Reanimating dead celebrities is creepy. There, I said it. I cringe when I see companies using the likeness of a long dead celebrity to hawk a product (especially one that the celeb never even lived to see). But, somehow in 1:30, director Jean-Jacques Annaud makes it work brilliantly in his new spot for Christian Dior's J'Adore.
The short "movie" pairs the classic beauty of (actress and long time Dior spokesmodel) Charlize Theron with that of Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe. In the ad, they interact, hug and prepare to walk the runway in front of the backdrop of 'Galerie des Glaces' at the 'Château de Versailles'.The result is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
How do you tell the world that Beats By Dre (the industry-shifting headphone line endorsed and spearheaded by music producer Dr. Dre) are now available in slick new colors? How about a commercial featuring Dr Dre hurling paint-filled balloons at the heads of Beats listeners? Good call.
The result is a stunning 45 second clip that may be one of the years best. Props to everyone involved.
For the past week or so I have been fighting the urge to write this entry. I have been staring at this atrocious, cluster-***k, disaster of a logo every chance I get since Comedy Central unleashed it on the world. But, as I prepared to destroy the once great network and their in house buffoons, a funny thing happened... I started to kind of like this thing...kind of.
I think everyone knew it would be a big deal when music mega-mogul Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter released a book. But, even I didn't expect this level of marketing from the notoriously introverted superstar. Exhibit A: This Gucci bomber-style jacket, lined with pages from Carter's "Decoded" that is currently on display in Gucci's flagship NYC Fifth Ave store.
I'm back! Sorry for the delay, but we have been SLAMMED with work these last few weeks. When you work in marketing and almost 70% of your clients are in retail, the holiday season can get cluttered, quickly.
Anyway, as we look toward the new year, I think it's only fitting that we take a quick review back at the last one. Specifically, the clever ads that have attempted to get Americans to start spending, investing and pouring money back into the slowly rebounding economy.
2009 saw some really brilliant use of children in TV advertising (a safe move, but impressive all the same). It's always a sure bet to use cute kids in ads, but agencies really pulled out the stops this year.
