• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, October 19, 2005

Bluefly goes commando to explain, "why women shop." Got Milk spoofs baseball's steroid scandal. Fred Flintstone finally shops for brakes--his feet breathe a sigh of relief. Let's launch!

Mitsubishi Motors North America launched a national ad campaign on Oct. 3 promoting Raider, its midsize truck. Ads will air heavily during Major League Baseball Divisional Series, League Championship Series and the World Series, CBS College Football, and NFL regional and national games, including Monday Night Football. "King of the Hill," depicts the Raider in a Samurai-style showdown with a competitor's truck. After showing off its capabilities (off-road manly maneuvers), the truck soon encounters another mid-size truck to compete with. In addition, the ads will run during "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Law & Order SVU," "The Apprentice," "CSI" and "Saturday Night Live" and on USA, TBS, TNT, FX, A&E, E!, Comedy Central, ESPN, FOX Sports and FOX News. A print component kicks off in November issues of  GQ, Maxim, Men's Health, Rolling Stone, ESPN Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Car and Driver, Motor Trend, Truck Trend and Road & Track. Print ads show the truck with aJapanese-like graphic background, and copy reading "It will never, ever play nice with other trucks" and "You must promise to only use it for good." Online ads will run on AOL, MSN, Edmunds.com, Kelley Blue Book, Yahoo! Autos and Yahoo! Sports. BBDO created the campaign.

I didn't want to start the launches with nudity. I wanted you to wait a while. Bluefly, an online store for trendy clothes and accessories, has launched a national ad campaign to answer the eternal question--"why do women shop?"--and they're using an image of a woman standing naked in front of her closet to evoke the feeling that you have anything to wear. "That's Why I Bluefly" is Bluefly's first campaign in five years and aims to transform the site from a discount site to a trendier one. "The Dinner Party" begins with a woman staring at her overstocked bedroom closet as a dinner party starts in her living room. Frustrated that she has nothing to wear, she makes an unexpected wardrobe choice. The campaign was created by McCaffery Gottlieb & Lane. Bluefly has shot alternate versions of the print and TV ads because of different media standards for nudity (or how much of the woman's backside can be shown). Both the censored and uncensored versions can be found on the company's Web site. Targeted at women 25 to 49, the spots are slated to appear during "Sex and the City" on TBS, and on Bravo. Print ads will run in Elle, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Lucky, Marie Claire, Real Simple and Vogue. Lifetime and Oxygen have rejected the ads. 

GOT MILK? launched five 30-second TV spots ("Caught," "Batting Practice," "Tabloid," "Never Poured," and "Manager") on October 11, but the ads actually launched online five days prior to their TV debut. (I still miss my favorite milk ad, "Aaron Burr," which shows a history buff trying to answer a radio quiz question, unable to pronounce the words "Aaron Burr" correctly because his mouth is stuffed with peanut butter.) The commercials take aim at the dark side of professional sports, For example, "Caught" opens with a sports anchor delivering the news of a baseball hitter being pulled from the game after testing positive for a new performance-enhancing substance. Fast forward to the locker room frenzy--where coaches and managers rummage through a player's locker to find the culprit... a half-gallon of milk. "Everyone knew he was pouring," a teammate says. The accused player tries to defend his actions, citing the broad availability and usage of the substance--but to no avail. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners created the campaign.

Keeping with the theme of dairy products, Deutsch LA has created two spots, "Photograph" and "Fence," promoting California Cheese. In "Photograph," one cow alerts another that tourists are coming. "I'll get this one," says the second cow as a father readies to take a picture of his wife and baby by the cow. When the father says, "1-2-3 cheese!" his wife's voice, along with that of the "baby," is heard, and the parents are over the moon about their baby's first word. As the family walks away, the cows, laughing, admit their vocal joke "never gets old." The Syndicate provided visual effects.

TM Advertising has developed "Let's All Discover" a branding campaign for the Discovery Channel that promotes the channel's new fall lineup. TM won the assignment in a creative shoot-out this summer. The six spots show real people that have made various "discoveries." "David" features a man sitting on a counter of a laundromat intently watching the clothes swirl around. The man looks from one dryer to another and says, "Things that go around, they pull me in. They make me notice them. Things that go around and around and around fascinate me. My name is David Fowlkes, and I discovered the spinning wheel." The spot ends with a voiceover stating, "Let's all discover, how to re-invent the wheel."

Keeping with discovering the wheel, let's take a trip down memory lane. Two of my favorite cartoon stone-age characters--Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble--appear in the latest commercial for Midas. The spot shows Fred and Barney in a Midas shop asking the Midas mechanic brand-related questions.  The mechanic then asks Fred and Barney, "Do you smell something burning?" Barney says that the smell is Fred's feet, otherwise known as his old brakes. The spot ends with "Trust the Midas Touch" sung by Fred and Barney. DDB Chicago created the campaign.

There were no human brains injured in the making of this campaign. To boost enrollment for its "Art Center At Night Public Program,"  Pasadena, Calif.-based The Art Center College of Design launched an advertising and guerilla marketing campaign using the right side of the human brain (the creative side) as its centerpiece. Four print ads, a series of postcards and "Missing: Right Side of Brain" flyers were distributed throughout the L.A. area. The campaign targeted working professionals who are neglecting their creative sides. The ads ran in LA Weekly, Pasadena Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. The next round of creative will launch later this year, to coincide with Art Center's spring semester. WONGDOODY created the campaign.

Another ad to get the creative juices flowin' comes from Durham, N.Ç.-based Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. The museum opened Oct. 2 and replaces the Duke University Museum of Art. "Mindstretch" launched last month in national issues of Art News, The Art Newspaper, Art in America, and Art Now Gallery Guide. Local ads appeared in Raleigh News & Observer, Durham Herald-Sun, (Raleigh) Metro, Our State, Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau Guide, and Duke Magazine, to name a few. The Republik created the campaign, its first work for the client.

This week's Web site launches highlight one that helps young people cope with cancer, another that's an athletic apparel e-commerce site.

Planet Cancer, a nonprofit organization that provides peer support for young adults with cancer, has redesigned its Web site. The site was designed to create a community of cancer-stricken adults in their 20s and 30s, who fall through the cracks between pediatric and adult medical and psychosocial services.Thereare links to research studies and articles covering important topics such as: "Cancer and Fertility Part I: What Every Girl Should Know" and "Speak Up: Help Prevent Errors In Your Care." TM Interactive created the site.

Under Armour, producer of men's, women's, and kids' athletic wear, has relaunched its Web site. The site uses Macromedia Flex and Flash platforms, making the site seamless and very user-friendly. UnderArmour.com now offers consumers an easier way to learn about the company's different lines of apparel, as well as a one-screen checkout process. The site was created in-house.