Cyber Monday Sales Up 24 Percent

Sharing it's up to the minute Cyber Monday shopping metrics, IBM has pegged this year's Cyber Monday sales up 24.1 percent through 12PM EST today. Contributing to that figure are several mobile metrics: 22.4 percent of consumers used a mobile device to shop, 12 percent of purchases where made using a mobile device and the iPhone tops all devices used to shop with an 8.7 percent share.

TBWA\Raad Helps Hype Dubai Shopping Festival

Here in the States and in many other parts of the world, the period of time between Black Friday and Christmas is when the highest percentage of retail activity occurs. In the some parts of the world, it's a bit different. The Dubai Shopping Festival, in its 18th year, occurs January 3 to February 3 and is comprised of 31 days of back to back shopping events.

To hype the event, TBWA\Raad created a beautiful :60 that is the polar opposite of every last bit of crap American retailers puke forth to convince every last idiot in America to go bin-diving at Walmart.

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Excuse Us But Has TEDx Jumped the Shark?

Hmm. We always thought Ted x was about concrete ideas that brought clarity to the sometimes confusing world of business and social advancement. Alas, it now seems to be about death, destruction and the popping of 15,000 balloons. All to reveal the true face of human nature.

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'Smoke Baby' Sends Powerful Anti-Smoking Message

Burlington, Vermont-based Kelliher Samets Volk has developed a simple and powerful anti-smoking message for the Vermont Department of Public Health. Called Smoke Baby, the work is just that; an image of a baby in utero created from smoke.

The copy reads, "When you smoke, your baby smokes. Smoking while pregnant causes birth defects, brain damage and regret. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit vtquitnetwork.org."

In addition to appearing on posters, in brochures and in banner ads, the work was selected to appear in the Communication Art 2012 Advertising Annual.

Girl With Brain Tumor Has Wish Granted

Working with Crush, Toronto-based KBS+P tells the story of Emily, a little girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor and how her wish was granted by Canada's Children's Wish Foundation. The animated tale is just the kind of heartwarming tale we need during the holiday season. Give it a watch.

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Dad Uses Hot Daughter to Sell Car on eBay

Hahahaha! This is a funny one. Or a creepy one depending upon your viewpoint. To sell his 1977 yellow Datsun 280Z, Kim Ridley photographed his 20-year-old daughter, Lexxa, draped across the vehicle in a series of images for an ad on eBay.

Explaining his motivation for using his daughter, Ridley told AdFreak, "If I felt bad about it, I wouldn't do it."

Apparently, his strategy paid off. The car has sold for $7,500. Hey, whatever works.

Mariano Rivera Returns to Mound in Yankees Fragrance Ad

In May, New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera tore his ACL ending his career for the season. Marking his return to the mound, albeit not in a game, Rivera can be seen tossing a pitch in an ad for his signature version of the New York Yankees fragrance.

Apart from the unfortunate fact any baseball-themed fragrance conjures the stench of a post-game locker room, a portion of the proceeds will go to the Mariano Rivera Foundation, an organization that impoverished children in the United States and abroad.

The spot was created by The Cloudbreak Group.

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Morgan Freeman Voices Marriage Equality Ad

Familiar baritone Morgan Freeman has lent his voice to a Human Rights Campaign marriage equality spot which debuted November 25. In the spot, entitled Dawn of a New Day for Marriage Equality, Freeman intones, "America stands at the dawn of a new day. Freedom, justice and human dignity have always guided our journey towards a more perfect union. Now, across our country, we are standing together for the right of gay and lesbian Americans to marry the person they love. With historic victories for marriage, we've delivered a mandate for full equality. The wind is at our back but our journey has just begun."

Just recently, Maine, Maryland and Washington joined Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and District of Columbia as states that allow same-sex marriage.

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Ogilvy Brussels Recruits Thief

With the bold acknowledgement of common, less-than-legal behavior, Ogily Brussels developed a campaign that placed a recruitment message inside a downloadable file labeled as though it were Adobe Photoshop or another popular creative software suite.

The files were then placed on popular file sharing sites for download. Once downloaded, the file revealed a job offer. The hired candidate also received all the applications he wanted for free.

We love it. And, hey, it might not be all roses in the eyes of those who judge us at end times but it's also just the way it is. That's were the fish are and that's were Ogilvy went to find them.

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Cat Killed by Dog in Last Year's Doritos Ad Rises From Dead For Revenge

Academy of Art University alum and former Alma Ad Associate Creative DIrector Fran Guijarro has entered this year's Doritos Crash the Super Bowl competition with a response to last year's winner, Man's Best Friend. Guijarro's entry, Fluffy's Revenge, tells the story of Fluffy who met an untimely demise in last year's commercial at the hands of the resident dog.

Last year, the husband is bribed by the dog with Doritos to cover the incident from his wife. This year, the tables are turned and the wife becomes mum to Fluffy's Revenge. Interesting stuff.

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