Absolut Campaign Borrowed by Bucharest Police

We're quite sure Absolut won't think this ad campaign is funny but neither will the Bucharest Traffic Police who are riffing on the long running Absolut campaign to deliver a powerful "don't drink and drive" message. Basic. Simple. Honest. We wonder what Absolut's legal department thinks. See two other versions of the ad here.

Giant Carrot Thirsty for Billboard Booty

We love this stuff. Every time we see it. Either the billboard crew handling the erection of these two billboards was overly distracted by the large breasted female walking by in that tight, short, schoolgirl miniskirt or they couldn't pass up the chance to quench their thirst for hilariously sick humor. The headline on the carrot billboard hits the home run. Click the image for fully engorged viewing pleasure.

Hood Blimp Crashes, Billboards Vandelized, Bank Blings

- O&M London is using a pressure washer to write ads on dirty sidewalks and the sides of buildings so as to avoid being labeled as an eco-unfriendly graf artist.

- Hood blimp crashes.

- Is it just us or is the combination of former Kiss bassist Gene Simmons and the elizabeth Glaser Pediatrics AIDS Foundation just a tad strange?

- Catherine Zeta Jones gets the boot from T-Mobile.

- Continuing its My Circle campaign, Alltel has "announced" five of its billboards have been vandalized with the word "Don't" over the headline, "Call anyone on any network for free."

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Chick-fil-A Cows Paratroop Football Field

Those Chick-fil-A cows are at it again recently parachuting onto a football field in the middle of the game to cleverly deliver their message: Eat More Chicken. Just watch. The Richards Group created the ad.

Mom Loves New IKEA Stuff, Daughter Gets Shaved

No daughter really likes to listen to their mother go one an one about...well...anything. In fact most wish their Moms would never talk to them at all which is why this teen couldn't take it any longer and told her Mom to shut up about her new IKEA stuff or she'd shave off all her hair. Funny how Moms always get the last word. Toronto's Zig created.

Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah Launch Dueling Political Ads

If Al Qaeda and Hezbollah were up against each other in an election, these two spots from "here again, gone tomorrow only to return the next day and then leave once more only to return one last time" magazine Radar, would likely be what we might expect to see.

Giant Marionette Wearing Levis Visits Iceland

In yet another "is it real or is it fake" collection of YouTube videos, a giant marionette wearing, it seems, a pair of Levis was hoisted by three helicopters over the streets of Reykjavik Iceland. The giant creature towered over buildings, peered into people's windows and wore the world's biggest pair of jeans as it "walked" down the street. Real? Fake? Who cares. It's cool.

Gap Destroys Itself In Preparation For Makeover

During this week's OMMA Conference, Crispin Porter + Bogusky showed some Gap work which aired nly in movie theaters in New York and LA. The :90 spot shows a Gap store being demolished by customers and workers as a sign of the new, aged-up Gap. While one source claims this ad was done by Laird+Partners, the fact Crispin showed it at OMMA sort of dispels the notion they sometimes "bend" the list of credits on a project.

Agencies Run From Diversity 'Like Chickens With Asses Plucked Clean'

Dishing out some of the best diversity-related smack talk, New York City Councilman Larry Seabrook, in reaction to New York advertising agencies' failure to heed an invitation to appear at yesterday's minority-owned public hearings. said agencies "ran like chickens with their asses plucked clean." Well we all know agency folk are right up there with metrosexuals when it comes to trimming the privates, ass plucking is a new one on us. Agencies, advised by the AAAA's legal counsel, idn't show because they were told their earlier hiring arrangements with the Human Rights Council was enough to do the diversity trick. Like last minute preparations for a big presentations where "Fuck it. We don't need that. We'll just fake it during the presentation" is commonplace thought, agencies figured Advertising Week events would be a whole lot more fun than being grilled by a bunch of pissed off, pro-diversity city officials. Afterall, the Week's crucially important, all expenses paid, lavish luncheons and late night parties just can't be missed.

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eBay Tattoo Auctions Get High Fashion Treatment

We just love the wittiness of fashion designers and their ad agencies who come up with eBay tattoo auction knock-offs like this ad for Francesco Biasa who, apparently, is trying sell handbags by placing tattoos (likely fake) on the naked bodies of models. Isn't high fashion a beautiful thing?

It's Official. Facebook Opens to General Public

If for some odd reason you ever wanted to network with a bunch of university students or check out endless albums of drunk girls placing their hands on each other's boobs, but lacked the clout of a .edu e-mail address, congratulations, you now can. We all can. To couch the ever-present possibility of trauma stemming from this change, admins posted a thoughtful note assuring chafing co-eds that, despite complete loss of the site's appealing university-only exclusivity, the power is ultimately still in their hands.

As is typical of Facebook's community, students protested the change with a petition and a fairly straightforward student group called "I will quit Facebook if it opens to all Internet users," where all members pledged to leave the networking site the moment it goes public, which happened yesterday. The group boasts over 960 members, none of which have honored the vow. Big surprise. It's hard to leave behind those endless albums of drunk girls....oops...we said that before. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Benetton Website Does Weird Little Segment on Potatoes

The introductory caption to the current potato-talk segment of BenettonTalk tells us "Potatoes: you probably eat them quite often, but what do you really know about them?" and wins prominence on the homepage over other important topics like the Tripoli Six, deforestation and a little rant about airport security.

The illustrations are cute in a creepy sort of way. We also learn that one does not in fact grow more potatoes by putting a potato into the ground. Potatoes come from seeds. There's an impressive networking fact. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Vera Wang Introduces Fragrance With Princess-O-Meter

To promote its new Princess fragrance, Vera Wang launched VeraWangPrincessBeauty, which features an interactive quiz that tells people what kind of princess they are. An apparently tech-savvy cartoon princess who wears her iPod in her bra walks would-be monarchs through the process.

The criteria is based on all kinds of obstacles the typical princess must navigate daily, such as which event invitation to accept and who to call on speed-dial while sitting in the bathtub. Hmm. To maximize stickiness, princess results can be turned into, yes, a MySpace skin or a printable pledge to be as fantastic a princess as possible. Oh, and also, to always wear Vera Wang Princess.

By the way, we took the test and Adrants is an "IT Princess" who goes to all the hip parties and travels the world. But, of course, you knew that about us already, didn't you? - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Vehicle Color Choices Likened to Painting Female Body Parts

Apparently to tout the color choices of its vehicles, Susannah Breslin tells us Italian car maker Lancia has launched a site that lets you try out the colors....on the bodies of men and women by choosing a color and then a body part to color. The site's in Italian but Unscathed Corpse has translated directions. Have fun.