The Denver Egotist

Motrin Commercial Gives Me and Moms Headaches

From Guest Editor, Jeremy Greenfield

New moms are a friendly bunch. They’re tired, their skin is stretched to fugly levels, and they just passed something the size of a watermelon through an orifice the size of a grape. Yum. Needless to say, don’t mess with them. What was Taxi, New York thinking when it characterized newborns as fashion accessories and new moms as self-involved, baby-making trendsetters for its latest work for Motrin?

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7 hours ago / Comment [9] / Link

The Rant: What Do You Want to Do When You Grow Up?

Volume 16 In a Series By Felix

Everyone gets asked that as a child. I wanted to be a pilot, until I figured out that I was shit-scared of heights. As I grew older, around 16 years old, it changed into something even less realistic – an artist. Being paid a living wage to do something entirely self-serving is almost impossible. Then, I finally found my calling; I discovered advertising.

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6 days ago / Comment [6] / Link

Starbucks Q4 Profits Down 97%—And It’s All Your Fault

From Guest Editor, Jeremy Greenfield

News today in the so-called industry bible (Ad Age) is that Starbucks didn’t have a great fourth quarter. I’m sure this is a big surprise to babies, old people with dementia, people living in caves, and tens of other Americans. But for most of us, Q3 layoffs of thousands and over 600 store closings (incurring over $100 mill in restructuring costs) was sort of a clue. So, what happened?

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7 days ago / Comment [9] / Link

Movie Review: Quantum of Solace

We’re a sucker for James Bond. From Dr. No to Casino Royale. The action…the women…the cocktails. We prefer our Bond shaken with an edge like Sean Connery and less like Rodger Moore. When Daniel Craig burst into the role a couple of years ago he was tailor made for it like a fine British suit. He had the physicality, the roughness, the unorthodox swagger and charm of how we always imagined our Bond on screen. Even in some ways, dare we say, better then Connery.

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8 days ago / Comment [1] / Link

The Rant: Big, Smelly, Hairy Guerrilla

Volume 15 In a Series By Felix

In his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing, Jay Conrad Levinson describes this new method of advertising as “an unconventional system of promotions on a very low budget…relying on time, energy and imagination instead of big marketing budgets.” These days, according to most ad agencies, it’s just a simple term to describe unconventional marketing or advertising.

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12 days ago / Comment [3] / Link

Why's The Industry So Down on CP+B for its Microsoft Campaign?

From Guest Editor, Jeremy Greenfield

Is it really that bad? Or are we just jealous that Steve Ballmer and his brand marketing brain trust didn’t give us $300 million to play around with to “resurrect” a brand that enjoys over 90% market share? Or is it something else?

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13 days ago / Comment [19] / Link

Creative Crackdown: FirstBank Campaign Via TDA

Four distinct ad campaigns – covering security, helpfulness, ease of online banking and availability of mobile banking – amount to a new, umbrella positioning for Lakewood, Colorado’s FirstBank: “Business As Usual.” As scrutiny over banks ranks at an all-time national high, we wondered what you thought of this new campaign from Boulder’s TDA Advertising & Design. What do you think of the strategy? What do you think of the work peeling off it? Will it move you to move your account to FirstBank?

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14 days ago / Comment [19] / Link

Friends of The Egotist Interview: Jakob Trollbäck

As interviewed by Charles Carpenter and Mindy Nies.

Trollbäck + Company is a visual and conceptual creative studio producing expressive and purposeful graphics, design and live action for advertising, broadcast, and entertainment.

Led by creative directors Jakob Trollbäck and Joe Wright, the collaborative group of designers and writers launches and rebrands TV networks, creates motion graphics, live action, print, environmental design, and film titles. T+Co’s trademark approach relies on unorthodox thinking and immersive storytelling, and the belief that a compelling and focused message is essential for any communication to be successful.

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15 days ago / Comment / Link

Movie Review: Rock'N'Rolla

Guy Ritchie is back. No, we don’t mean back on the single scene…but back in action at what he does best…directing at the top of his form.

With Rock’N‘Rolla, he is back with a vengeance. A tour de force feature film in every way. A creamy cockney concoction of humor, rock, and violence…all centered around a group of relatively small time thugs. There are no great surprises here, which is really the most disappointing thing we could say about Rock’N’Rolla.

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16 days ago / Comment / Link

What Will Obama Do With His 30-Minute Spot?

From Guest Editor, Jeremy Greenfield

I’m not gonna lie, America: I’m scared. Barack Obama’s infomercial/World Series pre-game broadcast could be a game-changer in this election. Supporters of Obama have got to be afraid that he’s going to blow the election when he’s so far ahead with so little time left with a professorial snooze-fest. John McCain supporters have got to be worried that this will be the final (perhaps merciful?) nail in the coffin. Me, well, I’m not a Democrat or a Republican. I’m a hypochondriac. What I’m afraid of tonight is overexcitement; it’s bad for my as yet unidentified stomach condition. Very worrisome.

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21 days ago / Comment [20] / Link

The Denver 50: Rumor #3

The third in the cryptic series from the NDAC. Catch up on the others here.

113 days ago / / Link