Barbara Lippert

Attack Ads Lose Their Bite

November 10, 2008

Last week's presidential election indeed proved to be a historic -- or, as Jon Stewart facetiously put it during his telecast, "an" historic -- night. A new American archetype, Barack Obama is preternaturally smart and seemingly unflappable. He also ran a stellar campaign. But that arguably had more to do with the president-elect's oratory glory and his brilliant field operation than any actual TV advertising.

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Critique: Obama's in Fine Form

October 30, 2008

Though Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial wasn't perfect, Adweek's ad critic Barbara Lippert reports: "After sitting and watching the whole thing in real time, I've got to say I was moved."

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Where's the Logic in Smart HSBC Ads?

October 27, 2008

"We are in the midst of a once-in-a-century credit tsunami," Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, told a congressional panel last week. (Now you tell us, Al!) During his appearance, he also acknowledged that he had been "partially" wrong in advising against more regulation of derivatives. At least Greeny admitted to a "partial" wrongness -- that's more than the guys from Lehman Brothers, Goldman Sachs, etcetera have copped to.

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A Call to Head South for Obama

October 20, 2008

One of the hallmarks of comedian Sarah Silverman's aggressively non-PC style is that she manages to make shockingly offensive and bigoted jokes, but delivers all of her material with the same deadpan expression. She's attractive, and it's hard to know what to make of her blank, little girl face, coupled as it is with her inflammatory riffs on, among other things, rape, doodie and black people. Either you "get" her and think she's doing the whole thing with an ironic wink, forcing us to confront our own intolerance and prejudices. Or you think she's merely discovered the lazy route to creating controversy.

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Fey Chic

October 13, 2008

"The writers' room is on fire." That's actually the last line of Tina Fey's American Express commercial, which pokes fun at the Emmy award-winner's superhuman schedule -- as mom, head writer and producer of 30 Rock. Indeed, in terms of multitasking like a superwoman, the spot proves that there's nothing Tina can't do, including improving scripts just by walking past them, testing flutes, and running to that aforementioned smoke-filled room with a small but sturdy fire extinguisher.

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Manscaping Monologues

September 29, 2008

Was it only three years ago that the chest-waxing scene in The 40 Year Old Virgin caused such a ruckus? Well, manscaping time must be like dog years: We have come so far in the mainstreaming of male hair removal since then that a chest wax is no longer shocking or wince-worthy. It just seems normal -- like shaving your head.

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A Winner Out of the Gates

September 22, 2008

In Microsoft's newest ad, "Pride," people from all over the world speak into the camera saying, "I'm a PC," then describe their individual quirks. And with this simple, 60-second spot, Microsoft has given itself a strategy that makes sense in a piece of advertising I actually understand. And that's a good thing, because my head was about to implode from all the aggressive scratching required in watching the campaign's first ads.

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