Deflating Balls Illustrate Negative Effects of Steroid Use

Last night Major League Baseball and the Partnership for a Drug Free America held a press conference to announce a new public service campaign against steroid use. The campaign will consist of television, radio and print work created by BBDO New York. The first spot broke last night and focuses on the harmful effects of steroid use including shrinking manhood as illustrated through deflating balls. Witty.

Agency Partner Directs Junkie XL Music Video

This made the rounds last week but it just fell off our radar because, well, it doesn't really have to do with advertising except that the director of this music video for Junkie XL, Glenn Cole, is partner and creative director at LA agency agency 72andSunny and the very very persistent PR person had some influence as well.

Oh, to connect the dots even more, the PR person tells us it's a "cool ad story because the video's director Glenn Cole and Junkie XL first hooked up together in 2002, when Glenn was a CD with Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam and hired Junkie XL to remix the Elvis track 'A Little Less Conversation' for a Nike World Cup 2002 commercial. The two have remained friends and frequent collaborators ever since." It's all about who you know.

Ultra Festival the Usual Brand Fest

FYE, Budweiser, Absolut Spirits, Starbucks Hear Music, XM Satellite Radio, Beatport, DJ Magazine, New Times, DJ Times, M8, Hollywoodpoker.com and BPM Magazine. They've all signed on as sponsors for the eighth Ultra Music Festival held at Bicentennial Park March 25 in Miami. XM will broadcast the event live. Absolut will have a VIP lounge. Now everyone go to Miami and shake it while being bombarded by corporate logos.

Social Networking Sites New Celebrity Training Ground

Oh, it's been what, a few days since we lobbed a piece of pointless editorial fluffery at you simply to put an image of a hot girl on the site? We don't want to break our track record so we'll give you this little piece about how nobodies rise from the muck of MySpace to celebrity status. Yes, MySpace member Tila (Nguyen) Tequila, who says she has the world's most popular MySpace page has graduated to the April cover of StuffMySpace Makes magazine. This at the same time Ad Age's Simon Dumenco says obsession with celebrity is dying and Gawker has asked readers to stop sending in C and D list celebs for its Gawker Stalker feature. As long as your hot and you have a camera on you, you are a celebrity.

Goodyear Says Changing A Tire Can Kill You

In these three spots, Goodyear uses fear/shock factor/humor to illustrate just how dangerous it is to change a flat tire and just how much better it would be if all cards had Goodyear run flat tires.

Lee Clow And Alex Bogusky Discuss...Clothes

AdCritic has launched a new free feature called Face2Face, a video series that will feature ad luminaries speaking with one another. For the launch, AdCritic has placed the old and the new up against one another. Lee Clow and Alex Bogusky, two people who might have a few tidbits of insight to offer, discuss the earth shatteringly important topic of what agency people wear to work. Let's hope future episodes get to meatier topics.

Oranges on Trashcan Promote Godfather Game

Writing on his Coffee & Manipulation blog, Victor tells us about a promotion he saw on his way to work in San Francisco today. As he emerged from a transit terminal, he saw a collection of oranges atop a trash can with the stickers affixed to them which read "Godfather321.com." The URL turns out to be an Electronic Arts site promoting its new Godfather-themed game featuring Marlon Brando. Victor notes the significance of the orange lies in its representation of death in the Godfather movies.

ARF Can't Define 'Engagement,' We Gave It A Shot

After eight months. the Advertising Research Foundation task force charged with defining the new measurement metric "engagement" hasn't really done so. Well, it seems simple to us. It's all about how involved one becomes with a media vehicle and how that involvement affects the brand. Hmm. How 'bout Time Spent (with medium) + Response Rate (average CTR, letters to editor, subscription/renewal rates, number of comments left on a blog) + Average Ad/Content Recall Rates + Uptick in Measured Brand Metric? And that was only after five minutes of thinking. Come on guys. It can't really be that difficult can it?

New London Quarter Introduced With Excited Bridge

There are many ways to promote a city's neighborhoods, burroughs or quarters in the case of London. For a place called Paddington Walk, newly renovate into one of those combined business, residential and shopping districts, there' s an odd little video floating around that uses the oldest strategy in the book. Yes, sex. You'll never see a bridge so excited again.

Windshield Sticker Convinces Drivers Not to Speed

While we don't know where, geographically, these windshield stickers were placed, we're quite sure most local PTA's would take issue with it. However, the message is powerful and clear. This poster is exactly what one could be looking at if speeding through a child-filled school zone. It certainly delivers the message.