Inspiration Cafe, a restaurant that serves the homeless, was honored by True North, a snack brand that’s part of Frito Lay.  True North’s ad agency is Strawberry Frog - with offices in NY, London, and Sao Paolo, it intends to spark “cultural movements.”

According to Strawberry Frog’s blog, the ad campaign cost Frito-Lay about $1.4 million per ad.  Kevin McKeon, partner and ecd at the firm commented, “True North is a special brand about passions, and people have become very passionate about food they eat and their health.”

Mayor Bloomberg recently announced CareerLinkNYC.com, a new website to help hungry New Yorkers.

It provides pretty much everything one needs to find a job, keep a job, learn new skills, and traverse the government agencies willing to lend a hand.  No need to jump off the Empire State Building, as one famous New Yorker said, or was it a transplanted one, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

Google has a new service called Latitude that enables people to keep track of their friends and family on an online map.

New York City, land of attitude, now has Latitude, to help track friends and foes as they traverse the city streets.  Although it’s not on Apple’s iphone yet, it will be shortly.  It’s available on New York’s other favorite - Blackberry and on Google’s own Android phone soon.

It works like this - when a friend sends a sharing request, you can choose to participate and to disclose your location.  Or not.  While talking on Google’s instant messenger, you can call, text, or email while using Latitude.  Participants can choose to limit the information as to “best available location” or they can remain hidden.  Latitude can be manually set or disabled at any time.

In regard to advertising, The Bevilacque Group is working on strategies that “spur the consumer to action” utilizing mobile devices to pinpoint favorite stores and their location from the user.  Used in conjunction with mobi-coupons, it will help firms seeking to increase foot traffic because they have the proprietary dataa needed to seek, solicit, and sell.  And isn’t selling the name of the game?

“seek and you shall find”‘

According to USA Today’s Ad meter, the Doritos team won Super Bowl 2009. Two brothers from Indiana that created the “Free Doritos” spot, Joe and Dave Herbert, scored by winning $1 million for their new filmmaking business.

The best in the blogosphere, according to Ad Age, was also the Doritos spot.

“You get what you pay for” doesn’t necessarily apply to the ad indusry because innate creativity can’t be bought, borrowed, or stolen.  If something rings true or is genuinely funny, it will be a hit.

Newspapers death rattle commences.

Information is power but information in the hands of those ill-equipped to deal with it leads to lies, lies, and more lies.  “Liar liar pants on fire” - the road to perdition, the eternal fire of hell without bylines.

So it goes that newspapers are to blame for their own demise.  From the humblest school paper headed by young Eliot Spitzer types to the mighty New York Times, we say goodbye.  They have far outlived their usefulness and now are weighed down with ads for retail merchants screaming for mercy and self-aggrandizing editorials pleading for approval.

Very cool Catholicism!

The Vatican knows what side its bread is buttered on as it seeks to capture the hearts and minds of “the digital generation.”  It recently launched a You Tube channel and will maintain all audio and video content

The content is not just for devout Catholics, officials said. The effort is targeted to casual web users, too.

In his first address to the people, the 81-year-old Pope stated: “You must find ways to spread — in a new manner — voices and pictures of hope, through the internet, which wraps all of our planet in an increasingly close-knitted way.”

The venture into YouTube represents a big step into cyberspace for one of the world’s oldest religions, the BBC reports.

In Stateside news, last month Congress launched two channels on YouTube — one for the House and one for the Senate. President Barack Obama also uses YouTube as a method of addressing the nation.

The Bevilacque Group’s been working on 3d projects for the past year so we’re not surprised at the buzz surrounding ads for Pepsico’s SoBe Lifewater and Dreamwork’s movie, “Monsters v. Aliens.”  Both will be airing right before half-time which is considered a great spot.

3-d glasses remain problematic and we hear 125 million pairs are needed for the Super Bowl alone.  Considering they’re made of plastic and paper and are designed to be thrown out, it will be interesting to learn if this adventure proves fruitful.  Or, will it set us all back a decade or so?

Getting the color right in our industry is hard enough on traditional substrates.  When we worked with Tommy Hilfiger, the arguments in-house over “Tommy Red” equaled those arguments heard in the White House over “Oval Office Blue.”  Omnicom’s Arnell Group worked on the Lifewater ad and he recently commented that it’s the moving parts that makes everything so complicated.

Not to mention the expense.  Intel, creater of the 3-d  technology picked up the tab and everyone’s scrambling to secure a pair.

Stay tuned for our 3-d projects… believe me, you won’t believe your eyes!

Although the 2009 Super Bowl will take place in Tampa, New York remains the center of the universe for those in the ad industry.  “Mad men” love New York and rightly so, because it’s where so many launch their careers.  This year, Anheuser Busch will be airing a Super Bowl commercial that depicts a “turn of the century” New York. Everyone’s favorite “backyard pets,” the magnificent Clydesdale horses, also return for a nostaglic ride.  When the going gets tough, as in today’s economy, tradition calls for just that - a return to tradition.  It’s estimated that the Super Bowl attracts 95 million viewers.  At $3million per 30 second TV slot, the numbers work out to less than four cents a viewer - equivalent to maybe two sips of a Bud!

Anheuser Busch, despite its relatively new Belgium ownership by InBev, also plans on opening a NY office shortly.

Competiton brewing as Miller scheduled to air a pre-game “mockery” of game slots expense.  Didn’t they learn in ad-school never to disparage the competition?

NY’s favorite backyard ad agency, BBDO, is slated to air 3 commercials for this year’s game although some are making light of the fact that it’s only “3.”  Two clients, Fed-Ex and GM wisely opted out for 2009 but NFL, Monster, and Gatorade remain scheduled.

T

Ad Age has selected Crispin Porter Bogusky ad agency of the year.  The group, headquartered in Miami and Boulder, previously took top honors from Creativity and Ad Week. 

According to Ad Age, what makes this agency so valuable is its “ability to affect product even before the marketing is done… and to create new revenue streams.”

This says it all because in this economy, more than ever, the “mad men” need not only to think out of the box, but in it as well.  Cash is king and the brass ring needs to be grabbed quickly and accurately.  For example, CPB personnel are working on redesigning products that “who would have thought.”  I mean, a WD40 pen!  Brilliant!!

Current work includes Coca Cola, Burger King, Microsoft, Volkswagen, and a host of other clients that helped boost revenues 15%.  Who can forget Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, giving up a Facebook friend for a Whopper, Rooftop Racer, and best of all - meat scented cologne?

The guys - fabulous all - embody the new spirit of Madison Avenue.  The brand, CPB!