Oct 13

Windows 7-branded ‘Family Guy’ special to air November 8th

Posted in: ad, ads, advertising, Microsoft, Today's Chili, Windows, windows 7, Windows7

Of all Microsoft’s advertising moves, this certainly falls in more clever side of the spectrum. Redmond et al. have announced they’ll be “sponsoring” a November 8th variety special on Fox, “Family Guy Presents: Seth & Alex’s Almost Live Comedy Show.” The episode’ll be a mix of live-action musical performance and animated shorts with the usual celebrity cameos you’ve come to expect. This show will be commercial free, so long as you don’t count all the Windows 7 that’ll somehow be integrated — and that’s the most interesting mystery of all, how Microsoft will get its brand recognition without too many jabs from showrunner Seth McFarlane and company. If you don’t recall the last time McFarlane teamed up with a big company to enliven its image, check out video from “Burger King presents Seth MacFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy,” a venture also done in tandem with one of the ad agencies responsible for this new deal, Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. It’s just after the break.

Update: As commenter Zebb reminded us, Bill Gates pulled off a cameo in Frasier “answering caller questions” about Windows XP. We couldn’t help but add it to the post just below, jump to the 2:20 mark for the relevant scene.

Continue reading Windows 7-branded ‘Family Guy’ special to air November 8th

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Windows 7-branded ‘Family Guy’ special to air November 8th originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 11

Windows Phone commercial is confusing for a variety of reasons

Posted in: ad, ads, att, commercial, HTC, Microsoft, Today's Chili, Windows Mobile, windows mobile 6.5, windows phone, WindowsMobile, WindowsMobile6.5, WindowsPhone, winmo

Okay, so we understand Microsoft is trying hard to rebrand Windows Mobile as Windows Phone with the launch of WinMo 6.5, but this commercial — labeled with AT&T logos in the US but also running unlabeled worldwide — doesn’t seem to do a good job of pointing out that Windows Phone is a platform and not a device. In fact, if we didn’t know better, we’d think that the HTC Pure is, in fact, the “Windows Phone” — even though the dude in the spot is holding a totally different generic device. See how that could be weird for people? It’s almost confusing enough to distract from the jubilant anthropomorphic app icons in tights. Video after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone commercial is confusing for a variety of reasons

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Windows Phone commercial is confusing for a variety of reasons originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Oct 2009 22:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 09

Bayer’s ‘Media Facade’ redefines building-vertising

Posted in: ad, ads, advertising, Today's Chili

You may think that once you’ve seen one building turned into a massive billboard you’ve seem them all, but that would mean you probably haven’t seen the so-called “Media Facade” now adorning Bayer’s former HQ in Leverkusen, Germany. Built by ag4 media facade GmbH and GKD AG, the massive display apparently consists of 5.6 milion LEDs that cover the entire 17,500 square meters of the building, and which can be lit up at will to pump out gigantic advertisements worthy of any science fiction movie. You’ll note this is the former Bayer headquarters — it seems that the promise of ’round the clock ads visible for miles around saved the building from the wrecking ball. Head on past the break for a video of it in action, and a second showing the facade being constructed.

[Thanks, Gerrit]

Continue reading Bayer’s ‘Media Facade’ redefines building-vertising

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Bayer’s ‘Media Facade’ redefines building-vertising originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 05

Verizon removes gloves, begins ‘There’s a map for that’ anti-AT&T ad campaign (video)

Posted in: ad, Apple, att, network, Today's Chili, verizon, Verizon Wireless, VerizonWireless

Ouch. If you’ve been waiting for another flare up in the old carrier wars, here you have it. Turning Apple’s “there’s an app for that” slogan on its ear, Verizon has introduced a campaign touting its network coverage. The ads — which highlight the company’s new tongue-in-cheek “there’s a map for that” catchphrase against tuneful, chirpy music — also boast that Verizon’s 3G blanket is a whopping five times the size of AT&T’s. Does this do anything to dispel the idea that Verizon and Apple may be getting together for that phantom tablet? Who knows, but it’s fun to watch the fireworks. Check out the full commercial after the break.

[Via All Things Digital]

Continue reading Verizon removes gloves, begins ‘There’s a map for that’ anti-AT&T ad campaign (video)

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Verizon removes gloves, begins ‘There’s a map for that’ anti-AT&T ad campaign (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:06:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oct 01

Sony says Nazi PS3 ad is a “mock campaign” and not real

Posted in: ad, ads, advertising, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

We can’t say this was unexpected, but Sony just pinged us to say that that Nazi PS3 ad is “totally fake” and was made without their approval — here’s the statement from the executive president of BBDO Chile, which made the ads:

This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This “mock campaign” was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values.

Settles that, we suppose — although we’re guessing BBDO Chile isn’t going to be Sony’s agency of record very much longer.

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Sony says Nazi PS3 ad is a “mock campaign” and not real originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 29

Chilean PS3 ads show gamer giving blood transfusion to a Nazi

Posted in: ad, ads, advertising, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

You’d think Sony’s ad teams would have learned to stay away from needlessly controversial imagery after that whole “White is coming” PSP debacle or even those “Take a Running Jump Here” ads, but… they haven’t. Check out these Chilean PlayStation 3 ads, which show a modern-day gamer giving a heart transplant to Joan of Arc and a blood transfusion to a Nazi. Yes, Sony has Godwin’d its own advertising. The Nazi in question is supposed to be Erwin Rommel, a highly decorated and respected German field marshal, but it’s not like Sony’s really riffing on that here, and making an ad with a swastika in it that relies on your audience to know the subtle nuances of WWII history just isn’t the smartest move in the world. It’s a pretty simple rule: if you make a video game ad with Nazis in it and it’s not about shooting the Nazis, you’ve screwed up. Let’s just stick with those creeptastic Japanese PS3 spots, okay?

P.S.- We’ll shut off comments in a heartbeat. Behave yourselves.

[Via Copyranter]

Continue reading Chilean PS3 ads show gamer giving blood transfusion to a Nazi

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Chilean PS3 ads show gamer giving blood transfusion to a Nazi originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 16

Zune HD commercial hits major selling points, forgets to include unsettling female spokesperson

Posted in: ad, ads, commercial, Microsoft, Today's Chili, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Looks like the Zune HD commercials are now hitting the scene, and unless multicolored flashing lights aren’t your thing, this isn’t likely to cause uneasiness or provoke blatant fanboyism. Instead, we’ve got a neon spectacle highlighting four of its big selling points: HD radio, video playback, wireless, and yes, games are there, too. See it for yourself after the break.

[Via Dark Zune]

Continue reading Zune HD commercial hits major selling points, forgets to include unsettling female spokesperson

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Zune HD commercial hits major selling points, forgets to include unsettling female spokesperson originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 14

Wii getting $50 price drop this month? One Toys R Us ad seems to think so

Posted in: ad, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, Today's Chili, wii

Of all the fakeables in consumer electronics, the weekly newspaper ad has to be one of the easiest marks. Still, this one looks pretty legit, and if it’s real it means either we’re getting a much overdue Wii price cut on September 27th, or someone on the Toys R Us ad team has been severely misinformed. If it’s not true and we have to wait another holiday season for the Wii to break the $200 mark, we’re not getting Nintendo that Snuggie we promised it for Christmas — everybody knows only good little boys, girls and multinational game companies get presents.

[Via Joystiq]

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Wii getting $50 price drop this month? One Toys R Us ad seems to think so originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Zune HD promotional videos offer brief glimpse at 3D gaming

Posted in: ad, gaming, Today's Chili, video, zune, zune hd, ZuneHd

Zune HD may really be just around the corner — this Tuesday, in fact — but there’s still a few things we don’t know about. Enter a handful of promotional videos care of Buy TV to fill in some pieces. There’s a couple of really nice overviews of the car dock, built-in radio, Xbox integration, Zune video, and AV dock (it outputs 720p video, just to clarify). More importantly, though, in the video entitled “Portable Perfection” around the 30-second mark, you catch a quick view of what appears to be a racing title as the narrator discusses the ability to “play games” on the device. For a company that’s been about as coy as possible when it comes to the status of applications for its forthcoming Tegra-powered monster, this isn’t exactly subtle. There’s also what looks like some new Zune marketplace images in the Zune pass video around ten seconds in. Be honest, you had nothing else to do this Friday, and now you can at least watch some gadget noir. Check it out after the break and form your own wild opinions.

[Via Zunited, thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Continue reading Zune HD promotional videos offer brief glimpse at 3D gaming

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Zune HD promotional videos offer brief glimpse at 3D gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 11

Brilliant PS3 Slim ad loses Nigerian scam reference, internet rumors now known to have started WWI

Posted in: ad, ads, commercial, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

Turns out not everyone was amused by Sony’s tongue-in-cheek PlayStation 3 Slim ad about internet rumors — just ask the Nigerian government. The line in question, “you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, otherwise I’d be a Nigerian millionaire by now,” apparently caused a bit of a stir, and the local authorities demanded the company pull the commercial. It’s now been replaced in the company’s Viddler account with a slightly altered version that claims online FUD is “how World War One got started.” Someone should tell Sony Director of Rumor Confirmation Kevin Butler that there’s a certain assassinated Austrian Archduke who would beg to differ. Revised video after the break, and just for kicks, we found the old video on YouTube for comparison.

[Via Joystiq]

Continue reading Brilliant PS3 Slim ad loses Nigerian scam reference, internet rumors now known to have started WWI

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Brilliant PS3 Slim ad loses Nigerian scam reference, internet rumors now known to have started WWI originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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