Mini e-card with Simon Houpt's face.
Yuletide e-greetings
We all have some things in our closets we're not too proud of. Secrets from our past. That time we went clubbing without wearing underwear. Oh wait, that was Britney Spears. That affair with the married pro golfer. Oops, that was Rachel Uchitel. Well, we must have something to hide. At Taxi 2, the closet is overflowing. Their secret shame? Ugly reindeer sweaters. But the agency is clearing the air, and gaining some buzz for a client, Mini Canada, with an interactive campaign that urges us to "embrace the tradition of the ugly holiday sweater." How does it work? Go to Mini.ca, pick one of five ugly sweater e-cards, upload your photo and send. And why would you want to picture yourself in an ugly sweater? Because, according to the site, "With this holiday e-card, men will want to be you, and women will promptly abandon their current relationships for the chance to run away with you and fulfill your every desire." And there's a chance to win a handcrafted snowman sweater from Mini. Think of it as repentance for those closet skeletons, whatever they might be. Dianne Nice
Noted: Pepsi 1, Super Bowl 0
Pssst! Wanna buy some Super Bowl ad time? Because we think a few minutes just opened up. Yesterday, Pepsi announced it would not be buying airtime on the Feb. 7 CBS broadcast, marking the first time in 24 years it will not be a part of the annual commercialpalooza. In recent years, the company's ads have featured celebrities Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, LL Cool J, Missy Elliott, and even Bob Dylan, but it has evidently found a better use for the more than $20-million (U.S.) it reportedly splashes out on the broadcast. In January, it will roll out a philanthropic initiative called the " Pepsi Refresh Project," which will see people vote online for community-oriented projects they would like to see funded by the company. Pepsi has been trying to capitalize more on the move toward social media. A Pepsi spokeswoman explained the move by saying: "In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event and more about a movement." Which we think translates into: "Broadcast is dead." Simon Houpt
Quoted: Tiger, the rebrand
Phil Knight, Nike chairman
Poor Tiger Woods. This week Nike said they were sticking by their man, with Phil Knight dismissing the star golfer's indiscretions as "a minor blip." But with most of Tiger's other sponsors (and apparently his wife) flying away like our own golf balls when we hit the links, he's watching his potential earnings evaporate from a billion to mere tens of millions. So when we got a PR pitch the other day from a foreign exchange company offering to make him their spokesman, we figured there must be many companies out there whose values align with the prowling Tiger. Think of the possibilities for endorsements from these companies!
1) 1-800-DIVORCE
2) Citibank's risk-management practice
3) Tiger Balm
4) Ashley Madison
5) Virgin Mobile's unlimited texting plan
6) Apple Auto Glass
Simon Houpt
30-second spots: Mad Men meets the Shopping Channel
If you haven't found the perfect gift for someone on your list, the folks at Vancouver's Wasserman + Partners might have just what you need. The ad agency has unveiled a unique line of holiday-themed gifts, including the Santa Beard Mop for cranberry sauce spills; holiday-scented air fresheners in turkey, eggnog or Yule log scents; and seasonal avian-flu masks to halt the spread of germs. Our favourite is the Scotch tape dispenser, which dispenses both Scotch and tape simultaneously. You can wrap gifts while you rap to the Wasserman Holiday Shopping Channel's RemiXmas CD .
Question Period meets Criminal Minds
Gangs are dangerous. They push drugs, they hurt people, they watch Desperate Housewives. What? Don't they? That, in a nutshell, was the debate going on in the Manitoba legislature this week, where opposition critics were skewering the government for airing a new anti-gang commercial warning about the dangers of criminal life during shows that potential thugs are probably not watching. The $250,000 publicly funded campaign also includes posters, transit ads and a website, stayoutofgangs.ca. We're sure the gangsters' moms will think it was money well spent.
Social petworking
Is heavy petting acceptable on a first date? It is if you met on Dogbook. The popular Facebook application, created by Toronto ad executive Geoffrey Roche and his son Alexandre Roche, a Facebook developer, has two million furry fans, and now a smart-phone app. Free to download at iTunes, the app works with a phone's GPS if a dog is lost, allowing the owner to send an "Arf Alert" to all users within a 15-kilometre radius. The app also has a dog-park locator and shows which users are nearby. So if you see someone who makes you drool, you can find out where they go for walkies.
Canada's new national pastime
Speaking of Facebook, a recent study commissioned by the People from Cossette claims that Facebook is poised to become "the next Google," with 79 per cent of all Canadian social-media activity taking place there. So aside from posting videos of our dogs, what are we doing on the site? A lot of us - 59 per cent - are seeking information about products and brands. Nearly one-third of us are leaving our opinions about brands, and two-thirds are reading the opinions of others - more than those who read information from companies themselves. The rest of us are at FarmVille, collecting animals.
Legal posturing
Is Lululemon a poor sport? The yoga-wear retailer landed itself in the downward-facing dog house with VANOC this week because of its new clothing line in support of a "Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 & 2011." Although Lululemon insists its hoodies, tuques and T-shirts have nothing to do with the 2010 Winter Olympics, VANOC was not amused and issued a public scolding. The Olympic organizing committee, which has exclusive Canadian marketing rights to Olympic brands, has achieved a state of Zen and will not pursue legal action. Dianne Nice