News Snacks: Suck a kumara, Aussies

Is there an 'e' in the pukeko plural?
Last night episode 2 of The Ad Show was filmed at TVNZ to a somewhat packed studio audience.

It’ll screen tonight on TVNZ7 at 9.35pm or you can find it OnDemand.

The episode features panellist Kellie Nathan, marketing director for Yellow Pages Group, discussing the success of Yellow chocolate compared to Treehouse and the “black hands” TVC, as well as answering that old question, why spend money on marketing when it should be poured into fixing the online product?

Kim Ellison, retail creative director at DDB, and Rick Starr from the University of Auckland discuss shouting ads and why they work even though you hate them.

Finally, there’s an appearance by the pukekoes that starred in the Genesis Energy TVCs by DraftFCB, including a bit of live stunt work by Mark Vette, their trainer.

Have your say on The Ad Show’s Facebook page, follow on Twitter or click yourself to the TVNZ site. And check out photos below.

Pacman 2.0
Paxisman is here! He’s a combination of Axis and Pacman and is the brainchild of TBWA ECD Andy Blood, convenor of judges for Axis.

The Axis people reckon if you’re going to waste time at work you might as well get rewarded for it, so they’re giving away tickets to Axis for those who show talent in 2D gaming.

Hop on to Paxisman.co.nz and if you’ve got the highest score at midnight on March 23, you’ll score the tix.

And get there quick-smart to check out some of the names on the leader board before the authorities put a naughty word filter on it.

Suck a kumara, whydoncha!
Check out the rest of the NZ Cricket ads by DDB. The final two spots have launched and you can view them here and here.

The King is coming!
Signs of fun stuff to come from those naughty foxes at Colenso (and very well-dressed ones too, from the look of the lovely ladies at the show last night): The “King” campaign from Burger King is hitting New Zealand. Get a sneak peek here and then click through to the Facebook page for another hit.

I'm on a horse
You may have seen the Old Spice ad that aired at the Super Bowl in the US recently. (If not, click here, and prepare for laughter.)

Well now you can follow the main man on Twitter. His real name is Isaiah Mustafa and apparently he has a penchant for Chuck Norris Action Jeans.

Also have a peek at “My Perpetual Love”, the associated site to the “Old Spice Manmercials” where men can send their loved one automated tweets or emails. Just set it to run and forget about it.

And compare it to the Mother’s Day gig by Mother, click here.

And finally, if it’s all not enough for you, you can also get the Old Spice T-shirt.

That’s what we call a well-rounded campaign.

In other news
TVNZ’s six-month profit is down and a loss is predicted for the year.

Y&R has won an ORCA (again) for Burger King (again). So Y&R’s creative department gets $250 worth of CD vouchers and Burger King gets $5,000 airtime. Rock on.

iProspect is expanding in Asia Pacific, opening 10 new offices in eight countries.
That means Aegis Media will have the largest search offering across Asia Pacific and will cover Australia (Melbourne), China (Beijing, Shanghai), India (Delhi, Mumbai), Japan (Tokyo), Korea, Malaysia,Thailand and Taiwan.

As you were.

From The Ad Show filming, episode 2...