Watching the Academy Awards last night, you may have noticed something missing…from the Hyundai commercials.

Jeff Bridges, now an Academy Award winner, normally provides the voice behind the commercials; but Hyundai pulled him after he was nominated for the best actor award in Crazy Heart.

Stand-ins (or voice-ins) for Jeff Bridges, included Catherine Keener, Kim Basinger, David Duchovny, Richard Dreyfuss, Michael Madsen, Mandy Patinkin and Martin Sheen.

Hyundai walks away a winner too. The car company gets kudos for going along with the rules (the Academy limits any nominee from appearing in advertising during the awards), AND it now has a Oscar-winning spokesperson.

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Watch your heads as the Flying Ace glides down the parade route! That’s right, fans, in honor of the PEANUTS® 60th Anniversary, Snoopy™ returns to the Macy’s Parade making a record 34th appearance. Donning binoculars, an aviator’s cap, a pair of goggles and his signature red scarf, the Flying Ace is geared up for yet another face-off with the elusive Red Baron. The Flying Ace is the sixth helium-filled iteration of the canine Peanuts gang member, preceded by Millennium Snoopy, Snoopy & Woodstock, Skating Snoopy, Astronaut Snoopy and Aviator Snoopy.

Accompanying the pilot pooch from the ground will be his dog house, festooned as the air traffic control tower, and Woodstock as the air traffic control chief who guides the whooshing tail-wagger down the avenue. On the float, surveying the fantastic battle between the aviating hound and the evasive Red Baron, will be Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus.

Fun Facts: United Feature Syndicate’s Snoopy the Flying Ace stands at 52 feet high, 25 feet wide and 49.5 feet long. He is filled with 15,000 cubic feet of helium. That’s a dog I wouldn’t want to be standing under on Thanksgiving Day. Just sayin’.

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Coining new words and phrases as a branding strategy seems to be rising in popularity among today’s advertising campaigns. Natural Light, who primarily focuses on a target audience of drinkers aged 21 – 35, has created an entire advertising campaign focused on coined words and humor to give their brand a fresh new edge. During recent times, beer drinkers have been shifting towards cheaper beers. In accordance with this shift, Natural Light Beer, a division of Anheuser-Busch, has revealed its first television advertising campaign in Continue Reading »

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Just flipping on your TV will open your eyes to the plethora of Reality TV Series on our stations these days… but just how real are these shows? According to a recent study, the average sized woman in the United States is approximately 160 pounds and wears size 14 clothing. Last time I checked, you don’t see these average women on TV. Nope, these “reality” TV series are cluttered with women who are all about a size 2…on a “fat” day. In an effort to put the ‘reality’ back into reality TV some television stations have taken a new approach to these reality series. Shows are now receiving names such as Dance Your Ass Off, More to Love, and The Biggest Loser. These television series aim to show the lives of real people, not size 0 or size 2 celebrities.
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