For as long as we can remember, rival brands have been challenging each other through a wide range of advertising mediums – from posters and billboard ads to videos and emails. But just when we think there won’t be anyone bringing anything new to the table, some brands decided to step up their game and use comparative advertising strategies to openly mock their rivals by creating parody ads.

(Image Source: protothema)

Comparative advertising strategies are most probably driven by each brand’s desire to prove that their products are the best. In that vein, we have got for you here a compilation of 5 notable advertising war campaigns between rival brands that you should not miss.

Recommended Reading: 28 Nice and Creative Tech Advertisements

1. Mercedes-Benz vs. Jaguar

Mercedes-Benz started a viral ad campaign in September 2013 to showcase their Intelligent Drive Magic Body Control which ensures optimum driving comfort. The message they wanted to get across was "What do chickens and Mercedes-Benz have in common? Stability at all times."

3 months later, Jaguar decided to challenge Mercedes-Benz’s chicken ad with their "Jaguar vs. Chicken" ad. They used a similar concept of a chicken showing its stability throughout the video but with a twist at the end: "Magic Body Control? We prefer cat-like reflexes, don’t you?"

It did not take long for Mercedes-Benz to hit back. In fact, it took them only 3 days to come up with a simple yet effective poster.

The feud between Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar is certainly heating up – who knows what these two mega car brands will do next?

2. Microsoft vs. Google Chrome

Longtime rivals Microsoft and Google are constantly looking for ways to top one another. In March 2013, Google released an ad titled Chrome: Now Everywhere to promote their browser.

2 months later, Microsoft came up with an ad campaign titled Scroogled to warn Chrome users that Google is breaching their privacy. Microsoft parodied Google Chrome’s ad by releasing an ad titled Microsoft Internal Google Chrome Bouncing Ball Now Everywhere, claiming that Chrome tracks everything they do.

In mid-November, Microsoft’s Scroogled campaign even started selling merchandise with anti-Google messages.

(Image Source: The Verge)

Google responded with a few witty remarks, saying "Microsoft’s latest venture comes as no surprise; competition in the wearables space is really heating up." Google also suggested that while Microsoft was busy selling t-shirts, Google was working hard on Google Glass.

3. Samsung vs. Apple

Two other tech giants that use comparative advertising strategies are Samsung and Apple. In the last couple of years, we have seen these two rival brands competing for supremacy in the smartphone market.

It began with Samsung’s ad campaign in late 2011, The Next Big Thing to promote their then new smartphone, Galaxy S II. In the ad, Apple fans waiting in line for the next iPhone release were ironically checking out the Samsung Galaxy S II of passers-by. The ad not only mocked iPhone users with lines like "Why don’t you guys just get 4G phones?" but also took the opportunity to feature their larger screens.

A month later, Samsung created a poster and featured it on their Facebook page. It displayed the Galaxy S II side-by-side with a group made up of an iPhone, obsolete cellphone, and a pair of empty tin cans.

(Image Source: 9to5)

The latest episode in this rivalry is another dig at Apple; Samsung’s Grad Pool Party ad was released in May 2013 to promote their latest smartphone, Galaxy S4.

However, it doesn’t look like Apple will be so quick to respond with an ad campaign – probably because that would hint that Samsung’s tactics did get on their nerves.

Read Also: Evolution Of Mobile Phones: 1995 – 2012

4. Xbox One Vs. PlayStation 4

To spice things up even further in this decade-old rivalry, the launch dates of Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 were less than a week apart! Here’s an ad released by Sony in mid-October 2013 to promote their latest gaming console.

Not wanting to fall behind, Microsoft released their "Invitation" ad to promote the Xbox One. Even though Microsoft enlisted the help of football star Steven Gerrard, Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto, and other stars, Sony’s ad still generated twice the amount of hype on its release day.

However, that did not stop Microsoft from releasing a statement on Twitter a month later, claiming that "Xbox One has the best games."

A week later, PS4 released an ad on the day of Xbox One’s launch titled "The Declaration of Play. This is #4ThePlayers". If you watch the ad carefully, you can see references made about the Xbox One like "refuse to be boxed in" and "jaw-dropping graphics" – taking an obvious jab at the Xbox One’s 720p issue.

Read Also: Evolution Of Home Video Game Consoles: 1967 – 2011

5. iPad vs. Its Rivals

iPad Air vs. Kindle Fire

In late November 2013, Amazon was the latest company to challenge Apple’s advertising style with their very own parody commercial. The commercial showed the iPad Air being compared side-by-side with the latest Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

Comparisons were made about the number of pixels, weight, and cost – all of which the Kindle Fire came out on top. To add to the sarcasm, an American English voice-over was used to explain the Kindle Fire’s specs, whereas the iPad Air had a posh British English voice-over.

iPad vs. Microsoft

So far, Microsoft holds the record for having made the most Apple parodies. The tension between these two brands was arguably sparked by Apple’s I’m a Mac ad campaign a few years ago. In late May 2013, Microsoft released an ad titled Windows 8: Less talking, more doing and used Apple’s very own Siri to badmouth its own product. The ad compared specs of Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s Windows 8 tablet.

Microsoft continued their attack towards Apple with another ad released in mid-July, Windows 8: Surface RT vs. iPad. The ad started with Siri saying, "Oh no, here we go again" which is a continuation from the previous ad when Siri was used to make spec comparisons between the two tablets.

iPad vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

Back in mid-2011, Samsung Germany released an ad to promote their latest tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. In the ad, a caption that said "See Flash run" was directed to the Galaxy Tab user and then the caption quickly changed to "Or not" while showing a lady using an Apple’s iPad. The video ad then showed the lady going into a shop to purchase a Galaxy Tab.

A few months later, Apple striked back. Apple took Samsung to a German court because the Galaxy Tab violated Apple’s minimalist design patent. The German court agreed upon Apple’s request to ban the sales of Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Germany.

iPad vs. Nokia Lumia 2520

Towards the end of November 2013, Nokia released an ad to promote their new tablet, Lumia 2520, while at the same time poking fun at the iPad for its poor battery life and lack of a bundled keyboard. The ad ended with the iPad user saying, "Did I buy the wrong tablet?"

Bonus: Mac vs. PC

Okay, we know it may be a little old, but we just can’t possibly talk about advertising war campaigns without bringing up the classic battle between Mac and PC. It all started with the Get A Mac comparative advertising campaign back in 2006. It depicted the two sides: Apple’s all-white background with a casually dressed actor, Justin Long, who presented himself as "Hello, I’m a Mac", and John Hodgman dressed in a suit and tie, presented himself as "And I’m a PC".

Below is an example of the first Mac ad, "Better" released in 2006.

The ads showcased short sketches to compare the capabilities of Mac and PC. PC was portrayed as polite and secure compared to Mac who was more confident, friendly, and stylish. In late 2008, Microsoft responded with their very own ad, "I’m a PC". It featured celebrities, public figures, and ordinary citizens who all chant ‘I’m a PC’ in different environments.

Apple did not wait long to respond to Microsoft’s ad campaign, "I’m a PC". Below is Apple’s answer to the ad Microsoft released. It showed how the PC was going to spend all of its revenue on advertising rather than working on solutions to the problems inherent in Vista.

We have previously featured a collection of splendid artwork by Won Park, a brilliant origami artist who specializes in turning dollar bills into lifelike creations. This time around, we have found an origami artist that goes by the username of FoldedWilderness who likes to make lifelike origami animals and photograph them in their natural surroundings.

(Image Source: FoldedWilderness)

In this post, we have selected 12 origami animals to showcase what FoldedWilderness can do. Even without the facial details, the creator can depend solely on the color of the paper and the mere shape of his or her origami skills to create some pretty awesome paper-folding masterpieces.

Read Also: 70 Beautiful Examples of Origami Paper Art

A Donkey’s Journey. Folded from a single sheet of paper, this donkey is ready to take the first step in its journey – well, it would if it could move.

Autumn Blue Jay. The secret to producing all the gorgeous colors on these origami animals is that the artist painted them with acrylics beforehand.

Flower Child Fox. Foxes are usually way larger but come on, look at that? What can you complain about?

Jack Russel Terrier. A dramatic result of precise origami combined with professional photography skills.

A Landscape More Beautiful. The majestic stallion watches over the forest.

Playing the Fox. Good things come in pairs, they say. That’s definitely true when it comes to origami animals.

Singing Cardinal. A lot of skill and effort has been put in to produce this prodigious piece.

Spring Arisen. An origami rabbit blending seamlessly into its natural surroundings.

The Howling Wolf. They say good photos would leave an impression on you, but the best photos would tell you stories. This definitely belongs to the latter.

‘Tis the Season! Yes, even origami animals enjoy the season of giving!

Where the Antelope Play. Believe it or not, this is the first origami animal that FoldedWilderness ever made using hand-painted paper.

A Wild Chocobo Appears. This one is for all the fans of Final Fantasy’s Chocobo!

Editor’s note: This is a contributed post by Jye, a web developer, online marketer and design lover. He is involved in the FlashCloud project, a new Australian Cloud Host.

As with most creative applications, After Effects does have an abundance of user-created tutorials, guides and pre-made projects that help you create the desired effect for your projects. However, since there are so many resources to choose from, it can be difficult to locate the ones that appeal to you.

In order to save you time, I’ve compiled a list of video tutorials that include a handful of my favorites – all of which are detailed and definitely worth your time. Many of these tutorials are based around creating abstract animations and cool effects that just look downright amazing.

Recommended Reading: 50 Excellent Adobe After Effects Tutorials

1. Smoke Text Reveal Tutorial

The effect taught in this in-depth tutorial is quite popular and is used by many on YouTube as an introduction animation. A predominant benefit of this effect is that it’s not confined to use only for the revealing of text; it can be used for just about any object or transition. [18 min]

2. Elegant Light Streaks

Learn how to create an elegant light streak that can flow and move around without having to utilise a third-party plugin such as Particular. Working closely with the After Effects Cam will allow you to not only create this beautiful effect but also make it seem as though the camera is following the central lens flare as it moves up the screen. [14 min]

3. Particle Dance (TrapCode Particular)

Using the third-party plugin TrapCode Particular, you can learn to create an amazing vibrant particle dance/motion. The end result of this tutorial is similar to those seen within professional-grade animations and productions. [14 min]

4. Motion Graphics Typography

Have you seen all of those super cool lyric videos on YouTube or multi-million dollar motion graphic productions before? Want to learn how to do it? Then, spend some time on this tutorial which teaches you how to make your typography look better with various movements, background and shadows. [24 min]

5. Shaky Cam Tutorial

This tutorial will show you how to make your After Effects camera wiggle or shake slightly during movement. This is an important effect that you will be glad to have learnt due to its multi-purpose use, particularly for productions and animations that have an action-based feel to them. [7 min]

6. Cam Bass Shake

EC Abrams produces some the most appealing After Effects tutorials onYouTube, and this one is no exception. This tutorial will teach you how to create the camera shaking with the beat of a deep bass or kick drum effect. It’s a great one for videos that are shot within a live and loud music environment or require the feel of being in that sort of environment. [9 min]

7. Advanced Luma Flares

Stop using standard lens flares and learn how to create and use Luma flares for your next project. Utilizing this amazing effect, which won’t take long to learn, will give your videos the look and feel of being one of those big Hollywood film productions. [16 min]

8. Motion Tracked Smoke

Learn how to create a neat motion-tracked smoke effect that follows your camera’s movements. This is a particularly useful effect – not limited to just smoke – that can be used for the tracking of any object such as moving water, mist, snow, or rainfall. [8 min]

9. Glitchy Text Tutorial

Learn how to create a glitchy effect for your text, or any other element with this tutorial. It’s a personal favorite of mine, and not only does the effect look brilliant, it is great for use in video introductions, transitions or general visual enhancements. It basically can have a huge impact on the look and function of your overall video production. [15 min]

10. Custom Lens Flares

Lens flares can aesthetically improve the look and feel of a completed video. Unfortunately, the default lens flares available in After Effects are not of the highest quality and require a solid chunk of editing to improve their look and function. This tutorial will teach you how to make custom lens flares that look perfect even without the use of third-party plugins. [19 min]

Final Word

If you’re interested in better developing your After Effects skillset and knowledge it is always a good idea to keep an eye out on YouTube as there are constantly new tutorials being released.

On top of that, the authors mentioned above already have many existing tutorials and will continually release new ones, so I highly recommend subscribing to them in order to receive notifications about future tutorial releases. If you know of more great After Effects Tutorials, let us know in the comments area.

As you may know, there are three basic things that make a website “great”: typography, layout and color. We talked about how important color is to a website’s design and we covered some color tools that can help designers pick out the right color combinations they need. You can even pick colors inside Sublime Text or generate color schemes with Adobe Kuler for iOS.

In this post I will introduce you to 0to255, a simple tool that helps you find the right HEX code for color shades you want to use. It’s very useful when you need to work with hover, borders or gradient color.

Recommended Reading: Practical Approach To Choosing Website Color Scheme

Shaun Chapman developed this tool by implementing the HSL (hue, saturation and lightness) model to divide the lightness parameter (ranging from 0 to 100%) into 31 parts. With the tool, you can hover over a color and see the the lightness percentage appear to your right and the HEX code of that color.

Picking A Color Shade With 0To255

This web tool is very simple and easy to use and is also free. You can use it without registering first. 0to255 offers you several ways to compare color combinations.

First, you can insert your desired color in the default color picker. Visit the 0to255 site, click the “PICK A COLOR” button and a field will pop up. Type/paste the HEX code there without the pound sign. For example when picking the #d86b93 HEX color, just type in d86b93, then click the “Pick color” button.

The tool will then give you a list of other shades you may choose. The chosen color appears as the default box.

You will be provided with 30 other different colors (31 with the chosen color) from the lightest to the darkest. If you have chosen which other color shade you want to use just click on it and the HEX code will automatically be copied into your clipboard.

Alternatively you can just paste the color code to your URL like so: 0to255.com/d86b93. This will take you straight to the color comparison page for #d86b93.

Picking Other Colors

To the left of the page, you can pick another color straight using another HEX code (on the left), or you can pick a random color (on the right).

Or you can choose your another color from the random color list provided by 0to255 at its homepage.

Final Thought

0to255 is a great time saver for designers who just want to get the right code for the right shade to use for their design. Rather than guessing or scrambling to find the right HEX codes online, 0to255 makes it as simple as a click. Try it and tell us if it helped you with your color picking work.

If you are a regular WordPress user who publish posts regularly, the Preview mode needs no introduction. We use it often to preview our posts as we write, or to do a final check before we hit the publish button. But do you know there is actually more that we can do in this mode?

WordPress has a tag called is_preview which provides flexibility in adding or removing content and codes while the content is viewed under Preview mode. You can display notifications or even hide certain content using simple code snippets like the ones below.

Recommended Reading: 30+ (More) Most Wanted WordPress Tips, Tricks And Hacks

Displaying Notification in Preview Mode

An example of a real-life application for is_preview tag would be for displaying a notification.

For example: when previewing post, WordPress does not show anything that tells the users that they are in Preview Mode. We can use this tag to display a notification that what is seen is in Preview mode.

Using is_preview tag, we can write some thing like this in the header.php of the theme.

 <?php if(is_preview() ) : ?> <div class="alert alert-info"> <strong>Note:</strong> You are previewing this post. This post has not yet been published. </div> <?php endif; ?> 

The code above will show the notification only when we are in preview mode. Add some CSS styles, so that it looks nice, like so.

Hiding Ads/Analytics in Preview Mode

Another case would be for delivering Ads and Analytic codes. If you use AdSense and Google Analytics you can hide them in Preview Mode. This will minimize accidental clicking of your own ads (which is against the Google AdSense TOS), as well as the tracking of your own visit by Google Analytics.

In addition, it will also be useful for ads that count on pageview too, the advertisers will see more accurate pageview count as we hide their ads during the Preview Mode.

To hide ads, you can add the following code.

 <?php if(!is_preview()) : ?> // Ads Code <?php endif; ?> 

The ! notation that came before the is_preview tag that you see above will negate the condition, so it will show the ads only when we are not in Preview Mode.

For Google Analytics, insert the following code in the header.php or footer.php.

 <?php if(!is_preview() && !is_admin()) : ?> // Google Analytics Code <?php endif; ?> 

Notice that I’ve also added the is_admin tag. This addition will also remove Google Analytics when we are logged in as Administrator.

We hope that you find these little pieces of code useful and will save these snippets for use, if needed. If you have any question regarding this topic, feel free to ask in the comments area.