I would argue that...

I found this ad on the webpage of banned ads. This ad, from the Russian Finance magazine was banned in Moscow. The poster company had to tear down a 100 posters overnight after receiving a letter from Igor Presnyakov, chairman of the Moscow Committee for advertising and information. The case is several years old but I found it interesting enough to express my opinion. The ad was claimed as one of he best banned ad. The campaign, by the Russian Finance magazine, was judged immoral by the Committee. Maybe, but I find it hilarious. I think the creatives did a great job. You can see the image of euro and dollar. Above there is a sentence in Russian: "Magazine of how the money is made". When you see the image and read the sentence, you will understand what the point is. It is sad when sometimes the regulations and rules ''kill'' the creativity. It needs space to develop. It doesn't like the limits...that's the point that can cause problems. Anyway, the funniest part of the case was the excuse the magazine's publisher Igor Maltsev made. He said he did not realise what the posters were supposed to represent. "I thought the currencies were dancing on our poster, but after hearing from Mr Presnyakov I saw that, yes, maybe, this is a love scene." So Russian-like. Those who have ever been dealing with Russians, know what I am talking about. But the ad is good.

Hit by the remarketing...

I read this article about remarketing...the tactics used to communicate with people who’ve previously visited key pages on advertiser's website, giving a powerful new way to match the right people with the right message. Well, before reading this article I did not know anything about it. Not only I got to know what it is, I also experienced it personally a week after that. I heard about those new kind of shoes that became really popular. They are called toms. So, I looked them up to get more information on their homepage toms.com. Ever since then every time I watch something online, is it a show, movie or music video, the toms ad pops out. It is a bit annoying. If I didn't know what I am dealing with I would probably just be thinking that it is a coincidence. Maybe I would even go back to their homepage, maybe would consider buying them eventually. But knowing that it is not just a coincidence and the fact that they keep on haunting me created a bad image of them for me. I agree...from the advertiser's point of view it is a great way to pursue the consumers in a more effective way, but from the consumer's point I feel it's like invading my privacy, trespassing upon it.

You saying ghost brand huh...

A couple of weeks ago there was a lecture about the new language of advertising. The first term we talked about was a ghost brand. By the way I really like the name of it: the stress on the word ''ghost'' makes it interesting. Anyway...some examples were brought out like Pepsodent, Ovaltine, a couple another brands, and RC Cola. When I heard that last one  I was like ''wait a minute...RC Cola...ghost brand?'' Namely I was back home in Estonia over this summer and guess what they were advertising there so intensely. Yes, RC Cola. We didn't have it until June 2010. So, it's interesting how some brands are considered to be out of market in some countries, while being something brand new in others. I also attached the link of Estonian RC Cola TV-commercial. Even though it's not in English, the message should be quite clear.
http://vimeo.com/12264360