Royal Caribbean Gives VIP Status to Gushy Reviewers; Gets Spanked by Blogosphere

Okay. Let's nail this down once and for all: DO NOT start a lavish, perks-heavy club of people -- in this case, Royal Caribbeans' "Royal Champions" -- whose objective is to plug your company hither and yon without revealing affiliation.

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Vespa Does 'I Love You Man!' Cross-Promo Thing -- Poorly

In an ongoing misguided effort to make itself more appealing to a demo somewhat broader than Euro-philes and homosexuals, Vespa's inked a cross-promo partnership with Paramount to promote I Love You, Man, a comedy about two dudes that "test and stretch the boundaries of friendship in adventure after adventure."

Apparently a lot of those adventures involve a "fun and fuel efficient" Vespa LXV 150, which I guess is somewhat better than the bunk motorbike that served Ernesto Guevara and Alberto Granado so well in The Motorcycle Diaries.

Those inclined can enter a MySpace contest to win the Vespa used in the film. To get involved, you'll have to submit an example of how far you've gone for a friend. Deadline's tomorrow (although we PROMISE you the pressie was sent a mere TWO HOURS AGO) -- and the link, myspace.com/iloveyouman, doesn't seem to be working. This was the closest we could get.

The poster at left is available as a free download on Vespa's website.

It's the 'Where the Wild Things Are' Promo Poster!

Every US kid born in the '80s probably had Where the Wild Things Are read to them at some point. It's an infectious(ly illustrated) story about a kid called Max who likes wearing scary animal costumes and being all growly.

One day, after some horrible little-boy shenanigans, he's confined to his bedroom, where he explores a universe of wild but benign creatures. He is ultimately made King of All the Wild Things.

A few years ago Spike Jonze signed on to make a film adaptation of the book -- one of those things that gives us chills and seems too good to be true. But hey, it's not: at your left is the official poster.

Perfect, right? We thought so too. Though for some reason we always imagine Max with facial hair.

Tagline: There's one in all of us. Film comes out this October. More about it all here.

Eepybird Interviewed, Guru Garbage, Leveraging a Falling DOW

- Geeks are Sexy interviews Eepybird, the guys responsible for this wild wonder. Oh, and the Diet Coke & Mentos Experiment.

- "Igotapostcard is a continuous project where people practice the art of leaving self-addressed stamped postcards in public places to be picked up and personalized by others, who then return them."

- Headsmack indeedy.

- SXSW thought leader rage. And we're with 'im on this one.

- Young people want more entertaining ads. ORLY?

- LOL. "For every 100 points that the DOW drops within two months after the time of purchase," teesandtats customers "receive $5 dollars off of their purchase."

- Agency in a cardboard box.

- Google ads on iPhone apps. Imagine that.

Extreme Sheep, Pong and Classical Art. What Else Do You NEED?

London's The Viral Factory just hit us upside our delicate craniums with "Extreme Sheep LED Art." You may not be able to wrap your brain around that right away, but it's exactly what it sounds like.

The video, a promotion for Samsung's LED line, is equal parts hilarious, a brainfuck and painful to watch -- painful because it's long and about sheep, a brainfuck because the sheep are being (EXTREME!) shepherded in such a way that they reproduce high art (sort of), and funny because THEY PLAY PONG. USING THE SHEEP.

Grand in its unyielding over-the-toppiness -- brought extreme fishing to mind for a sec -- and reviews on YouTube have been favorable. As always you've got the more eloquent members of the human race arguing over whether or not this was "enhanced" -- or demonstrating superiority with their absolute certainty: "fake as hell."

(*shakes head sadly*)

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Razorfish/Moroch Turn Travel into Contagion.

Visit ihavethebug.com to take a quiz and find out whether you've got the "travel bug." The exercise -- short, playful and mildly entertaining -- serves two purposes: to flatter you and drive you to the Travel Channel. (If so inclined, note requisite Facebook tie-in at bottom left. What, don't you want all your friends to know you've got "excellent gumption, chutzpah"?)

Internet stuff put together by Razorfish. The Travel Bug TV spot, orchestrated by Moroch, is done in a faux-serious Big Pharma tone. You've got sufferers, playfully agonized; you've got gratuitous shots of people running on beaches. The Travel Channel's the cure, but like all drugs, you're warned it may only aggravate the symptoms.

Ad's expectedly corny, even a little dated in its humour; but the site quiz ties the gimmick back to Travel Channel shows well enough. At the very least, it sparked discussion: last night me and a friend were all, "What exactly is a sexy beach?" Verdict's still out.

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Trueblood Promo Fortifies Citizens Against Vamps

Clever Trueblood promotion straight outta Auckland, New Zealand. I like the idea of having stakes close at hand ... but won't these armaments undermine the benign vampires' ongoing battle for suffrage?

Mixed messages, man.

Wow. We've Come a Long Way from the FanFic* Days.

The other day we came across this banner ad for IMVU. The story should be easy enough to figure out: two hot avatars meet, and hey, one thing leads to another. "Live the lifestyle you've always dreamed of," the piece concludes, followed by IMVU's standard CTA: "Meet new people."

We were pretty incredulous about this "lifestyle you've always dreamed of" crap, but then we thought, hey, being sexy and promiscuous in a virtual world is probably infinitely safer than doing it in the Ritz bathroom. Anyway, since then we've seen a couple of other IMVU ads that better illustrate what IMVU means when it says dreamed of.

Fall in love like the first time, engage in girl-on-girl recreation -- or, hell, play Twilight without all the chaste overtones. That shit's creepy though.

It probably bears mentioning, however, that when it comes time for all the meat-rubbing, you still won't actually be your avatar. And you'll still be all alone.

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On Heels of Nike, Waking Life

Shots Mag draws our attention to Wieden + Kennedy's "The Light" for Nike. It's one of those soul-of-the-run spots: all about the breath, the pace, the solitude of the sport and the community it simultaneously sparks.

You get the sense that runners inhabit a part of space/time that the rest of Suburbia's completely unaware of.

More intense and less playful than 72andSunny's "Men vs. Women." Classic Nike though.

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Delirium Brings the Mother Out in Nature

Timberland's "Delirium" compares buying nature-friendly shoes to a scenario in which a dire-straits castaway is rescued by nature herself. It's stirring material, particularly if you found a certain film, involving Tom Hanks and a volleyball, emotionally resonant.

Maybe a little heavy for a shoe label, but hey: if we can take a sentimental education from Coke, no harm in getting emo-schooled by Timbo.

By Leagas Delaney.

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