Advertising Is Good For You

Unusual car ads

Agency: Africa, Sao Paulo

Source: Ads of the World

Industrial typeface

Source: Ffffound!

KFC advertising may keep a Chicago teacher from getting laid off

The Consumerist has a great post about KFC and the city of Chicago.

After a typical winter, Chicago roadways are full of potholes. Filling potholes is a costly affair. Enter KFC. The fast food giant has offered to fix the potholes in exchange for being allowed to stencil over the repairs in white paint proclaiming, "Refreshed by KFC."

The city of Chicago and the state of Illinois are seriously considering the offer.

Good for them.

During more flush times, I would be alarmed by the thought of advertising encroaching on public roads. But times suck. City and state budgets are impossibly strained. If KFC picking up the tab for fixing potholes prevents the kind of budget cuts that get public school teachers and police officers laid off, for heaven's sake, put the Colonel and his spray paint to work.

Today's most WTF headline:

FARC guerillas fail in bid to kill defense minister after spelling mistake.

He's no hang-in-there kitten

Let's get something straight. I love animals. But I hate cutesy-wootsy photos of them.

Nevertheless, when I came across this insert tucked into my Sunday morning newspaper, amid a pile of ugly coupon ads and six sections of mostly bad news, this little guy made me laugh out loud.

If I were a small dog owner, I would definitely have felt the urge to use the coupon on the back.

 

Points off for sloppy photoshopping

Look at the tines of the fork. They're not attached to anything. (Click image to enlarge.)

Emerging job category: ghost Tweeter

According to an article in the New York Times, some celebrities are not writing their own Twitter posts. Celebrities like 50 Cent, Britney Spears and Barack Obama, for example, are not composing their own Tweets.

Shaquille O'Neal is still keeping it real.

Shaq says, “If I am going to speak, it will come from me,” adding that the Twitter allows him to speak directly to his fans.

And refering to celebrities who don't write their own Tweets, he says, “It’s 140 characters. It’s so few characters. If you need a ghostwriter for that, I feel sorry for you.”

I'm on Shaq's team.

Happy Ham is sad

Source: JCO

Enough already with the Shepard Fair-odies

Four movie poster for In the Loop.

Source: Internet Movie Poster Awards and Cinema Blend

Vince the Sham Wow guy is a loser? Shocking.

According to a police report, Vince the Sham Wow guy beat up a prostitute in Miami. No charges were filed, though.

Read three more things about Vince HERE.

The stories behind ten iconic logos

Neatorama has an interesting, quick-read post: the stories behind ten famous logos:

Morton salt's umbrella girl
Heinz' 57 varieties
Green Giant's jolly green giant
Laughing Cow's earring-wearing bovine
The Quaker Oats man
Gerber's baby
Aunt Jemima
Betty Crocker
Chef Boyardee
Sara Lee

These are the depictions of Betty Crocker over the years.

1936 Betty looks like she's standing trial for murder.

1972 Betty looks like Dracula in drag.

I'm guessing that when they created the current Betty they were trying to blur her ethnicity. I like the idea but the execution looks too much like a photograph and that ruins the romance of the brand.

1955 Betty is the only one who looks like she actually bakes cakes.

For some reason I can't explain, 1965 Betty is my favorite. How about you?

Cool business cards

Source: Ffffound!

Celebrity Saturday: Clive Owen, Zac Efron, Robert Pattinson and Tilda Swinton on magazine covers

Clive Owen on GQ:

Zac Efron on Interview:

Robert Pattinson on GQ:

Tilda Swinton on Another:

Free coffee in exchange for free advertising

Students can get free coffee by placing a branded CoffeeCompany slide (like the ones below) in the middle of their in-class presentations.

Advertising Agency: Them

Source: Scary Ideas