Calling All Skibunny Nuns.

Print ad from TBWA/Oslo for Kari Traa sportswear-outdoors and in. The copy reads 'Wear for nuns and knockouts,' although I'm guessing you don't see many knockout nuns on the slopes. Looking at it, I was trying to figure out if they were going for some kind of skipole tip as bodypart thing, but, nah, it's just a nice, ski, rack. (Ouch. Here all week people. Well, almost.)

Doritos Kicks Off Consumer-Generated Super Bowl Ad Madness.

From the brands get the consumer-generated content they deserve department, it's time to take down the ad pros and Crash The Super Bowl. (Their words, not mine.) Win $25K, then maybe $1,000,000 if America loves you. Except for the part where you can only use the assets on their site, can only enter once and only have until 11/16/08 to submit your idea, do anything you want. Yep, sounds like the restrictions every Ad Pro™ I know works under.

Great Apes No Longer to be Used in Commercials. Cadbury Drummer Said Despondent.

PETA announced that the Ad Council will pledge to no longer use great apes in future commercials because of the way in which the animals are raised and trained. I'm just bummed because I won't be able to see the little hairy critters use laser pointers anymore. Hilarity ensues no more! If I'm Cadbury? I'm setting up a microsite to accept donations to help find work for their soon to be out of work drummer. His future once promising, him and his band will now be forced to work small clubs just to get by. Sad.

The Cups Have Spoken-7-Eleven Now Credible Election Predictable.

From Another Limited Rebellion comes the story of how 7-Eleven's cup promotion has now accurately reflected the outcomes of the last three U.S. presidential elections, even reflecting the margins of victory. Consumer promotion as election metric, who knew? Looking ahead to 2012, maybe 7-Eleven can start printing one half of those cups now for Jeb Bush and Sarah Palin, doncha' know!

White House Says Get High, Buy Burritos.

Via the Marijuana Policy Project comes this new campaign from the department of outgoing White House drug czar John Walters. Released this week, it likely hoped to counter the recent public opinion regarding marijuana decriminalization in Massachusetts and medical marijuana in Michigan. From a design POV, I love it. Great spin on ads I grew up looking at in comic books for things like Sea Monkeys. As for the message, Bruce at MPP goes on to wonder why agency McKinney would do ads on one hand that support anti-drug messages like this, and on the other, have Southern Comfort as a client. Snarky reply? I agree. Someone obviously got high before making those SoCo spots. Non-snarky reply? It's advertising. Ethics left the discussion a long time ago. As Alex Bogusky sums up perfectly: We're mercs for hire--we'll go after anyone.

Nike Minuses. Reebok Pluses.

Apparently Arien O'Connell ran the fastest time in the recent Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco. But because she ran in a category she wasn't supposed to, she wasn't recognized as the winner. Nike though days later awarded her the first place she had earned, but not before Reebok stepped in and gave her school in Brooklyn, (the Children Charter School), free shoes every month for a year, T-shirts for her class and $2,500 to the school. They also gave her a trophy call the F.U.N. Award. Sure, Nike did the right thing in the end, but quick thinking on the part of the marketing gang at Reebok to jump on this. How cool is that, exploiting the negative space of another brand and being ready to take advantage of an unplanned event for your own brand.

The Organ You Have in Mind Is Not the Organ You'll Get Inside Her

Like a sledgehammer, this Duval Guillaume-created ad for Belgium's Organ Donor Foundation bluntly deflates mens' egos and, like a reality slap upside the head, manipulates them into realizing the rigid organ they have in hand isn't the one which will do this woman the most good.

As Adland writes, "thanks for that lesson in truth in advertising Duval Guillaume."

And as we'd say, Cruel, cruel and more cruel!"

But we'd also say," Simply brilliant."

McSpanked: Obamination Online.

Via Twitter, I came across a breakdown of social media and search trends by both candidates which shows how much Obama dominated in all areas. While not an official study, and while methodology is always important, this one wasn't even close. It covers general trends instead of breaking down specific demos the way more targeted exit polling does. Because of that, you can draw any conclusion: On one hand, you can say Obama's numbers reflect more participation by youth. On the other, you could also say McCain's base relies on more traditional media like TV and radio, so his online numbers might be lower.) Because of how Obama changed organizing online, future campaigns have something to measure themselves against.

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Swarms, Headaches and Pirate Booty.

- Catch a ride, not a cold with Tylenol's free rides.

- Herds and swarms oh my, check out The Nature of Marketing from Chuck Brymer/CEO, DDB worldwide.

- Toyota drives faster pussycats, faster.

- You know you want to: Get your face on an EA Sports cover in Times Square this weekend.

- Does consumerism make us crazy? Sure. Maybe. I dunno. You decide.

- Pirates need booty juggling too.

Hope Wins-Now What?

1. Don't swear. 2. Don't talk about Wendy's commercials. 3. Don't talk politics. When I was asked to cover for the Adrants crew this week, I had three goals, and well, one out of three ain't bad. Why change now! ViA out of Portland, Maine has put together a post-election campaign to keep people talking about it all. Several buildings in NYC have large wraps on them with large tag-like phrases that were dominant throughout the campaign. They also put up a website for the effort called the watercooler and a video to go along with it all. A Borat VERY NICE! for the effort.

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