Advertising Is Good For You

'Hey, mortgage company, thanks for scaring the crap out of me' said no one ever

A very official-looking envelope arrived in the mail yesterday. I knew it was probably junk mail but I opened it anyway. Just in case.

This is what was inside:

For a split second I thought the IRS was was after me.

But, no, this was an offer to refinance my mortgage. To an adjustable rate mortgage, no less.

The folks at Residential Finance designed their direct mail solicitation to look like something from the IRS.

Look at the box in the top right-hand corner of the blue letter, then look at this sample 1099 from the IRS:

The similarity was just close enough to fool me into a momentary panic. 

Once I realized what it really was, I scanned the solicitation to use in this post. And then I put it through the shredder.

Scaring people is not a good advertising strategy.

Advertising Arts & Crafts: Junk Mail Houses

Artist Jeremiah Johnson creates "Dream Homes" from direct mail credit card solicitations.

Click here to see more work by Jeremiah Johnson.

Amir Zainorin creates portraits from junk mail postcards

Click here to see more of Amir Zainorin's work.

                                                                                        Via Collabcubed

Beautiful QR code (yes, there is such a thing) becomes an award-winning ad

Acording to 2d code:

The National Newspapers of Ireland March 2012 ‘Press Ad of the Month’ was a QR Code made entirely from food (image below). The ad for Brancott Estate Australian wine was created by Dublin agency Boys and Girls and the QR Code resolved via a tinyurl to a competition page (using a mobile device).

Click the ad to enlarge it.

Click here to see a couple more beautiful QR codes.

Ruinart Champagne postcards

These great postcard illustrations are from Eight Hour Day.

Click here to see a campaign for Dom Perignon featuring Eva Herzigova.

Sandhi Schimmel Gold creates portraits from junk mail

Click here to see more of Sandhi Schimmel Gold's work.

Watch the TV commercial that caught mobster Whitey Bulger

The FBI spent $50,000 on an ad campaign to help catch a mobster/murderer on the agency's Ten Most Wanted list. And it worked.

Boston mobster Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, had been on the run for 16 years. The FBI manhunt was worldwide. The reward for information leading to Whitey Bulger's capture was originally $1 million but was raised to $2 million a few years ago.

So why was this effort by the FBI successful when others failed? Many speculate it's because this campaign targeted women and, instead of featuring Whitey Bulger, the ads featured Catherine Greig. Sure enough, someone recognized her. The tip led to the arrest of the duo.

Click here to watch the FBI TV commercial that helped catch mobster Whitey Bulger.

I hope the tipster gets the $2 million reward for helping to catch Whitey Bulger. The reward for Catherine Greig's capture was only $50,000.

***********************

The Brothers Bulger by Howie Carr is a great read detailing the rise of the ruthless mobster and his sleazy brother, former Boston politician Billy Bulger.

Junk Mail Queens

Artist Sandhi Schimmel Gold creates portraits from direct mail solicitations.

To see more of her works, visit Sandhi Schimmel Gold's website.

 

Art that Rocks! from Joe Petruccio

One man's trash is Joe Petruccio's canvas. The artist has recycled business reply cards from Rolling Stone magazine subscription solicitations and turned them into a collection of watercolor portraits he calls Art that Rocks! 

Click here to see more of Joe Petruccio's work.

Kurt Cobain:

Bruce Springsteen:

Also Bruce Springsteen:

Jimi Hendrix:

The Beatles:

Antoine Dodson adds iPhone app pitchman to his resume

For a Halloween party last week, a friend wore a black tank top, black pants, black Afro wig and red bandana. He was, of course, dressed as rapist foe/Internet sensation/child sex abuse victim Antoine Dodson.

This is Antoine Dodson's first claim to fame and this is the music video that cemented his place in pop culture.

Now I find out that Antoine has added iPhone app pitchman to his resume.

CLICK HERE to watch Antoine Dodson's Sex Offender Tracker iPhone app commercial.

You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose

 

Click image to enlarge.

Love this online ad for Kodak Gallery. Although I think it would have been better without the sentence in parentheses.

 

Nothing says security like... a skidmark?

Available for purchase at Sears.

TV commercial for a blanket that "traps flatulence molecules"

The "Marriage Blanket" is a blanket with "a layer of activated carbon fabric... that traps flatulence molecules... the same type of fabric used by the military to protect against chemical weapons."

Not an SNL parody. It's for real.

CLICK HERE to watch the Marriage Blanket TV commercial. 

 

Be forewarned, if you visit the website, when you try to click away from it, one of those annoying windows pops up with the trick question that forces you to click an answer -- one that usually does not result in an exit from the site. (If anyone knows the proper term for those horrible windows, please let me know.)