Toms Shoes Does Block Type Thing For Podoconiosis

OK it's hard to crap on an ad that hypes a good cause - in this case, TOMS Shoes' effort to eradicate Podoconiosis in Ethiopia - but after seeing so, so many block type-style ads akin to Motrin, Starbucks and Ford, it's not easy to reign in the rant.

But, in the interest of the holiday season and all the good feelings that come with it, the rant will be reigned in on this one. So just enjoy.

Santa Beatboxed, Christmas Pickled, Agency Gratified

- Santa gets his Christmas beatbox on in Bring the Toyz.

- The folks at Firehouse bring us The Christmas Pickle.

- Mobile answer service Cha Cha is happy it's market share has grown from seven percent to 28 percent in 90 days.

- HandPickedAds lets "search, view and rate the most gorgeous advertising photos ... discovered in some of the most respected magazines in the world."

- How about some common sense when it comes to the client/agency relationship?

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Crown Royal Coronates a King Under the Street Lights

In "Set," Crown Royal tells the tale of an old jazz cat who passes opportunity to a young, wise-eyed trumpet player on the street. It's our favourite kind of trope: one about rebirth, and how the American dream can pass from one hand to the next.

And while Crown Royal is only seen briefly in the spot -- moving across the frame on a waiter's tray -- it ends with an elegant kick-back to the label: "For every king, an heir. For every king, a crown. Crown Royal."

I quite liked it, but a hoodied kid peering over my shoulder walked by and went, "Ugh, is that a liquor ad? What do they gotta use jazz for? That makes no sense at all."

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Target Reinterprets the Story of Christmas

This ad for Target makes the commercialization of the holidays look downright cuddly.

It's like a glimpse into mirror world: parents' pupils dilate as kids spout retail propaganda in iambic pentameter. Scrooge is loved for exactly who he is. And nobody's pretending it ain't about the presents.

If only my childhood Christmas plays had been this relevant to the longings of our souls. Think about it: does Baby Jesus help you save on everything from Isaac Mizrahi ankle socks to vintage poster art deco? Is he as generous about parking spaces? And does he own exclusive rights to Christina Aguilera's greatest hits?

...No? That's what I thought.

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Puma Cages Fearsomely Trendy Fashion Beasts!

If serendipity brought you to Croatia's Zagreb Zoo last week, you could've seen lions! and tigers! and bears! ... and hipsters!

Agency Bruketa & Zinic parked "fashion beasts" in a cage to showcase Puma Sport's 2009 collection. And they didn't just stand around, either; sometimes they sang. These efforts, so different from the usual dolphins-catching-fish or monkeys-throwing-poo, were rewarded with heavy gawkage.

We've seen people trapped in cages or store windows before, typically for more sobering reasons: to combat human trafficking, or fight for pigs' rights, or promote the objectively unloveable Dodge Magnum. In any case, we thought the fashion beast thing was a neat way to captivate both parents and kids -- which aren't typically receptive to noisy marketing messages during family time.

Yahoo Games Dances to Rhythm of iPod touch

Like the iPhone 3G, the iPod touch is sensitive to motion and stimulus, making gameplay a funtastically engaging experience. To illustrate that, the Yahoo Games page "reacts" to the movement of the gamer in this piece by TBWA/Media Arts Lab.

Niftay.

Wii did something similar on YouTube to promote Wario Land: Shake It!. And every once in awhile, a somewhat-less-awesome page manipulation spot for Marley & Me appears on MySpace. (In it, the dog Marley drags a leaderboard across the screen, knocking stuff around as he moves.)

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Pepsi's Super Bowl Coup, Grills Gone Wild, Evil Dead Musical

- Pepsi blocks other non-alcoholic beverages from entire first half (!!!) of next year's Super Bowl. And Halftime! Now that's just gluttonous.

- To promote its Scott Shop Towels ("like paper towels but way tougher," the PR folk explained), Kimberly Clark goes on safari for grills gone wild!.

- Bill Green lends valuable insight on how to gain a near-instant boost in Twitter followers.

- Evil Dead -- the Musical.

- If the Peanuts crew were an ad agency, Lucy would be the obnoxiously bitchy, but refreshingly honest, Christmas party organizer. And Linus would be an AD. (The security blanket should've been the tip-off.)

- Powder Blue trailer strips Jessica Biel down to her bare minerals. Eat your heart out, Natalie Portman! (Neither link is SFW.)

- Burger King's King loses wallet.

Playboy Mexico Celebrates Christmas with the Virgin Mary

Because even the baby Jesus had to suckle from a mammary, and where there's an iconic boob in the open air, there's a photographer just waiting! to pounce.

And you thought sex and religion couldn't mix.

Here the virgin of Guadalupe is represented by the sublime Maria Florencia Onori. A NSFW variant from inside the magazine is available at Laura Martinez's blog. The edition's already sold 80,000 copies since its release just days ago.

Emoticarolers: Yahoo's Take on the Singing Telegram

Hoping to make Yahoo! Messenger more appealing to the apathetic, Colle McVoy brings us the Emoticarolers. Bear witness while four floating emoticons struggle to wrap a holiday tune around customized greetings.

Not to say we didn't have a blast building our own. Hear ours. Features for sharing and embedding your carols are included on-site. In the unlikely event that you grow attached to one and want to listen to it every Christmas forever, there's also an option to download an MP3.

Mrs. Claus Wants Better Bedtime Action.

After knocking a few drinks back, a svelte and shit-faced Mrs. Claus powers up the video cam and asks the kiddies around the world for a few friendly favors.

One of them: forego the mantlepiece cookies for a rice cake this year. "Sometimes when mama wants some sugar, she wants to be able to find the cane! -- if you know what I mean."

Yes, Mrs. Claus, we do. One drink later, she also solicits aid getting St. Nick to give her more love down South.

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