Pubic hair grooming accidents have, apparently, increased five fold in the last decade. "Nonelectric razors were responsible for 83 percent of injuries," according to the recent study by UC San Diego. If Gillette's new campaign is successful, ERs are going to see a lot more genital shaving injuries.

In what has to be one of the most transparent and intellectually insulting campaigns since whatever Axe did last, Gillette has assembled a team of models—led by encyclopedia entry for model Kate Upton—to tell guys, in no uncertain terms, that they have to shave their bodies. It's a genius idea with questionable execution and taste.Continue reading...

It's the dance trend that will not die. Watch Lululemon's Harlem Shake (yoga-style) version above, and below, Pepsi's two Harlem Shake videos and other brands shaking their thang worldwide, from Australia to Israel:Continue reading...

A venerated cash cow for Time Inc., Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue generates 7 percent of the magazine's annual revenue. Its readership is estimated to be 30% female, and the magazine is known to influence bikini and swimsuit trends and sales. 

In keeping with the frat boy humor that pervades Super Bowl advertising each year, behold the just-released Game Day spot for Carl's Jr. and Hardees.

The co-branded commercial (which is running in "many markets" as a local, not national ad buy) introduces a new sandwich for the chain and stars Danish model Nina Agdal, who replaces Kate Upton — who switched brands to star in a racy Mercedes-Benz Super Bowl teaser and celeb-studded commercial this year.

Click here to watch the NSFW (or home) "Director's Cut" of Agdal's spot, and here for a behind-the-scenes look.

Now that it's managed to leverage the Kate Upton factor, has released an extended-cut version of its Super Bowl commercial featuring the supermodel (along with Usher and a devilish Willem Dafoe) and has revealed the price of its stylish new CLA Class sedan at $29,900, Mercedes-Benz can just sit back and watch the returns roll in for its Big Game presence — right?

Not by a long shot. Mercedes-Benz executives, dealers and others are busy this week attempting to take maximum advantage of the other significant part of their brand-building opportunity connected to the Super Bowl: having their name on the Mercedes-Benz Superdome that will be hosting the game on Sunday.

From the start of this Super Bowl XLVII season, Mercedes-Benz has embraced the association with the Big Easy that began in earnest with a naming rights deal that led to the placing of its iconic star emblem all over the Superdome in 2011 in full knowledge that the 2013 Super Bowl would be played there. For the game on Sunday, Mercedes-Benz signage will be more apparent than ever.

"And every time the game commentators on TV are going back to the game, they're going to be saying, 'Let's get back to the Mercedes-Benz Superdome,'" Bernie Glaser, CMO of Mercedes-Benz USA, told brandchannel.Continue reading...

More and more, the Super Bowl is becoming the Auto Bowl.

Up from just a handful of car brands a few years ago, Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3 will feature no fewer than eight auto brands advertised by six different companies: Audi, Chrysler, Lincoln, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Volkswagen.

"A lot of us are there," Steve Shannon, CMO for Hyundai Motor America, told The New York Times, because "it sells cars." Specifically, the game, its walk-up and aftermath have become an unparalleled platform for launching or previewing new products, refining brand positioning, or both.

Audi of America plans to crowdsource the end of its Super Bowl spot by offering three different endings to a prom-night story on its YouTube channel. Lent an Audi S6 by his father, a boy exudes self-confidence as he drives to the dance, struts in, spies the prom queen and gives her a dramatic kiss. Then the prom king approaches him and... the rest will be determined by viewers who weigh in.Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLVII may be unique in that one of the biggest potential branding opportunities has suddenly materialized less than two weeks before the Big Game. And the opportunity is called the Brothers Harbaugh.

It seems unlikely that even the biggest brands would be able to land a deal with Jim or John Harbaugh, or both, this close to the Super Bowl, given that each is now consumed with how to beat the other's team -- and that, for the winner at least, there should be plenty of endorsement opportunities after the game.

But some marketers may be able to figure out how to tie themselves tangentially at least, maybe even convincingly, to what already has become the most intriguing Super Bowl story line perhaps in decades: the mutual success and striving of two accomplished opposing coaches, less than two years apart in age, who happen to be siblings. They're also young for their profession, telegenic, well-spoken and smart.

So we await news on Brother International or some other less obvious brand figuring out how to tap into all of that. In the meantime, there are plenty of other brands gearing up for a Super Bowl lift ahead of Game Day, including Mercedes-Benz.Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLVII is getting closer, so more heavyweight brands are making the required heavyweight commitment to advertise during the Big Game on CBS on February 3.

The network said today that all of the available spots are sold out at around $4 million per 30 seconds, with the latest returning brands including Chrysler from last year and Taco Bell from three years ago.

Budweiser plans to debut Budweiser Black Crown, an amber lager with higher alcohol content, with a 30-second spot during the game. Anheuser-Busch InBev introduced Bud Light Platinum during last year's game, while Black Crown was developed via last year's Project 12 regional brewmaster challenge.

Taco Bell had a very good year with a snap-back in sales on the strength of new produccts such as Doritos Locos Tacos, and so the Yum!-owned brand has confirmed it's suiting up for the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. The chain's 60-second spot will "support the brand’s 'LIVE MÁS' tagline and spirit."

Doritos, meanwhile, tapped actress Ali Landry, who rose to fame during her 2008 Super Bowl commercial debut with the brand, to announce the five finalists for its fan-voted "Crash the Super Bowl" creative commercial challenge.Continue reading...