The 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of the Month

WPP joins mission to the moon, Wienermobile crashes, and a 1983 Donny Deutsch beach pic surfaces on MSNBC — it all happened in July.

1. WPP funds joins moon mission by Isle of Man
   The tiny tourist resort and tax haven has apparently persuaded Martin Sorrell’s network to help pay for with an attempt on the orbiting planetoid. Episode closely resembles plot of 1963 film ‘The Mouse on the Moon.’ It’s not clear whether WPP is funding or merely doing advertising for the project.
2. Gidget, Taco Bell chihuahua, dies at 15
   Ad dog — beloved by many, regarded as racist stereotype by Mexicans — finally has its day.
3. Donny Deutsch Speedo picture gets close-up on MSNBC
   Infamous shot of agency-chief-turned-talking-head wearing a banana hammock is subject of a minute-long cable news item. Deutsch: “This is cruel. This is cruel. This is not nice … take your children away from the TV!”
4. Globalhue refuses to use orangutans in ads
   Troubled agency joins Arnold, Y&R, others in refusing to use the great apes in commercials, because training animal actors can be cruel.
5. Book by BBDO’s Dusenberry no longer titled ‘Then We Set His Hair on Fire’
   It recounted the Pepsi commercial in which Michael Jackson was injured. Now it’s called “One Great Insight Is Worth a Thousand Good Ideas.”
6. Oscar Meyer Wienermobile crashes into a house
   It’s the second crack-up in two years. When will the federal government put a stop to this madness?
7. BBDO creates billboard that bleeds when it rains
   New Zealanders are just like Los Angelenos, it turns out: They can’t drive when it rains. Ad persuades people to take their foot off the gas.
8. Saatchi campaign tease offends some: “Seriously, breast cancer is not a big deal”
   First half of an effort to get people to think in New Zealand.
9. Indian agency execs in loopy debate: ‘God is in the semantics’
   “God is in the semantics. God is also in the idea. But then, God is everywhere,” says Josy Paul, chairman and chief creative officer of BBDO India.
10. Airline staff appears nude in ad campaign
    Yet another item from New Zealand — something in the water down there? — this time Albion persuades Air New Zealand flight attendants to do their jobs in nothing but body paint.

• Want more?
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of June
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of May
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of the April
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of March
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of February
  
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of January
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of December
  
• The Top 10 Weirdest Ad Stories of November