"The Japanese Tradition" was a series of nine short, parody "How To" videos that gently mocked the formality of Japanese culture, from comedy duo Rahmens (ラーメンズ) and Japan Culture Lab. They're available on DVD, but nearly all of them can be seen on YouTube, including Sushi and Ocha (tea). [more inside]
posted by zarq on Aug 25, 2010 - 54 comments

After decades of selling tampons and "sanitary products" with ads containing nebulous, euphemistic images and language, Kotex launched a new product line, 'U by Kotex' and a 'Declaration of Real Talk Campaign' to encourage girls and women to speak about menstruation without embarrassment. Ironically, their ad was rejected by the major US television networks for mentioning the word 'vagina'. Here's the 'safe for the viewing public' version. / YT channel. [more inside]
posted by zarq on Mar 18, 2010 - 193 comments

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed
posted by Rhaomi on Sep 11, 2009 - 69 comments

Americans Not Making Time for Making Love according to Durex® [note: PR and attendant conflicts]. "Americans are having a lot less sex than just about everyone else in the world, and when they do, less than half are fully satisfied." Also from the 2007/2008 Durex® Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey: Where is sex safer?
posted by kliuless on Sep 26, 2007 - 42 comments

Advertising in India (thanks to this post by NickySkye) More ads here and here
posted by hadjiboy on Jan 24, 2007 - 12 comments

Ben Frost is a painter, performance artist and illustrator who currently lives in Australia. His work explores themes of alienation, dispossession, and perversity that exists behind the facade of contemporary western society. By subverting mainstream iconography from the advertising, entertainment and political spectrum he creates a visual and conceptual framework that is bold, confronting and often contraversial.
posted by ColdChef on Feb 5, 2006 - 13 comments

No logos project. Delete!, fettered capitalism in Vienna.
posted by fatllama on Aug 10, 2005 - 23 comments

Post No Bills. At the intersection of life and advertising one may unexpectedly find art, or at least humor. Henry Ho shines a light on it. (42 pages. Or view all thumbnails together)
posted by taz on Jul 29, 2005 - 15 comments

The common desk. [huge quicktime movie]
posted by gwint on Jul 18, 2005 - 22 comments

Greg's Digital Portfolio Here's the way to make everybody unhappy with their own life. With Photoshop and other imaging tools, the advertising industry has implanted images of such impossible perfection that the things we encounter in our lives seem somehow tawdry and inqdequate. Greg is a "digital pre-press" artist that manipulates images to make them prettier, smoother, and more appealing--he makes the imperfect look perfect. On one hand, I am in awe of the command he has of his craft. But just as waxed apples make real apples seem uhealthy and crappy, what do such images of digitally mediated reality do for our relationship with the real world?
posted by curtm on May 9, 2005 - 41 comments

I was walking past a McDonald's on my way to work this morning, and I noticed a remarkable advertisement in the window. It was a poster of a tiny baby's hand grasping a much larger adult hand, with text at the bottom that asked: "When will she have her first french fry?" (Sorry, I can't find it duplicated online.) I'm not necessarily anti-McDonald's, or even anti-fastfood--although I am pro-slowfood--but this poster turned my stomach. Advertisements have a long history of backfiring, including pop-up ads, pharmaceutical ads, online political ads, automobile ads, and even a recently discussed computer ad. Have you seen any ads recently that didn't exactly have the intended effect? What were the ad people thinking?
posted by monju_bosatsu on Jul 18, 2002 - 105 comments