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Security is Hot. Ads Are Sexy. And Microsoft Has $1 Billion For You

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- With GeoTrust, security never looked so hot. Or repulsive depending upon which button you click.

- The New York Daily News has put together a collection of 98 ads which feature celebrities sharing lots and lots of skin.

- Microsoft has placed it's $1 billion media business into review. May the best shark win.

- On Tuesday, January 11 at 7PM at the Museum of Modern Art, The One Show will host an event to honor the best digital work of the past decade. You can view the winners here.

- SNL funnyman Bill Hader dedicates his wry best to figuring out everything you'd ever want to know about a Volkswagen in these spots on the VW Academy channel from Deutsch LA, directed by Jake Szymanski with Caviar Los Angeles.

more »

by Steve Hall    Jan- 7-11    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Commercials, Industry Events, Outdoor, Racy, Strange



Jersey Shore's Sammi 'Sweetheart' Giancola to Launch Fragrance

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Oh those Jersey Shore characters. They're just everywhere these days aren't they? While Snooki seems to get most of the press, we can't forget about Sammi "Sweetheart" Giancola. And what with every last celebrity launching their own fragrance line, you can just guess where this is going. Yes, Giancola is launching a fragrance developed by Dangerous which will hit stores just in time for summer.

Giancola, who appeared on Good Morning America this morning to tout the new season of Jersey Shore as well as to hype the fragrance, will shoot a commercial next week to promote the launch.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Celebrity, Racy



Homeless man With Golden Pipes Lands Gig With Kraft

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In an interesting confluence of events turned publicity goldmine, Ted Williams, the famed homeless man with golden pipes, has been hired by Crispin Porter + Bogusky to voice a new Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercial set to air Sunday during the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl on ESPN.

Of CPB's choice of Williams, Kraft Spokeswoman Lynne Galia told Advertising Age, "Like many others, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and our ad agency was moved by Ted Williams' story. His amazing voice is perfectly suited to our campaign. We were in the middle of making our TV spots and in a unique position to help Ted use his great voice to gain employment."

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Commercials, Good, Opinion



Intel Core i5 Solves All Your Bourne Identity Desktop Problems

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Does your desktop every get so full of windows, your computer slows to a crawl? Adding the the problem is the fact you need all these windows to get your work done. You don't want to waste time opening and closing programs when, if you had a computer powerful enough, you wouldn't have to.

Which is the point of this new video created by Venables Bell & Partners for Intel called The Chase. Directed by Smith & Foulkes and shot in Prague by Bourne Identity cinematographer Oliver Wood, the film features female action hero who escapes her pursuers by jumping through a collection of programs on a computer desktop.

We like the work. It tells a story. And a story that's directly related to the product being sold: a processor that can make your desktop fast enough to do all the work you have to do using all the programs you need to have open.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Video



Stories of Inner City Youth Told Through Film Project

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Calum deHartog is a different sort of commercial film director. In addition to his day job shooting film, deHartog moonlights as a Toronto police officer. He's a member of Special Weapons Team 7 of the Toronto Police Service's Emergency Task Force, a group charged with rescuing hostages and making drug busts in Toronto's inner city neighborhoods. This first hand view of Toronto motivated deHartog to help inner city youth tell their stories through film.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Cause



Eminem's Life A Backdrop For Grammy Promotion

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TBWA\Chiat\Day connected with Eminem for a series of commercials promoting the 53rd Grammy Awards on MTV. In the first ad which debuts today, a voiceover accompanies images from Eminen's troubled life including the death of friends, his drug addiction and his divorce. Accompanying the ad is Eminem's new single, Not Afraid.

Of the work, TBWA\Chiat\Day Creative Director said, "The camera kind of literally walks through his life. It was important to capture his struggle."

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Celebrity



Gossip Girl Jessica Szohr Gets Naked For Sobe Lifewater

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We admit it. We've watched Gossip Girl in the past. And why not? Who doesn't love a weekly dose of eye candy? Blake Lively. Leighton Meester. Taylor Momsen. That's some serious hotness on one TV show. And that's just the women.

Wait, what? We forgot someone, you say? Jessica Szohr? Ah, yes, the Vanessa Abrams character, blast from Dan Humphrey's past...and present. We never really placed her in the trio of hotness mentioned about but let's not be picky. The women is pretty. And she recently got naked for SoBe Lifewater. So she can't be all bad, right?

Yes, Following last year's casting of Ashley Greene, SoBe Lifewater tapped Szohr to don the Lifewater skinsuit and appear in a Cosat Rican photo shoot, part of a new campaign to promote the brand's Lifewater with electrolytes.

Szohr's photo's will be published as a spread in the upcoming Sport Illustrated Swimsuit Edition out February 15.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 6-11    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity



Starbucks Launches Mermaid Escort Service

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Well. We weren't sure at first and we were kind of stunned to see it. But what other conclusion could we draw after seeing the new Starbucks logo? It seems the brand has shifted gears and is now offering up mermaids instead of coffee. And is that really a bad thing? After all, mermaids are hot! Just like coffee. So it all makes sense from a brand perspective don't you think?

Perhaps we'll be able to order mermaids by size. Tall mermaids and grande mermaids which, we guess, would be considered BBW. But we're not quite sure what a venti mermaid would look like. We'll have to visit a local Starbucks and report back our findings.

For years brands have been in search of profitable line extensions. We just never imagined Starbucks would stray so far from the culinary consumables it's known for. Well, what do we know about marketing? We just report it as we see it.

So stop by your nearest Starbucks tomorrow. It's sure to be an amazing new adventure with the brand.

by Steve Hall    Jan- 5-11    
Topic: Brands



Ford C-Max Magically Assembled

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We like this new Ford C-Max commercial from Ogilvy, Stink and 1stAvemachine. It's an illustration of the C-Max's infinite seating arrangements along with other innovative features. The spot uses all kinds of special effects and trickery which results in the entire car being folded out to completion from just one seat.

To create the spot, 1stAvemachine took apart and entire vehicle so it could be filmed and manipulated in post-production. Very nice work if we do say so ourselves. It's definitely eye catching.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 5-11    
Topic: Commercials



Healthy Choice Gets Snarky

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We've seen this approach many times before. The dry, witty, wise-ass humor approach to selling stuff. Filled with self-deprecation and pithy insults, this new commercial from Sapient Nitro for Healthy Choice hypes the brand's new steamed lunches.

Directed by O Positive's David Shane, two bank tellers go head to head in a battle of wry wit as a woman with low self esteem waits her turn in line. It sort of works in that odd, "you're a fucking idiot but I'm going to be polite about it" sort of manner.

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by Steve Hall    Jan- 5-11    
Topic: Commercials



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