At a trade show, a company attached tiny banner ads to flies, and set them loose on the crowd.

The weight keeps the flies at a lower altitude and forces them to rest more often, which is a stroke of genius on the part of the marketing creatives: the flies end up at about eye level, and whenever a fly is forced to land and recover, the banner is clearly visible.

I’m sure some animal rights groups are already up in arms.

25 years ago, Apple’s “1984” Macintosh ad was shown during the Super Bowl

It was shown only once, but was replayed constantly on the news and written about by newspapers for days afterward.  Not only did it launch the Macintosh, it also launched the great Super Bowl commercial craze that is sometimes the best part of watching the Super Bowl.  Apple definitely got their money’s worth.

Pepsi has new logos

Each type of Pepsi will have a slightly different logo with the white band either grinning, smiling, or laughing.  Their other brands are going to get a refresh as well.

I saw this commercial during one of the bowl games and thought, “Whoa, Pepsi is going to be pissed that someone stole their logo.  I’m sure their lawyers are already…oh…they’ve screwed up their own logo on purpose.”

Billy Mays is getting a reality TV show

“HI, BILLY MAYS HERE FOR BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE COMING SOON TO THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL!  THE SHOW WILL FEATURE ME AND ANTHONY SULLIVAN AS WE, ‘EVALUATE QUIRKY NEW PRODUCTS, CRAFT PITCHES, AND TAKE TO THE AIRWAVES TO PUSH THE GOODS’!

“THE SECRET IS IN THE FACT THAT THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL IS LOOKING FOR ADDITIONAL ORIGINAL PROGRAMMING AND THEY THINK THAT I’M NOT GOING TO BE AS ANNOYING IN A FULL LENGTH SHOW AS I AM IN A 60 SECOND COMMERCIAL!”

I stand by my statement that Rachel Ray and Billy Mays are the two most annoying things on TV (besides the entire MTV channel).  With that said, I’ll probably watch it once to see what it’s about and to see how ridiculous the products are that they pass on.

Update: The show is officially called “Pitchmen”, and I like it.  I wouldn’t call it, “must-see-TV”, however, if it’s on and I’m home, I’ll watch it.

McDonald’s attacks Starbucks in it’s home

McDonald’s erected four billboards attacking Starbucks coffee right down the road from Starbucks’ headquarters.  Excellent, but they really should be targeting Starbucks drinkers all over the place.

I don’t know about you, but the cashiers in the McDonald’s near me can’t do anything unless there’s a little button for it on their register.  And I highly doubt any of them would know what a “half caf latte with soy milk” is.  And I wouldn’t exactly want to hang out in McDonald’s any longer than I have to…I detract from the homeless decor they have.  Other than those things, I think McDonald’s will give Starbucks a run for their money.

Wassap 2008

The boys from the Budweiser commercial are back.

Al, a shoe salesman, calculates his tax cut under Barack Obama’s plan

He’s married, with children, and will save $1,000.

Microsoft’s new ‘I’m a PC’ images made on a Mac

This whole new campaign from MS, from the weirdly useless Seinfeld/Gates spots to the fact that by directly answering their number two competitor they are tacitly acknowledging that Apple is right, seems like it’s being managed by Leon Lett.

Unfortunate placement of Yahoo! ad

You know, sometimes you just can’t make this stuff up.  In fact, I’m fairly certain they did it on purpose. (via)

Britian bans aussie ad

British regulators have forced a small change in an Australian Tourism ad because they object to the term “bloody”.  Apparently, it’s a mild swear word in that version of English.  You can see the full ad in Window Media or QuickTime, but if you’re offended by that word, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Due to the weird Aussie accent and the fact that I was paying too much attention to the nice looking, bikini clad, beach babe, I hardly noticed anything that she said, and I certainly wasn’t offended by it.