Cup of Java

Fun, fun, fun in the sun, sun, sun
Cleese hawks vacuums "Salton, Inc. announced that it had named movie star John Cleese, as the new host of both short-form and long-form commercials introducing the Westinghouse Unplugged Cord free vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner is battery operated, eliminating the need for access to an electrical outlet during use. The battery is rechargeable. Mr. Cleese agreed to do this campaign with Salton because his and Salton's views coincided in presenting entertaining, humorous and innovative advertising to consumers. A series of five 30-second commercials, as well as a long form commercial, are expected to show a new standard of creativity in the way products are promoted on television. Mr. Cleese and Salton have options for promoting future Westinghouse products for Salton. The short form commercials will begin airing at the end of September; the long form will begin airing mid-October. The company has already shipped the first production units of the product and expects to be near full-production levels in time for Christmas."
This should be interesting to see. Especially the "long form" commercial (read: infomercial). (via clay)

Police take new steps to stamp out binge drinking among the young. "Officers in Blackpool have created a series of sexy posters featuring a local model as part of a £15,000 drive to stamp out drink related violence. Rachel Hall, 22, will appear dressed in skimpy clothing in the posters appearing on advertising hoardings, buses and in sixth form colleges. Slogans will tell young drinkers they are less likely to be attractive to girls if they are drunk."
Slogans include: "Hi girls! If he's too drunk to walk away from trouble, show him how it's done." and "Hi boys. I'd rather have a laugh with you than see you in stitches."
Definitely a novel approach, but will it work. Guess that's always the big question.

Madonna has concluded a long-awaited publishing venture with her book, The English Roses, aimed at six to eight year olds. It's to be sold in American-owned Gap stores under an exclusive deal. The Material Girl, who is said to have worked closely with her publishers Penguin, will have the satisfaction of seeing her tome on sale among the socks at Gap Kids outlets. It may be a precedent but it's not going to be a trend, I'm told. A spokesman for Gap, for which Madonna is currently fronting an advertising campaign, says the deal applies only to the first of her five-book series. "We have no plans to stock any more books at all after this one," they tell me. "We don't intend to become a bookstore."
Wonder if this was a part of the deal when she decided to be in their TV spots. Scary. The last time she published a book, well, it was interesting to say the least.

Elvis is about to get behind the wheel of a new Toyota Solara. His song 'Rubberneckin' will be driving the advertising campaign in the USA. 'Rubberneckin' is the 34 year old Elvis song originally released as a B-side for his hit song 'Don't Cry Daddy' and resurrected for a remix by Paul Oakenfold for Elvis' new compilation album '2nd To None'. The advertising campaign jingle is built around the 'Stop, look and listen' hook from the song and will run on US TV from this weekend. The Solara is a 2 door Camry but only available in America. Mike Breen of Toyota Australia tells Undercover News "the car won't be released in Australia. It is an image car and we do volume. If we had another 100 million people, then maybe".