Pretty In Pink

Those of us that follow the Beautiful Game will know that it's been long time since players wore good ole plain black boots. Us marketing guys stepped in years ago so that designs became cool, bright coloured, hi-tech and more importantly that this seasons newest design was a MUST have for all budding football players to emulate their idols. Nike, naturally one of the leaders in football boots branding have just released their latest design......

Dad ROCK!

A combination of two unlikely ingredients can sometimes make the best of meals. Don't panic I'm not going all celebrety chef here. Just making the point that the most impact can sometimes come from having our preconcieved ideas shattered. It's a key tool of marketing. I know I'm not explaining this very well so instead here's a clip of 'The Hold Steady' appearing on the David Letterman Show. Most of the band look like someones drunken Uncle dancing at a wedding BUT the subsequent song and performance is a sublime slice of feel good bar-band rock. If they looked like say the Strokes or The Kings Of Leon then it just wouldn't be as good. See what I mean....

Short but Oh-So-Funny

For those not in the know (I'm rarely in the know about much...) 'Channel Bee' is a UK based TV Internet Channel. This little gem of a plug makes great use of the classic duo of a) Children and b) swear words. I warn in advance of a beeped out swear word for our more senstive readers....

A large queue in the Departure lounge

I like to think that we're pretty high Brow at Mammal. We're really not big on toilet humour or anything that degrades us and our clients to little more than a bunch of giggling school-boys. This said there's a spot for All-Bran that's been given a regular run in Australia featuring former cricket test legend Merv Hughes. Seems the agency responsible felt that his mere presence was enough for the ad to work. That rather quaint 'Down Under' mentality of shoving an Aussie icon in an ad and thinking that'll do. Job done. No decent script or ideas required. Equalling of course a limp and dreary TV campaign that does no-one any favours. Least of all the client footing the bill. This said here's a US version of the same '10 Day Fibre Plan' which doesn't include any top Aussie blokes and though visiting a cliched visual idea and the toilet humour we don't approve of is a darn sight better than the Antipodean version. You can't help but smile as you watch...Tut Tut! Shame on us all.....

Shirts (not hats) off!

Avid readers of this blog will have enjoyed a little piece wot I wrote not long ago regarding shirt sponsorship for English Prem team West Ham United AKA The Mighty Hammers. In the blog I was moaning (who me?! never!) about the prominence of the XL Holidays logo on the shirts taking away from the spirit of the strip and in turn de-valuing the West Ham brand. Good news (well unless of course you just booked a holiday with them...) is that XL Holidays have gone bust and West Ham have now terminated their $20 million sponsorship with them. Taking the logo from the shirts and all the branding from the hallowed ground at Upton Park. I'm assuming that meantime the shirts will, like Barcelona, carry no shirt advertising until a new sponsor can be found. Now THAT'S the West Ham United shirt I want! Pure, simple and proud. And if under new manager Zola we could get a string of wins happening in the Prem, maybe have a decent run in the cup competitions AND convince the club owners to put a cool Mammal logo on the shirts (well we can dream!) then the world would be a happier place.

11 IS 'One Louder' Slash!

Ford or Holden? City or United? Dockers or Eagles? Personally I couldn’t give a valid opinion or any of these BUT ask Fender or Gibson? and my piggy little eyes light up and I’ll start to babble. When it comes to guitars and the brands us guitarists love then it’s an argument likely to be as hotly debated as the rightly ownership of the Falkland Islands between an Argentinean and a Brit… Personally I am a Fender man. I won’t go into boring spodish detail but to my ear and eye their design is perfection. The more brute-like Gibson’s have their rightful place in the pantheon of rock guitars but they just don’t have the flexibility of a Fender. I mean if it was good enough for Jimi Hendrix then it’s good enough for me. Which is what any ad for Fender should be telling prospective buyers. Either way here a spot for Mastercard….



B

What's wrong with Canyonaro?

The Qashqai people were nomadic tribes people who arrived in Iran in the 11/12th centuries. Obviously some bod at Nissan chanced upon this piece of trivia on Wikipedia (errrr same as me actually...)and decided that their new compact SUV was suitably 'nomdish' to warrant being called The Qashqai (try spelling it even when you're LOOKING at the word is difficult!)I'm sure Nissan were hoping that the Qashqai's would be rolling off the production line easier than the name rolls off the tongue...Anyway, despite their best efforts to put off potential buyers off with this baffling moniker this TVC redresses the balance by actually being pretty darn cool....