Georges Laraque in sexist TV commercial

Montreal Canadiens tough-guy Georges Laraque, is in the middle of a controversy after appearing in a television commercial for an alcoholic energy drink called Octane 7.0. The ad has been labeled as sexist as it is nothing but women in tight outfits stretching and playing road hockey for 60-seconds.

Laraque has apologized for the commercial, saying he should never have done the ad, and is sorry if he offended anyone. Watch the commercial below:

The great Canadian car “chase”

Here is a good spot by Midas, a Canadian auto shop that specializes in tires, brakes and repairs. It is a mock news report about a police chase in Canada. The commercial is about a year old, but it is still running. I remember how much I liked it last year, and saw it again recently and thought I’d post it here.

Not much can be said about the spot, it pretty much speaks for itself. Check it out below.

Mr. Sub fires agency after “homophobia” complaints

Marketing Magazine is reporting that Mr. Sub has fired their advertising agency, Bos, due to complaints that one of their new television commercials is homophobic. The complaint is that the commercial downplays the moment of coming out to your family, which can be a very difficult situation. Watch the commercial below, and judge for yourself.

What if everything you touched turned to Skittles?

A couple of my friends now have asked me if I’ve seen this ad. I knew it sounded familiar, but I couldn’t quite remember it. It is the “Touch the Rainbow” commercial for Skittles, where everything the man touches, turns into Skittles. Like the King Midas effect, only not gold. The rainbow touch if you will. Anyways, I finally searched for it, and here it is:

Coca-Cola Zero – Ads get weirder and weirder

Is it just me, or do Coca-Cola ads keep getting weirder and weirder? Taking into consideration that they need to be on the leading-edge in marketing, and that they have different agencies working on different spots all over the world, they just keep getting more and more out there.

Heineken – Popularity of the Walk in Fridge

So what’s up with Heineken lately? The Walk in Fridge commercial has become so popular that it is getting spoofed by competitor beer ads, and even parodied by Heineken themselves. I’m sure you’ve seen the spot, and I’m not going to lie, it’s good. It is one of my favourite commercials on the air right now.

In case you haven’t seen it, here it is:

Emmy award-winning Coca-Cola TV spot

Coca-Cola wins an Emmy! The cola giant’s “Heist” TV spot nabbed the 2009 Emmy for “Outstanding Commercial” the Creative Arts Emmy Awards. The commercial originally aired during the SuperBowl this past year. AdWeek has the full list of nominees, all of which are great, but there can only be one winner.

And here it is.

Audi – Intelligently Combined

Here is a new commercial for the Audi A4 2.0 TDI. The spot uses an interesting approach to car advertising. Highlighting all of the different components of the car being put together in some sort of gigantic Rubik’s Cube. We’ve come a long way from the Model T Ford production line, haven’t we?

Anyways, the spot is nice. And it’s always refreshing to see a car commercial that tries to be creative. We’ve seen enough commercials of cars simply driving down a long highway with a forgettable voiceover explaining how much better this vehicle is than any other.

Collection of Guinness ads

Guinness has always had some of the best advertising. Below is a collection of different print ads and television spots that they have produced over the years. While their print work has been good, it’s the quality of their television advertising that really sets them apart. They have produced some of the most memorable and award-winning advertising of all time.

Of course, having a very big advertising budget helps too. See for yourself.

Unwanted product + 80’s love song = Trend or coincidence?

I’ve noticed an increasing trend in a couple of new campaigns lately. Well, maybe it is nothing more than a coincidence, but it seems at least a couple of advertisers have caught on to this formula:

New and improved product makes old product irrelevant. Old product is sad. Cheesy 80’s love ballad plays while old product struggles to find it’s worth.

Both Swiffer Wetjet and Knorr Sidekicks have used this very similar concept. Trend? Or coincidence?