Advertising

Amid Ad Blitz For Wendy Greuel, Eric Garcetti Uses TV Debate To Attack

Amid a TV ad blitz for Wendy Greuel, rival candidate Eric Garcetti went on the attack at Monday night's televised debate, with just two weeks left before the March 5 primary.Garcetti challenged Greuel's numbers and repeatedly cited the $1 million in ad spending she has received from the union that r ... More >>

Taco Bell Benches Anti-Veggie Super Bowl Ad

If you were planning to bring a veggie platter to a Super Bowl party this Sunday, maybe raise your hands and yell, "Score!" Right. Team Taco Bell dropped the ball this week, when their trash-talking anti-vegetable TV commercial was blocked by an aggressive Twitter campaign by irate people from Tea ... More >>

How a Star Wars Art Show Came to Be

See also: *Boba Fett as a Girl *The Creation of That Super Bowl Ad With the Imperial March Sung by Dogs The star of L.A.-based artist Lekit's Opheleia looks like she's had a brutal day. Her cheeks are sunken, her eyes dazed. Her dress falls off her shoulders, revealing an impressive tattoo collect ... More >>

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Absent From TV Ad For Transit Ballot Measure

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has a chance to end his term on a high note by securing passage of Measure J, the half-cent sales tax extension to fund transportation projects.The measure needs a 2/3 vote, and internal polling shows it very close to that threshold. The mayor is the key figure behind the ... More >>

5 Examples of How Australians Are Very Good at Beer Commercials

In the past 24 hours, America has taken notice of the latest Carlton Draught (that's draft in Australianese) commercial, calling it the "best beer commercial of 2012" and other flattering things. And while the new commercial, which features a carless car chase, is pretty awesome, it is the mere tail ... More >>

USC Football Billboard in UCLA Territory Torn Down by Regency Outdoor Advertising

Looks like Regency Outdoor Advertising, one of the biggest billboard companies in this land of 10,000 billboards, is choosing sides in the epic beef between USC and UCLA. At first, it appeared that Regency (which is reportedly co-owned by Brian Kennedy, a prominent USC donor) had sided with the Tro ... More >>

Richard Riordan Woos Latinos For Republican Party: Will They Join The Juan Percent?

Ex-L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan wants to recruit more Latinos to the Republican party, and he's putting some of his considerable money behind the effort. Smart move: The latest U.S. Census figures suggest that Latinos will be the biggest ethnic group in California, perhaps by the end of 2013. And the ... More >>

'Bark Side' Super Bowl Ad, With Star Wars' Imperial March Sung by Dogs: Director Keith Schofield Explains How He Did It

Have you seen that video of the dogs barking the Darth Vader song? Chances are, if you have a pulse and an Internet connection, you have. The viral video is a teaser for a Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial, so yes, that makes it a commercial for a commercial. It's bold new territory for advertising ... More >>

Blue Shield Blasts UCLA Doctors For Alleged 17 Percent Profit Margin

Medical costs take up almost one in five dollars American's spend. And while constant increases have been tempered in recent years, you have to wonder who's pocketing all that dough. Many fingers have been pointed at health insurance companies, but this week one of the biggest ones, Blue Shield of ... More >>

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Clothing Line at H&M: The Edgy-Trendy Clothes You Probably Didn't Realize You Missed

Has anyone actually seen the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo line of clothing from H&M? There was all this hype -- the usual billboards, bus posters, the like -- and now... nothing. You might have blinked and missed the whole thing. Or that would-be punk chick with the just-too coiffed hair might be wea ... More >>

Harry Burkhart's Mother Dorothee Linked to Erotic Massage Business: Alleged L.A. Arsonist Reportedly Upset Over Her Possible Extradition

Updated at the bottom with allegations that the mom committed fraud as a member of a gang. Really. First posted at 2:08 p.m. The mother of L.A. serial arson suspect Harry Burkhart has been linked to a massage services website and to online advertisements for "body rub" services. A woman with the ... More >>

Top 5 YouTube Noodle Commercials: James Brown, Dancing Roe Sac Babies, and the Moa Ostrich

If the cavemen and frogs taught us anything it is that commercials don't have to have much to do with the products they promote. Some wares lend themselves to absurdity more readily than others, particularly those whose nuances are tough to render in just a few seconds of color and sound. Like insu ... More >>

Cal Worthington: Alive and Pitching

Your Snarky Branding Comment Here

My Mondo Valentine

L.A. Advertisers And Anti-Billboard Activists Pissed Over City Council's Bright Idea To Slap Billboards With A 12 Percent Tax

PHOTO BY TED SOQUI​The Weekly has long had an eye on sketchy billboard deals throughout Los Angeles. In 2008, we reported that 4,000 of the city's 11,000 billboards were illegal, built without permits or earthquake regulations. Then came the Westside "Mad Men," fat-cat entrepreneurs who were ... More >>

Jerry Brown And Meg Whitman Go Mano-A-Mano With 'Attack' Websites

Meg Whitman.​It looks like California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman has found a new place to sink her millions: Campaign websites. California Watch reports that her campaign has quite a few, including Jerryfails.com as well as sites for women, students, nurses, Latinos, and Chinese-speak ... More >>

Tokyo Style Billboards For Downtown L.A. Proposed

​Los Angeles is one of the world's great neon cities, but the Korean and American developers of a new high rise proposed for downtown want to take it up a notch. According to Curbed LA, the owners of the Wilshire Grand hotel -- proposed site of a 65-story building -- want to create a sign dist ... More >>

Take Me to Your Online Marketing Leader: BlueGlass' Tony Adam Talks L.A.'s New "It" Tech Conference for Entrepreneurs

Tony Adam​The other day while eavesdropping at brunch I overheard a man insist to his companion, "The Internet is the future." Seriously. In 2010. Well, sorry to ruin the anticipation dude, but forget the future, the Internet is now. And contrary to what our favorite purple-clad know-it-all, P ... More >>

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rules LA's Billboard Ban Constitutional

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled today that the city's ban on billboards is constitutional. ​ The panel of three judges found that the Los Angeles City Council did not violate the free speech rights of World Wide Rush and Sky Tag when it granted exceptions to its ... More >>

Unintenionally Funny Culinary Ephemera and Food Ad Gallery

Food advertising may not be built to last forever, but it sure can be entertaining. Scan online ephemera collections and you'll quickly find a collection of tasty--and sometimes stomach turning--food advertisements that prove some promotional materials really should have a brief shelf life. Aspiri ... More >>

Energizer Bunny To Be Auctioned Off In Beverly Hills

​Just in time for Easter weekend a Dallas auction house announced that one of four Energizer Bunnies featured prominently in the battery-maker's commercials will go up for sale in Beverly Hills. This particular Mr. Bunny is expected to fetch at least $20,000 at the Signature Entertainment Auc ... More >>

Weed mags sprout across LOS ANGELES

Publications reap windfall from pot ads

Supergraphics Be Banned: City Attorney Scores Another One Against Billboard Blight

If you're frustrated by the city's inability to control those Times Square/Vegas Strip-like digital billboards and towering, slab-sided "supergraphic" ads, there's a crusader on your side, and he actually works for us -- unlike those other city politicians who seem to work for developers, media comp ... More >>

Urine the Money With L.A. Sidewalk Ads

Now they're steam-cleaning corporate logos into the thick sidewalk filth

Sacred Cow: Carl's Jr., Padma Lakshmi and a Drive-Thru Journey Into the Pornography of Meat

Sex and the Western Bacon Six Dollar Cheeseburger

Bruin Ruin? UCLA's Newspaper Faces "Grim" Future

L.A. Observed and others have noted that today UCLA's Daily Bruin newspaper ran a front-page wrap-around ad for Haagen-Dazs ice cream. An editor's note by Anthony Pesce, linked to by LAist, admitted that the ad was contrived to make it appear as editorial copy. Forget ad reps -- at this point in pri ... More >>

A Los Angeles “Ban” That Really Invites Billboards?

Critics assail a “Swiss cheese” vision that allows massive sign proliferation

Bug Music's Commercial Zone

Helping to fill the pockets of indie bands now that CD sales have dried up

L.A. Billboard Cheerleader Richard Alarcon Opposes Digital Ban

Los Angeles' City Council voted 10-4 today to support a state moratorium on digital billboards. This will rankle billboard companies who claim that California assemblyman Mike Feuer's proposed law takes away local control just when City Hall is trying -- again -- to get a handle on billboard clutter ... More >>

Queer Town: Field Poll Finds Proposition 8 Losing

While the margin is getting tighter, a new Field Poll, released this morning, finds that Proposition 8 will lose on Election Day. The poll, however, shows declining support for the "No on 8" campaign over the past month, which is when the "Yes on 8" side started a vigorous TV ad campaign. Based on t ... More >>

Equal-Time Rule: Political Advertisement VII

Presidential-campaign ads are a zero-sum game

Queer Town: No Cash, No TV Ads, No Gay Marriage

The No on 8 campaign pressed the panic button yesterday and pleaded for more donations to pay for more TV ads in an effort to defeat Proposition 8, the November ballot measure that bans same sex marriage. "Our worst nightmares are coming true," wrote Geoff Kors, a member of the No on 8 executive c ... More >>

Shoving 850 digital billboards down LA's throat

We're thrilled to see Steve Lopez skewering the blazing, flashing, crass digital billboard clutter now sweeping L.A. while billboard-industry financed, highly conflicted members of the City Council, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo let it all happen. Lopez has joined t ... More >>

Advocacy Group Criticizes Plan to Advertise on Amber Alerts

State Considers Advertising on Amber Alerts

The Schwarzenegger administration is considering advertisements on freeway signs used for Amber Alerts and other emergencies. The advertisements would be posted on 674 electronic roadside message boards according to the LA Times. The funds raised – estimated at millions - would go towards the fin ... More >>

LA Business Journal Reports on Billboard Blight

The Los Angeles Business Journal published an article yesterday about the city’s billboard ban, which exempts itself and a few large billboard companies. The article focuses on two lawsuits filed by two smaller billboard companies that are suing the city of Los Angeles for – among other things ... More >>

Mega-Billboard for Billionaire Anschutz: What's Next, Preparation H Pavilion?

City Council rolls over for tycoon, ignoring its own anti-billboard law

“Supergraphics” Company Continues Attack Against Los Angeles’ Billboard Ban

Last week, attorneys for World Wide Rush filed a motion in federal court asking a judge to permanently block the city from prosecuting building owners who allow “supergraphics” signs on their buildings. The motion was filed after the city began enforcing its sign ordinance against the owners o ... More >>

Outdoor Advertising Company Attacks San Francisco’s Billboard Ban

Last Friday, Metro Fuel filed a motion in United States District Court for the Northern District of California to prevent the city of San Francisco from enforcing its laws against illegal billboards. The outdoor advertising company, which is owned by New York based Fuel Outdoor Holdings, which sp ... More >>

Drug Race

The dulling of the American mind

Hollywood to Newsosaurs:Drop Dead

As Daily Demos turn gray, Hollywood ad dollars go away

When Might Turns Right

Golly GE, why Big Media is pro-Bush

Guerrilla Drive-In: Film on the Wall

See Owen Run

Another top gun goes Behind Enemy Lines

The Ad Campaign That Would Not Die, 2001

Billboards, IMITATION labels, glue 14 ft. x 40 ft. Courtesy of (depends upon whom you ask)

Eraser Heads

Gold Rush

Phil Hartman 1948-1998