Imagine R is back

This year's visuals are even better than last year's (check them here) for Imagine R. They really try to pull out something edgy with their agencies H and Lézilus.

The feminine visuals are signed by Jeanclode, a very cool collective whose blog can be seen here. I noticed their wonderful "Faisons Connaissance" campaign for France 5.


The masculine visuals are signed Cream and Hello.


Each teenager (let me remind you that Imagine R is aimed at high-school and college students) has their own personality and their own style. Without being too cliché, their universe displays different metro/train station in different fashions. A cute idea.

Tiji, more from the same ad campaign

New billboards in Paris present the 2nd leg of the amazing Tiji (a kid's channel) campaign. I already mentionned this visuals here last year.


This drawings are signed by Richard N'Go under the artistic supervision of Pierrette Diaz for the agency DDB. Kuddoes.


This last one is probably my favorite... I didn't see it in the streets though. A special shout-outs to the parents?

True Blood in September on HBO!

A VERY exciting news for "Six Feet Under" fans, like me! Alan Ball, the creator of the most upsetting show on tv ever, is back with "True Blood", the adaptation of Charlaine Harris's novels "Southern Vampires Mysteries" in September on American premium channel HBO.

The marketing campaign for the new show is like SFU's first episode in 2001, with fake ads. Here, it's about a synthetic blood that a Japanese lab developped in order to enable vampires to live among humans (promising, right?). Here's the fake site: trubeverage.com



Another video shows a poor little vampire kicked out of a regular dating website... (here: lovebitten.net). I love the double entendres on how difference is treated, I also love the double (even triple) sense to the word "suck"...



Here's a promo a little more classical that (I admit) reminds me a little of Buffy, but let's trust Mr. Ball and his irresistible cast (lead by Anna Paquin from "The Piano" and "X-Men") on this one. To be continued...

Nova - Le Grand Mix

Young & Rubicam developped a very nice campaign for Radio Nova's "Le Grand Mix". Ten different visuals exist, by ten artists illustrating the music styles of the radio; funk, rap, rock, electronica but also Cuban music or blues...

Enlarge them with a click, you can also watch the 8 mini-clips by clicking here!

Madonna: "on a cover of *all* magazines"

As usual, Madonna doesn't go halfway and when she promotes her new album, the press goes along with her. She was on the cover of the British music magazines Q. More surprisingly, she's also on the cover of a special ecology issue of Vanity Fair, the US magazine founded in 1913.

She's also on the covers of 3 international editions of Elle: US, UK and... France of course!



Interview (created in 1969 by Andy Warhol) was the first this year to talk about the diva's new album and introduced a new picture from the Steven Klein photoshoot (also used for the cover of Hard Candy, to be released on April 29, 2008).

Finally, in France, Madonna can also be seen on the cover Figaro Madame for their fashion issue.

The "Beggin'" War

You can't have missed it, but just like the "Macarena" with those of the sea and those of the river (super lame paralel), the 2008 summer hit has split in two different items. Radios and TVs air a very catchy tune, originally, it was "Beggin'" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, an American boy band from the 60s who was hugely successful across the decades. We owe them the hit "Oh What A Night", popularized in France by Claude François with "Cette Année-Là" and years later with Yannick ("Ces Soirées-Là"). This band was also the subject of a musical on Broadway, Jersey Boys, who won a Tony for best musical in 2006.

This time again, two versions of the almost identical song spread the airwaves at the same time.

The first version is a simple remix by a French DJ, Pilooski. Frankie Valli does the vocal and the Four Seasons play the music. A new beat enables the classic song to become a new hit...





The second version is from Norwegian hip-hop duet Madcon. Here, voices and music are re-recorded (above, the CD sleeve).

Just for fun, here's the original 1967 version.

Découvrez The Four Seasons!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

My sister brought me back some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the other day, a friend of her had them in the US.


Created in 1928 by Mr. Harry Burnett Reese in Hershey, Pennsylvania (Hershey is now a majorAmerican chocolate manufacturer), this little treats with chocolate and peanut butter are an American emblem.


Photoshop enables me to capture the moment of this last butter cup swallowed down couple of minutes ago. I don't know when I'm gonna be able to eat them next, I guess that's what makes them even tastier...


A discreet little store on Times Square helps you realize the impact of Hershey's/Reese's on American culture...

I could never tell you how a great show Dexter is...

Showtime's fabulous show Dexter season 2 is brilliant.

Dark Defender is a comic derived from Dexter, here's a preview produced by the network.

You can catch the other episodes here and here.

Here's a very surprising clip that sums up pretty well the first season ***spoiler alert***

Dexter vous salue bien...

Absolut cities

In 1999, the excellent Swedish vodka brand Absolut launches a campaign about the cities of the world. I run into Paris's one on Facebook, with a superb metro entrance designed by Guimard.


Unfortunately, I think this campaign went quite unnoticed. You can click on the picture to enlarge them and discover the picture from closer to distinguish the legendary shape of the vodka bottle.


Some visuals are rather sutle and don't necessarily represent the cliches of the cities - Dublin or Mexico City for instance. These ads however, totally represent the simple, yet sophisticated spirit of the brand. I choose to end this post with Stockholm's picture, that's where the Absolut vodka was invented back in 1879.

All the Absolut ads can be found at www.absolutad.com

French comedy...

My first talks mostly about love affairs, family affairs or stupid situations...
My second has often a cast of old comedians or former stars who try to be recycled...
My third almost always bears the same kind of title...
My forth always has a poster displaying actors behind a white background and colored letters...

What am I talking about?


A French comedy!

Kylie robotics

Kylie - and her management - has always known what to do to seduce her audience. Latest novelty to promote her latest cd "X"? A collection of robotics that you can offer through Facebook. Of course, I love it.

Each doll represent a era of Kylie's career : a video, an album artwork or a show costume. It's mostly super cute... The trashiest being the one of the duet with Nick Cave - "Where The Wild Roses Grow", the cutest being "Moulin Rouge!"'s green fairy or the sequins and feather-clad "Showgirl Tour" opening costume...

Bonus: free mp3 download {Kylie Minogue - X MiX Sampler}