King-Kong Sized Ads Make Great Tailgating Opp

If you thought this was distracting then wait until you see the largest mobile billboard in the world, though you probably won't have a choice because it looks like a big fuckin' deal.

Brought to you by Truck Ads, purveyors of classy truck decor.

Bozell Trades Capital for Pictures

Bozell created this collaborative holiday card for clients and friends, inviting others to upload holiday photos onto the site. Bozell will make a donation to the Salvation Army for every image posted.

We hope they are donating something little like pasta beads or walnuts because there are quite a few photos on here already and more coming, we expect. Some are quite cute but it makes us feel funny looking at the holiday memories of strangers. Didn't Robin Williams do something like that in One Hour Photo?

First Flavor Makes Marketing a Matter of Taste

Inspired by the enduring Willy Wonka, First Flavor builds on film strip technology to create little taste samplers for food and beverage products for use in media kits, promos and soda machines.

The description of apple cinnamon oatmeal strips didn't bring the Wonka wallpaper scene to mind, which is what founder Adnan (himself somewhat Wonka-esque, though we can't quite say how or why) credits as his inspiration. Instead we recalled the three-course-meal gum, where Violet describes the flavors in vivid detail and then expands into a blueberry.

We don't think First Flavor does that but it's still pretty neat. The newscaster in the ABC video got to try some and not only was she impressed; she couldn't stop talking about the dieting possibilities of a zero-calorie taste explosion.

Adrants Gives Thanks For Growth

Back in March of 2002, Adrants had one reader. We now have 30,000 every day. That growth would not have been possible were it not for every single one of you reading Adrants today. It would not have been possible without the early inspiration and wise advice from people like Tony Pierce, Rick Bruner, Elizabeth Spiers and John Engler or the education and guidance of Ask Wapling or the editorial and sales expertise of Tig Tillinghast.

Neither would any of this have been possible without the support of our advertisers which, in 2006, included ad:tech, AllBusiness, Aquent, Business Development Institute, Forbes, Exact Target, GOT, Flippies, Conde Nast, Lyris, Marqui, MSN, New York Times, Sprint, Tacoda, Thinkmap, Time, MarketingSherpa, WebAwards, iMediaConnection, Captains of Industry and many more.

The support is truly appreciated. We'd love to hear from you in comments about the things you like about Adrants. The things you hate. The things you'd like to see changed. The things you'd like to see added. Anything. It's your forum and we want to know.

Happy Holidays. We'll be publishing the site and the newsletter lightly next week but be sure to watch for our annual top ten lists. See you next year.

Lowe Gives Worst (And Best) Gift Ever

From the Chia Pet to a Fez hat to a Christmas ham for a vegetarian to handcuffs to cheesy romance novels to really bad Christmas sweaters to a nose hair trimmer to assorted doilies to Ken the Art Director to, yes, the fruit cake, Lowe foists upon us the worst gifts anyone could hope to receive this year in a video called Worst Gift Ever. However, the agency redeems at the end of the video as Lowe lets us know they've partnered with TORCH to provide really great gifts to students who really need them.

More Holiday Cards Beat Dead Horse and Live Trees, Simultaneously

- The holiday videos keep pouring in. This first pair are by Animax. Here's a Peanuts spoof with a crying tree, and a Santa-style King Kong where the victim is a gingerbread girl. Note flying banana on image at left. How do you not love that? We're not sure. We don't know what to feel anymore.

- If you're more into bad pick-up lines and the immortal stereotype of the douchey ad guy, please believe you will enjoy this holiday song by Ignited Minds. Because it's not a happy holiday until you're reminded at least several times how slimy people can be who find themselves in your line of work. Unless you are that slimy individual.

- And how often do you get to dress your CEO like a tree, subject him to a walk of shame and pelt him with paintballs? This video is really almost art. Thank you White+Partners for realizing a fond dream we've all had at some point.

The festivities draw ever nearer.

CL&S Dancing Holiday Card Returns

New York agency Catalano Lellos and Silverstein always seem to come up with dance-themed holiday cards and this year's is no exception. They've created Cirque Du CL&S, a full blown stage production complete with faced cartoon characters and audience participation. It's odd. It's quirky. It has a funny ending.

Online Advertising Causes 'Mouse Rage Syndrome'

Yes, there is an actual medical ailment called "mouse rage syndrome," The term was coined by the Social Issues Research Centre in the United Kingdom which recently conducted a study of 2,500 web users who were found to exhibit negative cardiac function, profuse sweating, altered immune and nervous system function and, yes, "mouse rage" defined as furious clicking and bashing of the mouse.

Guess what causes the syndrome? Fat Flash sites, poorly designed sites, bad navigation, pop ups, banner ads, unnecessary graphics and just about everything else our industry foists upon the helpless public who only want quick access to the relevant information they need and have no need for "site loading..." bullshit or sites that look great in a presentation but perform like a turtle crossing the road when launched. Wake up and smell the consumer, people. We want them to be our frinds. Not our enemies. Make nice.

Baby Care Confused by Transit Ad Placements

It's sad we even need an ad campaign to tell people how to take care of their babies but that's the mission of a current New York City transit campaign for the city's Administration for Children's Services and Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (mental hygiene? that's a new one). Unfortunately, there are idiots in this world that do need to be told some very obvious things about caring for a baby. Trouble is, this campaign seems to confuse more than educate - well, at least to those mentally hygiene-challenged types.

Ironi Sans sent us this video clip of two of the campaign's subway cards placed next to each other. The first reads, "Don't Leave Him Alone." The second reads, "It's Safest For Him to Sleep Alone." That sort of "education" is sure to make a mentally hygiene-challenged person's logic loop explode which is quite the opposite, we're sure, of the campaign's intent.

Forum Drives Tom Green to Depression, Neuroses, General Scariness

For Snakes on a Plane we witnessed what a forum can do when they really like you. For Tom Green we might see what a forum can do when you're teetering over the edge of sanity.

Post Freddy Got Fingered (among other tribulations) it would be an understatement to say Tom is upset with his fans. Since the cancellation of his short-lived MTV show he has little hope that his months-old internet efforts will do much better.

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