Jaffe Bumrushes the Charts With New Book

Joe Jaffe, author of Life After the 30-Second Spot and host of the Across the Sound (recently renamed Jaffe Juice) podcast has published a new book, Join the Conversation. The book covers the notion of conversational marketing, originally sparked by Tom Hespos and loosely described as the "conversation" that happens (or should be) between marketers and consumers.

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It's Not Studio 54 But It's Just As Bad (Good?)

Back in the day a guy named Aarif Smaks (or not) was a famed dance instructor. In Finland. Far, far from Studio 54. Diesel has taken (or created) this bit of geriatric disco fever and created a sneaker ad out of it for the brand's Diesel Freezy Sneaker.

Complete with seemingly planted comments like this, "love it... I danced the same way until I put my back out many years ago doing the disco boogie woogie will try again once I get to the diesel store that sell those sneakers. I'll tell my dance troupe on Facebook... love you," the video has achieved 11,768 views on YouTube since being posted yesterday.

Anachronistic video footage + catchy old-school dance music gone techno = seemingly successful viral video.

Video Advertising Distribution Gets Easier

Life just got easier, it would seem, for those of you charged with distributing online video ads. Eyeblaster has just released Channel Connect, a tool that lets you deliver pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll and overlay ads without having to deal with all the confusingly proprietary video technologies different publishers use.

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Yet Another 'Inventive' New Way to Ease Advertising into Everyday Use

Here's a winning notion. You know how people get their hands stamped when they walk into clubs? What if that stamp was an ad for your brand?

This patent-pending stroke of genius is the brainchild of Handvertising, USA. Impressed? Well then, hurry and get your stamps made.

Here's another genius idea: toilet paper advertising! Oh wait, that's been done. Hmm. Advertising on notebook paper? Damn, that's taken too.

Lottery Tickets in WA are Limited. Swallow Yours

This pair of new Washington lottery ads by by Publicis, Seattle highlights the power of human ingenuity when it comes to finding hiding places for important items.

Watch a woman (who looks a lot like this non-woman) retrieve her boss' ticket from down his throat. And watch this dude slam his cast into hard objects.

Come on, guys. Reality has given us plenty of better scenarios. Where's the guy shoving the ticket in his ass along with the coke rock? Where's the series of wild-eyed bandits cutting open the livers of (apparently) sleeping children?

Do it like you mean it!

Toyota Tundra: So Tough, It Evades Disaster While Hauling 10,300 LBS!

This spot, which seems to be targeted exclusively to truckers, lumberjacks and Wrangler jeans owners, was put together by Anonymous Content.

We like how at the end you can hear everyone going, "YAAARR!"

Aussie Speed Demons Get Egos Checked with Derisive Pinky Wiggles

This ad is part of an Australian road safety campaign that's become a big winner amongst citizens Down Under.

Instead of sharing cautionary tales about traumatic crashes, the message here is simple:

Men who speed have small dicks.

And to bring boisterous tire-burners down to size, the ad introduces a useful new gesture: nonplussed women and put-off buddies wiggling pinkies to illustrate speeders' "insecurities."

It's perfect.

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Evian Gives Second Life Users a New Lease on Skin

We took issue with Evian's use of language in the last ad of theirs we covered, but the words on its virtual vending machine are just too weird not to pick at.

The machine reads, "Bring your skin to life." and "Get FREE skins!"

Not sure how it's possible, but before Evian, we haven't seen anybody talk of human skin and online skins so closely together.

Strange. And somehow very uncomfortable. (We're thinking Silence of the Lambs, except without the moths.)

Anyway, Evian actually is giving Second Life residents new skin when they buy a bottle of Evian water. According to the pressie, "the bodily presentation of the character then becomes more defined, having a better texture and is lit in a more flattering manner."

Get Results. Initiate Employees into the Cult of Apple.

This is part of a mailer we received for Apple's corporate gift and rewards program, which, with lots of other catchy slogans, admonishes execs to "get results. Give Apple."

Few companies can ride unconditional youth acceptance of costly lifestyle products while simultaneously suggesting that enterprises also buy the same products en masse. And engraved!

But Apple will be the first to tell you it's the exception to many rules.

Anne Hathaway, Jennifer Connelly Join Parade of Celebrity Endorsers

The parade of celebrity endorsers continues with Anne Hathaway in talks with Lancome to follow Kate Wnslet and Clive Owen. Jennifer Connelly is said to be next in line for Balenciaga and Victoria Beckham is rumored to become the face of Marc Jacobs. We'll look at anything with Anne Hathaway in it. Jennifer Connelly, not so much. After her fully endowed turns in The Rocketeer and Career Opportunities, we lost interest a bit. OK, Requiem for a Dream wasn't bad. And Posh? Well, she hasn't been posh since she was Posh (and we mean the first time around).