Getty Images Bought by Private Equity

If you were ever wondering how many stock images you could buy with 2 Billion Dollars, then private equity firm Hellman & Friedman has your answer: All of Getty Images. I have nothing else to add, except to brag that I guessed "private equity firm" when I was talking about the pending sale of Getty with food photographer and former Swanstock exec Jackie Alpers.

Review of Super Bowl Commercials

Bob Garfield of AdAge reviews this year's Super Bowl commercials; Worst, consumer generated, best, and the biggest blunders. His take? Lots of slapstick violence with a dash of sexual insecurity. You can watch all the commercials at AdCritic.

Jail Time for Guerrilla Ad Campaign?

The city of Boston suffered a terrorist scare, as the guerrilla marketing campaign for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon on Adult Swim resulted in calls reporting "suspicious devices" - possibly Improvised Explosive Devices. Boing Boing is covering the story in detail. Fark has a funny thread going on the CNN story, Flickr has photos of the devices, and Gizmodo is reporting the devices are selling on eBay for 5 Grand. It's a crazy world!

UPDATE: Oh my god. The guys responsible for the stunt held a press conference outside the court where they refused to answer any questions that did not relate to 1970's haircuts. This can only get funnier. CBS4 Boston has the video.

UPDATE 2: So how much did this little fiasco cost? Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay one million dollars.

UPDATE 3: City of Boston drops the charges. via boingboing.

CGI and the Undead

I was watching TV the other night, and I was a little surprised to see Orville Redenbacher back as a pitchman for his brand of popcorn. Surprised of course, because Redenbacher died in 1995. But through the magic of CGI, and stand-in actors, Mr. Redenbacher is making a comeback, and rockin' a new MP3 Player. Watch the commercial here.

Update: USA Today article. CP+B is the Agency.

Interactive Billboards

Found on Engadget: You can now plug your headphones into an interactive transit ad if you are bored with the contents of your iPod. BBDO designed the ad. More info on this, and some other great links at Advertising Design Goodness.

iTunes Offering Print Magazines

As reported on TUAW, iTunes is now offering downloadable PDFs of magazines. First up is The Fader. It's good to see traditional print media find a new outlet. Links and discussion at TUAW.

Spacevertising

I think Target was the first to do the google satellite advertising thing with a giant logo painted on their roof, but this Maxim Magazine cover from space is an interesting twist. This ground based billboard is 75' X 110'.

Needs More Warmth

This parody of what happens if Microsoft re-designs the iPod packaging is hilarious. I read that this was produced in-house, but I'm too lazy to look up the article.

UPDATE: Boing Boing is reporting on an interview with a Microsoft spokesman that it was indeed their packaging department.

TV and The Internet: A Round-Up

Lots of news from the world of television advertising with google and yahoo both announcing some industry-shattering news at the recent CES. Read the New York Times Articles Coming Soon to TV Land: The Internet, Actually, and Google and Yahoo Aim at Another Screen, then read Robert Cringely's take on it about halfway through the article. For the techies, Engadget goes Backstage at the Google press conference.

Truth in Advertising

An oldie but goodie posted by request; The original viral clip, Excerpt from Truth in Advertising. Warning: NSFW Language. I can't remember where I got these, but I was able to find the director, Tim Hamilton. Here is Truth in Advertising clip 2 (The Reel Truth) and clip 3 (3 Years Later). There is a DVD available from Amazon featuring the full series.