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Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves

by Paul Miller, posted Sep 19th 2008 at 9:48AM

Microsoft started airing its new "I'm a PC" advertisements on TV last night, giving Mr. Seinfeld a bit of a rest while it faces Apple's campaign head-on. It's very touching "we are the world" kind of stuff: smug-free, heart-string-tugging and so forth, but basically it boils down to 100 points for zero Justin Long, minus 100 points for zero John Hodgman. The ad is embedded after the break.

Update: YouTube version added for the Silverlight-averse. Also, is it just us, or does Microsoft's Hodgman-clone kind of look like Paul Dano? Just something to think about.

Continue reading Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves

Microsoft's New Ads: Seinfeld and Gates Out, Hodgman Lookalike In

by Joshua Topolsky, posted Sep 18th 2008 at 9:45AM

According to a report from the New York Times, the next phase of Microsoft's latest ad campaign is set to begin -- sans Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently, the new ads do away with the unusual (and somewhat ill-received) banter and "real life" experiences of the two celebrities, and trade them for an earnest embrace of... Apple's "PC" character. Apparently, one of the new ads even begins with a John Hodgman lookalike stating, "Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been made into a stereotype." Beyond the flip on a rival's depiction of its brand, the campaign will feature cameos from Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams, and even Gates -- though Seinfeld doesn't make the cut.

While we're curious to see what the company cooks up in the new ads, it does strike us as somewhat odd that the supposed narrative Microsoft was establishing with Gates and Seinfeld has abruptly been abandoned in favor of these new spots. Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative / confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company's hand? We only have its official statement to go on: "We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start." [From: NY Times]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Scent-Emitting Advertising Trial Sniffs Out Suckers in Japan

by Darren Murph, posted Jul 31st 2008 at 2:17PM

Apparently July is a hot month for ad trials in Japan, as just weeks after a number of 65-inch digital posters were installed in a Tokyo train station, in flies word that yet another consumer-luring installation is being tested. Recruit and NTT Communications are delivering Scent-emitting LCD Display Systems to an underground mall in the heart of Japan, each of which rely on a 42-inch LCD and a scent-sprayer that emits delightful odors to correspond with the on-screen imagery.

The goal is to attract onlookers and get them to grab a nearby coupon book, but considering that the experiment shuts down on August 1st, you should probably get your nose down there in a hurry if you're looking to score some savings. [Source: TechOn!]

Airlines Adding Advertisements to Boarding Passes

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jul 15th 2008 at 5:45PM

Is nothing sacred? Pretty soon, we will literally run out of space free of advertising. Ads have already begun sneaking their way onto our cell phones, and they get attached to the tail end of our e-mail, so where else can they possibly be squeezed in an attempt to sell us something we don't need? Why on our boarding passes, of course!

No we're not kidding. Delta, Northwest, US Airways, United, and Continental have all signed contracts with Sojern, an advertising startup, to place targeted adds on the boarding passes customers print at home. The ads will be targeted based on length of stay and destination city, and eventually based on customers' stated interests.

Passengers can opt not to print the lists of events, coupons, and restaurant recommendations, but we're sure that option will be conveniently inconspicuous. [Source: USA Today]

Giant Moscow Billboard Is Peppered with Real Cars

by Will Safer, posted Apr 1st 2008 at 4:05PM

This isn't so much a technology story as a super-sized, impress you with the audacity story. A giant billboard in Moscow, stretching up and across approximately 1.5 ACRES (no, not a typo), features real BMWs affixed sideways to appear as though they are racing across the advertisement's expanse.

In the Western World, we know they do things big in Texas, but this enormous ad tops anything we've seen of this type.

Stuck to the side of the billboard are a BMW Z4 M Coupe, an M3, an M5, and an M6. The headlights are on, although no one is behind the wheel.

There have been some other creative billboards mounted highways and famous byways. Just take a gander at the bright and creative ads all over New York's Times Square or London's Piccadilly Circus.

From Autoblog. (Image from English Russia.)

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Former Dell Dude Now Works In a Mexican Restaurant

by Tom Samiljan, posted Nov 8th 2007 at 7:01PM

These days, Ben Curtis, also once known as "the Dell dude," is more likely to say "Dude, you're gettin' a tequila" than "Dude, you're gettin' a Dell" (the catch phrase/slogan he made famous as the on-air Dell spokesman back in the early aughts). That's because the affable everyman that showed up in many a commercial for Dell Computer now works as a bartender at a Mexican-restaurant-cum-bar in New York City!

Is this what happens after you get busted for trying to buy marijuana and then lose your job on a high-profile ad campaign? Apparently, yes, but it's not as bad as it sounds.

First of all, the guy is busy. When not participating in anti-war protests (as evidenced by the picture above) or playing gay dudes off-Broadway to critical acclaim, Curtis does episodes of Law & Order and has a role in the upcoming movie,' Proud Iva.' Curtis also sings in the band Whale. According to the funny interview with Curtis on New York magazine's Grub Street blog, the former Dell dude has also found girlfriends (as well as friends in DEA agents) at the Tortilla Flats restaurant where he's been working his "day job."

Turns out that the Dell dude is less of an everyman and more of an indie hipster, which, surprisingly, is about the last thing we'd associate with the computer company he once represented.

So, what do you think? Isn't it time we gave this guy a break? If he were now to become a national spokesperson for a company or product other than Dell, what company or product would that be? Let us know!

Gallery: Ben Curtis a.k.a. the "Dell Dude"

From Grub Street/NewYorkMag

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The 10 Most Annoying Things On the Internet

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Oct 31st 2007 at 4:37PM

There's plenty to love about the Internet. But there is also plenty to loathe. Ridiculous banner ads, the crappy quality of the vast majority of Web video, and complex Web 2.0 services without any support.

PC World surveyed its readers and found out what they think the Top 10 Web Annoyances are. From Ticket Master to trolls (those people who post annoying, nonstop comments on forums), there's plenty of annoying stuff you'll recognize in this piece.

Online forms -- a pet peeve of ours -- makes the list. These overly complex forms that ask for a head scratching amount of personal information just to read an article or post on a forum are, to put it lightly, a bit pain in the ___. We can't count the number of times we've spent five minutes filling out a form, only to have missed a "required field" that wasn't marked clearly. Or the instances where we've input an answer in an unsuitable format that had no instructions, only to have the form clear itself completely and tell us we messed something up (but not tell us what!).

For all the convenience it has brought us, the Internet sure is annoying.

How about you? What do you think is the most annoying stuff on the Internet?

From PC World

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Gigantic Bird's-Eye Billboards Target Air Travelers

by Tom Conlon, posted Sep 28th 2007 at 5:49PM

With the crying babies, cramped quarters, spiteful flight attendants and pilots who like to get cute over the PA, air travel is truly one of life's more miserable experiences. For London-based advertising startup Ad-Air, though, it's the perfect time to sell you on something (hey, it works for SkyMall).

Next month, Ad Air will begin placing ads on the ground along the flight paths of the world's busiest airports. Of course, since the eyes meant to view these ads are thousands of feet above the Earth, the advertisements are epically massive: approximately five acres each, or about four times the size of your average football field.

The behemoth billboards are placed on temporary framing just above the Earth and are surrounded by fencing or landscaping so that they're invisible from the ground. They'll be lit up at night if local legislation allows, and when placed over fertile land they'll be made of a PVC mesh to allow air and moisture through -- otherwise they're made from giant sheets of vinyl.

With the deals it's currently negotiating, Ad-Air estimates it will serve ads to up to 10 million captive viewers per year. The first ads roll out in Dubai this October, and London's Heathrow airport has signed on as well.

Is anyone else a little saddened by this? To those of us without a B.A. Baracus fear of flight, watching the homes, trees and cars zoom into focus as you come in for a landing is the one part of flying that's actually enjoyable. It seems another one of life's simple pleasures has bitten the dust.

From Gizmag

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Has YouTube Already Halted Video Ads?

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 27th 2007 at 4:34PM

YouTube Adds Ads, Then Quietly Yanks Them

Has anyone else noticed that those annoying onscreen overlay ads on YouTube -- such as the above one for 'Hairspray' -- seem to have vanished?

When Google annexed YouTube to be a part of its sprawling media empire, the search giant promised to someday monetize YouTube videos with an advertising system that would be unobtrusive to users. About a week ago, Google attempted to make good on that promise, but there was one problem. Google and YouTube users were referencing different dictionaries, because Google's definition of 'unobtrusive' was way off.

Google's predicament was that viewers don't like short ads that precede videos, and they completely ignore ads that play afterwards. Google's solution was to overlay animations on top of video clips similar to the promos that pop up on screen when you watch TV. If a user clicked on the overlay, the video would pause and a smaller player would open to play a commercial. When the ad was done, the smaller player would close and the main video would ramble on.

After a couple of years of being spoiled on YouTube videos free of such interruptions, users were not happy. The new advertising scheme bothered one intrepid young hacker so much that he developed a plug-in for the Firefox Web browser, which quite ingeniously blocked the ads.

Now, it seems, the plug-in is moot. Despite the lack of any formal announcement from Google or YouTube, it appears the overlay ads have been yanked. Looking up videos that were previously part of the advertising program reveals that the offending overlays are no more.

So, chalk up a win in the 'good guys' column for now, but don't get too comfortable. Remember, Google paid $1.65 billion for YouTube, so there's no way it'll stay free forever.

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Satan Worshippers Drive Advertisers Out of Facebook

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Aug 6th 2007 at 4:11PM

Advertisers Pull Out of Facebook Over Questionable Content

It seems a number of U.K.-based advertisers have taken issue with the content displayed alongside their advertisements on Facebook. First Direct, Vodafone, Virgin Media, Halifax and the Prudential have withdrawn their ads on the social networking site when it was revealed that their advertisements were being displayed on the Facebook page of the extremist, far-right British National Party.

Facebook has no filtering system in place, and implementing one seems like it would be a rather problematic undertaking. One would expect that it would be understood that when purchasing advertising space on a site as large as Facebook, there is a good chance your ads would appear next to questionable content.

The Register points out that ads for the Vodafone rival Orange appear on the Facebook page of the Aryan Satan Worshipers, but that no sane person would logically deduce that Orange supports white power or Satan.

The question is whether this is just the beginning. Other large social sites such as MySpace are vulnerable to the same complaints as Facebook. Is it only a matter of time before they are forced to provide some sort of filtering system for keeping advertisers content off of pages they wish not to be associated with?

Most of us aren't interested in Satan-worshipping Facebook members, but will this lead to the inevitable censorship that we see on other advertiser-supported media such as TV?

From Tech Crunch

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iPhone Ads Online

by Tim Stevens, posted Jun 4th 2007 at 10:01AM

The iPhone was demoed to the prime-time TV watching populace last night with a series of three ads showing off Apple's latest would-be wonder gadget. The first, called "Never Been an iPod," shows off some of the stuff you can do on the iPhone that you can't do on an iPod, such as e-mailing and Web surfing. The second, "How To," is a straightforward run-through on how to use the phone. Then there's the final ad, "Calamari," which sort of ties it all together, showing how you might find the nearest seafood joint using Google Maps then call the restaurant directly with just a push of a button.

They're all seriously impressive, and they're all online for you to see at Apple's site -- in High Definition no less.

From Apple.

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Microsoft's New 'I'm a PC' Ad Gently Alights Upon the Airwaves

Microsoft's New Ads: Seinfeld and Gates Out, Hodgman Lookalike In

Scent-Emitting Advertising Trial Sniffs Out Suckers in Japan

Airlines Adding Advertisements to Boarding Passes

Giant Moscow Billboard Is Peppered with Real Cars

Former Dell Dude Now Works In a Mexican Restaurant

Gallery: Ben Curtis a.k.a. the "Dell Dude"

The 10 Most Annoying Things On the Internet

Gigantic Bird's-Eye Billboards Target Air Travelers

Has YouTube Already Halted Video Ads?

Satan Worshippers Drive Advertisers Out of Facebook

iPhone Ads Online

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