Stephen King Uses Creepiness to Promote MoveOn Functions

We opened our email this morning and found a letter from Stephen King entitled "I Know Scary." We thought, yes, that is true. And then we read on:

Dear MoveOn member,

If I know anything, I know scary. And giving this president and this out-of-control Congress two more years to screw up our future is downright terrifying. Thankfully, this national nightmare is one we can end with--literally--a wake up call.

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Post It Helps You Avoid Morning Awkwardness

While this notion is more myth than truth, Post It has done a nice job offering its services to those of us who just can't seem to remember the name of the person laying in bed with us the next morning.

Ben & Jerry's 'Clamates' Ice Cream Flavors

While fast forwarding through something on the DVR last night, we saw what looked like claymation character so we rewound to realize it was a new commercial called Half Baked from Ben and Jerry's. Its one of four in a series, created by Amalgamated and animated by LAIKA/house, that "claymates" ice cream flavors into characters. Shawn Waite isn't sure he likes the literal translation of the spots but we don't like to think too deeply about the topic of ice cream so we're just fine with their simplicity. If anything, they're quite different than ice cream advertising that has come before. Check the commercial out here, here, here and here.

Nivea Sends Confusing Message with 'Stay on the Good Side'

To promote its new electric razor Nivea launches Stay on the Good Side, which is pretty much intended to make the scruffier sex cream at the thought of looking like this man. Note condemned (possibly hung over) guy just behind him. Or maybe it's whats-his-name from Agency.com?

We find Nivea's cleanshaven sex object creepy - unearthly, even - and we don't think it'll be long before irate men everywhere erect their own version of a Dove Evolution campaign.

And what's going on with the Clancy ad to the right of the website? Whose ingenious idea was it to use a scruff-friendly sponsorship to pay for a clean faces promotion? We won't even touch the fact that it's for a sweepstakes called Splinter Cell. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Luggage Tagged, Streets Teamed, Coke Fried, FIFA Viraled

- If you travel a lot and you're bored with your bland luggage tags or you don't have any at all, you might want to check out some new tags that are decidedly more colorful than your standard, bland tags.

- Mango Moose Media in Mississauga Ontario has launched StreetTeams, a service that makes it easy for media buyers to "buy" street teams just like they buy other media.

- As if Coke wasn't already unhealthy enough, it's now a frying agent for any thing from bananas, to twinkies to cookies to pickles.

- RSS reader Newsgator has added Google AdWords to it's pages. Launched Friday, it's in test phase which will continue into next week.

- Not that this is is indicative of any role they may have played in their clients' successes but BBDO's work was the most viewed work on AdForum in the third quarter.

- Here's a collection of videos Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam worked on as part of their work for the Electronic Artists' game FIFA 07.

Stella Artois Enshrines Chalice of Beer

At the corner of Bloor and Avenue in Toronto, Stella Artois unveiled a gigantic two-ton object called The Trap. At the heart of the monument sits a shining glass of Stella Artois beer. The campaign also features chalk drawings, printwork and a game in which pedestrians try to unravel a virtual maze.

The Trap is in Toronto until Oct 25, after which it'll do rounds of cities like New York and San Paulo. Check out shots of it here. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Joe Jaffe Launches 'Crayon' Inside Second Life

Joe Jaffe of Life After the 30-Second Spot and Across the Sound fame has launched a new marketing company icalled Crayon which will make its debut inside Second Life this Thursday. The company intends to be a bit different than your typical marketing firm focusing on social media and the tenets Jaffe set forth in his book. Joining with Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson from For Immediate Release and CC Chapman from Accident Hash and Managing the Gray, Jaffe will dive head first into the world of conversational marketing and his belief that companies which refuse to believe marketing is a conversation rather than a one way information dump are doomed to die.

Starbucks Not Exactly Bike Friendly

As if Starbucks doesn't already have enough trouble over those naked mermaid cups, Starbucks Gossip reports barista Fabian Mills got berated for biking to work every morning and was consequently transferred to a store that lengthened his commute 16 miles.

Starbucks recently issued a statement explaining Mills was late to meetings and windblown to boot, so the conflict wasn't about riding the bike at all.

Mills clarifies by insisting his manager told him he "should just get over riding [his] bike" before transferring him. After the transfer, Mills quit.

The moral of the story is, unless you can drive the 2.5 miles to your cafe job and make it there in immaculate condition, don't work at Starbucks. And while you're at it, get an MBA, too. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Trekkies Trip Out About Shatner Modifications

In a recent DirecTV spot featuring footage from Star Trek VI William Shatner's reincarnation as a die-hard DirecTV enthusiast gets Trekkies all bent out of shape. Sure it's a fun ad, but what about the ethics of modifying his uniform, making Shatner slimmer and turning a DirecTV plug into a new generation's last impression of him?

This is way too lame - er, heavy for us but Adfreak does a good job of digging deep into the psychology of the Trekkie dilemma. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

The Big Pilot's Watch, Available at a Bus Near You

So you're commuting, right, reading a magazine and minding your own business, when you look up and - oh, man - realize you seriously dig the look of that bus strap against your wrist. In fact, you want one really, really bad.

Riders in Berlin, Germany get to try IWC's Big Pilot's watch mid-commute because bus straps have been fashioned into samplers by Jung von Matt/Alster. Neat. - Contributed by Angela Natividad