Late last week, Vice magazine promoted a new pictorial spread from its Fiction issue. The problem? The photos depicted a handful of famous suicides by legendary female writers with appalling attention to detail, right down to the hosiery that hung Taiwanese author Sanmao. 

The youth culture publication is well-known for its edgy content and no-holds-barred attitude—a reputation that has repeatedly made headlines and garnered unfavorable reactions from readers and critics, even as it partners with the likes of CNN and HBO.

While the brand has successfully turned itself into a more respectable news source over the years, partnering with brands and producing documentaries like its much talked about Basketball Diplomacy stunt that brought Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters to North Korea to wrap its first season on HBO, Vice still gets its kicks from content like the "Last Words" spread, which, after much protest, was pulled from its website on Tuesday and replaced with a statement from the editorial staff:Continue reading...

Cisco wants to be more than the largest manufacturer of computer networking equipment. It wants to guide customers through the myriad possibilities of the Internet of Everything, a phrase it's co-opting in service of its new brand positioning.

The tech brand has shut down its six-year-old tagline, "The Human Network." Its new tagline, unveiled today in a $100 million campaign — "Tomorrow Starts Here," a phrase you'll find, fittingly, all over the Internet and beyond: on its homepage and on social media as a promoted hashtag on Twitter, on its Facebook page, in a new TV campaign, in an infographic, in a series of blog posts, and in a new print campaign that comes to life via augmented reality and Cisco's mobile app.

The brand's chief marketing officer, Blair Christie, told TheStreet.com that it's more than just a campaign and new tagline.Continue reading...

Lexus is pitching a hybrid tablet/print experience with CinePrint™, its proprietary ad technology to merge print and digital. The Toyota-owned luxury automaker demonstrates the 2013 ES in a video demo (below) of its ad in the Oct. 15th issue of Time Inc.'s Sports Illustrated magazine — just slip a tablet under the page to see it come to life.Continue reading...

The September issues of fashion magazines tend are closely watched because of September's annual fashion frenzy, but at least one October fashion magazine issue is garnering attention. And not for its take on hemlines and the new runway collections, but for one of its ads, which will play a video. In print.

The October issue of Marie Claire UK incorporates a black-and-white commercial for Dolce&Gabbana fragrance, the first UK display advert of its kind. Appearing on pages 34 and 35 in a limited run of a few thousand copies of the issue, a male and female model pose in a coastal scene and when the page is opened, the 45-second spot (directed by Mario Testino) automatically plays. And hopefully won't remind readers of those annoying greeting cards that play music upon opening.

D&G's description of the spot: "In the campaign that launches the Dolce&Gabbana classic fragrances Pour Femme and Pour Homme, Mario Testino sets a scene of fairytale romance, as the backdrop for a tale of love and transgression, like a gem of ancient storytelling. Starring Laetitia Casta and Noah Mills, and set to the strains of 'Città Vuota' by Mina. Shot on location in Sicily in the magnificent baroque village of Erice and the beach of La Riserva Naturale dello Zingaro."

The underlying technology that whisks them from the screen to the page is produced by Americhip, which has been developing multisensory advertising and marketing technologies since 2001.Continue reading...

Continuing its annual tradition, Jack Daniel's commissioned graphic designers to come up with their interpretation of America's July 4th holiday. The results (along with short films on their process and inspiratioin) can be viewed at jackdaniels.com/independence.

The brand worked with independent artists in Berkeley, CA; Austin, TX; and Brooklyn, NY, to create five posters centered around the theme of Independence. The poster above, for example, was "sewn entirely by hand using hand-dyed, American muslin fabric soaked in tea and Jack Daniel's."

The project also raises a glass this year to letterpress pioneers Yee-Haw Industries, which produced 10 posters for the project kick-off last year and (sadly) recently shut its doors.

In an historic and formidable alliance formed by America's Cable Advertising Bureau, a consortium of TV networks, print, radio, digital and media brands and individuals are joining forces to educate marketers about the buying power and "the new realities" of the Black consumer market.

The CAB has pulled together a who's who of black media for its 23 charter members: BET Networks, HuffPost BlackVoices, Black Enterprise, Burrell Communications, Essence Communications, GlobalHue, Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, KJLH Radio, Johnson Publishing Company, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, Nielsen, North Star Group, National Newspaper Publishers Association, One Solution, Radio One, TV One, Interactive One, Reach Media, Steve Harvey Radio, TheGrio, The Root, The Africa Channel, UniWorld Group, Vibe Media plus Walton Isaacson to create America's first black media and marketing consortium, #INTHEBLACK.

Using a Twitter hashtag as its name is a catchier hook than the group's more SEO-friendly alternative name (Reaching Black Consumers). The initiative launched Monday with a microsite and an ad in the business section of the New York Times and trade magazines such as Adweek and Broadcasting & Cable, as well as ads across of the consortium's media member outlets. The goal, they stated, is "to encourage increased investments in the African American consumer marketplace while helping companies reach the African American audience more effectively."Continue reading...

Let’s get visual! Posters are always a popular medium of visually conveying messages, whether it is an advertisement or just a statement. Case in point: the eyecatching Back for the Future campaign poster by La Boca, above, promoting the Nike MAG (aka the "Marty McFly sneaker") release and eBay auction to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation.Continue reading...