MortarBlog

Think nothing’s wrong with your overgrown Twig & Berries? Think again…

Men, in our infinite mulish simplemindedness,
tend to think all body parts are just supposed to work and all the
stuff growing on our backs and thighs and groinal regions looks damn
fine as it is no matter how tangled and shaggy and utterly
extraterrestrial it might appear and how often our lovers cringe and
shudder at the sight of us naked. Besides, there’s little we can do
about it anyway. Right?

Gaze, won’t you, at Philips Norelco’s latest and surprisingly bold viral Internet ad campaign from 2006, found on www.shaveeverywhere.com

Have some fun on the site… I recommend the music video.

And be sure to read the entire hilarious article "How To Shave The Modern Male: In which a helpful corporate giant encourages you to please groom your crotch."  By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist.

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eBay has Mooninites for $1,215.00.

What? You missed that two operatives for New York-based Interference Inc. are being prosecuted for executing a guerilla stunt for Adult Swim?

The campaign brought Boston to a stand still yesterday.

The neon systems featured exposed wires and batteries — sparking what was tantamount to the biggest bomb scare since 9/11.  CNN reports:

"Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were released on $2,500 bail, said Mike Rich, their attorney. The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 7. Both men were cooperative with authorities, and neither has a previous criminal record in Massachusetts, Grossman said.

At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles.

When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We’re taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.

Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That’s not a hair question. I’m sorry."

Um. No. We’re not making this up. See full article here.

Hey Julie, looks like there will be an opening at Turner very soon….

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Pushing one-to-one marketing to yet another level, innovative marketer Mini has launched a series of talking billboards.

The billboards identify Minis via  a coded radio signal embedded in the car’s key fob.

"As drivers approach, a
customized message flashes on the billboard. "Hi Jackie! Don’t crash
the car." comments Church of the Customer Blog.

"The messages are personal, based on questionnaires that owners filled out: “Mary, moving at the speed of justice,” if Mary is a lawyer, or “Mike, the special of the day is speed,” if Mike is a chef….

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Am I the only person who didn’t realize the  ElfYourself promotion was designed to promote OfficeMax as a gifting destination.

Um. That’s a long freaking road to hoe.

What kind of person gives office supplies for Xmas?

Still, reports abound ElfYourself was a huge hit with traffic peaking at 11 people a second.

And there I was thinking the whole point was to make us feel good about OfficeMax. Apparently, that is no longer a viable marketing goal.

Read more about  Elf’s success on Ad Age here. Oh and see the thing itself here.

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Marvel as these guys demonstrate their blender by blending oh, magnets. And golf clubs. Dancing princesses.  Light blubs (see the friction generating electricity).

Blending veggies is for woosies. Seriously. This is freaking cool. Tom Dickson is my new hero.

Thanks for the post Chris!

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"After years of losing subscribers to racier rivals and new social-networking sites geared to young singles, Match has become the largest online dating site in the U.S. by subscriptions, with 1.3 million members. One big reason: older daters like Mrs. Williams."  writes Sarah Silver in Saturday’s Journal.

Choice points include:

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Here’s an idea for those of you PR doubters. Why not ask site visitors how they came to hear of your site?

A recent survey of holiday buyers on a client’s ecommerce Website revealed that nearly one third of site visitors can be attributed to PR activity. Verbatim from the email:

"Just thought you’d like to see the responses to one of the questions I slipped in the survey we ran with 4th quarter buyers:

And of those who answered other it was pretty much 1/3 article 1/3 website 1/3 crazy

This tells me close to 30%  (article + TV+ Other)  found us based on PR type activities.   At least that is my interpretation…"

Careful readers will note that the site attracted 3,800 buyers, too.  Want to know more, contact MortarPR here.

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Have you been reading about Richard Branson’s new airline Virgin America? I have been seeing it all over the news, so I finally checked out their website, and found this: Name Our Planes! A cool flash viral with a contest to, you guessed it, name a plane in their yet-to-be-born fleet. You can see what other names people have submitted, sort the names by fun categories like horoscope sign, gender, and favorite holiday. You can even vote on other submitted names - in a clone of "hot or not" - does the name "fly or not." 

Unfortunately, you don’t get a worldwide open-ended airline ticket, an inaugural ride on your newly-christened plane, or anything bling like that. Winners "receive a commemorative rendering of their Virgin America airplane with
the name he/she submitted printed on the plane. Worth $300." Big Whoop! This from the man who is worth over $6 billion and has his own spaceship.

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Some lucky metropolitan diners will receive a complimentary bottle of "Rome" branded cabernet with their meals next week.  Although the ad community is wondering  why the savvy cable channel selected a on-Italian beverage. Still its a super idea. Comments Andrew Hampp in this week’s Ad Age:

"HBO will offer complimentary bottles of "Rome" cabernet sauvignon at
more than 100 eateries in the three cities to promote the second-season
launch of its sex-blood-and-togas series, debuting Jan. 14. But rather
than have restaurant servers introduce the product by saying "And our
house wine tonight is brought to you by HBO," consumers will be
presented with a polite card at their tables: "A taste of ‘Rome’ awaits
you. Ask server for details."

The appetizing promo was the brainchild of Lime Public
Relations & Promotions, which paired with HBO to promote season two
of "Entourage." Lime President Claudia Strauss said wine was a perfect
way to plug the show contextually while still being creative. "The show
is all about indulgence, and we just felt this was a great way to bring
to life one of the key aspects of the story line."

MortarBlog watchers will be interested to learn that HBO’s agency, Lime, was the force behind Old Navy’s Mascot search (one of MortarBlog’s top 5 promotions in 2006).

Full story here.

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