Dove is not resting on its digital laurels. The latest installment in its ongoing Real Beauty and self-esteem campaign this time targets kids. 

The Dove Self Esteem Project, working with Lisbon agency Torke+CC, created the Carbon Paper Ad campaign, placing an ad (and a pen) in a parenting magazine, asking adults in Portugal to write down the worst name they remembered being called as a child. 

When the written page is turned, the hurtful name appears printed across the shirt of a child—through the use of secreted carbon paper—illustrating that, "Words mark children forever."Continue reading...

A bus-stop ad in Spain is making headlines worldwide. The client, the Fundación ANAR or Aid to Children and Adolescents at Risk, is running two different messages in one campaign: one aimed at adults, the other visible only to those under 4 feet 5 inches tall—the average height of a 10-year-old. 

The innovative outdoor campaign shows two versions of a boy; one clear-faced, that adults see, and the other battered and bruised that's visible to kids' eyes, with a message that reads: "If somebody hurts you, phone us and we'll help you," along with a hotline number.Continue reading...

In a new ad for its 2013 S7, Audi pits Star Trek's old Spock, Leonard Nimoy, against the franchise's new, upstart Spock, Zachary Quinto. Timed to coincide with the upcoming release of the second of the rebooted Star Trek series of films, the ad is being hailed as "the greatest car commercial ever."

Of course, logically, the commercial might not send the message to its target audience that Audi hopes.

While the commercial is certainly clever, is it more than stunt casting to no end? "Geeks" are certainly loving not just the concept but some of the finer details, such as Nimoy hinting to his legendary rendition of the "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins." (A detail connected to the Mercedes-driving Nimoy, by the way, that has created maybe the most positive buzz about the whole undertaking.)

As a few geeks have pointed out, Audi's ad follows the recent spot for Star Trek: The Video Game, which reunited old Kirk, William Shatner, with sparring partner and poorly-costumed alien lizard Gorn in the same sardonic, meta style.Continue reading...

For years, Apple has sold itself as the young, hip counterpart to the old fuddy duddies in the PC and mobile phone market. Now, Samsung is taking a page from the master’s book—and it's helping it gain some serious mobile market share.

When Samsung launched its Galaxy S3 last year, its "Next Big Thing" advertising took direct jabs at Apple’s iPhone and all the supposed earbud-wearing lemmings that bought the device—echoing the Apple-bashing theme of its Galaxy S II campaign. Now, as it releases its highly-anticipated Galaxy S4, it looks like the marketers at Samsung have decided to sit back on their heels and let the Apple bashing continue—and why not? 

According to Ad Age, Samsung’s market share in the fourth quarter of 2012 went up to 30% from 21% in 2011. Meanwhile, Apple’s share fell from 41% to 39% in that same window.Continue reading...

Chase offers a lot of financial products and services, and typically its marketing has focused on spotlighting one or the other. Now, in a new marketing campaign launching today, Chase is taking a more holistic approach by casting itself as a financial problem-solving brand for its customers across the many needs and challenges of life.

"So You Can" is the tag line for the campaign, which is a creative refresh that Chase will use for its existing ad-buy schedule. It's the first comprehensive effort launched by Claire Huang, a bank-industry veteran who recently became JP Morgan Chase's first CMO.

"It's really about giving customers options, telling the story around what we're delivering in a more integrated fashion," Huang told brandchannel. "We have many different products. This has a focus on everyday life, everyday moments. It's a holistic way to show how Chase is delivering for our customers because of what they need.Continue reading...

It looks like Ford isn't the only company that employs rogue advertising agencies. McDonald's U.S. is the latest to be hit by "unauthorized" ads, and in this case, the ad actually made it out into public. 

The ad in question appeared on Boston's mass transit system and was first passed around the web by intrigued commuters before McDonald's corporate got wind of it. The poster features a distressed woman holding her head in her hands, accompanied by the words, "You're Not Alone. Millions of people love the Big Mac." The ad also included an 800 number at the bottom, which reportedly connected to McDonald's corporate.

An obvious riff of a mental health PSA, the ad upset many, particularly blogger David Yamada, who snapped a photo of the ad for his blog, Minding The Workplace. "We’re living in difficult times. There are a lot of people who are struggling with their mental and emotional health. They may be highly stressed out, depressed, or even suicidal," Yamada wrote. "I’m sorry, but the ad is just too close to the real thing to be funny."Continue reading...

While other financial firms are relying on quirky campaigns about colored money, SunTrust Bank's new retirement ad hits very close to home for millions of American families. 

The ad targets families that have children with special needs, as many parents continue to financially care for developmentally or physically disabled children long after they've past their prime working years. The spot features a husband and wife and their adult son who has autism—the fastest growing serious developmental disability in the U.S.Continue reading...

Winning takes care of everything. Or so says Nike. 

The sporting goods giant posted a quickly contentious image on its Nike Golf Facebook and Twitter accounts this week in the wake of Tiger Woods’ record-tying eighth victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational showing the newly-(re)crowned world No. 1-ranked golfer sizing up a putt. The slogan, “Winning takes care of everything,” a favorite saying of Woods since 2009, is front and center. At the bottom, of course, is Nike’s famous swoosh—alongside the word, “Victory.”

Nike says the statement references Woods’ perseverance to return to the top of his sport and is a salute to his athletic performance. But everything? Please. Sports fans weren’t the only ones who devoured every titillating detail of Woods’ personal life when it was exposed following his late 2009 admission of multiple extra-marital affairs.Continue reading...