The Osama 2011 Swimsuit Issue

He’s spending a lot of time in the water these days. Gotta love the placement here.

GuitarTV.com Makes Noise on Social Media Channels

The GuitarTV.com site, showing co-creator Steve Vai in a clip from the film "Crossroads."

Ever watch a music video and wonder what kind of gear the guitarist is using? Or how much the guitar cost and what type of amplifier was used? Maybe you wanted to know which album had that song. Or find sheet music tabs. Or score tickets to the next gig.

Six-String Gearheads, Rejoice! 

You can stop wondering and start rocking. Everything you want to know—and buy—from your favorite guitar slingers can now be found in one place. (Cue drum roll…)

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome: GuitarTV.com

Back when MTV used to play actual music, the network would list the artist, song and album info, but only at the beginning and end of the video. If you missed it, you were out of luck. GuitarTV takes that idea and cranks it up by a factor of at least six.

Taco Bell Bites Back with Ad Aimed at Hungry Attorneys

Taco Bell asks attorneys for an apology. Not that they really expect to get one. After all, that would mean admitting they were wrong.

“Where’s the beef” was an ad slogan for Wendy’s back in 1984. But lately it’s been a charge leveled at Taco Bell by a law firm out to pick the fast food giant’s deep pockets.

Alabama-based law firm Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles (now there’s a mouthful) claimed that Taco Bell’s mystery meat was comprised of only 35 percent beef, based on an unspecified test by an unnamed analyst. Taco Bell insisted their beef was 88 percent beef, 12 percent “Secret Recipe.”

Taco Bell fought back with hard-hitting ads in January that said: “Thank you for suing us. Here’s the truth about our seasoned beef…”

Obviously someone smelled a meal ticket. As USA Today reported, “With annual sales pushing $7 billion, Taco Bell ranks as the nation’s sixth-largest fast-food company, according to the 2009 findings from the research firm Technomic.

Atlas Shrugged The Movie – John Galt Goes Spartacus

The target audience for the new Atlas Shrugged movie, doing their own advertising for it. (Photographed in Santa Ana, California, April 15, 2010.)

Here’s a challenge for marketers: How do you promote a low-budget independent movie without any stars? A film based on a verbose 1,000-plus-page novel about a philosophy called “Objectivism.” Got a campaign yet?

(Hint: social media, of course!)

“Atlas Shrugged, Part 1” arrives in theaters on April 15 —“tax day” in the U.S., the traditional deadline for filing income tax returns. Coincidence? (Sure, just like the sudden omnipresence of Highway Patrol issuing a lot of piddly traffic tickets in a futile effort to bail California out of debt. But that’s another story.)

Before we get to the marketing of the movie, a little background about the book.

Communism vs. Capitalism

Published in 1957, Atlas Shrugged is Ayn Rand’s magnum opus. The author lived through the communist revolution in Russia and came to America because its capitalist free-market system represented her ideal of a free society. As the book jacket summarizes, Atlas is the story of a man who said he would stop the motor of the world—and did. But that doesn’t quite explain the story’s relevance today.

Truth In Advertising, What a Concept

Yes, this is a terrible business name. (Sorry.) But then again, lowering the bar is a sure-fire way to avoid over-promising. After all, what do you expect from a truck stop/convenience store, anyway? If you’ve at least got a clean restroom, you’re already ahead of most of the competition. And this place was hopping. Go figure. (Found in Kingman, AZ)

 

Remember to Fix My Stinky Car, Then Pull My Finger

Let’s hope that hand’s been washed.

 

John Galt follows Jerry Garcia

Just saw “The Music Never Stopped,” a moving movie about a father and his prodigal son, a brain tumor, and the healing power of music–especially the Grateful Dead. Looking forward to John Galt’s big screen debut with “Atlas Shrugged,” opening on April 15: tax day, appropriately enough.

A Toast to Guinness Advertising

Guinness produces brilliant advertising. Oh, and their stout is not too shabby either.

For creative types, beer is the Holy Grail of advertising accounts, because almost anything goes. It’s a chance to do outrageous gags with big budgets. But the problem with most beer commercials is that they usually end up being generic and formulaic. Funny set-up, add logo, insert tag line as punch line at the end. Done.

Guinness has always been different. Sure, it’s had plenty of big budget TV spots, but they’ve always been based on the brand’s “unique differentiators” (as they say in marketing-speak): the Irish heritage and the slow pour that a good stout requires. Guinness commercials wouldn’t work for any other brewer.

A Guinness Facebook post recently asked fans to list their favorite tag line from the brand. The responses were many and varied: “Brilliant.” “Good things come to those who wait.” “It’s good for you.” “Guinness for strength.” “It’s alive inside.” “My goodness, my Guinness!”

The Exclusive Return of the Most Interesting Man in the World

Are you thirsty, my friends?

Here for your viewing and imbibing pleasure, announced as an exclusive “event” on Facebook with a link to this “unlisted” video, is the return of The Most Interesting Man in the World.

His long-awaited reappearance was announced with the following invitation:

There’s nothing interesting about being the second person to do something. RSVP to be one of the first to see the new Dos Equis television spot. Without further adieu…

Has His Most Interestingness equaled his previous exploits? Can he beat Chuck Norris and The Old Spice Guy blindfolded? Will you buy Dos Equis? THAT is the question!

Mobile Advertising on Steroids

This mobile truck wrap was hard to miss.

I think I sprained my eyes looking at this truck wrap. Now he’s probably going to hunt me down and make me drop and give him 50.