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I was just about to go to bed when I got an email from a woman at Edelman, the PR firm that represents Unilever, maker of AXE body spray. She had read my post on the Frank Fairey DIY Obama poster (Barack Obama Has A Posse), and sent me a preview of 2 ads that will run in the major newspapers of Chicago and New York tomorrow, taking full advantage of the Super Tuesday media frenzy.

The ads aren’t great. They’re not overly clever or well art directed. But they’ll get some attention, and that’s really what AXE and Unilever want. I know that politicians are public domain when it comes to satire and comedy, but this is beyond controversial, using a politician-in-the-running to push a product. There will be many letters and emails for and against this (but mostly against), and of course confused voters who will believe Hillary Clinton is actually endorsing AXE (or Obama / McCain). I’ll be watching to see if any of the candidates mock Hillary for it. I’ll be even more interested to see if Hillary attacks Unilever for these ads. I’m not sure what good it will do for AXE, other than get people talking about the brand. But will the right people be talking, and will they buy the product? That remains to be seen.

What impresses me is that Edelman is digging a bit deeper to get this out there, and create an underlying buzz through the little bloggers, like me. Or maybe it just stroked my blogger’s ego to receive acknowledgment of readership. I feel so used, yet so happy! Let the controversy begin.

SIDEBAR: I talk a bit about Unilever’s split personality branding of both Dove and AXE in this Social Media Today podcast.

Popularity: 53% [?]

Deutsche Telekom AG, mother company to T-Mobile in Holland, is (allegedly) attempting to register the colour Magenta at the European brand office. This would effectively block other companies from using this primary printing colour for their own brands.

Reaction in the Netherlands has been quite negative toward T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom AG, but it has created some great design ideas. What happens to CMYK without the M? FreeMagenta.nl has is posting some possibilities, and is tracking reactions.

COLOURlovers was warning us about this pinkish hostile takeover back in November of 2007, citing some of Deutsche Telekom AG’s claims. It’s not exactly clear:

…the colour magenta [and other designs and logos] are registered and/or unregistered trademarks of Deutsche Telekom AG in the US and/or other countries.

link via Trendhunter

Popularity: 52% [?]