Annoyance Not So Annoying by Commercial's End

This ad almost makes you work too hard but once you finally realize what message the commercial is delivering, the confusion pays off nicely. The spot promotes something that's around us all the time but is never thought of as more than an occasional annoyance. This annoyance turns out to have a very practical purpose as is revealed by the end of the spot.

Kansas City Infidelity Pimps Agency's Story Telling Abilities

Continuing its focus on its story telling abilities, Kansas City agency Kelly Russell has released a new video in which a wife, after being caught by her husband, attempts to explain why she's in bed with another man. Of course, it's all good becasue the husband wasn't happy anyway.

In terms of agency promotions, it's a lot more fun than an ad in Advertising Age or an Agency.com Subway video. Oh wait, that was fun. It just didn't turn out so well for the agency.

Sears' Die Hard Click-to-Call Doesn't

We're thinking if Sears were to partner with eStara on a click-to-call, battery promotion project, the two might actually want the thing to work. Perhaps, we just caught them at a busy time. Although, we wonder how many people are really buying batteries at 12:30 AM. It's all working fine now but it's random glitches like this that insure POTS (plan old telephone service) will always have a place in this world.

Inflatable Push Pins Mark Seattle Hot Spots For Microsoft Maps

Created by Wexley School for Girls to promote its Live Search Maps, Microsoft has launched the Pushpin Project, a program that recognizes favorite bars, restaurants, and local businesses by affixing an 8 foot by four foot inflatable push pin to the location. We're guessing it's all to make the online search service a bit more real world useful. Of course, any push pinned location is then added to a Live Search Map where Seattle residents can keep tabs on what's supposedly cool.

Ford Sponsors Wiki-Controlled Farting Joneses

Created by Imagine Digital Communications and produced by Baby Cow, the Ford-sponsored "daily interactive online sitcom" uses a Wiki-style website called Where Are the Joneses, which allows any viewer to change the storyline, character, setting, location or any other element of the sitcom. With all kinds of interesting scenes involving back stretch farting, we're sure this one's going to be a winner.

Philips Simplifies Life With More Than Just Light Bulbs

To combat the belief most Americans think Philips makes only light bulbs, Tribal DDB and DDB have created a campaign which combats that belief by showing people using Philips lioght bulbs to so things other Philips products wold normally do. For example, a woman feeds her baby with a light bulb instead of Philips baby bottles. A man shaves with a light bulb instead of a Philips Norelco razor. Scenarios such as this are played out across a time line that covers the span of one day. Each segment of the day plays a video such as the ones just mentioned.

It may not be as exciting a shaveeverywhere.com but it certainly explains the breadth of the philips product line n a simple and straight forward manner.

Page View Dead, Jane Dead, Heavy Drifts, Simpsons Market, Flickr Up

- The death of the page view is now a reality. As of today, Nielsen is expected to announce it will no longer base its ranking on page views but rather time spent on the site. Stickiness is the new auto-reload. Of course, time spent and page view are just one metric among many used based on campaign goals. All have their place.

- Heavy.com and Castrol have launched Heavy Tuning Channel to celebrate the art of drifting.

- Rohit Bhargava has gathered together all the varied methods of marketing used for the upcoming Simpsons movie.

- Following a two year, last ditch effort to rejuvenate Jane magazine, Conde Nast is folding the publication, shuttering the website and bidding adieu to employees.

- Hitwise reports Flickr traffic is up 38 percent over the past four weeks following Yahoo's shut down of its Yahoo Photos and its inclusion of Flickr photos.

- Copyrranter ain't liking the new Ad Council PSA for youth alcohol abuse.

Ad Industry is Snarky as Grade School, at Least Where Jim Haven's Concerned

Call him the industry's John Tucker. Apparently Jim Haven, the owner of Creature Seattle, generates strong feelings of love and (predominant) hate in the ad world - for his passable ad work, affinity for young ad foxes, and prima donna attitude.

He's even sparked an "I Hate Jim Haven" MySpace Group, which is more than what we can say about most ad execs we can tick off on our fingers and toes.

We can't claim to have strong feelings for Jim Haven in either direction, try though some might to generate some, mainly because all we've ever deigned to cover of his work was this Big Love campaign. We also can't claim that his agency, which swears it's "reinterpreting advertising," is saying anything more arrogant than any other agency.

In an industry where everybody thinks everybody else is a douchebag, you can't just pin down one clown and call him court jester.

Do we think Haven's sort of an arrogant prick? Maybe. But do we hate Haven? No. We couldn't happily give 1/100th of a damn.

Wirebreakers Confuzzle Ball Players with Arms, Legs All Akimbo

Motorola's Wirebreakers are back with a viral hopeful in which a headphone-wearing breakdancer storms onto a baseball field and starts to battle in front of first base.

Uh ... yeah. Motorola's PR efforts feel as broken as its Razrs and Qs.

Pot Noodle Courts UGC for ... Pots ... of ... Noodles.

AKQA London has launched a weird little YouTube campaign for Pot Noodle in the UK.

We like the campaign mainly because, in exchange for user-generated fare, they've opted not to dole out the usual $10K. Instead, winners get a FREE CASE OF POT NOODLE!!!, which is probably exactly what they're worth.

Oh yeah, you can also win a PS3.