The five steps to badland infamy*
1. You can't come up with a concept to sell State Fair Corn Dogs.
2. You see an Extra Gum commercial and dig the idea.
3. You rip the idea.
4. Extra's agency renews gum ad for another 13 weeks.
5. Your corn dog spot runs immediately after gum spot during commercial break.

"Read more" to view the ensuing 45 seconds of mirth and doppelgänger mayhem (if you're a super adgunt, that is).

Charles Schwab Corp dropped BBDO nyc after four years of dating. They said their Dear John's on friday (research shows that staff cuts and agency dumping is best done on fridays..) and BBDO has declined to comment.

Good Grief - How blatant can you get?

Two products: Evian and Aquafina
Two awards shows: The 2002 Academy Awards and MTV 2002 Movie Awards
Two spots each.
Too many similarities to mention here, so read more to see more...

Happy go joy joy for all of those who tired of the lack of regional cool ads at the big sites. Not only will Resume add more and more films to their site of the creme de la creme of swedish advertising, Sourze.se/reklamtoppen and Comhem.se just opened a joint venture in showing swedens best ads as well. All the mentioned will be using realplayer.

The European Space Agency is looking for agencies to help brand and promote the International Space Station.

The ESA, in conjunction with the Canadian Space Agency, is seeking a company with expertise in areas including public relations, advertising and brand development.

(read more)

So what's sweet ol' Tonya Harding been up to since her failed Olympic scheme in '94?*

(click "read more" below for more)

Distracting TV!

An email dropped in saying these four films were ready for Badland, since they are all based in the distracting TV idea, with various executions. Click on and follow links to see the four films from two different campaigns.

Will Farquhar and Ian Ducke formerly with Legas Delaney the last decade and the team behind that by now infamous "perfect day" BBC advert have decided to leave their agency and join the growing pool of freelancers in order to "work on bigger accounts".

As you know, the flagship adidas account left Legas earlier last month, and they have been forced to cut 10% of their staff.
Move over freelancers, we're getting big company. ;-)

Tyler Whisnand, ex KesselsKramer copywriter who left Amsterdam to head up Ground Zero in New York two years ago has now returned to the land of canals, round cheese and infamous bananabars in the Red Light District. Rumours has it, he missed the canals. ;-)

Tyler will be part of the KK management team and will surely feel like a fish in water at his old home reunited with his old collegues.

In the personal ads in the village voice this week a "dark Eyed Palestinian Temptress" says she's ready to to settle down "and go home" with a Jewish man who will "get me there." She's not alone, 16 other personal ads were placed with similar messages.

Us adgrunts loove ads. Us adgrunts know adhistory. Us adgrunts are sometimes waaay up our own butts with self referential ads. Yes, we're wankers.

I mean really kids, look at this. A wee bit too much of an injoke you think? Maybe. Perhaps. A tad underinspired? Maybe. Perhaps. Or maybe it's just a homage to a better ad?

(read more to see a QT clip and double page spread..)
Us adgrunts loove ads. Us adgrunts know adhistory. Us adgrunts are sometimes waaay up our own butts with self referential ads. Yes, we're wankers.

I mean really kids, look at this. A wee bit too much of an injoke you think? Maybe. Perhaps. A tad underinspired? Maybe. Perhaps. Or maybe it's just a homage to a better ad?

(read more to see a QT clip and double page spread..)

Everyone is streamlining their operations. Staff is cut. Fallon in NYC fired all creatives (20 people from the agency) except their CD whom we assume, will have to do all the work now. Vardag a swedish agency that for once is not located in Stockholm, has come up with an unusual way of shortcutting the ordering of ads process.

Read more to see their "applications for personal art by mail form" form.

Some thought it the minute they arrived - but now the rest of the planet will think it too. News later this Monday will announce the über-cool flat iMac.
In fact - TIME will probably have it on the cover.

Quick - sell that blueberry iMac before it's too late!

The rumours are all over the web. The photographer is Michael O'Neill. You can read more at about the 15inch desklamp iMac.

Melanie Blatt used a 'stunt bum' in TV advert.

She stars in an advert featuring drunken workers at an office party photocopying their body parts.

But the bottom seen in the advert for Virgin Mobile does not belong to the former All Saint, instead it belongs to an "unknown model".

Big Magazine is following in the footsteps of other magazines, like wallpaper* - and opened an ad agency. Who's next? Playboy? They could do the cheap beer ads. Or maybe they do? Kidding of course - Big has some big names with them. Click the read more.

This is a story from the Guardian in the UK. Slightly mad, if you ask me but then you didn't so I'll just concentrate on getting the link right instead.

Yours, troutcrisis

article in the Guardian about JWT

Another mailing list is born!

This one is a list about corporate identity.

Go to to sign up."an e-mail list discussing issues relevant to branding and corporate identity professionals... a carefully-blended mix of news, links, reviews, rants and anything else deemed as relevant and valuable for the corporate design and branding community."

Marius promises to moderate it hard. Those who are interested in this aspect of design and know how to use email - are wholeheartedly reccomended to join.

Well, I don't know how about you guys, but I wouldn't be happy about any cigarettes brief (yes, I'm a non smoker).

And not even after the new "advertising rules" of the 3 major tabacco companies BAT (Lucky Strike etc), JT (Camel, Winston and others) and Philip Morris (every brand you can think of) agree on the International Tobacco Products Marketing Standards they're just now working on.

Those of you who keep asking me "whatever happened to teabaggers" can go read the
last entries in the archives and figure it out yourselves. It went bad, thats all. :(

Sad. This is why we can't have nice things!

The other day, aptly named Art Thompson of norelevance.com handed me his sites card, and stopping by I realized it's an art directors dream! Random scrapbook pages, strange record label designs, weird labels from forgotten brands. Aaah, inspirationville.