Australian fast food chain Chicken Treat has handed its social media account to an actual chicken named Betty. But this isn’t the usual automated tweet approach. Instead, Chicken Treat has put a keyboard in a chicken’s coop and allows the chicken to peck away at whatever keys it chooses. And from the absolute gibberish that has been tweeted thus far, it’s evident that this chicken is not gifted in the literary arts.
Babich Wines is celebrating its upcoming centenary by sharing 100 stories of the Babich family from the business’s long history through an integrated campaign via Goodfolk.
The New Zealand Captioning Working Group has released a campaign via The Business called ‘Bad lip reading’ featuring a humorous clip of overdubbed rugby players to raise awareness of how hard it can be for deaf people to lip read when watching TV or on demand content. At the core of the campaign is an online petition requesting support to legislate captioning on the country’s screens.
Griffin’s recently launched an online competition campaign called ‘Super Little Bakers’ via Assignment Group, which urges kids (or rather, their parents) to submit recipes to a micro-page within Griffin’s Facebook to go in the draw to win prizes. An overall winner will be crowned Griffin’s Super Little Baker of 2015 by the end of the week, after over 170 recipes were submitted.
Korean car manufacturer Hyundai has made an impression on the Instagram scene with its latest marketing attempt. A quiz spanning 18 accounts and close to 400 images determining which vehicle best suits the user’s lifestyle, the Tucson, Santa Fe, or Santa Fe Sport.
The New Zealand Fire Service has released two new ads, the first since FCB became its creative agency. The ads, part of a campaign called ‘Your only voice’ warn that a working smoke alarm is often one’s only voice to warn loved ones and friends of a fire.
The latest issue of Home magazine features a powerful campaign that shows a multi-page profile on what at first appears to be just another affluent home. However, on closer inspection, it quickly becomes clear that something is amiss. Blood stains are on a stairwell, chairs have been knocked over, ceramic pieces lie shattered on the floor and tables have been smashed.
Social TV agency Darewin has released a new campaign to promote the third season of the 13ème Rue (part of NBCUniversal) series Bates Motel. And for it, the agency has created a site that puts you in the skin of famous Psycho character Norman Bates.
Carnivore Club, an artisan meat club thay delivers monthly to its members, has launched a hilarious new advertising campaign under the guise of a fake insurance company called ‘F-up insurance’.
Sam Finnigan, a polite accountant hailing from Kohimarama, has won back at least some of the nation’s pride by defeating super villain and defending America’s Cup winner Jimmy Spithill in a Samsung smartphone-controlled sailing race.
The New Zealand Breast Cancer foundation has launched a new campaign via Colenso BBDO that features actress Geraldine Brophy displaying pictures of a series of women’s breasts to illustrate what changes are likely to take place in the event of breast cancer. The ad, which is based on a successful Scottish campaign featuring Elaine C Smith, was initially meant to run last year, but the Commercial Approvals Bureau blocked this move on account of the rule that female nipples are not allowed in television advertising. However, the Bureau has now backtracked on this decision.
Almost 5,000 New Zealanders have taken to the polls and their votes have declared Mallowpuffs Original the nation’s favourite biscuit as part of Griffin’s ‘Bikkielections’ campaign. This result marks the first time in the poll’s four-year history that Mallowpuffs has featured as one of the nation’s top three biscuits, let alone won the entire event. But is an elaborate election-themed campaign around election time even legal?
The final lead up to the national election gives the citizens of the country the unique pleasure of being able to see politicians dressed in formal attire standing in the rain, feigning smiles and waving at all the cars driving by. It’s unclear whether such seemingly desperate measures have any sway over the location of the ticks on election day, but they are entertaining nonetheless. Traditionally, these last-ditch efforts by political parties have been limited to doing impersonations of brand mascots on street corners, but in a digitised world they are becoming more sophisticated. These days, politicians recognise that political messages have the capacity to reach a wider audience if they are delivered online. And for this reason many the nation’s parties have taken to the internet to consolidate their street-based efforts.
Every year, the equivalent of 1,866,664 trailer loads full of organic waste are sent unnecessarily to the landfill in Auckland, a mass so huge that it costs taxpayers approximately $77 million per year to dispose of it. So, in a bid to remind Aucklanders about the problem of food waste while simultaneously encouraging them to consider composting, We Compost (a network of New Zealand businesses committed to reducing and recycling organic waste) has launched a campaign via DDB and with support from Auckland Council that will on 6 and 7 September enable Aucklanders to trade their food waste for a variety of treats.
PETA never shies away from controversy to get its point across—an approach that has even seen the organisation launch a porn site, in an effort to show that animals and humans share some body parts. And while the organisation’s latest campaign does include POV camera angles, it isn’t quite as salacious as what was done before.
A new anti-obesity campaign released by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has gone nuts on the internet for its portrayal of a pair of parents driving their child to an early grave by enabling his poor eating habits. The spot, shot in reverse chronology, moves from a scene of the son in the hospital through various key events that link to the moment. As the narrative progresses, it soon becomes evident that the parents have been integrally involved in not only creating the son’s bad eating habits but also in facilitating them.
Earlier this week The Edge was revealed as the brand behind Love You Man, a campaign that will undoubtedly ruffle the feathers of those with slightly more conservative views on the act of marriage. With the confirmation of Jay-Jay, Mike and Dom’s involvement came the announcement that the campaign forms part of a competition that will award a trip to next year’s Rugby World Cup to a pair of best mates who take their friendship to the next level by exchanging vows.
To commemorate the return of the Pretzel Bun, Wendy’s commissioned the Boyz II Men trio to give a smooth and sonorous rendition of the tweets sent in by fans of the hybrid burger.
US-based meat product manufacturer Oscar Mayer has released its first interactive mobile app ‘Wienermobile’ to grab consumers’ digital attention ahead of the Labour Day holiday. While the app includes various standard features—such as picture uploading and social media accessibility—it also features a pair of interactive games that users can participate in.
Coca-Cola-owned Powerade has introduced a new app and updated its website in an effort to encourage Kiwis to lead healthier lifestyles. Rather than focusing on the Powerade product range, the new website instead provides users with a performance hub where they can set fitness goals, receive training programmes, track their performance and map runs. These digital upgrades coincide with the release of the sports drink’s ‘Performance is everything’ campaign, which was recently activated via an Ogilvy-created TVC that features All Blacks Liam Messam, Beauden Barrett and Julian Savea battling on a rugby field through a heavy downpour.
To those of inferior palate, the world of taste-testing seems wildly pretentious and filled with descriptors that have little to do with food or drink. So, in an effort to expose how laughable this tends to be, Scotch whisky company Laphroaig recently launched a campaign, via UK agency White Label, that invites common folk to share their opinions—however scathing—on its spirit.
Last month, StopPress covered the ‘Beef with Bullies’ campaign that the Mad Butcher had launched in an effort to raise awareness about the blight of bullying in New Zealand schools. As part of the campaign, the Mad Butcher also launched a competition that invited New Zealand schools to send in video clips that relay an anti-bullying message. These entries have trickled in over the last few weeks, and the Mad Butcher’s social media team started posting them onto the company’s Facebook page this morning.
DDB NY has teamed up with not-for-profit organisation Water Is Life to produce the drinkable book, a short publication printed on specially designed filter paper capable of removing life-threatening bacteria from unclean water.
Earlier this month, Telecom opted for a sadistic promotional approach by forcing comedian Guy Williams to endure a range of painful experiences as part of its ‘Extreme Unboxing’ campaign for the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S5. And while this certainly generated quite a few laughs and YouTube hits for Telecom, actor Cliff Curtis will no doubt feel relieved that FCB veered away from schadenfreude when developing a campaign dedicated to the technological device for Vodafone. Rather than harming anyone in the making of its campaign, Vodafone is instead offering to reward one lucky subscriber with $100,000 worth of gold. Updated with comments from a Vodafone spokesperson.
It isn’t uncommon for radio broadcasters to give away complimentary concert tickets to listeners, but the way The Rock is going about it is pretty hilarious. As part of its online promotion titled ‘Don’t be at James Blunt,’ The Rock is inviting listeners to share their dislike of the troubadour to stand a chance of winning a ticket to see a “real rock show” outside the country on the same night that Blunt is set to perform on Kiwi shores.
In an effort to counter the chilly mornings, dew-covered cars and dusty TV blankets that typify the start of autumn, Coca-Cola Amatil has launched a new campaign via Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand that gives Kiwis a way to hold onto the summer feeling for a little longer.
In an effort to maintain viewers’ curiosity levels while Shortland Street is on hiatus, TVNZ has devised an interactive crime mystery that will give fans a daily fix until the show returns on 13 January. The campaign is based on the premise that one of the characters died during the 11 December finale. And since the identity of the deceased is still unknown, TVNZ aims to keep fans interested by posting one revealing clue each day before the premiere of the 2014 season. PLUS: see Jono and Ben’s parody.
The voices that were sent to the Moon as part of Dr Who’s 50th anniversary celebrations have made a safe return to planet Earth and can now be heard at the Moonbouncer website.
Non-profit animal rights organisation Safe is pulling at Kiwi heartstrings with a new TVC that aims to spread awareness about factory farming in New Zealand. StopPress takes a look behind the scenes to see what it takes for a non-profit organisation to produce a TVC.