VW Offers License For Backseat Drivers

Brent Terrazas calls to our attention a magazine insert Crispin Porter + Bogusky created for Volkswagen called Backseat Driver's manual which humorously explains the proper behavior a backseat driver should adhere to and offers a Backseat Drivers License to those who pass the booklet's tests. Brent has scans of the entire insert here.

Beck's Ad Says Stop Sleeping And Start Drinking

When we receive press releases about new commercials that include perfectly cropped images of the commercial's fleeting, gratuitous boob shot, we feel obliged to react in a manner which can only be described as predictable, lame and affirming of the male species' obsession with the female breast. So, we are pleased to present you this Leo-Burnett-created Beck's Boob...uh...Beer commercial which proves we spend way too much time brushing our teeth, eating, sleeping and "working" when we should be drinking Beck's Beer.

East River Barges Added to List of Places Formerly Ad-Free

It would seem tug boats have enough to do pushing barges up New York's East River without slamming into one another but Dow seems to think adding gigantic billboards will make it easier for other tug boat captains...and a few thousand New Yorkers...to see the barges. Especially with meaningless ad drivel like "The Human Element is The Element of Change."

Jim Striebich's got some comments and a full sized version of the image.

Cadillac to 'Wild Post' For Younger Audience

As part of a new campaign which will included magazines and TV, Cadillac's new agency, Boston-based Modernista, will also use wild postings in several metro areas in an attempt to get its jiggy back and reel in some new demo segments the automaker is calling "alphas," move-ups" and "hot moms." Recent research the company did revealed many people younger than the typical Cadillac demo were familiar with the Escalade, likely due to its hip-hop status and appearances on HBO's The Sopranos, but didn't know the company had any other relevant vehicles. To address the desire to retain existing older customer while bringing in new, younger customers, the campaign will bring on a little attitude, highlight the insignia and explain the model line-up. The campaign breaks in August.

Bryan Murphy Found, Helio Hits, Nike McFlies, Orbitz dances

- On July 22, ML Rogers Art Director Bryan Murphy had some fun with his Find Bryan Murphy Project for which he posted images of his location in Manhattan, placed them on his blog and challenged people to find him. Of course it was all tied to a Yahoo and Dell promotion.

- Cool, new not-a-phone-company Helio has a couple of spots racking up some decent views on YouTube (here and here). They've always got a gatefold print campaign running in Entertainment Weekly, GQ and others.

- This is so incredibly bad but so is the compulsively obsessive belief anyone would actually want a pair of sneakers that came from a mid-eighties movie.

- Orbitz has a wedding microsite where you can upload a photo, choose a wedding dance and send it to a friend. Of course, along the way, you'll be told about travel deals on honeymoon destinations and general wedding travel.

- Hmm. Yet anoher ad blog launches.

- Chicago's Beachwood Reporter pokes holes in the math behind a Wal-Mart campaign opposing a city ordinance that sets special minimum wage for large retailers.

Altoids Thinks Sexual Oddities Will Sell Product

AdFreak points to three new commercials for Altoids Sours in which sexual deviancy is used to promote the mints. Somehow Leo Burnett, we assume, thinks this is an extension of the brand's "Curiously Strong" platform but we think it's just "curiously strange." Of course, that could be a good thing. After all, fruits who like their Fruit of the Loom underwear a bit too much, sadomasochists and transvestites should have equal time in ads just like every other minority group now does.

Jessica Simpson Video Slathered With HP Product Placements

Not that featuring a product in a music video is anything new but HP reportedly paid $200,000 to place products in Jessica Simpson's candy-coated, new video A Public Affair as part of its "The Computer Is Personal" campaign. In the video, Simpson raps with Christina Applegate, Christina Milian and Eva Longoria about how cool it is to be famous then the girls hit the roller skating rink and offer up more bubble-headed tripe. Towards the end of the video, comedian Andy Dick reaches into his pants as if he's misplaced his last name and pulls out an HP Ipaq emblazoned with the campaign's hand imagery. A laptop and a TV/monitor make an appearance as well.

UPDATE: HP's PR agency, Porter Novelli contacted us to correct a couple of facts we and the New York Post had incorrect.

"While we can not share the exact figure, the $200K quoted for HP's product placement in the Jessica Simpson video is incorrect. The Jessica Simpson video product placement is not an extension of 'The Computer is Personal Again' campaign. HP has an on-going product placement program and this deal was part of an existing relationship."

Video Explains How to Get McDonald's Big Mac For A Buck

Now here's something that will likely not amuse McDonald's. Rafi Kam of Oh Word and blogger Dallas Penn have created what, we think, has the potential to become a fairly successful viral video. The video explains how to get a Double Cheeseburger off the Dollar Menu and, with some special "have it your way" ordering, add Big Mac sauce, large-cut onions and a seeded bun (which don't cost extra) and transform the lowly one dollar double cheeseburger into a $3.39 Big Mac. And, with the addition of some fries, the whole thing becomes what the pair call the Ghetto Big Mac.