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photo:Miklas Njor

On either Tuesday, January 23rd or Friday, January 26th, 2001 (the Web site page gives both dates), big ol' CBS News erroneously reported that Anheuser-Busch would be airing a commercial featuring a clydesdale and mouse in the upcoming Super Bowl. Such a spot was never broadcast during Super Sunday.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it took local St. Louis (home of Miller Beer as well as A-B, BTW) TV station KMOV to properly interpret either the press release or AP wire story.

But now, roundabout eight months later or so, it's here. It's beeeee-ooooo-tee-ful. It's substantial (0:60 5 Megs QT). So click on "Read more" below to view the unfortunately shelved spot that missed Super Bowl XXXV.

[Special note: This entry was posted the day prior to the horrific attacks on NYC, DC and the rest of our beloved free world. The choice of words in the subject head and text were not in any way referencing what would take place the following morning. I have chosen not to alter it as an unfortunately ironic example of how our perspectives, and lives, have now been changed. -C2]

Coming soon to a specially outfitted radio near you, it's the end of the world as we know it.

Well, at least the commercial radio world.

For your viewing pleasure, I invite you to check out the introductory TV spot for XM Satellite Radio. It's the most wondrous damn thing I've seen all year, and I'm typically a hard damn bastard to please. Just click on the "read more" below to see more. Quicktime 4+ required - 0:60 long - 5 meg in size

Does this sound familiar? Twentythree pointers to clue you in to if you are a prostitute or simply an advertising creative. The similartities are endless.... (oh, and do please add yours!)

If any of you remember the big news last year, the then-still-alive Pets.com sued the Conan O'Brian show for $20 million, contending that a repeat character, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, was a direct rip-off of the Pets.com sock puppet. Well, after Pets.com crashed and burned, and after E*Trade made an eloquent homage to them in its own SuperBowl spot, Triumph finally gets just a wee little bit more than the last laugh...

Click on the "read more" below for the clip. Sometimes, justice can be a real pain in the ass....

Last week, Salon/AP posted news that US department store giant JCPenney voluntarily pulled one of their back-to-school ads due to multiple complaints of its illicit, provocative and sinful nature.

Well, Adland now has the clip under fire. Now, I understand parents wanting to protect their daughters from becoming sexual objects in the eyes of lustful teen boys (and lustful men, etc.), but c'mon! It's a joke! A gag! A twist played to humorous effect! Tastefully done! No naughty bits are exposed! Ach. Just click on the 'read more" below and judge for yourself.

(found here first, a la adland)

Ok, a few of you were scratching your heads over the first week, so let's find out if the next round does better... (commercial vid link inside, so read more)

The Suits Must Die.

The advertising industry at a dead end.

Greg Stene, Ph.D.

Mass Communication

Idaho State University

Pocatello, ID 83209

208.282.4539

[This is the Forward only. I'm seeking a publisher for the whole book.

The now infamous Sophie Dahl Opium ad has become the most offensive ad of 2000. It'll go down in history kids! Or at the very least, become a trivial pursuit question. Aren't we proud?

Opium: a whopping 948 complaints - but the ad was never banned.

The controversial poster for Yves St Laurent perfume featuring a naked Sophie Dahl accounted for a third of all complaints about poster advertising last year.

Clayton found this lovely article about some clever posters written in Braille with the theme of equal treatment for the blind.

Only problem - the posters had no other headline than the braille, so the seeing could not read them, also they were placed behind protective glass, so the blind could not read them. So the equal treatment message fell on deaf ears. *bada-bing-tssck!*