Please note: if you are attempting to view these ads shortly after receiving this mailout on a Thursday, you may find that the video streams run slowly because of heavy simultaneous demand from other Adbrands subscribers who have also just received the same email. Please wait for the ads to load before pressing play, or try again later. Apologies for any inconvenience.

The hotly anticipated new Microsoft ad made its debut in the US last Friday night during the opening game of the NFL season. This, you will remember, is the focus of a new $300m campaign designed to boost consumer interest in Microsoft software. The one for which regular Microsoft agency McCann was asked to step aside in favour of ultra-hip Crispin Porter & Bogusky. The one designed to counter once and for all those Mac vs PC ads for Apple. And now, here it is! And the results are... well, see for yourself. We're no big fans of Jerry Seinfeld here at Adbrands.net (yes, blasphemy, I know to many of you) but, really, this is exactly why. Not funny, Jer. And as for your straight guy... According Microsoft, the idea is "to re-engage emotionally consumers" and "get the conversation going". Presumably "What a crap ad" is not the conversation they had in mind. The guys at Apple must be over the moon. If you have a minute, have a look at this alternate version of Microsoft's ad which has, we think, a much better ending. Now how about some good stuff? Let's wash away the taste with three great ads. 

Nike launched a new campaign for its Nike Women sub-brand, spotlighting a collection of different female athletes in its brand ambassador stable. The "Here I Am" tag line and the personal challenges concept are, to our mind, a little too reminiscent of past campaigns from Reebok ("I Am What I Am") and Adidas ("Impossible is Nothing"), but the execution is generally very satisfying. The best-known of the five athletes featured here is tennis star Maria Sharapova, but the most entertaining spot, we think, is the one for judoka Delphine Delsalle. See the others at the NikeWomen website. Wieden & Kennedy Amsterdam is the agency behind the campaign.

This new spot for Diesel's Fuel For Life Unlimited fragrance (by L'Oreal) is simply stunning, and greatly enhanced by a beautiful piece of music. (Sounds familiar? It was the seduction theme from Kubrick's Barry Lyndon movie: Schubert's Piano Trio in E-Flat). Fred Farid Lambert is the agency.

And finally, we love the new ad for Axe/Lynx shower gel by VegaOlmosPonce. No words are necessary - just enjoy!

In the news this past week: Advertisers

According to French business daily La Tribune, automotive giant PSA Peugeot Citroen is considering the launch of a new brand to house a range of low-cost vehicles for Europe, possibly to counter the extraordinary expansion of Renault's Logan models without devaluing its existing Peugeot and Citroen models. According to La Tribune, it is considering reintroducing one of several inactive brands which it already owns. One possibility could be Talbot, an old British marque originally introduced in the early 1900s and used by Peugeot from 1978 after it acquired the operations of the old Sunbeam-Talbot manufacturing business from Chrysler. The Talbot name was phased out at in the early 1990s and has been dormant ever since.

In the UK, Premier Foods will tomorrow unveil its biggest ever marketing campaign to relaunch Hovis, the iconic British packaged bread brand. Although it remains one of the country's best-loved and most familiar products, sales of Hovis have steadily declined since the 1990s as a result of competition from younger competitors such as Warburton's and Kingsmill. Premier have committed almost £30m to a new campaign, the biggest ever for a bread brand. It launches with a 122-second film (one second for each year of Hovis's age) celebrating its heritage. We're hoping to bring you the spot as one of our ads of the week next week. 

Also this week, British smoothie company Innocent announced its first steps into the ready meals sector with the launch of Innocent Veg Pots, a range of microwaveable snacks, including Tuscan Bean Stew and Thai Coconut Curry. The foods were concocted by the team at The Fat Duck, chef Heston Blumenthal's Michelin-starred restaurant in Bray. Another new launch announced this week, but rather different in nature, was the first product from electronics company Philips in a sector euphemistically entitled "relationship care". Designed to enhance the love life of couples aged 35 to 55 (presumably under 35s don't need the help), the Intimate Massager comes in his and her models with four vibration modes "perfect for exploring and playing" and are "lubricant compatible and easy to clean". They're available in branches of Boots as well as online at Amazon and direct from Philips here.

In the US, Procter & Gamble transferred ownership of mass-market skincare brand Noxzema to Alberto-Culver in North and Latin America, but retains control of the business in Europe. Tobacco giant Philip Morris continued its push into additional market sectors with the acquisition for an extraordinary $11.7bn of UST, America's leading producer of premium snuff. Brands include Skoal and Copenhagen. UST brings with it a fine wine business, Ste Michelle Estates, which Philip Morris parent Altria is expected to sell on at a later date. The deal price, which includes around $1.3bn of debt, is almost six times UST's 2007 revenues.

Domino's Pizza announced the replacement for chief marketing officer Ken Calwell, who left earlier this year. The new appointee is Russell Weiner, former VP, marketing for colas at Pepsi-Cola North America.

The latest development in the continuing crisis in the mortgage sector was the US government's decision to take effective control of troubled mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at a cost of up to $200bn. Most commentators agree that the potential collapse of one or both companies, which between them hold or guarantee around half of all US mortgage loans, would have a devastating effect on the US economy. Ultimately both companies will be forced to reduce their portfolios and therefore their pivotal role in the US market and resulting political influence. The main losers here will be Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's investors, whose holdings will effectively be wiped out. Insurers and banks could also take another substantial hit because the takeover of will lead to defaults on an estimated $500bn worth of credit derivatives on which the two companies are thought to be sitting.

Initially, US share prices surged on the news of the Fannie and Freddie rescue, before plunging again two days later. That fall was initiated when shares in investment bank Lehman Brothers plummeted by 45% after rumours circulated that its negotiations to raise capital overseas from Korea Development Bank had collapsed. Other credit-strapped companies including Washington Mutual and Wachovia banks and AIG also suffered sharp falls of between 15% and 20%, and the panic quickly spread across the rest of the market, as the potential impact from Fannie and Freddie's credit defaults became clear. 

Meanwhile in the UK, British lender Nationwide confirmed that it will absorb two smaller building societies which are struggling to withstand the dramatic decline in the UK market. The Cheshire and the Derbyshire mutual building societies will contribute around another 100 branches to Nationwide. Further consolidation of the country's 50 or so other mutual societies is expected.

In the news this past week: Agencies

The European arm of Interpublic's Initiative media network took a body blow this week when the UK office was dropped from the shortlist pitching for the Orange account, until now one of its biggest clients. The three agencies still in the contest are Mediaedge:CIA, Vizeum and digital specialist I-level. Brand Republic commented that rival Mediacom is understood to be aggressively targeting the capture of Initiative's remaining flagship client Tesco. Days later, the agency announced the abrupt departure of both Jerry Hill, global strategic development director and former UK CEO, and Dirk Wiedenmann, CEO, Initiative EMEA. The latter's role will be inherited by Graham Duff, also CEO of Universal McCann EMEA, and Initiative will move into the same building as UM in November. Despite these developments, Interpublic once again denied that there are plans to merge the two agencies. Yet. 

Havas launched a new digital healthcare agency under the name Havas Drive. Although it carries the group name it is aligned primarily with the Euro RSCG network, whose principal healthcare services subsidiary is Euro RSCG Life. Its launch project is the development of the Virtual Convention Booth, an interactive service which allows pharmaceutical companies to present their products to medical professionals online in the same way that they would at a trade fair. The service is being launch via the independently owned WebMD online portal.

In account assignments, Canon called a review of pan-European media, currently held by Mediaedge:CIA; Hyundai and Kia reviewed Australian media, held by Initiative and Total Media respectively; Office Depot placed its $100-plus creative account with Y&R New York; Petsmart appointed Bernstein-Rein. For all other appointments, subscribers can access the full Adbrands Account Assignments database here.

In the news this past week: Media

The planned alliance between Google and Yahoo is to face much closer scrutiny by regulators, after the US Association of National Advertisers (ANA), voiced its opposition. Under the proposed deal, conceived earlier this year as a way for Yahoo to fight off a takeover bid from Microsoft, the web portal would transfer some of its paid search inventory to Google. The ANA's formal letter of complaint to the US Justice Department points out "that a Google-Yahoo partnership will control 90 per cent of search advertising inventory". As a result, "the partnership will likely diminish competition, increase concentration of market power, limit choices currently available and potentially raise prices to advertisers for high quality, affordable search advertising". The ANA, which represents the interests of most leading US advertisers including Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson and Wal-Mart, says its opposition comes after consultation with its members as well as with Google and Yahoo. Meanwhile, Yahoo's institutional shareholders began asking when exactly the company will start to deliver the big improvements it promised at its annual meeting on August 1st. Aside from a few comparatively minor staff appointments, the most noticeable development since then has been the continuing slide of Yahoo's stock price, which touched a new five-year low this week of under $17.70, a long way from the figure of $33 which was offered by Microsoft in the Spring.

As always, if you haven't already done so, please confirm your subscription to the free Adbrands Weekly Update by clicking here or on the link at the foot of this email. Thank you for your assistance! 

Simon Tesler
Publisher, Adbrands

Forwarding this email to colleagues? No problem at all. The more the merrier as far as we're concerned. But we're also very happy to take that responsibility off your hands if you'd prefer it. Just drop us a line by return email with the addresses of your colleagues and we'll add them to our list. There's no charge, and don't worry, we won't send them anything else.