WSJ: Tom & Gisele Are Living Very LArge In LA

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Friday’s Wall Street Journal sizes up the super-sized homes of the glitterati in the City of (Lost) Angels:

Living Very Large

Shooting ranges, an indoor tennis court, a bedroom bigger than many houses: For a small cadre of very wealthy owners, building big is back. A bird’s-eye view of some of the mega mansions going up across the country.

Among them: New England’s own Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen.

In Los Angeles’s tony Brentwood neighborhood, the 18,300-square-foot limestone home of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bündchen is reached via bridge over a pond that separates it from the driveway, according to plans filed with the city of Los Angeles. The master suite has his-and-hers closets, both with skylights, and the master bath connects to an outdoor bath area with a saltwater plunge pool and shower; a covered walkway connects the rest of the home to a 1,590-square-foot gym with skylights over a garage. The first floor includes a playroom, service kitchen, library with terraces and a “morning bar.” According to plans, the property also has a pool, spa, pool house and a playhouse.

The Big House:

Eat your heart out, Eli Manning.

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I’m (Selling) With The Band

Posted on February 11, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From the Sneak ADtack! Badvertising desk:

Music videos have long been a sandbox for product placement, but apparently the practice is turning into product disgracement.

Exhibit A via MediaPost’s Engage:GenY blog, regarding fun’s “We Are Young” video:

The song used during the [Chevy Sonic Super Bowl ad] stood out — music has always been a cultural touch point with Millennials — so I was soon looking up the band and checking out the video. It’s a beautiful slow-motion club scene … that is shamelessly interrupted by a Windows phone that tries to steal the spotlight from the band with a screen shots of the device that fill the frame. It’s an obvious product placement for a less-than-hip brand trying to get in with the band and win over Millennials. In short, it’s forced and doesn’t show any understanding of the audience.

Judge for yourself:

 

Sneak ADtack! Prediction: The increasingly intrusive nature of product placement  (see here for another egregious example) will eventually undermine the practice.

Stealth marketers, don’t say you weren’t warned.

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Super Sonic Sell

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Super Bowl ads may never die, but the buzz around them goes down like the Hindenburg as soon as the game ends, something MediaPost’s VidBlog notes:

Remember that football game that was played just five days ago? How about the ads in the game?

Chatter on social channels about the ads dropped almost immediately after the Super Bowl ended. In fact, social media tracking service Trendrr found that buzz around the brands in the Super Bowl died off dramatically by Monday with a few exceptions.

Chevy hoped to be one of them by co-producing a music video with the band OK Go, which is known for its offbeat productions. From MediaPost’s Engage:GenY blog:

The car is in just about every shot of the video as it races through a course lined with instruments that play along as the band belts out the tune. It might sound like the car steals the scene, but instead it really is with the band, hammering on the piano and plucking out the melody.

And it was quite a production according to the description on YouTube:

OK Go set up over 1000 instruments over two miles of desert outside Los Angeles. A Chevy Sonic was outfitted with retractable pneumatic arms designed to play the instruments, and the band recorded this version of Needing/Getting, singing as they played the instrument array with the car. The video took 4 months of preparation and 4 days of shooting and recording. There are no ringers or stand-ins; Damian took stunt driving lessons. Each piano had the lowest octaves tuned to the same note so that they’d play the right note no matter where they were struck.

Here’s the result:

 

At post time the video had been viewed 10,930,139 times.

Pretty buzzy, no?

Originally posted on the Newer! Improveder! Sneak ADtack!

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Barack Obama’s Super PACcadillo (II)

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

In suddenly rushing to embrace Super PACs after he had sanctimoniously rejected them, Barack Obama not only opened himself to criticism, he opened a family-size can of worms as well.

When the Obamanauts announced the abdication of his principles – or “change of heart” if you want to be mealy-mouthed about it – campaign manager Jim Messina added this little filigree (via Politico Playbook) about supporting the biggest Democratic Super PAC, Priorities USA Action:

“Senior campaign officials as well as some White House and Cabinet officials will attend and speak at Priorities USA fundraising events.

“While campaign officials may be appearing at events to amplify our message, these folks won’t be soliciting contributions for Priorities USA. … [T]he President, Vice President, and First Lady will not be a part of this effort; their political activity will remain focused on the President’s campaign.”

As night follows day,  today’s Wall Street Journal reports this:

Romney Matches Obama in Stance on Outside Groups

Mitt Romney has decided to allow senior aides to headline fund-raising events held by a pro-Romney organization, a move that blurs the line between his official campaign and supporting groups that are supposed to be independent.

The move follows a similar one by President Barack Obama, who said Monday he will allow cabinet secretaries and other senior aides to appear at fund-raising events for an independent pro-Obama political-action committee.

Way to add injury to insult, Mr. President. See you in the attack ads.

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WSJ’s Jason Gay Rushes To Gisele’s Defense

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

While New York Giant doofus Brandon Jacobs apologized for telling Gisele Bundchen to “stay cute and shut up” after her post-Super Bowl outburst defending hubby Tom Brady and dissing his Patriots teammates, lot of other folks have labeled the Brazilian supermodel the Super Bowl Yoko Ono.

Not Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Gay.

He’s got nothing but love for Gisele.

Lede:

For this column, I will defend Gisele Bündchen.

I know: how brave! Tomorrow I will stick up for four-day weekends, vintage Scorsese movies and sun. I will endorse melted cheese over tomato sauce over flattened dough. I will champion Mustang convertibles and cold beer at the end of a 12-hour day.

But Gisele is under a blustery siege, and somebody’s got to stand by the world’s most famous supermodel.

Read the rest of the piece. It’s lots of fun.

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Let The $4 Billion Rumpus Begin! (Chamber of Commerce Edition III)

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has already been plenty active in promoting its legislative and electoral preferences, has launched a new $10 million ad campaign targeting “12 House and eight Senate races as part of an effort referred to internally as ‘Advance and Protect’,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Most of the Senate races targeted by the Chamber are those Republicans hope will bring them the four seats needed to win control, including in Wisconsin and Missouri where Republicans haven’t even picked a candidate. The ads in those states, which criticize Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin and Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, are designed to weaken the Democratic candidate.

“We don’t want to leave any seats on the table like we did in the last election,” said Scott Reed, one of the Chamber’s advertising strategists.

The ads, via Politico’s Morning Score:

And this is just the beginning. The Chamber dropped $33 million on the 2010 midterm elections, so there’s no telling what it will pony up this election cycle

Regardless, it will definitely be the U.S. Chamber of Horrors for Democrats over the next nine months.

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That’s Just So Mean! (Hillary Clinton Edition II)

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

Drudge Report homepage at 1:17 am Thursday:

Really – was that necessary?

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That’s Just So Mean! (Mitt Romney Edition)

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

If I own The New Republic, I’m thoroughly embarrassed by two things this week:

1) That the February 16th edition features this ridiculously over-the-top cover:

 

2) That the February 16th edition contains exactly two – count ’em, two – ads among its 36 pages.

Just pathetic, all the way around the course.

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Just Call Him Mitt Rom-nay

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

From our Beauty (Contest) and the Boast bureau:

That was some Beaut-down Rick Santorum (R-Sweater Vest) gave to Mitt Romney (R-Sweating, Yes?) in those three meaningless GOP presidential contests last night, no?

There were no delegates at stake but lots of media grubstake in the Missouri primary, the Colorado caucuses, and the Minnesota caucuses – and Santorum struck gold with his trifecta in the supposedly trivial bakeoffs.

From today’s New York Times:

His candidacy all but dismissed just days ago, Rick Santorum won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri on Tuesday, an unexpected trifecta that raised fresh questions about Mitt Romney’s ability to corral conservative support.

With his triumphs, Mr. Santorum was also suddenly presenting new competition to Newt Gingrich as the chief alternative to Mr. Romney, the front-runner. Where Mr. Gingrich has won one state, South Carolina, Mr. Santorum has now won four, including Iowa.

It’s all good for Rick Santorum. And he’s even getting past that pesky Google thing.

Really good news for Rick.

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Obamas Go Fundraising, After A Fashion

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Campaign Outsider

The latest style among the Grand Old Pruneface set is bashing Barack Obama’s air-kissy connection to the New York fashion industry.

Start with this item in yesterday’s Politico Morning Score:

OUT THIS MORNING – RNC WEB VIDEO HITS OBAMA FOR FASHION SHOW FUNDRAISER: The Republican National Committee launches a new web video “The Obama 2012 Fashion Show” ahead of the reelect’s ritzy NYC fashion show fundraiser tonight. “With 12 million Americans struggling to find work in this weak economy, the optics of this high-end event featuring well-heeled celebrities flies in the face of President Obama’s rhetoric,” the RNC explains. A six-page research document makes fun of the campaign merchandise that the Obama campaign is selling:http://bit.ly/A6WVfb. A Wall Street Journal story raises campaign finance questions about tonight’s fundraiser: http://on.wsj.com/ylIw4k. Watch the 51-second web video:http://bit.ly/zFyYwr.

That video:

 

Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal piece questioned the fiscal fitness of all that Obama schwag:

Republicans contend the sale might violate campaign-finance rules. The gear will sell for a fraction of the price the designers’ merchandise typically fetches at department stores. Republicans say that suggests they relied on corporate resources to keep costs low, which could amount to illegal campaign contributions. On Mr. Lam’s website, handbags range in price from $340 to $1,890. The three scarves offered on Mr. Thakoon’s website go for $325 apiece.

“This raises serious questions about whether corporate money, property and employees were improperly used in the design and production of these items without reimbursement,” said Sean Spicer, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee.

Coincidentally (and perhaps unfortunately), there’s a new book out titled Michelle Style: Celebrating the First Lady of Fashion.

Celebrating?

Calibrating?

You be the judge.

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