Wacky Wodka Vodka's latest ad (Copyranter)

Back in the mildly cold days of November, Wodka Vodka made a statement with their billboard. Unfortunately, it was a statement that many construed as antisemitic, stating "Christmas Quality, Hanukkah Pricing." We dug a little deeper into the wormhole of Wodka's wacky website, and found out that the spirit distiller has a whole host of other offensive stereotypes to promote their alcohol, including "Dehli Neil," "Sumo Shu," and an ad for Black Russians. (You can probably guess.)
Now Wodka, a subsidiary of Panache Beverages LLC, is at it again with this ad above the Brooklyn bridge and near Penn Station.

We don't know what's worse for Wodka: the fact that they're trying to sell vodka by comparing it to prostitution, or that they're using the same copy from their last campaign, substituting Christmas for escorts and Hanukkah with hookers.

Emanuel left his D.C. job in September. He officially announced his candidacy in the race for Chicago City Hall on Saturday. 

The ad begins by emphasizing Emanuel's roots Windy City roots. 

"Chicago is a great city with great people and I want my children to feel as passionate about this city as I did growing up," Emanuel says amid footage of him shaking hands in the streets. 

The title of Emanuel's ad is "Tough," which is appropriate given Emanuel's reputation as an enforcer and the blunt assessment of Chicago's future that he offers in the commercial.

"We face big challenges from our schools our streets to our businesses," Emanuel says. 

Emanuel ends the ad with a comment that, in the words of Mediaite's Rachel Sklar, "smartly appeals to city status anxiety" in Chicago.  

"I think we're at  a crossroads, we've got to decide whether we're gonna continue to be a great city or become a second tier city," he says.

Emanuel's campaign commercial makes its television debut tomorrow. It will be interesting to see whether playing into the local inferiority complex backfires or brings him votes. 

Watch video of Emanuel's campaign ad below.

City officials, however, are trying to steer people away from this simple pleasure. The New York Post is reporting that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is set to roll out a $370,000 ad campaign aimed at attacking high-sodium foods, and soups have become a prime target. You'll soon see them all over the subway: posters featuring an open can of soup, but instead of a savory essence wafting out of the snack-filled cylinder, there's an overflowing mound of salt. 

The Post acknowledges that despite the city's claims that a high-sodium diet can cause heart attack and stroke, Bloomberg himself is a salt fiend. Much like its mayor, the city will face a choice between believing the costly ad campaign and staying away from sodium, or sating its salt tooth with a cheap, satisfying and warm bowl of Campbell's. The days are only getting shorter, chillier and bleaker. Soup is here to help.

nfreeman [at] observer.com | @nfreeman1234

The New Yorker costs $4.99 on the iPad, one dollar less than a newsstand copy, and additional issues are available for purchase within the app for the same price (the "within the app" part points to one area of contention between publishers and Apple, which would like to control subscription sales). The app has also launched with attractive space for advertisers, like a minute-long American Express interview with Geoffrey Canada.

Earlier: Taking Risks with The New Yorker? David Remnick's Magazine Follows Wired to the iPad

We'd like to imagine that somewhere in the Journal's ad department a copywriter agonized for hours over whether or not to capitalize the T in "Ahead of the times."

Good call.

See a new ad? Be in touch.

zturner@observer.com