret Adidas Store in NYC

Paper magazine's blog is reporting on a new Adidas "pop-up" store -- a temporary shop -- the German sneaker maker has opened in Chinatown, New York City, as part of an under-the-radar, buzz-generating promotional tactic. The store is neither advertised nor sign-posted at street level. Passersby would never know it's there unless they already knewthat it was there. The tiny Adidas store is literally underground, tucked behind a warren of Chinese merchants in a basement on hustling, bustling Canal St. It's pretty cool. Of course, Adidas, or, rather its hired guns of clever marketing, created the pop-up shop precisely so that a few people would find out about it and think it's cool and then tell their friends. And so and so on until, ahem, someone mentions it in their blog, with, eventually the mainstream media catching on and reporting on it by the time the whole promo is over, and the experience is totally unattainable for all but those few plugged in urban hipsters. (Okay, and, yes, we realize that we're playing right into the marketers' hands by telling you about it here on the Air Massive.) And we freely admit that we're going to walk down to Canal St., if we can, and check it out for ourselves before the shop disappears. The pop-up shop is at 267 Canal St., NYC, and it's open from 1:00 p.m. to 7:00.

Posted by Supercore at 08:20 PM