Campaigns

PETA is targeting South America as the market for its latest campaign. The organization's spokesperson? None other than Lydia Guevara, granddaughter of Marxist leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara. In the organization's first-ever South American campaign for vegetarianism, the scantily clad Lydia, a vegetarian, wears nothing but bandoliers of baby carrots and a red beret, in a reference to her grandfather, a revolutionary who contributed to Fidel Castro's rise to leadership in Cuba.

"It very much evokes the tagline of the ad, which is 'Join the vegetarian revolution," said PETA representative Michael McGraw. "It's an homage of sorts to her late grandfather." What do you think of the campaign? Does it get your attention in the right way, or it is too racy and politically charged?

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2009 has been a rough year for casual dining, with many restaurant chains struggling to stay afloat. The solution proposed at Denny's? Become friends with the cool kids. Denny's, a 24-hour eating establishment with a reputation as a family road trip pit stop, is attempting to transform itself into an all-night hotspot for young adults.

With the onset of its Allnighter program last year, Denny's began its metamorphosis into a night-owl oasis, blasting rock and country from the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The company also started offering a Rockstar menu at night, hawking dishes like burritos designed by Good Charlotte and a country-fried steak combo created by Rascal Flatts.

The payoff has been meager with late night traffic increasing by only 5 percent. Still, the chain continues to promote its newly-minted image to college campuses, in hopes that schools will consider changing the names of existing locations to "Allnighter" and offer the restaurant's Rockstar menu. I haven't hit up a Denny's since my last road trip, but I'm curious to know if any of you have checked it out. Does the new late-night Denny's lounge seem to have an edge on the competition?

Photo by sun dazed

If you were shocked by Audrina Partridge and Padma Lakshmi's lascivious Carl's Jr. commercials, then wait until you see what the company's up to now. Hardee's, the sister brand to Carl's Jr., has debuted "Biscuit Holes," deep-fried, doughnut hole-shaped biscuits that are iced with cinnamon sugar. To come up with a more creative moniker, however, Hardee's is asking customers for help through a new campaign titled "Name Our Holes." Customers can submit their name ideas on the campaign's microsite, NameOurHoles.com, where they can also view other entries.

In the TV spot below, consumers offer up names ranging from "hole munchers" to "puffy nuts." I don't know about you, but I think Hardee's is taking toilet humor a little too far — just watching the clip makes me feel kind of dirty. In your mind, is the campaign funny and successful, or simply gross and immature?

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