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Microsoft Ad Campaign Gets Under Apple's Skin

Laptop-browsing spot may be boosting Microsoft's 'value perception'

(Newser) - Apple demanded Microsoft ditch TV ads featuring shoppers mulling the relative value of PCs and Macs, CNET reports. In the ads, which Microsoft’s chief operating officer calls “completely unscripted,” shoppers get to keep money they save by choosing a PC over a Mac. “We got a... More »

Ad Exec Scores as UPS 'Whiteboard Guy'

Whiteboard guy prompts FedEx parody

(Newser) - He’s an ad exec by trade, but Andy Azula displays his acting chops—not to mention his drawing skills—in UPS commercials so popular a rival is spoofing them. In the ads, the long-haired Azula diagrams UPS service on a whiteboard. FedEx recently launched a website that features a... More »

Mexico Slams Burger King for 'Whopper' of an Insult

(AP) - Mexico is protesting what it says is a whopper of an insult. An advertisement for Burger King's chili-flavored "Texican" burger that has run in Europe shows a small wrestler dressed in a cape resembling a Mexican flag. The wrestler teams up with a lanky American cowboy who boosts him... More »

ShamWow Guy's Other Claim to Fame: Ex-Scientologist

Infomercial pitchman used group connections to make comedy film

(Newser) - Vince Offer Shlomi, the ShamWow pitchman who gained infamy after being arrested for badly beating a prostitute last month, is also a renegade ex-Scientologist, Gawker reports. Shlomi joined group in 1982, made connections with Scientology’s many entertainment-industry adherents, and found financing to start filming The Underground Comedy Movie, featuring... More »

ShamWow Guy Arrested After Hooker Fight

Pitchman Shlomi allegedly punched call girl repeatedly

(Newser) - He may seem like a nice man with a magical towel, but Vince Shlomi—better known as the ShamWow guy—was arrested last month for punching a prostitute, the Smoking Gun reports. Shlomi, 44, told police he took 26-year-old Sasha Harris back to his hotel room and paid her $1,... More »

Sick of Booming Ads? Help's on the Way From DC

Calif. rep introduces law for balanced volume

(Newser) - If you’re tired of being blasted by a loud commercial right after a quiet scene in your favorite TV show, a California representative hears you loud and clear—and wants to do something about it, Advertising Age reports. US Rep. Anna Eshoo introduced legislation in June to bar commercials... More »

China Bans Actors From Medical Commercials

Health Ministry calls drug commercials misleading

(Newser) - Stung by the appearance of a single actor playing four different medical experts, the Chinese government has prohibited actors from portraying doctors or patients in commercials, Variety reports. The outrage stemmed from a Beijing Times article that also revealed one actress had posed as someone suffering from lung, liver, kidney,... More »

The 10 Best Super Bowl Ads

Animals, violence, catchphrases fuel success

(Newser) - Sure, the economy's in the toilet, but there’s always $3 million in the couch cushions for 30 seconds come Super Bowl time. But it remains to be seen whether this year’s crop stick to a reliable winning formula: Include “animals, potty humor, violence, celebrities, sentimentality,” or... More »

Tough Times Put Cheap Ads in Prime Time

Low airtime costs offer big audience to low-budget spots

(Newser) - The recession has pushed TV advertising rates to a relative pittance, and that’s great news for tools like the PedEgg—a callous remover—and the Snuggie—a blanket with sleeves. Though it may hurt shows’ profiles, “Act Now!” infomercial-style ads have recently broken into primetime, the Washington ... More »

DUI Bust Costs Barkley T-Mobile Gig

Phone company benches ex-hoop star 'for the time being'

(Newser) - In the wake of his DUI arrest—during which he told a cop he was in a hurry to get oral sex—Charles Barkley has lost another job, Advertising Age reports. T-Mobile has pulled spots featuring Barkley “for the time being,” a rep said, adding, "As he... More »

Insurance Ad Gave 'Heart' to Election TV: Carpenter

(Newser) - Singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter admits that the presidential election intruded on her life. But she found an unlikely source of inspiration amid her hours of obsessive TV watching—in a Liberty Mutual ad. Its old-fashioned carnival scene and music by the band Hem "evoked a nostalgia" for "a... More »

Saved by Zero? Or Sick to Death of It?

Toyota's relentless 0% APR ads wear thin ... and will continue

(Newser) - “Saved by zero?” Try bored. Toyota’s 0% APR ad campaign has left TV viewers annoyed—by both the jingle and the fact that it airs seemingly incessantly, AP reports. Though some might appreciate the extension of 0% financing, originally set to expire this week, most viewers are bemoaning... More »

Fox Vetoes World Series Day Game

Prefers prime time start

(Newser) - With all the late starts and later finishes plaguing the World Series, many are pining for an old-fashioned day game—including Bud Selig. The commish says he’d love to schedule an afternoon contest, if only Fox would let him. But the network insists on starting in prime time, when... More »

New TV Ads Can't Be Zapped

Messages built into TV pictures

(Newser) - Britain's leading ad-supported TV network is testing a new form of advertising that viewers can’t zap past, reports the Times of London. The new technology finds clear space in a video frame, such as blue sky or gray walls, and inserts an ad. It's being tested online before making... More »

Songs Savaged by Pop Culture

Commercials, YouTube and 'iconic' movie scenes make old faves unlistenable

(Newser) - Some songs simply can't survive the ravages of pop culture. Scott Bennett on College Humor, runs down some tunes he can no longer listen to:
  • "O, Fortuna:" Jackass turned this "orchestral masterpiece" from Carl Orff into something that went from evoking "the struggle of mankind" to
... More »

'Voice of Hollywood' Has Been Silenced

LaFontaine, 'the King of Voiceovers,' worked on almost 5,000 films

(Newser) - In a world where movie trailer voiceovers are key to attracting audiences to theaters, Don LaFontaine was known as the “King of Voiceovers.” The 25-year industry veteran, who died today in LA at 68, worked for all of the major TV networks and on nearly 5,000 films,... More »

He's a Goofy Dancer, Not a Prophet of Peace

The combination of image and music is mystical, but not necessarily meaningful

(Newser) - No doubt you've seen or heard of the YouTube phenomenon in which Matt Harding dances his way across the world and its cultures, set to a New Age song poem. And no doubt you've heard fans refer to Harding as nothing less than a purveyor of world peace. But please,... More »

Under Armour Masters Product Placement

From sports to film and TV, firm goes beyond advertising

(Newser) - There was a time when Baltimore sportswear maker Under Armour had to pay for advertising. No more, the Sun reports: its distinctive opposing-U shape has become ubiquitous in film and TV, prominently displayed in productions from Any Given Sunday to The Wire. During the first 3 months of 2008, Under... More »

'Jackie Moon' Plugs Old Spice

Jocular tie-in to Will Ferrell character to revamp brand

(Newser) - In its latest move to shed its image as a '70s relic, Old Spice has hired a '70s relic as its spokesman: the Afro-ed, headband-sporting basketball player Jackie Moon. Old Spice hopes Moon, a Will Ferrell character starring in the upcoming Semi-Pro, will attract the coveted young male demographic with... More »

Lawyers' Ads Make for Legal Circus Indeed

Aliens, panthers, lions, pit bulls jostle in free-speech face-offs

(Newser) - A law firm running ads is often frowned upon by its legal peers, and such advertising is subject to strict standards in many states. But with New York cracking down on TV spots depicting lawyers as giants or offering counsel to aliens, firms are fighting back, the Wall Street Journal ... More »

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