Independent Mexico City agency Anonimo came up with the unusual bicentennial concept “Let’s Celebrate 200 Years of Mustaches,” playing off one of Mexico’s most iconic national symbols, the macho-man mustache, as sported by revolutionary Pancho Villa.

Jose Cuervo is challenging Mexicans to grow mustaches as outrageous as possible before the Sept. 16 celebration. Encouraged by a big TV and outdoor ad campaign, contestants upload pictures of their mustachioed selves to Jose Cuervo’s bigotes.mx site. Bigote is Spanish for mustache, and the site has even invented a Spanish word bigotizar to describe the act of mustache growing. For those unable to grow a luxuriant mustache (women, for instance), Jose Cuervo says, “You can just paint it on your face.”

The pictures are all posted on the site for voting, and the highest-scoring mustaches and their owners will be Jose Cuervo’s guests for a trip to a bicentennial bash in the town of Tequila in Jalisco, Mexico. And everyone who uploads a photo will have his or her name printed on the label of the world’s biggest tequila bottle, which will be presented on the bicentennial day and preserved as part of Mexico’s history.

Read more or check out their website and grow un bigote!

Source: AdAge

Toshiba is trying to get their way out of their get-your-money-back promotion.

“Si la Roja gana, tú ganas” said the ad in big honking letters in magazines, newspapers, and TV commercials. (If the red win, you win)

Buy a Toshiba laptop with the last Intel Core i5 2010 processor, or a Toshiba TV and, if Spain wins the final we will give all your money back.

That was it. Pretty clear and straightforward… unless you read the small print, which was not available in any of the ads, only in the company’s web site. There, the rules said that you had to register your product before June 17 to qualify. Of course, almost nobody did that, because the ads themselves didn’t say anything about registration or any requirement. It was only: Buy our products and we will give your money back if Spain wins the final.

As a result, Toshiba customers and consumer associations in Spain are up in arms against the company, demanding their money back exactly like the ads said, no registration required. The promotion sets the money back deadline to August 2, which is not in the ads either, but in the website small print rules.

Yipes! Toshiba better have some superior customer service reps to deal with this one!

Source: Gizmodo

Not sure what to do with your vuvuzela now that the World Cup is over? KFC has an idea that is sure to satisfy your stomach (and your neighbor’s ears).

KFC’s new Vuvuzela Exchange Program offers heartbroken soccer fans a free taste of the Colonel’s famous comfort food in exchange for their recently silenced plastic horns. The Vuvuzela Exchange Program is simple - the first 500 U.S. residents who mail their vuvuzelas to KFC Headquarters by July 15, 2010 will receive a KFC gift check to try the new Doublicious™ sandwich in return.

I wonder what KFC plans to do with their soon-to-be vuvuzela collection?

Teen retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc., looking to jump-start back-to-school denim sales, is offering anyone who tries on a pair of jeans starting later this month a free smart phone.

The offer comes with a catch: the new phones, such as the Droid Eris by HTC, the BlackBerry Curve and the LG Ally, are only available with new two-year service plans. More than 40 phones are available across multiple carriers, including AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile. The iPhone is not included.

The deal runs from July 21 to Aug. 3. Customers who also sign up for a new smart phone and plan also get a $25 gift card for use at American Eagle.

Find out more at http://www.ae.com/jeans.

Dominos is continuing its transparency theme, promising to eschew tabletop photography shenanigans in its ads, and inviting its customers to send in their real photos of piping hot Dominos product.

A short video shows just how unnatural food photography can be and sets up the premise that Dominos’ pizza can stand on its own, in person and in the company’s ads. The company invites people to “Show us Your Pizza” and upload unretouched pics to the Dominos site, to earn the chance to have submitted photos used in an ad campaign. Check it out and submit your photo here

Source: creativity-online.com

In an special partnership, Target and Ben & Jerry’s have teamed up to reward do-gooders with free ice cream through a program called “Scoop it Forward“! Target will carry two exclusive flavors, Berry Voluntary and Brownie Chew Gooder, that were created to encourage consumers to volunteer in their local communities. Customers can find local volunteer opportunities through an affiliate website, VolunteerMatch.org, and after registering for an activity they can forward the details along to five friends and each person will receive a coupon for a free pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, redeemable at Target stores. For each subsequent volunteer activity they take place in, they will get an additional $1 coupon. What a sweet reason to get out there and make a difference!

Source: Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

I love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese! It was one of my favorites when I was a kid, and I still consider it a comfort food. Kraft has now launched their noodle smile cam. According to adfreak.com, “Kraft is running a banner unit on Yahoo!’s homepage that lets users activate their webcams and control a Mac & Cheese noodle based on their smiles.” It uses CP+B facial recognition technology through webcams to animate the noodle corresponding to your smile. This technology has already been used for Burger King and Coke Zero.

I think that this is a great and fun idea to promote the classic Mac and Cheese! And because this is my last blog post I would just like to say thank you to everyone here at Source Marketing! I have had an amazing time and have learned so much! Have a good summer

Start your engines racers! Mini is challenging the Porsche 911 Camera S to a race in two weeks against its Cooper S model. Mini has started a Facebook campaign to promote the hype of the possible race which now has over 100,000fans. Porsche has not committed to the race but is taking it under serious consideration. Mini has even gone as far as calling at Porsche in a full page spread in The New York Times(see image on right).

Porsche is one of the most well-known luxury car manufactures and has an incredible racing record. People are hoping that the incentive of adding one more win to their record will convince Porsche to participate.  Porsche 911 Camera S would be favored to win due to is extremely more powerful engine which has some people questioning Mini’s motives. This would bring much attention to both car manufacturers and could possibly benefit both companies.

Source: adfreak.com

I love going to concerts! It’s a great experience to share with friends and an opportunity to watch your favorite artist perform. However, I absolutely hate buying the tickets because of all the fees that are charged to your credit card after you find the perfect seats. This month Live Nation is trying to change that. They are launching a new promotion called “No Service Fee June,” which will eliminate service fees on over 8 million tickets. Live Nation claims that this promotion will help reduce cost by $12-$13 on the average ticket price for all of their artists. These artists include Dave Matthew’s (an office favorite), Jimmy Buffet, Jonas Brothers and Kings of Leon. Live Nation is hoping that this promotion will reduce the percentage of the now 40% of tickets that go unsold. Now that “No Service Fee June” has started, don’t be surprised if you see me in the crowd at multiple concerts this summer!

Source: brandweek.com

Even though soccer is not a mainstream sport in the United States, this game captures the hearts of fans in almost every other country. Soccer, football, calcio or whatever you want to call it, has the power to bring the whole world together during its biggest and most passion filled event, the World Cup. During the summer months of this year, fans will be constantly checking the Internet for up to date scores, photos, and videos regarding their favorite teams. To make this all a little easier Yahoo has launched websites, search engines, micro-sites, games, and mobile experiences dedicated to the World Cup. This mobile site will be available on over 40 networks and 4500 types of phones. Yahoo is hoping that these new tools will act as opportunities for advertising and marketing agencies. I believe that this initiative is just the start of the promotional techniques that will be seen during the 2010 World Cup. Marketing a brand name or message that will be seen by a good percentage of the world, it’s like a promotional dream!

Source: adweek.com