PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 27, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Philadelphia City Paper, the alternative arts, entertainment and news weekly published by CP Communications, Inc., announces the launch of a new advertising campaign. The campaign launched the first week of October and is slated to continue throughout the remainder of the year. Created by Hammerhead and Whizbang, a new Manayunk-based creative boutique, the campaign represents the first significant branding effort for the paper in a number of years. What makes the campaign unusual is the way it targets potential new readers and advertisers. "We set out to create a campaign that said, 'intelligence is sexy,'" says Rob Linsalata, Hammerhead and Whizbang Founder and co-Creative Director. "It's recognizing that these days people can't be put into pat little categories. And City Paper readers, above all others, defy dim-witted categorization. They refuse to be put into a neat little box, and they aren't bothered in the least by their contradictions."
"Our readers are deeply textured, smart, interesting people ... of all ages," agrees Paul Curci, Publisher of City Paper. "Anyone who thinks that we only reach young hipsters is sadly mistaken. This campaign illustrates the demographic range of our readers. What they all have in common is that they're compelling."
"From an advertising perspective, our challenge was to say all that and more in one word. For us, that word is 'juicy,'" says Steve Linchuk, Hammerhead and Whizbang's co-Founder and the other half of the upstart creative team that inexplicably uses a monkey as a mascot. "Juicy says 'there's more here than meets the eye.' Combine that with the memorable image of an honor box plumped up like a juicy orange, and you've got something." David Warner, City Paper's Editor in Chief, agrees. "'Juicy' is provocative content that you can really sink your teeth into, whether it's a passionate theater review, intense investigative reporting, or an entire issue devoted to the best places throughout the city to experience what it's like to be a Philadelphian."
To further illustrate this idea, the campaign, which can be seen on billboards, Septa buses, subway cars and regional rail train platforms in and around the city, features real people from all over the Philadelphia region and from all walks of life. The well-dressed advertising executive who also raises pot-bellied pigs, for instance. Or the young, aspiring lawyer who also trespasses in the name of skateboarding. "These are people who freely celebrate their contradictions, and who do it with intelligence, sexiness, style and wit," says Linsalata. "That's what it means to be juicy. That's the essence of City Paper." For additional information and downloadable images of the campaign, visit www.hammerheadandwhizbang.com/juicy.