Despite smoking bans at restaurants in cities across the country, the restaurant matchbook is experiencing a "fragile renaissance" of sorts, the New York Times reports.
"When a state or municipality imposes a ban, we see a hesitation in reordering and a fall-off in new business," Mark Nackman, the owner and president of AdMatch, an importer based in New York City told the Times. "Then the volumes start to creep back up, so that within a year or so we see some resurgence in statewide sales. Matches have universal appeal, and that's the mystery -- that one little package could resonate with familiarity, maybe beauty and a feeling of value."
It helps that they're highly collectible. Do you have a matchbook collection or have a favorite matchbook from your dining travels? Spill it in the comments.
The Wienermobile in Hawaii on July 5. Photo: hawaii/Flickr
One of our favorite bloggers, Jorge Garcia of "Lost," recently wrote a dispatch from the island about the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile washing up in Hawaii. Unfortunately, the orange-and-yellow hot-dog vehicle has upset some in the nation's 50th State.
An environmental group called the Outdoor Circle says the Wienermobile's visit violated a state ban on vehicular advertising, according to reports.
Bob Loy, the group's spokesman, told the Honolulu Advertiser that Outdoor Circle received about a dozen complaints from residents of Oahu about the 27-foot-long vehicle's visit.
"The Wienermobile is cute. It's got an attractive quality to it. I think anyone would agree with that, and that is part of the insidious nature of advertising," Loy told the paper. "It appears to be one thing, when in fact it's another."
Vintage coffee ads are some of my favorite things: I incessantly scan YouTube for them. The treasures I find are sometimes educational but always 100 percent charming.
Like the one above. It's probably best that the Folgers team eventually went with a snappy jingle in place of this type funny-slash-cringe-inducing piece of work, but you never know. I mean, almost anybody can tell you what the best part of waking up is, but can they also tell you that the way to lure your husband back from the clutches of "those girls back at the office" is to make a decent pot of coffee?
Jim Henson, men who walk on the ceiling and more ads after the jump.
We were wondering what to serve for our weekly viewing party of that guilty little pleasure "True Blood." Chef Tom Colicchio has the answer.
Fresh from his Diet Coke ad, the Craft-y chef has done a campy viral video for the HBO vampire series, making a drink to satiate Colicchio's vampire pals while the "Top Chef" host dines out.
"I have a few friends that are vampires and I've had this issue," Colicchio tells the host of the fake show "The Perspective." We go out, and I'm sitting there through an appetizer, an entree and dessert, and they're just kind of nursing a Tru Blood [the blood substitute vampires drink on the show]. It's a little awkward."
We all know that French ads are a bit more saucy and racy, but does this hilariously absurd one push the limit? Fellow blog Urlesque cries out, "Someone should probably be arrested for making this commercial featuring French kids and push pops." I'm wondering whether or not this push pop candy still exists. While I remember it from my childhood, I cannot recall any of its ads, certainly nothing like this.
Apart from the perhaps unintentional suggestions of the kids' gestures, the ad seems to promote the candy as a way to break up fights. Instead of fighting back after being incited, the boy tells him not to push him, but to push a push pop instead. Can candy breakup fights? How do you make sense of this wacky ad?
Lots of attention gets focused on the tobacco industry and how advertisements appeal to the kids, but that's not the only industry making the unhealthy irresistible. There is, of course, those cartoon characters that promote sugary goodness.
The BBC reports that a new report conducted by Which? is focusing on those cartoon icons and accusing them "of not aiding the fight against childhood obesity." They note that out of the 19 characters used by food companies, none of them helped promote healthier foods, and how the foods they promote easily suck up much of a child's suggested max for salt and sugar (nothing surprising there). But they are careful to note that they don't want us to lose the characters we've come to love over half a century, but rather to see them promoting some healthy products. Meanwhile, the Food and Drink Federation said it was "baffled as to why Which? wants to take all the fun out of food." Well that's just a bit of an overreaction.
I have to say, Which? has a point. I remember giving my parents a heck of a fight over the "no sugar cereal on weekdays" rule. I was obsessed with sugar cereals, the toys, the whole thing. I wanted Snap, Crackle, and Pop toys, I would've eaten Honeycombs 3 times a day if I could. And it certainly wasn't just cereal -- I can't count how many jugs of Kool Aid I drank to get a special pitcher and glasses....
Do you remember those commercials that Splenda used to run? You know, the ones where they said that their product tastes like sugar because it's make with sugar? Well, if not, you heard it here first! The sugar industry is currently embroiled in a lawsuit with Splenda and they're going to court.
Apparently, the sugar association has a big problem with the way that Splenda (owned by Johnson and Johnson through subsidiary McNeil Nutritionals) markets itself. The sugar industry representative claims that the advertising for Splenda is deliberately misleading and designed to cause consumer confusion. Marketing for the sweetener is allegedly aimed at getting consumers to think that Splenda is a natural sugar product with magically no calories.
Of course the makers of Splenda deny this and say that their advertising is perfectly truthful. Well, both sides will now have the chance to duke it out in court. A District Court judge has set the starting date of January 6, 2009. What do you think might be the outcome?
(Click the photo to see the 10 Best Food Commercials of All Time)
We've probably all seen crop circles and we've all been exposed to pizza flyers, but recently Papa John's innovated a unique combination of the two.
According to the Fire Wire blog, this advertisement for Papa John's new whole wheat crust is cut into a wheat field near the Denver airport. It'll be seen by everyone flying in to the Denver area, just in time for the Democratic National Convention. The pizza chain apparently wanted to get in on the convention sales, but wanted to have fun with it.
I actually really like this ad. It's a lot more fun and less obnoxious than other Papa John's ad campaigns. What's your take on the pizza ad crop circle?
Yep, in conjunction with the University of Leicester in England the Doritos Broadcast Project is beaming the ad toward a solar system in the Ursa Major constellation. They're transmitting from the EISCAT European space station.
The Doritos Broadcasting Project you ask? Um, yeah, I'm guessing it was created just for this. The DBP asked for 30 second entries from people in the UK and they were then able to vote on the winning ad. According to the article in Science Daily, about 61% of Brits think that this is just a first step in communicating with extra terrestrial life. My question is, why would aliens want to communicate with a species that hits them with an ad the first chance they get?
It's not that all the franchisees are against the dollar menu, but they don't want to have to spend money advertising it, either. That's understandable: they want customers to purchase the more expensive items so that they can make more money.
The franchisees argue that they're paying a higher minimum wage and food costs are skyrocketing. They're worried that more and more people are "trading down" for value menu items, and at the same time they're not getting enough new customers to make up the difference.
A spokesperson for the company said that there will always be a little bit of push and pull, but that problems will always be resolved because the company only makes money if the franchises do.
Here's a novel idea: compare pictures of food advertisements to pictures of the actual food product. That's all this photo collection at Anvari is - no commentary, just pictures of perky Whoppers with bright green lettuce and firm tomato slices next to pictures of gray, deflated Whoppers leaking slimy onions. Compare the fluffy piles of snow white mashed potatoes and thick, geometric slices of meatloaf on the outside of the Stouffer's frozen dinner box with the mushy, brownish reality; see how the evenly tossed, colorful confetti of a Taco Bell taco salad ad stacks up against the oily, monotone mush sitting on the counter.
I'd love to get behind the scenes and watch a food stylist work a photo shoot - I've heard glue is often substituted for milk, sesame seeds are evenly placed on buns using tweezers and grill marks are achieved using irons.
Have you heard about this? I think this is one of the funniest stories I've heard all day. Absolut Vodka pulled an advertisement it was running in Mexico because it offended some people in the US.
According to Reuters, the ad shows a map of the US and Mexico from before 1848, when Mexico lost a war and lots of territory to the United States, with the text "An Absolut World." It seems that some Mexicans are still a little sore about this, so the advertising makes sense in that country. Still, if you know the history, I suppose I can see why Americans would be offended.
I think it's pretty funny. I don't really know the history very well, and to me what's done is done. I am having trouble seeing what all the fuss is about, but I'm pretty entertained by Absolut's advertising woes.
Do remember those Burger King commercials with the group of moms who try to run over the Burger King? They wanted to commit vehicular homicide because their kids liked Burger King food better than their home cookin'.
Not that I can blame the moms for how they feel, but I always thought that their methods were a little extreme. Yes, I know it's just a set of commercials, but still.
Well, the Costa Rican government apparently feels the same. They banned those commercials in Costa Rica. They feel the advertising "trivialized violence" on national television.
What do you think about the Costa Rican government stepping in like that?
I have always enjoyed going grocery shopping. I've been doing it since I was 13. In those days, my mom would park in front of the store and send me in with a list and some money. It was a break for her and an adventure for me, so we both won. When I was 16 and had gotten my drivers license, I would beg to be sent to the store as it was an excuse to drive and opportunity to feel like an adult.
Even these days, I love buying groceries. I enjoy the opportunities for creativity that the aisles of food offer, as well as the escape and peace of it all. However, one company is looking at intruding on that peace, which makes me sort of sad. Modstream is looking at installing digital displays into the handles of shopping carts that will scroll text messages as you shop. These screens would give food companies another way to promote their products to any consumer who grabbed a cart.
Did you know that the first print ad for Johnnie Walker, which appeared in 1883, featured a Scotsman bawling over a broken bottle at his feet? Me neither, until I read Modern Drunkard's Ten Greatest Alcohol Icons of All Time. The jaunty chap with the top hat, tails and walking stick didn't appear until 1909. Originally known as the "Regency Buck," the iconic figure underwent a name change to become "The Striding Man." I also learned that Johnnie Walker is Superman's libation of choice.
It comes as no surprise that the whimsical Guinness Toucan appears on MD's list. The bird was introduced in the 1930s and had a 50-year run until its retirement in 1982. While many a tippler is familiar with this brightly colored fellow sporting a pint of the black stuff balanced on his beak, few know the little poem that accompanied the original advertisement: "If he can say as you can/'Guinness is good for you'/How grand to be a Toucan!/Just think what Toucan do." Most of the other icons on the list, including Mr. Boston, the Bacardi Bat and The Wild Turkey were familiar to me with the exception of The Hamm's Bear. Heck, I've never even heard of Hamm's Beer much less the wacky cartoon bear that represented the brand in a series of commercials that involved all sorts of high jinks ranging from pie fights and such to more serious capers such as robbery and arson. Rather than list all of the icons here I thought I'd let folks read through the MD piece.
Lots of attention gets focused on the tobacco industry and how advertisements appeal to the kids, but that's not the only industry making the unhealthy irresistible. There is, of course, those cartoon characters that promote sugary goodness.
Aren't you tired of seeing advertisements everywhere? I know I am. Well, now 
It's not that all the 
Have you heard about this? I think this is one of the funniest stories I've heard all day. Absolut Vodka pulled an advertisement it was running in Mexico because it 
Do remember those Burger King commercials with the group of moms who try to run over the Burger King? They wanted to commit vehicular homicide because their kids liked Burger King food better than their home cookin'.
Did you know that the first print ad for Johnnie Walker, which appeared in 1883, featured a Scotsman bawling over a broken bottle at his feet? Me neither, until I read Modern Drunkard's 
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