"Viva Viagara" spot

Viagra's lastest spot, "Viva Viagra," appeared on last night's broadcast of NBC Nightly News. The commercial features a six-man band in a barn singing about the benefits of the erectile dysfunction drug. The approach is a departure from the controversial pills-as-devil-horns campaign, but, as Tim Nudd suggests, the new spot doesn't quite ring true.

Advertising anything directly related to sex is generally tougher than using it to sell fashion, fragrance, and alcohol. Just ask the condom marketers. Audiences hold the ads to a much higher level as do standards boards.

A new spin on "position-seeking" ads

Reports are that Durex out of Australia is running ads "in search of" condom testers. Interested parties are encouraged to register on Durex's website for the young man's ultimate "bragging rights" job: "Hmm... sounds like you had a great internship but guess what I did last summer?"

A look at the website reveals that the opportunity probably has more to do with a viral (of the internet variety) campaign than serving as a participant in a Masters and Johnson study. On the sign up page, you submit not only your name and email address but that of two friends. And instead of spending your summer at the Durex laboratory, it's more likely that the condom marketer sends you condoms and you provide feedback via an internet survey, if and when, that is, you use them. The image of the woman in the accompanying ad certainly gives one the false impression that she and others like her will be involved in the testing.

Cheeky advertising crossing the line?

Naked rear ends are showing up with increasing regularity in Times Square and Manahattan. Toto, a toilet marketer, is introducing its heated toilet seat/bidet hybrid, the "Washlet," to US audiences with a campaign featuring images of happy faces superimposed on butt cheeks. Quite popular globally, Americans have been slow to embrace "water cleansing."

A recent Adfreak post noted that a clergyman complained about the visual outdoor assault near his church and sunday school. The ads are attention getting but they are relevant to the product's function. You can see a demonstration of the new seat on the Washlet's website.

Sexy viral videos: Axe and Silverjet

Viral videos, posting one’s commercial on YouTube or other sties, is a way to garner extra exposure for one’s company and sexually themed messages past network standards boards. Two such instances surfaced recently. Axe posted clips of women auditioning for its spots: “Bow chicka wha wha.” Axe is garnering extra exposure with the enticing videos, which in most instances would be left on the cutting room floor.

Second, and we’re not sure of the video’s authenticity, a viral video making the rounds promotes Silverjet’s “women’s only” bathrooms with a same-sex nod to the mile-high-club. It’s doubtful the spot would make on it US television but it can still be seen online.

"Stiptease" meets Bojangles'

Get a load of this commercial. Adfreak features an Austrialian spot showcasing a pole-dancing mom who curbs her cravings for a poultry restaurant (Nandos) with chewing gum. The Nandos patch was interferring with profits so she turned to a form of "nicoderm" for chicken pangs. Quite the approach for a family restaurant. I can't image this commercial running in the States. It clearly demonstrates the use of sexual themes in advertising solely for attention-getting purposes.