Advertising

The life of a model/actor is hard. "Oh, right", you say, "lying on a sofa and staring vacantly into a bank of cameras is way tougher than military service or manual labor or having no job at all." But hey, we've seen All About Eve and Valley of the Dolls and America's Next Top Model. Like Gina...

Sometimes, we get press releases that make us die a little inside. We'll receive an email about new air-fresheners or nutria-trimmed seat covers or those seriously creepy car lashes, and it'll make us super-sad -- not because of the products themselves, but because some poor PR newbie, fresh out of...

Dear Lindsay, Britney: Are you happy? Are you happy with yourselves? Have you gotten better, made it over the hump, cleaned up, dried out? We're thrilled. Sorry, that was mean. Seriously. We're happy that you've found some inner peace. We're happy that you've put the drink and drugs behind you so...

Chrysler's marketing team has had some hits and some misses over the past year. For a while, Olivier Francois & Co. ran nothing but quirky branding campaigns, featuring the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev and Nelson Mandela cruising in Chrysler vehicles. That made dealers confused and mad, but...

Mazda has always been a slightly quirky brand -- just offbeat enough to develop a community of rabid fans. So it's fitting that the automaker would choose to sponsor a nationwide tour for the equally quirky musician Mayer Hawthorne. If you don't know about Hawthorne (nee Andrew Mayer Cohen), you...

If you know American cuisine, you know Thomas Keller. And if you know, Thomas Keller, you know his flagship restaurant, The French Laundry in Napa Valley. And if you know Napa Valley and California and the world's current fascination with all things seasonal and green, you will not be surprised to...

Something's up at Infiniti. We're just not sure what. Compared to its Asian luxury rivals, Lexus and Acura, Infiniti is usually pretty quiet. But over the past week or so, the brand has popped up in conversation several times -- notably, in rumors about more hybrid models and a new Essence sports...

Here in the US, Olympic contenders depend heavily on corporate sponsorships. Between living expenses, equipment, coaching salaries, and the like, training for the biggest international sports competition requires not only time, energy, and talent, it also requires a lot of cash. Thankfully, BMW is...

  Today's car ads are hip and sophisticated--they know what they're doing when it comes to attracting members of Generation Y. But that hasn't always been the case. Take a look at this ad for the new Fiesta and you will see what I am talking about. Here, Ford's used pop art to show off the...

Of all the ways that companies can advertise, product placement is by far the most hilarious. Print ads? Totally predictable. Radio, TV, billboards, web banners? Been there, done that. But product placement catches us by surprise because it's always "BTW". As in, "I am Lady Gaga and  I am...

Flash mobs have been around for decades (back in the day, they were called outlaw parties), but they've only recently been co-opted for marketing campaigns. Today's example: the surprise arrival of a dozen bikini-clad dancers and a DIY samba band on a chilly square in Amsterdam to shill the Fiat...

Cross-promotion is a common advertising tool. Just consider how often you've seen movies and fast-food joints team up on kids' meal toys, and you'll begin to get the picture. But although this Israeli ad by Saatchi & Saatchi Tel Aviv for the Mazda MX-5 might seem to be the product of a...

As you might've guessed from the photo at left, Spanish automaker SEAT is underwriting Shakira's next European tour. Moreover, SEAT is planning "to enter into close collaboration with the Barefoot Foundation", which was founded by Shakira to provide education to children living in poverty. Exactly...

Remember last week when we spotted Jennifer "Coco" Lopez sliding her superstar culo into the passenger's seat of an Audi Q7? At the time we commented on the swarm of high-powered celebs who've recently been spotted in Audi rides and commended Audi on its covert marketing tactics. Of course, we were...

Remember Mila Kunis? The hot brunette from That 70s Show? (Not that Laura Prepon was chopped liver, but still.) Apart from the weirdo fact that she's been dating Macaulay Culkin and that she's the voice of Meg Griffin on Family Guy (on those rare occasions that Meg puts in an appearance), we...

Microsoft and Ford took a lot of heat when the software giant simply pointed out the capability of the Sync platform to handle targeted in-car advertising - without announcing any plans to actually do so. Mercedes-Benz had better prepare for a storm, as it is soon to roll out a test of a system...