Red Vs Blue Milky Way 2009 Advert

Now come on everyone, you all remember it 'The Red Car and the Blue Car had a race, all Red wants to do is stuff his face' and so on. That's right, Milky Way by some stroke of genius have brought back this blast from the past after almost 20 years, causing a rush of nostalgia across the blogosphere. So here it is for all of you who have not seen the new 2009 Red Car Vs Blue Car Milky Way advert.



Milky Way advert - Red Car Vs Blue Car 2009


Enjoy!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Viral Campaign

As part of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen "extended film experience" campaign, which has been rolling out over the last few weeks co-ordinated by Paramount Pictures, a series of videos, images and conspiracy blogs are tracking the mysterious sightings robots in cities and famous landmarks around the world, including Tokyo, Berlin, Rome, Barcelona, Perth and even Machu Pichu. I have included some of the videos below.



Video 1 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 'Scooter UK' Viral



Video 2 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 'News Report Tokyo' Viral


The sightings have so far been tracked by two conspiracy blogs run by Robo-Warrier and Leo Ponce de Leon Spitz: www.therealeffingdeal.com and www.gianteffingrobots.com, where you can track further Worldwide sightings of the robot invasion.


Enjoy!

MyVibe - iPhone 'Vibrator' App

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Philips Vs. Wolfboy Twitter Competition

The Philips Vs. Twitter competition launched this week, giving people the opportunity to walk away with a brand new Cinema 21:9 TV. The idea is simple... Tweet exactly what you would like to challenge Philips with using text, or links to images, or video, and follow @Philips_vs to read the incoming entries.



Video - Philips Vs. Wolfboy Twitter Competition


The winning entry will be filmed and shown around the web, to secure the entrant Worldwide fame!


Good luck!


Via Illegal Advertising

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Augmented Reality ‘We Are Autobots’ Campaign

As you may be aware this week saw the Worldwide Premier of the Summer smash that is Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen due for release in the UK on June 19th and internationally on June 24th 2009, a film I have been dying to see for months now. In order to whet the appetite for everyone waiting to see it, as well as generate further buzz about the release Paramount Pictures International along with Total Immersion have developed the ‘We Are Autobots’ Augmented Reality experience.



Video 1 - ‘We Are Autobots’ Augmented Reality experience


Shown in the video above the ‘We Are Autobots’ Augmented Reality campaign gives the user the opportunity to play the role of Optimus Prime, as well as find hidden messages from Bumblebee which giving users the chance to see exclusive Decepticon footage from the new film.



Video 2 - Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Movie Trailer


I think this is a great site which generates a bit of extra buzz around the movie release, as well as giving moviegoers the chance to engage with the film with the incentive of discovering additional information. Admittedly there has been a few comments recently about the actual added value of AR, and what it can offer users, but its still nice to see these examples out there, with brands experimenting, and having a bit of fun with the technology.


Related Posts:

Top 10 Augmented Reality Adveritising Campaigns… so far
RubberDuckZilla: Augmented Reality Game
BMW Z4 “An Expression of Joy” - Augmented Reality

Ultimo Bra Testing at Alton Towers

This is a great idea in theory, a large group of women testing out bras on some of the UK’s top rollercosters at Alton Towers. However for a viral you would think that there would be some subtle mention of the brands, a url, or even a video titles that suggests where it came from. As the title of the post suggests this happens to be for Ultimo, although I only discovered this from the YouTube discription. Maybe I’m being too harsh, let me know what you think. Great video all the same.



Video - Ultimo: Bra Testing at Alton Towers

Volkswagen Twitter ad and Spotify Campaigns.

Okay now before we get started I just want to clarify that these are different campaigns; however are both good examples of utilising emerging media platforms such as Spotify and Twitter.


Let’s start with Spotify… Spotify is a brilliant application which allows users to listen to any music they wish to for free, and is still growing at a rate of at least 10,000 new users every day! It’s purely ad funded (well there is a premium service for those who are still mortified by the very prospect of seeing a banner on their screen) and due to the clean nature of the app can achieve very impressive standout for an ad.





Volkswagen in Sweden decided to use the music application for their Passat EcoFuel Jazz Calculator campaign which allowed users to plot their journey cross country in Jazz miles. The site calculates the Kilometres, and CO2 emissions for your journey, as well as the time it will take, and creates a Jazz playlist which can play out throughout that time (which you can then save to your Spotify account).





This is a great idea, however would be a lot more interesting if you could download it to your mobile, via the Spofity App (due to land later this year) and play it through you car stereo.



So… Twitter. This is a really cool example of utilising Twitter without pulling users away from the site they are currently on. Volkswagen has created this neat ad which looks at the info from your Twitter stream and recommends the car most relevant to you.



Pic 1 - VW Twitter Rich Media ad


I really like the simplicity of this ad, test it for yourself here (Volkswagen Rich Media Twitter ad), and if you still do not have a Twitter account why not try a celeb Twitter name. I’ve posted some examples below.



Pic 2 - VW Twitter ad: Jonathon Ross (@Wossy)



Pic 3 - VW Twitter ad: Demi Moore (@mrskutcher)


Via - Adverblog

Banksy Versus Bristol Museum: Banksy Exhibit Opens

I noticed this video last week for the largest Banksy exhibit to date, Banksy Versus Bristol Museum, which started last Saturday 13th June. As a massive Banksy fan I must say that I was very excited by the prospect of so much of the elusive street artists work under one roof.





Admittedly there has been some scepticism from critics claiming that his very presence in such an exhibit goes against everything he stands for… but I think it is still fantastic, and will definitely be finding the time to get down to Bristol to see it. For all interested the exhibit is admission free runs until 31st August 2009.

#ukhols map - Vodafone Uses Twitter and Hashtags for New Campaign

This is very cool, especially as I go on holiday soon and was amazed by the speed in which this app works. So... Lets start at the beginning, Vodafone as part of their 'free roaming charges' campaign have launched a new application, the #ukhols map, which is populated by Twitter users tweeting the hashtag #ukhols. Users simply tweet the hashtag, age, sex, first half of their postcode, and destination (e.g. #ukhols 25 F B12 Gran Canaria), and then have their route uploaded onto the map. Below is an example of my holiday (Las Vegas baby, in 2 weeks)!!



Pic - Vodafone: Twitter #ukhols map


The #ukhols Map was written by web developer Ben Marsh for Vodafone, who throughout June, July and August, are abolishing roaming charges in over 37 countries. The map according to the website uses the Twitter Search, Google Maps, Yahoo Placemaker as well as jQuery. Personally I think this is really quite cool, a little show to load on my machine, but as I said uploaded my tweet in seconds.



Thank you to Agus for pointing this in my direction.

True Blood: Vampire Targeted advertising

The second series of HBO's True Blood starts in the US on June 14 at 9pm, and in the true nature of the TV show over the last month or so, they have got together with a handful of brands to launch a very original and cool campaign targeting the vampires living among us. Some of the brands involved are below.


MINI



Harley-Davidson



Monster.com



Gillette



Other brands involved include Ecko Fragrance, Anubis Air, Hotel Carmilla, and Geico in a campaign which was implemented across Outdoor, Press, and Online.

According to the True Blood Bloodcopy Blog advertisers would be silly not to target Vampires in these difficult times... "With a global recession in full swing, tapping the growth segment of vampire consumers has become all the rage in corporate America. Leading the competition, these companies have all launched marketing efforts aimed at turning undead desires into dollars".

Fantastic!

Top 10 Augmented Reality Advertising Campaigns… so far

Now I know that this is without doubt going to change, and possibly require updating at some point (as we are talking about the current hot topic), but I just wanted to capture some of the best examples of Augmented Reality that I have seen integrated into a wider brand campaign. So please agree, disagree, send me your suggestions, etc etc.


10. Night at the Museum
This example uses AR to bring the characters of the movie to life, in such a way that grows the experience away from just a trailer prior to release, especially for a young audience who can still get away with buying into the whole magic of the film.




9. Doritos
The Doritos Sweet Chilli campaign uses the packaging itself to engage the consumer, driving them to a website where they can release their own Tamagochi style creature, and then interact with other users.




8. Eminem - Relapse
The reason I like this example is that although it may not be the most complex of the ten I have chosen, it uses a competition to drive users to engage with AR, which in most cases is normally the best way to get people to actually give it a go in the first place.




7. Lego
This is a very simple use, but I love it, using augmented reality to offer point of sale interaction with the consumer is brilliant. Plus its Lego, and who doesn't like Lego!




6. MINI & IQ
These are two very similar ideas which allow consumers to simply hold the car in their hands and look at it in every angle. The reason I have selected both is that I really like the way that the MINI example used an outside back cover of a magazine to promote the AR functionality. The IQ example on the other hand demonstrates how with a bit of tweaking you can make the outside of a car a bit more engaging.

MINI - Convertible


Toyota - IQ



5. Nissan - Cube
There are a few examples of automotive brands using AR in this list, but this is the only use I saw that uses the technology to show the exterior and interior of the car, within an interactive brochure. where consumers can actually select colours, and packages etc, to tailor a 3D model of the car they are interested in.




4. Fanta
This is an augmented reality game which can be played anywhere, in which two phones connect via Bluetooth before playing a game of tennis using an actual 'court'. To play, users download a free app, run it, and serve away using the phone's camera to look at the court and hit the ball as it comes their way.




3 . Pokemon - Trading Cards
This gives users the opportunity to use cards to battle each other in a very simplistic way, that looks amazing, this could easily be used to engage consumers online to further enhance their experience.




2. Oasis
Oasis have been the latest brand to integrate the technology within its latest RubberDuckZilla campaign offering four Augmented Reality Games for users to play with, although only two currently available, the remaining two are to be tied with media partners, once again giving the technology an opportunity for the consumer get up and give it a go.




1. BMW Z4
Probably one of the sleekest uses I have seen, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the campaign. Users can turn their desk (or in fact anywhere) into a canvas for the BMW Z4 to drive around controlled by the users keyboard.




Related Posts:
Augmented Reality - Do you believe the hype?
Top 10 Augmented Reality Adveritising Campaigns… so far - PART 2
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Augmented Reality ‘We Are Autobots’ Campaign

Santander Scalextric TV Ad

This is a pretty cool ad from Santander using their partnership with Formula One team McLaren Mercedes, and of course lots of shots of Lewis Hamilton. As well as highlighting the benefits of the brand as expected with the focus on safety and strength, it also adds a generous sprinkling of nostalgia with its use of Scalextric, which is always good to see.



Video - Scalextric Santander TV Advert


There is also a 'making of' video (shown below), if anyone is interested in seeing what a life size Scalextric set looks like.



Video - Making of Scalextric Santander TV Advert

Pulsing Wall of iPhone Apps

Yesterday was the WWDC event, where Apple wowed passers by with a 5x4 matrix of cinema display monitors, sprinkled with thousands of iPhone app icons, which pulsed as they were downloaded.



Pic - Apples - Wall of iPhone Apps at WWDC event (Photo Credit Techcrunch)


Although according TechCrunch this wasn't quite real-time, I think you'd agree from the picture it looks pretty awesome. The video below shows the display in action, although I failed to spot the one or two that I have actually downloaded.



Video - Apples - Wall of iPhone Apps at WWDC event


It's reported that there are now 50,000 applications now available in the Apple App Store. With more than a billion downloads now recorded as posted last month (Apple Celebrates 1 Billion App Downloads on iTunes)


Enjoy!

GM Spoof: GM Retardation advert

Last week I posted about the new GM advert (GM: Reinvention - New ad for New GM) entitled Reinvention. The commercial dedicated itself to ensuring that the public does not lose trust in the brand, following the news that they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Well... following this I was highlighted to the fact that there was a well edited spoof circulating shown below.



Video - GM Spoof: GM Retardation commercial


Supporting the spoof ad is an GM Retardation website exact replica of the new GM Reinvention website, obviously tweaked as expected highlighting users to fictitious Blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and Facebook accounts, with copy such as: "Pretend like you can be friends with us. We'll pretend too, and then we'll close down your dads car dealership".



Pic - GM Retardation Website

RubberDuckZilla: Augmented Reality Game

Ok so, Augmented Reality seems to definitely be one of this years hot potatoes, with Oasis the latest brand to integrate the technology within its latest RubberDuckZilla campaign. There are four RubberDuckZilla Augmented Reality Games in total, with two currently available 'Massive Aqua Rampage' and 'Rainavoid' (with the following games available next month). You can see Poke London, the guys responsible, playing the games in the video below.



Video - Augmented Reality Rubberduckzilla Demonstration


The campaign is the latest example of Oasis activity to follow the awesome Godzilla type ad (shown below), which definitely sets the scene for the Retro AR games, as well as introducing everyone to the strangely adorable Tokyo destroying rubber duck.



Video - Oasis Rubberduckzilla TV advert


The remaining upcoming games are apparently tied in with media partnerships, so I will update this as and when this lands. Enjoy!


Update - Friday 12th July 2009:

Since writting this post earlier in the week, the campaign has extended in to The Sun newspaper where RubberDuckZilla, and the Augmented Reality Games have gone mainstream. Today a total of around 7.8 million readers (based on total adult readership) will see the Augmented Reality symbol (shown below), and be encouraged to experiment with the games.



Pic - The Sun RubberDuckZilla feature: Augmented Reality Game


You can continue reading about the activity in The Sun on Nick's blog here: The Sun newspaper featuring RubberDuckzilla Augmented Reality.

Google Homepage Celebrates Tetris 25th Birthday

Today Google celebrates the 25th Birthday of Tetris, the 80's hit game for Nintendo, created on June 6, 1984. In the only way they know how Google have created one of their trademark logo variations (shown below) paying tribute to the computer game, voted second place in IGN's "100 Greatest Video Games of All Time" in 2007.



Pic - Google Homepage Celebrates Tetris 25th Birthday


Below is the old ad for the game, which after countless variations still remains as popular in its simplicity today as ever.


Video - Classic Tetris Advert


Happy Birthday Tetris!

Abbey Clancy T-Mobile Sing-along

As part of the follow up activity to the 'Life is for Sharing' Trafalgar Square Karaoke on the 30th April this year, T-Mobile have invited folks from all over the UK to have a go at singing along themselves and upload their videos for everyone to see (erm... and hear). The video below shows Abbey Clancy marching round a gym to Britney's 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' using voices from the Trafalgar Square performance.



Abbey Clancy 'Hit Me Baby One More Time'

Skinny Blonde Campaign Uses Online to Bring Daisy to Life

Do you remember those crazy pens you used to get with the scantily clad women standing there in a bikini, and when you click the pen their clothes disappear... no?... erm, me neither. However luckily for all those Australian beer drinkers out there, Aussie beer brand Skinny Blonde, which was launched earlier in the year, does.





As part of a new campaign for the brand a website has been created which mirrors the unique feature of the beer's label, in that the 1950s-style pin-up called Daisy's top disappears as the bottle warms up.

Upon entering the site you are greeted by six 'Skinny Blondes' of which you must select one, then with a handy thermometer, you turn up the heat until your chosen girl is so hot that she, like the label feels compelled to revel herself.



Video - Skinny Blonde Staring Game


There is also a rather interesting staring game on the site which is a lot harder than it first looks. Don't believe me? Try it yourself!

Westfield: Interactive Outdoor iPhone ads

Shoppers at London shopping centre Westfield will soon have the chance to interact with advertising on digital LCD screens via their iPhones, which are connected via WiFi or 3G.



The technology developed by digital creative agency Clusta in partnership with CBS Outdoor to develop a new ad platform showcased yesterday at the Media Playground conference and exhibition in London.

As reported in Campaign by swiping on the iPhone’s touchscreen, users can make the object in the digital poster spin left or right, or even make the display change colour. Also by using the 'pinch' and 'stretch' finger gestures on the iPhone, consumers will be able to zoom in or out of the object displayed on the screen.

Apparently this will be rolled out according to advertiser demand, however despite the hit the retail industry has suffered in recent months, in a stylish environment such as the Westfield Centre I can image plenty of brands showing an interest.

Microsoft - Project Natal hands free system unveiled at E3

Yesterday was the start of this year’s E3 in Los Angeles, and as expected there was finally some further information on the leaks and speculations of the last few weeks. One such unveiling which everyone including myself is going crazy for is the new motion sensing controller created by Microsoft, codenamed Project Natal. The new system is a completely hands free controller which uses facial and motion recognition to allow gamers to play games and navigate through the Xbox 360’s menus (demonstrated in the video below).



Video - XBOX E3: Project Natal


This is particularly interesting given the ways in which Project Natal could be integrated in the future with Microsoft’s other unveiling that they are teaming up with Sky to give users the chance to watch a rumoured 20 – 30 channels streamed through their console.

There has always been predictions about the way in which media is evolving, and how the media we consume will one day converge into one central hub in the home, and I think that this along with Project Natal certainly shows that the industry in taking some positive and innovative steps forward in the way we not only consume media but interact with it.

To read more, here is a report featuring an interview with Steven Spielberg and Xbox's Don Mattrick - Microsoft unveils new controller.

GM: Reinvention - New ad for New GM

This is the latest ad for GM released yesterday, entitled Reinvention. The commercial dedicates itself to ensuring that the public does not lose trust in the brand, following the news that they were filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The ad is launched in line with the new website GM Reinvention.com, which aims to inform the consumers of the ways in which the brand plans to be reborn.





I really like the honest, and down-to-Earth tone of this ad, which is evident from the opening line 'Let's be completely honest, no company wants to go through this, but we're not witnessing the end of the American car, we're witnessing the rebirth of the American car'.

Porn is bad M'kay

I'm not going to say anything about this, partly because I don't think I really need to, the ad alone speaks volumes. Just remember that pornography has the distructive power of a bomb, and you might just be ok.





Hat tip to Illegal Advertising who also point us in the direction of this post '10 Ridiculous Anti-Pornography Commercials'

BooneOakley.com - Agency Website on Youtube

This is quite an original and cool idea from the US which caught my eye on the bloglines today. BooneOakley.com are a full service agency from New York, who have decided to break from the norm and upload their whole website, in the form of a website with embedded links through to their various pages.



Pic 1 - BooneOakley.com



Pic 2 - BooneOakley.com


Personally I think its a good idea, however the fact that anyone can embed you whole website, anywhere they want could either be a brilliant move, or massive mistake. I think that only time will tell, but it's certainly got a lot of people talking... well over the last couple of days at least. You can view the website here - BooneOakley.com

MINI IPhone App - Openness

A few weeks ago MINI launched their iPhone App for the new MINI Convertible, and their 'Stay Open' campaign. Allowing the user to find out that life's more interesting when you stay open, the objective of the app is to find our how open they are? There is a link to iTunes for the app at the bottom of this post for those curious.



The first thing you do is to select one of four levels of 'Openness', from 'New to this open thing' to 'Open is my middle name', at which point using the phones GPS function you are located, and served suggestions of strange and interesting activities based on where you are.



The list activities range from things such as dining on a zebra steak, to rendering a naked person in pastels. You can then save these to a list, or send to a friend in order to test them on how open they are, there is also a chance to take a 360 look at the new MINI Convertible.



The application does state that is for those 18 and over only, but is free, and offers activities in 10 cities over the UK including London, Manchester, Cardiff, Edinburgh.

The app can be found here: The MINI IPhone App - Openness


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