F'd Ad Fridays: When in Romania...

Earlier this week, Marc posted an article on Osocio about a Romanian candy company's campaign to rid Google's search engine of prejudicial stereotypes about their country and their people.

In response to suggested searches like this, which result from disparaging Googles done mostly by other Europeans, the advertiser asked people to do positive searches instead.

Nice, eh? I thought so, anyway.

And then, also this week, I catch this Romanian tourism campaign by Lowe&Partners online:

"Visit Romania, get drunk, get laid and meet Dracula". Not really helpful, is it?

Amnesty goes on tour with Swedish death metal band

According to PRWeek, Amnesty International has partnered with Swedish band Arch Enemy (above) to promote the cause of freedom of expression throughout their Khaos Over Europe tour.

Via PRWeek

From the release:

Head of art for Amnesty Jo Metcalf explained that partnerships with acts that have strong relationships with fans are a growing focus for the charity. 

‘Working with bands who have loyal supporters who listen when they say something is far more beneficial than talking to them in a general way,’ said Metcalf. ‘When Arch Enemy say something about freedom of expression it has a resonance with fans. That goes for bands from Arch Enemy to U2.’

That's a fairly wide range, wouldn't you say? But a great outreach for Amnesty.



Thanks to Jenn F. for sharing.

If the shoe fits, **** it.

What is it with all the smut after a holiday weekend? I take one day off, and the ad blogosphere is practically swimming in pheromones.

This video, via Illegal Advertising, is for European Foot Locker stores.



It's part of a big social media outreach that includes all kinds of user-generated content. (I'll bet they get some pretty icky ones, too.)

Plus, everyone knows that women only make this face for Manolo Blahnik

The concept isn't that far off, though, as shoes have long been considered a vaginal symbol. I recall hearing an Italian proverb against women having concurrent sexual partners that translated to something like "you can't put two feet in the same shoe". You get the picture.