Germ 2 International Viral Awards Launched

Channel 4 and viral site BoreMe are launching Germ2, the 2nd annual International Viral Awards which seeks the best viral work. Last year London based viral agency Maverick won the Best Commercially Produced Viral for a campaign to promote the racing simulation game Juiced. The awards are also open to individuals around the world, not just professionals. Entries can be submitted at until March 31st.

Hotel de Maxim Brings Luxe to Super Bowl with Slew of Marketers

Maxim brings VIP-exclusive event Hotel de Maxim to the South of France to celebrate the Super Bowl in style. A nod to the jet-setting days of St. Tropez in the '60's, Hotel de Maxim shoots to bring party-goers a fete that will make P. Diddy's parties look like visits to The Jungle. With a mix of martinis, slots and caviar, Grandmaster Flash on the tables and live Sirius broadcasting, all it's missing is a vice orgy replica on Second Life.

Marketing cameos will include Cadillac, which will be sporting its White Diamond Escalade; Absolut, bringing its Flavor Fountains and martini station; Coors and the Bullet Girls; and Samsung, who'll be setting up an LCD TV Video Wall Garden.

Hotel de Maxim PR guys asked us to picture Bridget Bardot walking barefoot across the beach as Mick Jagger pours Champagne, but after detailing the scene we're thinking more along the line of Penelope stumbling around with a bowl full of cocaine in Blow right before the cops bust in. Decadence is decadence. Not a huge difference, yeah?

TAOW Inks with Diamondback Bicycles in Joined Effort to Nail BMX Lovers

Portland, Oregon-based TAOW Productions just nailed a contract to manage Diamondback's BMX bike team. This means they manage their events and activities, getting the BMX lifestyle out in the open and hopefully also increasing consumer demand for Diamondback's products and services.

TAOW thinks it's looking at a new kind of model for experiential marketing intended to nail "cool market" influencers, a phrase we find lame, but short of "jaded and bitchy" we can't think of anything more polite to address the demographic they're referring to. TAOW's other recent efforts included icons like hip hop's Kanye West and Rodney Pete, formerly of the NFL. Their brand partners also include prominent lifestyle labels like Red Bull, Diesel and American Express. So maybe "the little agency that could" knows something other marketers don't.

Garmin Releases 'Maposaurus' Super Bowl Spot

We think people are going to like this new Super Bowl commercial from first-time advertiser Garmin which is promoting personal GPS. We saw the music video of the spot earlier but here is the finished :30. It's 50's-style battle between a monster than emanates from a driver's wind blown road map and the driver whose personal GPS device converts him into a monster fighting super hero. It's just weirdly different enough to achieve some decent recall. Though, it might suffer from the dreaded "what was that commercial selling?" problem the morning after.

Fallon created the commercial for the first time Super Bowl advertiser and will launch a corresponding microsite this Saturday before the game. There's also a blog that digs deeper into the world of the Maposaurus.

Blogs Launch, Online Ad Spend Up, Toy Explains, Brands Clueless

- Former Gawker Founding Editor Elizabeth Spiers, now founder of Dead Horse Media plans to launch several new blogs. One will cover organic living.

- Online ad spending is predicted to increase 18 percent in 2007 while media spend in other media decline.

- If you want the background behind those 20 websites Toy, New York created for OfficeMax, here's the video that recaps the project.

- Apparently, consumers aren't the only ones having trouble understanding a brand's positioning. In a recent Louws Management Corporation study, it was found just 1/4 could clearly articulate their company's brand positioning. Oops.

- Incumbent Riney is out of the Sprint Nextel pitch. Goodby, O&M and Y&R remain.

- Boobs and bikinis are now hawking coffee at coffee shops.

Ad Age's Jonah Bloom Slapped Down For Defending CP+B

While Advertising Age's Jonah Bloom has had issues with what we've written a couple times, we are, without doubt, sure he's going to take issue with what George Parker recently wrote about a column Jonah did on Crispin Porter + Bogusky backlash. Commenting on Bloom's statement about ads being "events" and hatred of Crispin's work actually being a good thing for the client, Parker wrote, "Listen Jonah baby, do me a favor, go and rent a copy of 'The Hucksters' and check out the scene where Sydney Greenstreet as 'The Soap Baron' spits up a huge gob of phlegm on the boardroom table to show agency guy Clark Gable how you go about catching the consumers attention. It's disgusting, just like holding a pile of dog shit, or having a crazed Nazi with a Nurse Diesel assistant shilling for VW. You don't have to spit in someone's face to get their attention."

Parker's gleeful criticism doesn't end there, adding, " And don't give me that shit about 'Ads as events.' They're fucking ADS... Get it. If I want an event, I'll go to the Super Bowl, and not for the ads. This is what happens when you have people who've never worked a day in advertising, writing about advertising. Pathetic!"

So who's right? No bullshit George who has years of advertising experience or CP+B-defending Jonah who's made a successful career in journalism?

Geico Opens Up the Caveman's Crib

Geico's getting all sorts of mileage out of its rising star, the caveman. He gained fame in the insurance company's television commercials and now Geico is letting us into his home crib-style with Caveman's Crib. Once inside, you can take a virtual tour of the Caveman's apartment as he gets ready for a party he is hosting. The level of detail and the places you can go once inside the apartment is impressive

You've gotta love the answering machine in the kitchen. One of the messages is from Jerry Shannon (from Geico, we assume) in response to complaints the Caveman lodged when he saw himself in a Geico ad as he rode the conveyor in one of the television commercials. Very cool how this is all tied together as an integrated story. Zev Kanter sent is the link and tells us he worked on the creation of this in-house job.

Axe Turns Woman's Super Bowl Date Auction Into Promotion

The LAist, now written by the legendary Tony Pierce, tells the story of a Brentwood, Callifornia woman, Sarah, who created an eBay auction to sell herself to the highest Super Bowl ticket holding bidder. The winner would take Sarah, a Chicago Bears fan, to the game and Sarah would be the perfect date for the day. Well, eBay doesn't like people auctioning themselves off so they closed the bid but Axe heard of it and turned it into a promotion.

The company that prides itself in functioning as a woman magnet for men gave Sarah four end zone tickets to the Super Bowl. She's bringing two of her female friends and the fourth ticket is being given away to the man (or woman, we guess) who crafts the most convincing email and sends it to hotsuperbowldate@hotmail.com. Way to latch on, Axe!

Hottie-Covered Bed Linens the Next Best Thing

While we're not going to get all descriptive about what guys do alone in bed, we are going to marvel at how wonderful it might be to have bed linens like the ones here created by Duval Guillaume Antwerp for their client Che Magazine. On those lonely nights when you just can't get the real thing, a nice, soft set of sheets and pillows emblazoned with your dream hottie just might help you fall asleep more easily. And yes, we hope that's all you'll be doing with the sheets.

Maxim Parties, Voiceover Ruins, Deutsch Wins

- Maxim Magazine is doing it usual annual Super Bowl extravaganza. This year, the magazine has dubbed Miami's South Beach Hotel De Maxim and all kinds of European-style luxury will be in the house with sponsors including Cadillac, Absolut, Coors Light, Samsung, Under Armour, GoDaddy and others.

- Brent likes this Georgia Lottery ad and its Asian concept but thinks the voiceover ruins it. We tend to agree.

- Deutsch is celebrating today as GM announced the shifting of its account from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners without review.