A new street campaign put in by Marshalls Outfitters is pretty unique. Unless you’re a wannabe gangster with an uncreased hat rapping to 50 cent and drinking your gin and juice you usually remove tags from your clothing. Most people truly look like idiots who wear their tags after buying a new outfit. Forgetting (or intentionally) not removing a tag is what the new street campaign by Mashalls is all about.

The clothing retailer sent out a street team with oversized price tags affixed to every item of their clothing. Of course people are going to pay attention. WHEN I had a girlfriend, every other woman that walked by would stare at the way she dresses. Most women are like this (critiquing clothing) and I’m sure most men out there can agree women love to critique. So this was nothing more than a perfect combination of psychology and street promotion for Marshalls. Check out more images here. A special thanks to Ad Rants for the scoop.

Japan is crazy. Estimates show that sales from vending machines there topped $56 billion in 2000! The top 3 vending machines were drinks, cigarette, and pornography. Thanks to PhotoMann we can now see some of the craziest of these vending machines and we might even consider improvising their techniques in the United States. Some of the type of machines include; rice, eggs, rice cleaner, photo printing, fishing goods, toilet paper, automated waitress, pachinko (what?), flight insurance, and most importantly jumbo porn machines.

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Watch out Wild-E-Coyote! Want to hit the airport with guns a blazin’, miss your flight, and be put in jail! We’ll a new travel bag developed by Urban Outfitters might have your answer. “Guns Wheel Away Case” will help you hit the roads with guns a blazing. The suitcase comes embroidered with guns on the exterior sides. I can just imagine TSA Agents ripping this bag apart. Even at 30% off I would still rather buy a Marilyn Manson T-Shirt and receive better treatment at the airport. Very bad product development Urban, very bad. (please note some of the sarcasm)

About time. Diageo began developing (but only testing) cocktails fit for a king in a can. An avid anti-beer tasting person, I applaud this new ready to drink beverage in good old 12 ounce cans. Unfortunately, do not be fooled by the Captain. These 12 ounce cans only contain as much alcohol content as a beer. Diageo began testing the new cocktail in the Tampa area with four can brands; Captain Morgan and Cola, Smirnoff Vodka and Lemon Lime (eww), George Dickel Whisky and Cola, and Seagram’s 7 American Whiskey and Lemon Lime. Thankfully, the test runs are doing extremely well and the company’s marketing director “is pleased” according to AdAge. Perhaps everyone was too drunk over the last 100 years to develop a cocktail in a can. Or perhaps everyone viewed them as sissy drinks. I really couldn’t tell you but what I can tell you is that In Australia, Beam Global Wine and Spirits sells ovver 7 million cases of Jim Beam Bourbon Whisky and Cola every year. The only forcasted problem about making the drinks available all over the US is that their appeal could lead to higher underage drinkers.

Midterms are coming up. Hillary Clinton is estimated to be raising over $60 million for her race. Hillary (D-NY) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) both running for re-election and they have raised the most money of any candidate in their respective parties. Developed by Good Magazine, we hope to see the candidates wearing these suits with pride for all their corporate sponsors.

Looking to break new ground, Google is playing the busy bee to snag a deal with Apple. After Google’s CEO joined the Apple board of directors, much speculation arose over the future of the two companies. Valleywag’s Nick Douglas revealed that “Apple will soon run loads of Google ads on its online properties, according to an outside source.” (continued below)

“That’s part of Apple’s plan to break into online advertising. In a deal that should bring in several hundred million dollars off the bat, the company will run ads, most notably on its iTunes store.” Google is really getting on the defensive as MSN and Yahoo begin persuing their publishing network deals. Google already has control of MySpace.com’s search results while MSN is working on jumping into Facebook. We can only wait and see how this partnership will work out in the coming weeks.

Google is begining to experiment with the way you use the web. Their new contextual based advertising delivery system which publishes sponsorship links at the top of search results (in blue) are being removed if you do not click them. Based on trials by Clickz and other search engine watch web sites, it was discovered that the ads shift positions as you refresh a page without clicking on a blue background sponsor ad. With the countless lawsuits Google is facing, the company hopes this new advertisement delivery system would add value for the advertiser.

Undoubtly, Google will be charging a premium for their new fangled features. I can only wish Google could bounce Adsense ads around my site to increase revenue. We’ll just have to wait and see how this affects Adsense.

Steretypes really do have an impact on results a new study reveals. A new ABC study shows us that before taking an exam you really shouldn’t watch ditzy females on television. The study showed that women who watched commercials with stereotypical ditzy females before taking a math test scored 38 percent lower than women who didn’t see the ads. The study also revealed that Asians, when reminded they do well in math, actually perform better in school. The study also revealed you could control a black person’s test scores prior to taking a test by telling he or she how they’ll perform.

LonelyGirl15, made infamous through YouTube as one of the most downloadable videos on the portal, is now looking to generate ad revenue from her new ad supported website Revver. Revver is the first viral video network that pays for your talents. The creators of the web based drama are now known and the videos are known to be fictious. The series of videos focused on a so-called 15 year old Bree and drew thousands upon thousands of fans world-wide. The high quality produced videos spurred rumors on whether or not the saga was valid. Three amateur web detectives discovered that Bree was actually 19 year old New York Film Academy graduate Jessica Rose. Watch for her fictious saga to continue through Revver.

I thought ‘Wheels on a Bus’ was all I would ever hear on a school bus. Schools are working to change that by aligning with corporate sponsors who will place radio commercials targeted towards kids (who’ll influence the parents) in 11 states begining next month. Over 100,000 students on 800 buses will hear the mix of music and commercials thanks to Bus Radio. The company thinks that music on a bus will help ‘curb’ rowdiness. I think that would truly depend on the type of music. If they’re blasting rap or rock I can assure you kids will be jumping around screaming the lyrics and disturbing the driver. But Bus Radio says they will curb that possibility by playing Kelly Clarkson and other pop singers. The ads and the style of music will be adjusted by Bus Radio depending on the age of the riders (High School, Junior High, etc).

Currently, many school districts play radio from an approved list of stations with ads targeted at the general population rather than directed towards a target age audience. Most kids just ignore the ads. The one hour Bus Radio broadcasts will have six minutes of public service ads and eight minutes of commercials. Bus Radio’s spokesperson said that the schools will be compensated for the number of students, length of time on the bus, and frequency of broadcasts. Could Bus Radio be MORE specific?

During these times of increasing smoking bans no one would imagine seeing this. Thanks to a machine called Art-o-Mat, cigarette machines are back in style. More than 80 cigarette vending machines across the country have been placed in the Whitney Musem in New York, MOCA in California, and Whole Foods in Washington. The machines dispense contemporary art cigarette packs and cost just about the same as a regular pack. Five bucks will get you hand designed jewelry, small watercolors, mini sculptures, miniature oils, and other contraptions with the pack. The revenue is divided up between the artist, machine vendor, and the venue. A new and interesting way to look at marketing cancer I must say. For smokers, the artistic vending machines are more about discovery and a cultural approach.