VIBE: Cover

What a great look.

Toyota to premiere Burrell's VENZA TV Spot 'Faces' during Super Bowl XLIII

This is big news. It's not everyday/year an African American company gets to launch a new vehicle let alone on the Superbowl. Congrats Burrell!

**UPDATE**


cred:
Burrell
Client: Toyota USA
Title, Length: Toyota Venza "Faces" 1x:30
Editor: Terry King
Production Company: Radical Media
Director: Antony Hoffman

Special thanks to:
Tamika Lee Robinson
Account Supervisor


(January 29, 2009) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. has selected Burrell Communications' TV spot 'Faces' to debut during Super Bowl XLIII as part of the launch of its new vehicle VENZA. Burrell's 30-second Toyota VENZA spot 'Faces' will premiere in the first quarter during the first break of Super Bowl 43. The 'Faces' spot and its prominent placement during the Super Bowl will be used to support and extend the launch excitement of the 2009 Toyota VENZA and will be the kickoff of Burrell's 'Are You VENZA?' campaign.



"We wanted a spot that would help us introduce the 2009 Toyota VENZA to consumers who view themselves as multidimensional. We think the 'Faces' spot and the 'Are You VENZA?' campaign is a great complement to the overall launch," Dionne Colvin, Toyota National Manager Advertising.

Key Messages
-Burrell’s 30-second Toyota VENZA spot ‘Faces’ will premiere in
the first quarter during the third break of Super Bowl 43
-‘Faces’ was based on consumer research that helped to uncover
consumer insights that were the foundation of the creative for the
compelling ad and will be the first execution of the integrated ‘Are
You VENZA?’ campaign
-Research that combines cognitive neuroscience, anthropology and
sociology findings provided the imagery and consumer language that
allowed for a springboard for developing work.

Got2b: Hair

cred:
CLM BBDO, Paris, France
Creative Director: France Bizot
Creative Director: Gilles Fichteberg
Creative Director: Jean-François Sacco
Art Director: Sophian Bouadjera
Copywriter: Laurent laporte
Photographer: Félix Larher
Retoucher: Spark Link

El Universal / eluniversal.com.mx: Obama

Huh...

wha...

why?

Asses are on order...



I didn't give 'em the full booty...
They got off with a one ass warning.



cred:
BBDO, Mexico
Executive Creative Director: Héctor Fernandez
Creative Director: Agustín Esteban
Art Director: Alex Galván
Copywriter: Daniel González Milán

Black Ad Creator Series Part III: Andrew Thompson "the Beast"

An experimental mind and an alchemist's heart born in the body of an adventurer with a freaky cyborg-like wireless mouse for a hand. That's my reoccurring nightmare of the guy I'm going to have to pitch against. I know it's over the top but, I set the bar high so I never run into this guy. I'll be damn if some Dr. Design Frankenstein didn't go and push the power on button on this dude's back. Andrew Thompson all over the place with ballsy manifold talent to spare. He's worked with the who's "poo" of agencies; R/GA, Euro RSCG, Digitas, Grey Interactive, EVB, Razorfish, Jesus & Moses to name a few.


Atslopes--reel 2007 from andrew thompson on Vimeo.

Andrew's work is consistently layered and inventive. The choreography of design between light and crisp Target motion graphics and his illustration work is formidable.






I particularly like the whimsical nature of the illustration work. It's funny in its proportions and subject matter while the illustrator himself never sacrifices message for style. Andrew makes the illusive attention getting funny seem easy without degrading the subject or the brand.


Nikewomen.com- from andrew thompson on Vimeo.

In my final analysis this dude is sick, as in ill. Like multiple personality designer disorder. I mean who the "F" goes from serious illustration (for commercial use) to web design/development to art direction to animating the retail application of Microsoft Surface touch-and-recognition table technology. We all want to but, Andrew Thompson does it.





Target-Nemo from andrew thompson on Vimeo.

See more (like the insane illustrated metro cards) at:
http://atslopes.com



props:
Andrew Thompson

Kiss My Black Ads featured in STEP Inside Design Magazine

We got a mention from the cool people at "Step Inside Design" Magazine. The article was written by the venerable Michelle Taute and it goes a lil' somethin' like this... Hit it!

MINORITY REPORT
Unlike corporate diversity training, Kiss My Black Ads brings a sense of humor to the topics of race and marketing. This new blog features work for, by and of multicultural people, and you’ll find wincingly bad vintage ads right along with the latest slick efforts from Nike. “The focus is reaching out to other African American creatives and saying, ‘We’re out here,’” says Craig Brimm, the blog’s author and the creative director behind boutique shop Culture A.D. in Atlanta. The site is a fantastic source for inspiration, and in a perfect world, your boss would let you out of that diversity workshop just for reading it. http://kissmyblackads.blogspot.com

It's also the "Emerging Talents" issue, it's not to be missed. Terry Lee Stone writes, no, composes, no, orchestrates a bangin' ass symphony of the up and coming designeratti. Keep kissing up on your job because these guys are making us all look a little rusty! On newstands now. I will feature the some of the talent here.

cred:
Step Inside Design

Pepsi: Fo Sho

Really? Most certainly. Most assuredly. For certain. For sure. Fo-shizzle? There is a very fine line to walk when using slang in ads. Do you wait until a phrase is a part of the common vernacular? Or do you go super targeted for a slightly defined burgeoning market with esoteric terminology? It's hard to say. This was a little bothersome for me. I know a lot of people like this but, I wonder how many people were offended by it.

I've already made an ambigous statement about the new Pepsi logo.

Brantano: Most wanted brands

cred:
Leo Burnett, Dubai

The world has changed, Advertisers must change!

!

Miller: One Second Ads

High Life 1-second ads that didn't make the cut

Miller fires of a smart ass campaign to harass and out viral all the other beer commercials in the Superbowl line-up. The cleverness is that they do it all in "one second"! Somehow I could watch these silly spots all day.

Catholic group uses Obama for a pro-life ad

Fearful that Barack Obama might bring this country out of the Stone Age yet, CatholicVote.org has put together this pro-life ad, which asserts that, had Obama been aborted, he wouldn't be president today. Bravo, fellas. According to the Catholic group's executive director, "The purpose of our new ad is to spread a message of hope about the potential of every human life"—even if the prospects look grim at the beginning, as Obama's did. I'm not quite in agreement with the reader of this story who summed up the ad as "argu[ing] in favor of buying lottery tickets because at least a few of them will be winners," though I did think that was a pretty good line. But the criticism from the article's writer, David Waters, that the ad is "disingenuous" and "exploitative," sounds about right.

—Posted by David Kiefaber
Published on January 23, 2009
Filed under Abortion, Barack Obama, Kiefaber, Religion

ripped from:
adfreak

Question: Couldn't this same baby have been born Charles Manson? I'm just asking.

...alas, the ass...

Crown Royal: Jazz Music

I'm the first to say Jazz bands in commercials is over used and often under conceived. But Grey does it about as good as it can be done. It's the subtext that's often missing from other "Jazz" featured spots. Here there is actually a reason and story told that makes this spot attention worthy and somewhat captivating. This is in direct opposition to the commercials that use the genre to say "this is something African Americans do" & aren't we clever to use it. The atmosphere in the club, the lighting and the music itself, though often done well, in this instance are really well rendered and enliven the message. The narration feels good and though the writing smells a tad cliche together they work.

cred:
Grey

CADBURY

The song is "Don't Stop the Rock" by Freestyle (1985)
cred:
Fallon
creative: Nils-Petter Lovgren,
production company: MJZ London
director: Tom Kuntz

Photo Illustration: Sanjay Kothari

Sanjay is a photographer who produces incredibly moving images. After shooting he then does all of the amazing photo illustration work. The ones below are more commercial but, none the less technically proficient and artistically vibrant.




I gotta use this guy! This is pretty cool.







cred:
Sanjay Kothari

More @ http://www.sanjaykothari.com

Illustration/Design: Özlem Özgen aka SoulOff

It’s been a twisting road so far in terms of Özlem’s career. Although she studied cinema and television at university, she found herself more and more attracted to illustration, and shortly after graduation decided to follow her passion for design as a permanent career.

“I’ve been freelancing under the name Souloff for about two years now, with clients mostly in the clothing/fashion and music industries,” she says. Her mainstays are Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash in various combinations, though she has also been experimenting with handwriting and scribbling.

She says her main source of inspiration is music. “Ninety-nine per cent of the time, I’m listening to music while I’m working. I’m influenced by anything that has soul. For me, it’s something more than a job. As the lyrics say, ‘It’s a spiritual thing, a body thing, a soul thing.’”









I don't have much info about this young lady but, her work is Glama-Sexy-Juicy! I meant that.




Oh, she's a libra, whatever wonderful thing that may mean.

...and she provides us with our friday time waster. An immaculate mind spacer piece of animation. The moral of which, if I explained it to you well, your brains would ooze from your head and gel on the side of your neck.

Hifana - Wamono
by aquanote

cred:
Özlem Özgen
SoulOff
& http://suppanova.blogspot.com
Location Ankara, Turkey
Job Designer/illustrator
Contact www.souloff.com
Software Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash

Bush Ads (I mean Satire Ads).

This print campaign for a Belgian satire magazine called HUMO may not be timely, funny or original, but there is something just right about including Bush in the line up with some of the world's bestest bad guys. Can I get an Amen?



rrrrrripped from:
http://shaunwill.blogspot.com

Young Jeezy - Circulate - Behind The Scenes

Here's more of the music business flirting with the idea of a solemn marriage with advertising. As I said before music is homeless. Advertising on the other hand has more homes than John McCain to live in both online and off the internets. All music is soon to be released directly to corporations for mass consumption.

Nike: Kobe Zoom IV Ankle Insurance

Hilarious.

Vanish-Ink Laser Tattoo Removal: Mr. Roarke

cred:
Marked for Trade, Charlotte, USA
Creative Director / Art Director: Phil Jones
Copywriter: Ryan Coleman

Royco: Chicken cube, Cow cube

cred:
Mccann Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
Creative Director: Inam kazimi
Art Director: Martin mwangi
Copywriter: Inam kazimi
Other additional credits: John Gitonga

Berlitz language school: Yes we can

The last word is the Hebrew word for “Yes,” and is read “Ken.” This ad is a play on the phonetics of the 3 languages word for Yes and if you read them aloud the would read “Yes We Ken.”



cred:
Grey, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Executive Creative Director: Yonatan Stirin
Creative Director: Moti Rubinstein
Copywriter: Uri Shoham
Art Director: Karin Gross

Pattex Everlasting Glue: Elvis, Marylin, Ali

cred:
DDB, Duesseldorf, Germany
Chief Creative Officer: Amir Kassaei
Executive Creative Director: Eric Schoeffler
Creative Directors: Dennis May, Kristine Holzhausen
Art Director: Gabriel Mattar
Copywriter: Ricardo Wolff
Illustration: Sant Animação e efeitos
Post production: Digital

Pepsi: Word play

cred:
: Lee Clow
ECD: Rob Schwartz
CDs: Joe Shands, Brett Craig
Art Directors: Scott Brown, Lori McMichael
Spot Animation: IMAGINARY FORCES LA/NY
CD: Peter Frankfurt
Art Directors: Mark Gardner, Lauren Hartstone, Stan Lim
Designer: Alex Yoon
Designers: Gary Garza, Johnny Wong, Wayland Vida, Jill Dadducci

Here's the funky funky original song by The Pointer Sisters!

Yes We Can Poster

Learn all about the poster here.

cred:
Pash

Obama Day USA!!

I can't believe I'm here. Tears, sob, cry.

Lebron James: State Farm Insurance

Inauguration: In DC, enjoying the events.

Any of the gang in town hit me up, let's hang out.

7 things about me.

Dear Jane Sample (who appears on everyone in the ad business' blog roll) ask me for 7 things about me. So after a little in-fro-spection (my word, no, you may not use it.) I realized I wasn't deep at all and fell into a bit of depression. So three Zanax, two b*tch slaps and one pro black pep talk later, I got to writing this self-love letter. Try not to fall asleep.

((Warning typos abound))



1. A had a happy ass childhood. It wasn't wealthy. it did involve the projects (back when they had grass and clothes lines) but if you know the projects, it can still be rough. But I had fun, on the playground, jumping out of the swings, swimming in a river tributary, Also known as a ditch. We had to illegally scale a fence to swim in a pool. We had drawing contest, two-hand touch football, foot races, tree-climbing, kite flying and endless fun.

2. When I was ten I had a brush with the law. While hanging out with a ten year old veteran boost man (crook), he offer to "get" me a soda. I knew he never had money, but always had candy, so I was down. Dude walked me to the store, went to the back where the drinks where and popped a "skraw-berry" soda in his pants like nothing. Then he shot me a look like "Hurry the hell up, get yours". My scary ass stood there long enough to get the clerks attention, them proceeded to get mine. Now nobody told me it would be cold as hell and not to put it directly on my giblets. We headed for the door at that pace of walk that's just before your are actually running, and a little after you look guilty as hell. Well no one told me that Sears denim pants (the weren't quite jeans), weren't made to hold heavy ass glass bottles of belly wash. Tyrone absconded with drink. I let "mine" use my pant leg like a chute and crashed on the floor. The clerk hoisted my ass up. I had to have a cop come and scare all future boost attempts and I'm sure a sh*t stain out of me. The cop & clerk were both kind enough to not tell my parents.

3. I like flowers,er, umm. Manly flowers.

4. I wanted to be an architect. I love architecture. I still want to be an architect.



5. I love Shakespeare. I can barely finish reading a sonnet, let alone a play. His words are so deeeeep, that I just fade off into the potent meaning & pondering the sentence I just read. So I sit, mouth open, drooling.


6. I don't like to eat before client meetings. I'm happy and dopey (that "itis" see Dave Chappelle)when and after I eat. I aint sharp at all after lunch. I give clients free sh*t. Tell them exactly why their work will be late or why we are mad at them. Why not, hell, I've eaten, life is good!

7. I don't like telling more than six things about myself!?!

Illustrator/Designer: SOZYONE GONZALEZ

Born in Brussels, influenced by his neighborhood, its stories and legends, Pablo Gonzalez works his Art around the world of Villains. His first drawings decorate his pairs cells, and wins his first star in the field during winter '82 recopying an old belgian 100 franks banknote. Two days of work that will serve his brother, testing the forge by buying a pak of Luckies at the tobacco cornershop. Becomig forger was what he thought he could do, and decided, helped by his brother to study Art.




In '88 he studies at Saint-Lucas Art School and meets Smimooz Exel (with whom he creates De Puta Madre) both expelled, they'll attend the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts from '90 to '96. During that period, Pablo Gonzalez will have a great interest in Metropolitan Graffitis aesthetic vandalism, and becomes officially Sozyone, with his crew R.A.B, forgetting forgery and use of forgery. 7 albums, hundreds of graffitis, stages and jams mark the Time when Hip Hop was 'Fresh' and Untouchable.




In 1996 he creates with Gold Jaba, Prince Pro, Turs, Byz and Kool Recto, The UltraBoys International, asserting a new form of Graffiti. An aesthetic impregnated with Marvels, abstract futuristic mathematics, alphabetical contructivism, and facial Picassonic cubism, brutally refined. A sort of Pure Graffiti Vanguard, ignoring any other vision of graffiti, supposed useless.




Since 2004 Sozyone exposes his work, sought by certain purist and becomes Sozyone Gonzalez for his new public, which ables him to make Authenticity certificats for each one of his pieces, sculpted, engraved, painted or drawn, reminding him without a doubt his attraction for paper to handle delicately, gloves chalked.






Peep:
www.sozyone.com

The Standard Hotel: The Standard High

The Standard Design Team has produced a 2009 calendar for Standard Hotels. The new calendar, with a "high school" theme, has been shot by Michael Elins who was behind the cover of Rolling Stone magazine's 1,000th issue. This "Staff Calendar" features the Standard's actual staff as models and gets produced every year as a gift to their most loyal guests. I think this year's calendar is a fun take on the regular desk calendar. It unfolds into a circular accordion that locks with cutouts provided in the "composition notebook". I also like the fact that it unfolds to read "Standard High Calendar 2009" even though it's completely useless. It just adds to the un-constipated vibe of the calendar. And for those of you who are really excited about the beautiful people you see, there's fun video montage introducing the staff in the calendar with great music from Jeremy Jay.




creeped from:
http://www.thedieline.com

Designer: Steve Goodin

cred:
Steve Goodin

Graphic Designer: Lakeshia T. Reid

cred:
Lakeshia T. Reid
More here.

300th Post

I heard you were supposed to celebrate this kind of thing. Really, really. This is like #309. But who's counting.

I all know is Rufus Harley would be pleased and would rock out some "hoochie coochie man blues" on them bagpipes for me!

THE IMPORTANCE OF AWARDS IN ADVERTISING

This is a kooky, irreverent, F'd up, weird, left of center, freaky five minutes of your life you can never get back. But, damn near worth it. It left me with a twitch in my left eye. (Riv, you are going to love this!)


cred:
maggotoperations.com
Loads of hilarious work on their site.


Special thanks to thatgirlinnewyork!

You'd buy anything from Ricardo Montalban

Ricardo Montalban died yesterday, so we'll honor his memory by posting this ad for the 1975 Chrysler Cordoba. That may not seem like much of a tribute, but just stop and think about every Chrysler you've ever owned, and the company's financial performance over the past decade. That Ricardo managed to make one of their cars sound like the most decadent vehicle since Caligula's chariot is pretty impressive. Plus, it was either this or something from The Wrath of Khan, which didn't seem fair.

—Posted by David Kiefaber
Ripped entirely from AdFreak.



Suave personified! RRRRRR.I.P.

No Format: Nike Basketball

Gah! I love this, pure designer porn. Crazy composition. Yaaah! OK, sorry I'm back. I just had an "I wish I could download this straight into my veins moment." We now return to regularly scheduled programming.

cred:
No Format

Black Humor

Diversity In The Ad Business: "The Cowards That Be."

Diversity In The Ad Business: "The Cowards That Be."
(I was a guest blogger over at AgencySpy. Please go over and comment)


With the impending lawsuit from Cyrus Mehri coming to hit the ad industry, everyone has something to say about diversity in the business. We decided to let you guys sound off about what's really going on. If you want to sound off on diversity (men, GLBT, women, white, Latino, etc) - send us an email at superspyin at gmail dot com. The mic is yours.

Welcome Craig Brimm. He is the author of the ad blog, Kiss My Black Ads, as well as the owner and creative director of Culture Advertising Design in Atlanta. Brimm is going to talk diversity - raw.


The Diversity Dance (White people try and keep up)
"Do black people get tired of the diversity push. Hell yes! It's a mind-numbing maze of senseless posturing, positioning and quirking maneuvering, (just like some peoples dancing.) Damn it's like your whole public life is some sort of Half-Life guerilla campaign for white love...


Tip for white people: Your best black friend may not want you to know this, he/she is fronting on you. Not always, not always every minute but, at some point in the day he/she has to render part of him/herself irrelevant enough to dispose of for constant acceptance from their white counterparts. I'm sure other ethnicities do it as well. It's not all of us. Some of us are fearless and only expect acceptance on their own terms. Not that they bully you with blackness or are inflexible, but they are fearless. Obama, fearless. MLK, fearless. Muhammad Ali, fearless. Me... well, I'm working on it.


Remember your culture is like the air you breath, it's ubiquitous and virtually unnoticeable to you. So it's hard for you to see where it may offend or diminish another. But what's like air to you is like water to another person of a different background. Hence a different set of improvised rules apply to stay afloat. Not exactly earth shattering info here but, easy to forget, making it even more important to remember.


If daily life immersed in another culture is always tricky, then daily life in a General Market Ad Agency culture is like doing the Soulja Boy in a zero gravity disco. I don't know why I say things like that, just work with me. In this environment you have to understand the dominate culture on a whole other level. The intricacies of public and segmented motivation, the comedic flavor of the day as well as how to sell on a most grand scale. Guess what we do, we get it. The cool kids club isn't really all that exclusive. We came up on the same shit. The music, the TV shows, the lingo, hell if we didn't invent it we improved on it or chose not to participate in noticeable numbers. Just like you do with other cultures traditions or passing fancies of the day.
From "King of the Hill" to "Kings of Leon," we get it. From "South Park" to the newly Hallowed Ground of Hip-Hop, The South Bronx, we get it. So, really your perceived bastions of hip are just jealously guarded versions of other gleaned sub-culture. Don't get me wrong it's fun, cool, hip are whatever to belong to the insider ad clubs but, the level of self-importance some people and organizations take is a ridiculous look. A lot of these people really believe their own hype! I'm too cool to play with other kids seems to be the prevailing theme.


I think the solution lies with the "Cowards that Be." Some agency heads are pushing out on the new initiatives to up the minority numbers and they are to be lauded for their effort. I pray they continue. Some have a long way to go. The real difference will be made by the employees in the shops. It was my immediate coworkers and people in other departments that really made me feel like shit less than wanted in a few of my agency experiences. The day-to-day interaction/encounters and the level of authentic rapport makes all the difference in an integrated agency experience. That's what makes people stay.

You know if you bend the corners upward on that flappy thing on the lower part of your face it's called a smile. I know it's some corny shit, but I can count on one hand the times I got actual smiles.
More corny shit; write a letter or email to the company heads to inquire about diversity or the lack there of. When you feel comfortable enough find a way to reach out, as a company or in a solo effort.

I refuse to believe we as an industry can't solve this without litigious coercion. I can't believe we are not creative enough as an industry to actualize concepts that can successfully sell through a diverse work place. The truth is we are living a thwarted potential and a blunted affect of our collective brilliance."


Posted by superspy
(I was a guest blogger over at AgencySpy. Please go over and comment)

Cuttie Cut: Children’s Hair Salon

I love the ambient stuff. It would be great to see more African American Advertisers doing ambient marketing.

cred:
Y&R, Toronto, Canada
Creative Director: David Houghton
Art Director: Zachary Muir-Vavrina
Copywriter: Sussana Forieri
Photographer: Jeremy Kohm

Black Ad Creator Series Part II: Dana Satterwhite

The hardest working man in show business' play cousin a.k.a. advertising



I've been getting request for more of this "Ad Creator" Series. It seems people need to see more of who's in the ad and design game. I completely understand that. It wasn't until I actually saw a black person in this business did I, 1) know that black people did this and 2) believe that I could do this too. So I found this guy, Dana Satterwhite. Man! He's worked for everybody and has done just about every ad known to man. What I really love is the diversity and range of his work. We do it all.





Here's some of his bio and work. It seems there is not room enough on the www to show all of his work.

Upon graduating from SUNY Binghamton in ’92, he went on to apprentice with a graphic designer for two years before attending the School of Visual Arts where he took his first course in advertising. An instant apostle, he traded New York for Boston where he enrolled in a Marketing and Advertising graduate program at Emerson College.





The completion of an internship afforded him an entry-level position in the studio of a 300-person agency, at the time, Arnold, Lawner, Fortuna, and Cabot, now Arnold Worldwide. He spent his days building mechanicals and completing basic design work for Blue Cross Blue Shield, Fleet bank, McDonalds, Playskool, and The Hartford. Within months, he was working on the Volkswagen account and eventually became an integral part of the development of several successful brand campaigns.





In late April 2003, Dana returned to New York to creatively heralded London-based agency, Bartle Bogle Hegarty before going on to pursue freelance copywriting, creative consulting, and client-direct work.




Agencies: Arnold Worldwide, Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty, and Gearon Hoffman and worked for DDB, Footsteps, Hill Holliday, J. Walter Thompson, Mullen, Ogilvy and Mather, Sanders Wingo, McCann Erikson, and Wieden + Kennedy among others... (Are their others?)




Awards and recognition: All of them MF'ers! (if I listed them all it might intimidate some brother into leaving the industry.



See more of Dana's prodigious workload here, although it may be easier to find the three ads he didn't do. Props to Dana. Everybody else you're not doing it right!

Music I'd Like To See in a Commercial: Part VI

The Noisettes



Keep an eye on the black punk scene, it's poppin' off. This song's called "Don't give up. It's a high energy romp that rocks like Joan Jett and funks like early Prince. They are tons of fun. Don't sleep on this. C'mon black kids, keep up.




Hot fresh pumped funk, perfect for one of those new zippy little gas saver car commercials. Did I mention it would be great for a pet food commercials? I see it... really, Friskey's or something. Your just not there yet.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: Control Arms

cred:
Amnesty International
Agency: Publicis Mojo, Auckland
Country: New Zealand
Creatives:
Nick Worthington (Executive Creative Director)
Lorenz Perry (Art Director)
Karl Fleet (Copywriter)
Derrick Kim (Art Director)

Illustrator: T. S. Abe

Some of that old school hand styling. You know you wanted to draw like this when you were a kid.

cred:
T.S. Abe
See more here.

DDB: Mailroom Guy

This is it right here. This is the glaring ignorance that Black people complain about ad nauseam (pun intended)! Do you know that many African Americans see the lottery as the con that it is. Many of the most avid lottery customers don't even begin to believe they can win but, when your life is lived at such great odds of being rich you feel like you have nothing to lose. These insights are lost. This spot practically says hey black man you can't make out of the mail room. Better play the LOTTO!!! What about the message sent that even when they are big time criminals whites are rewarded. I know it's just a commercial but, I'm just having a little fun with it.

So in that spirit of fun... WT(M)F!!! DDB! Maybe a few more multicultural hires are in order. A new position maybe, let's call it the umm, cultural climate change meteorologist. Someone who can forecast the BS showers.

The much heralded five asses!



cred:
DDB

JWT: Robbery

(Copy: GREAT IDEAS ARE PRECIOUS!)

cred:
Advertising Agency: JWT Hong Kong
Creative Directors: Lo Sheung-Yan, Steven Lee, Timothy Chan, Ming Chan, Lai Kin Leung, Hugo Yiu
Art Directors: Ming Chan, Lai Kin Leung
Copywriters: Timothy Chan, Hugo Yiu, Jesse Wong
Photographer: William So
Retoucher: William Chan
Published: December 2008

JWT: Forced Diversity

(copy: INTEGRATING AD AGENCIES AINT EASY!)

By any means necessary?

cred:
Kiss My Black Ads

Miami Heat: Miami Ad School (Student Work)

cred:
Miami Ad School, Miami, USA
Creative Director: Manuel Huici (instructor)
Art Director / Photographer: Roberto Salas
Copywriter: Sachi Brown
Published: December 2008

Dockers: California Soul

This is a neat little experiment of adding different versions of the same song to a commercial to see what version fits best. Although the Game "187" version may be just a tad bit much for a Dockers spot. I find myself stuck somewhere between the Gangstarr/Guru "Check the technique" joint and the 5th Dimension "California Soul" tracks. They ended up airing the Marlena Shaw version of the song.

McDonald's: Christmas or Kwaanza???

I guess red, black & green colored fries would be too much to ask.

cred:
DDB Helsinki, Finland
Art Director: Jukka Mannio
Copywriter: Vesa Tujunen
Illustrator / Photographer: Pinata

What Corporate America Still Misunderstands About Black People

Everyone wants to talk about race these days and thank heavens. Radio One is sponsoring an event at the One Club in New York titled - "Urban Legends: What Corporate America Still Misunderstands About Black People." They don't mince words. Panelists include Catherine L. Hughes, founder and chairperson of Radio One; Steve Stoute, founder and CEO of Translation; Najoh Tita-Reid, director of multi-cultural and African American marketing at Proctor & Gamble; and Julius Dunn, program director for The One Club's Adversity Program. The event will be held on Tuesday, January 13, 2009 from 9:30 am - 11:00 am.

I tell you what - I might just go to see Steve Stoute. Remember that video we posted of him talking about Janet Jackson's, Nipplegate? He's got a dry humor that might be even better enjoyed live. Check out a much more staid version of Steve from his induction video into the AAF's Hall Of Achievement.

cred:
Lifted in it's entirety from the always bangin' Agency Spy!

Puma: Compliment Your Character

This some some scary looking isht.

cred:
Commissioned from:
Robert/Boisen & Like Minded, DK
with Peter Metcalfe & Jannik Davidsen

See more of this insanely gorgeous work here.

Thanks for the tip Ego Trippin!

Alexis Ziritt: Illustrator

cred:
Alexis Ziritt

http://alexisziritt.zircons.net

"G" featuring Murs

More of the new infamous "G" campaign. This time it's more subversive and even less telling than before. This spot features the unground god "Murs" flipping the "G" meaning on it's ear as he magically twist up the lyrics. The piece is so viral you almost miss it's meaning, but I like that. It's a brave approach to a whole new world of marketing. This also comes from a team that features the hard working Jayanta Jenkins.

Australia Day

Advertising Agency: Loud Sydney, Australia
Creative Director / Copywriter: Joe Van Trump
Art Director: Darren Seddon
Creative: David Halter, Ryan Lonsdale

Black Ad Creator Series Part I

Jayanta Jenkins: The Prince of Advertising

I post a lot of ads here by Nike. I'm always intrigued by the insight and understanding they seem to have consistently. Well there's a reason for that. They have smart people behind the scenes digging ideas up. One of the smart people is Jayanta Jenkins. Their are all kinds of smarts, book smart, emotional smarts, cultural smarts, athletic intelligence, artistic/aesthetic intelligence, etc. This brother wraps them all up and plays them like instruments in a band, hence the Prince (think Purple Rain) analogy. We are boundless in our abilities and Jayanta displays that with flair. His work is a quintessential example of African American diversity of thought and talent.









Here Jayanta shows there is no color to a good idea. For me personally it's just always good to know we are out there doing it at every level.



More here.

Louis Vuitton Blason Collection by Pharrell

This is about a year old. I totally missed it. Hip Hop High Lux.

Ten Reasons We Still Need / Don’t Need African American Advertising Agencies

10. The irrelevance initiative.



Now that Obama is as good as in office, some will deem African American (AA) issues, voices, and yes advertising as irrelevant. There will be mandates for it. The gap of marketing communication to a much needed audience base will widen. The current dollars allotted the AA segment are paltry. AA Agencies struggle to make the most their teeny budgets already. There will be voices that will point to the recent election as a substantiating claim for dissolving any such institutions. More people will be forgotten. More of a completely viable audience will be over looked.

9. The (getting into the) game remains the same.



Put simply, young black creative have nowhere else to go. The cowards that be are slow to change. The Ad industry will only allow for so many black people in the doors. Trust me there is subliminal and often times overt count being made daily. Someone is watching the gate and only so much color can be allowed in. There is a point at which the job of hiring people of color becomes satiated. That same satiety is never quenched for white creatives. Somehow there is always room for that hot new white kid or a good ol’ boy.

8. Deep Divers.
No one understands a community better than it’s denizens. It is the AA creatives who will be able to mine the culture and how it influences others to elucidate the values, faults and virtues. This may prove to air dirty laundry or to share hidden gems of wisdom or strengths and fragility of basic human nature. Ultimately it serve to educate us all.

7. The Niche Increase.



As the web broadens our spectrum of daily culture consumption it also allows us to intensify our interest. I can literally look all day at and talk about anything I’m interested in. Absolutely anything, let’s say... I don’t know Blacks Ads for instance. This web world widening can be overwhelming. I think people retreat to “safe” niches of comfort or interest. African Americans are no different in this respect. But what I find really interesting here is the break-out there in. We find with the rapid dissemination of the “Black Brand.” We find an unveiling, almost a blooming if you will. There are thriving subcultures of manifold ilk. There are black skaters, punk rockers, heavy metal heads, hikers, bikers, skiers, etc. Somehow amazingly they still hold on to the moniker of “Black” with varying degrees of pride and prominence. This is not to say some don’t gladly drop the moniker all together. I believe that even in the most diverse of endeavor we find some degree of racism that makes us hold that ground. Now, certainly some of these people simply love who and what they are. They see black as an inherent part of what they do and the way they do it. Black becomes merely a prefix that only enhances the suffix or said activity.

6. Diasporic Dominance.
We are still viewed by many people of color and other cultures as the look-to, as the most aggressive/progressive, innovative and accomplished Black people on the planet. There is an ability to inspire, help and serve other communities of color. We have influence and AA agencies at their best, know how to wield it skillfully.

5. Cultural Confluence.



We define where the dominant culture merges with our own. We certainly define the language though not always the conversation. (More defining the conversation is needed.) There are countless examples of the AA culture being laid over the dominant culture and completely remixes the latter. Example: President Bush uses the word “diss.” This is an inherent strength of the AA Agency that for the most part lies dormant.

4. Cultural Cluelessness.



The charades and the shenanigans that go on in the advertising and design industry almost daily are unbearable. If the same level of debauchery went on in AA shops, new laws and regulations would be enacted. Oft times when General Market Agencies attempt to express simple concepts of ethnic life the results have been less than great. When it comes to “sharing the wealth,” the rules get whackier and even change at exponential rates. I could go on for years, apparently so can they. High Jive at MultiCultClassics give a pretty detailed accounting of “Uncle Tom Foolery” here. (MultiCultClassics does it with a flair)

3. A Dream Deterred.
The best work is yet to be done. Their are too many constraints on current creative. The culture, hasn’t been fully tapped, the best of our inventiveness hasn’t been unleashed. We have yet to take the slop we are often given and turn it into delicacies. (see Chitterlings i.e. “chit’lins) The unique and valuable vision and creative purview the African captives brought to this nation are immeasurable. Nobody freaks the culture the way Black people in America do. I feel we have yet to do the same kind of things within the advertising space. Imagine what could be done if we truly felt comfortable in that realm and were given the freedom/opportunity to reinvent, reinterpret and re-imagine what marketing is. The results could be staggering. I know someone will say, well, Black Agencies don’t do that now. That’s because they are still in shackles. Sometimes mentally – self imposed, sometimes financially, often times creatively, but shackles non the less. They have little or no freedom from imposed ideas and practices. They are not totally free from blame either. I have sat in meetings and capitulated for the sake of an uninspired, less than challenged paycheck. In those instances I failed to live my own dream(s).

2. Good old fashion and some "brand" new Racism!
The daily crucible of intolerance. Racism is now mostly a buzz word, it gets peoples attention and increases blog hits and renders Twitter over capacity. That’s because we now confuse it with prejudice. Prejudice is the more common practice of prejudging a person(s) and acting from that stance. I’ve worked with prejudice people all my life. I’m just fine, I can live with that. I harbor a few prejudices of my own. Prejudice is a precursor to racism. Racism is prejudice’s powerful malignant projection. It is systemic. Therein lies the danger and rancor. Racism always comes from a position of power. Racism disallows or limits greatly my participation in institutions. Racism seeks to thwart any other outer beauty and brilliance. The Advertising industry is racist.

1. Orchestrated Obsolescence.



This is a very long term goal, but never the less a viable consideration. Unless we remain an active part of the initiative to re-imagine race and to embolden Black people as a whole towards their highest ideals, we should not take up the space God gave us on this earth. Our collective genius should be implored to a more inspired practice a more enlivened forms of commerce and art. It should be the inevitable task of AA agencies to bridge the chasms of communication and the utterance of understanding that will ultimately render themselves outmoded.

Photographer: Piper Carter

Here's a visual treasure I just discovered. Piper's shots are elegant and intriguing.

See more of here brilliance here.



cred:
Piper Carter

Poets & Thieves: The Pinch

"Poets & Thieves has been working on building a history, working with elements that give something back to the culture. That provide a history that can be fresh with todays present trailblazing."

cred:
Poets & Thieves