August 25, 2004

		Fuse, Amalgamated Take It All Off
		BREAKING: Tilex, DDB/S.F. Deliver the Truth About Mold
		MOVERS: Hires at Hill, Holliday and Free Market
		ON THE WEB: Unsafe at Any Speed

Fuse, Amalgamated Take It All Off

Fuse "Too hot for TV."

If you've been wondering what music channel Fuse and agency Amalgamated could possibly do to top the stir they created by parodying Apple's iPod campaign or running confrontational billboards across from MTV's headquarters, here's your answer: Uncensored nudity.

A new infomercial, directed by HKM's Jacobs/Briere via Canadian prodco New New Films, takes its cues from "Girls Gone Wild," as one man and three women punctuate their praise of Fuse by flashing the camera. On TV, the action is obscured by censor bars, but it's not on Fuse's "Totally Uncensored Advertisement" DVD, which -- as the commercial tells you -- you can order via a toll-free number. And you really can. And it's really uncensored (or so we hear), featuring not only the commercials, but other "Girls Gone Wild" fare like outtakes and footage from casting sessions. At $29.99, it's not exactly priced to sell, but Amalgamated creative director Jason Gaboriau says there have already been some takers. "I want people to buy it," he says. "I think the DVD is hilarious."

While the campaign may seem to be all about shock value -- and, no question, it is shocking, particularly for a channel owned by a media conglomerate like Cablevision -- Gaboriau says that it started out as a solution to a media problem. "We wanted to advertise on other networks and we wanted to go national. We don't have a lot of money, so we decided to go the direct response route." The infomercial idea killed two birds with one stone, cutting the media budget in half and making it harder for competing operators to turn the ad down, since it actually sells a product. And if you're in the late night infomercial space, Gaboriau explains, you might as well try to blend in with "Girls Gone Wild" and other "too hot for TV" offerings. "To us, that's the whole trick," he says. "It all came out of the media and the rest of it kind of fell into place."

Now the only question seems to be who will take the calls from the media when word about the campaign gets out. Outspoken Fuse president and New York Post fixture Marc Juris recently departed to assume the role of general manager at Court TV.

BREAKING

Tilex "Safe Place"

This week, DDB/S.F. debuts what is arguably the second best campaign we've ever seen for a bathroom tile cleaner. (The best, of course, was the Gold Lion-winning "Prison Visitor" spot for Vim from directing team the Perlorian Brothers and Toronto agency Zig. Tough category suddenly.) In a series of 15-second spots for Tilex -- directed by Villains' Douglas Avery -- we see quick cuts of people who just can't handle the fact that "all homes have mold." Like it or not, these people need some Tilex, which positions itself here as "The Mold Killer."

MOVERS

Lesley Bielby, former global planning director at J. Walter Thompson/New York, has joined Hill, Holliday/New York as senior VP-director of brand planning. ... Loretta Tassotti, former head of broadcast business affairs at Cliff Freeman and Partners, has joined Free Market Films as executive producer.

ON THE WEB

At least Chevy will be able to save on some of those royalties for the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Reuters reports that GM, in the face of protests from safety groups, has pulled an ad that features a kid daydreaming about racing a Corvette through the streets and, at one point, through the air. In a joint letter to GM, a coalition of groups described the commercial as "among the most dangerous anti-safety messages to be aired on national television in recent years." The commercial was created by Chevy agency Campbell-Ewald and directed by Guy Ritchie via Anonymous Content, with special effects provided by Digital Domain.

MORE NEWS / ARCHIVE

ESPN Gameday Hosts Tell it on the Mountain [08.23.04]
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Modernista! Finds a Place for TIAA-CREF [08.23.04]
Celebrity Cruises Teams with Cirque Du Soleil [08.20.04]
Hires at Driver and Animax [08.20.04]
Indie Films Brave Hollywood for Malibu Film Fest [08.20.04]
Action at The Production Farm, Swell and Eisner Interactive [08.18.04]
Supercuts Knows Men [08.18.04]
VW Spotlights Touareg, Phaeton for Olympics [08.18.04]