Because Being Uninsured is Almost (?) Like Being Naked

To draw eyes to the 6.7 million uninsured residents living in California, Blue Shield erected 40 naked statues at a Los Angeles-based event for universal healthcare coverage. Each statue is frozen in a vulnerable position, which reflects the state of people living without healthcare coverage.

I like the effort. It brings a bit of provocation to a public landscape without making it seem cluttered with advertising. See more photos.

Caesar's Uses Self-Entitlement to Reel 'Em In

Imagine it: endless champagne, a lively -- but intimate -- night life, creamy white sheets, Roman baths, and sweet nothings brimming from the mouths of chiseled strangers.

What's all this? Why, "The Life You Were Meant to Live," a less-than-subtle ploy by Leo Burnett/Chicago to get your pipe-dreaming ass into Caesars. Spots include:

o "I'll Have the Bubbliest Champagne" -- for the ladies!
o "Try it Before You Croak" -- for the couples! -- or maybe just singles that enjoy morning-after intimacy.
o "I'm the Funny Good Looking One" -- for graying men still pursuing validation!

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Football Fans Get Their 15 Minutes on (and for!) Samsung HDTVs

Samsung partnered with the NFL to bring football fandom to the big screen. See a couple of the TV ads, lengthened for the 'net, at That's How I See It. A spot I've seen often is the one where a dad gives his son a Vikings helmet, heirloom-style, to wear while watching TV.

In general I feel like we've seen too much of this kind of thing before. (See fans! Fans like you! Fetch wallet!) But if you feel closely affiliated with a certain football team, maybe getting recognized by a big brand always feels fresh. Kinda like how I feel every time a rapper shouts my area code into a mic.

Nibble Celery and Peanut Butter off Arthur's Face!

Arthur is among the few kid shows I still feel okay watching. It's wholesome, square and enriched with feel-good lessons.

Anywho, CVS and Hefty licensed Arthur's name and likeness to promote products, like the charming paper plate at left, to kids (and possibly nostalgic quarter-lifers). One plate by itself is friendly enough, but check out this disembodied constellation of Arthur characters, all ready to bear slices of cake on their noses. It's unsettling.

You know how Stamps.com lets you turn photos into stamps? I bet one day Hefty'll do that with paper dishware. Why eat off a fictional acquaintance when you could be scooping peanut butter out of Kid Sister's right earlobe?

Will Barefaced (and Barebottomed) Sexism Win Ecko an Audience?

Some chick sent us an email just dripping with faux indignation. It was all, "Have you seen this site? There hasn't been anything so demeaning to women in the history of the internet!" Don't be a tease, honey, just say it: DEAR ADRANTS, PLEASE WHORE ECKO MFG.

And boy is it worthy. The job ECKO MFG tries accomplishing, with almost cheesy earnestness, is stirring drama over Ecko's "SEXIST!!!" manufacturing practices: bikini-clad women stitching jeans together. It could be The Stepford Sweatshop -- if Connecticut were ruled by frat boys and not WASPs.

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Miley Cyrus Stripped, Michelob Reinvigorated, Copyranter Quits (Again)

- Copyranter calls it quits. Again. Don't worry, he'll still be writing for Animal New York, and he's open to sponsorship.

- Speaking of sponsorship, HBO whips out some wad for web celebs like lonelygirl15. The network is rounding up YouTube headliners for a web series called Hooking Up. Witness the lameness.

- Degourget doesn't like Esquire's first-ever digital magazine cover, which was sponsored by the "ugly-assed Ford Flex." The price we pay for bells and whistles.

- Clear Channel Radio hosted an event called Stripped, where artists play "stripped-down" versions of songs in a jammy "unplugged" setting. Why is this news? Because Miley Cyrus performed Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, that's why. Everything involving Miley Cyrus is news, especially when the headline reads "MILEY CYRUS STRIPPED."

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Get Bloggy at Blogworld in Vegas. Or Just Go For Fun

For those who publish a blog and are interested in how to make money, Steve Hall (that would be me) will be speaking on a panel during Blogworld at the Las Vegas Hilton Sunday, September 21 at 4PM. So come come to Las Vegas and find out how YOU TOO can make money writing about things you love. Or just come to throw things at me for any crap I might have written about your or your company. I'll even provide the tomatoes.

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Live the Life of a DJ with Samsung's 'My DJ Fantasy'

Engaging. Interactive. Immersive. Yup, they're overused buzzwords but they do a pretty good job describing this new Woo Agency-created work for Indamixx's and Samsung's DJ Fantasy, an example of the computer maker's vertical market applications for its mobile computer Q1 Ultra. The Q1 Ultra is a very cool looking portable computer which celebrity DJ Cut Chemist is endorsing.

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Stuff Freed, Sun Slams, ANA Complains, Axe Does Disney

- The Sun slams Australia for winning fewer Olympic medals than Britain with a knock off Australia's tourism campaign, "Where the bloody hell were you?"

- Classmates.com and NetZero have teamed to launch Free Internet, a site on which people can take advantage of free offers, coupons, discounts and other free stuff.

- MySpace and TheWB.com, today announced a content partnership to bring the new digital series "Sorority Forever" - created by director/producer McG and the producers of the Internet series "Prom Queen" - from TheWB.com to MySpaceTV.

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Milk Sold in Japan...With Classroom Chalk Fight

Every country's culture is different from another's but Japan's always has an enjoyable bit of quirk to it which, like any country's culture, makes itself quite evident in its commercials. In this ad from the Japanese Dairy Council, a chalk fight of epic proportion breaks out between a student and a teacher.

Sadly, if this sort of spot was attempted in America, some cause group would rise up and cry inappropriate student/teacher interaction! Too Violent! To...who knows but they's come up with something.