Senate Candidate Steve Novick Gets Things Done

University of Oregon student Feff Farrell sent us this recent commercial for U.S. Senate candidate Steve Novick that both highlights his accomplishment and viewpoints and asks whether or not we'd want to have a beer with him. Well, if the beer we were trying to consume was not a twist off, then yes, we'd definitely want to have a beer with him. It's a beautiful illustration of his tagline, "Steve Novick. He's always found a way to get things done."

The Letter 'H' Takes Up Residence on Lexus Hybrids

It seems the letter "h" has found a new home and has deserted words, keyboards, landmarks, news stories, and offices opting instead for a better life on the back of the Lexus hybrids, the RX 400h, GS 450h, and LS 600h. Called The Power of H and created by Team One, the commercial shows us what life would look like without the letter H. Apparently, it's a better life and one which embraces change, looks forward and doesn't rely on the status quo.

We never new a car could make such a powerful, cultural statement. Hence forth, we will be proud to be known as Steve All.

Boone Oakley Supports WGA With Solidarity Campaign

While the strike may be nearing an end, Boone Oakley has come to the aid of the Writer's Guild of America with a solidarity campaign along the lines of so many other ribbon-style cause-related campaigns. The lead graphic element in the campaign is a pencil twisted into the shape of a ribbon. The campaign urges writers, directors, actors, crew and fans to wear the pin in support of the writers and to show "media moguls" the WGA is united and won't back down.

Checkout the campaign elements on the Bring Back the Dialogue site.

Have a Heart; Save a Manatee for Mom

...because she'll want you to -- way more than she wants that gold necklace, or dinner with you at her favourite restaurant, or a DVD copy of Flashdance.

There's something about this Mother's Day campaign for the Save the Manatee Club that appeals to us. And we're trying really, really hard not to believe it has anything to do with Conan's manatee fetish effort.

Yes, But Will There Be a Technicolor Dreamcoat?

If you can't afford LSD, mark your calendars (February 15th) for the debut of The Sound of Color.

"Does red sound like gurgling, molten lava?" the website asks. "Does green sound like the familiar tune of wind whistling through the trees? Do black and white even make a sound? What is the sound of color?"

We played with the idea of going, "Oh my, what is this? What is this?" but the truth is we already know because we wrote it up for MarketingVOX. This is a Gap campaign for which artists will write songs and make videos about color in all its tie-dye glory.

The site will hock colorful swag and free music downloads. After a month, artists will regain the rights to their songs, and some of the meaner ones might decide they don't want you downloading their pigment-inspired masterpieces for free. As with manna, hoard as much as you can.

Cilantro Encourages Intimacy with Multi-Flavoured Hispanic Market

When it comes to targeting the elusive Hispanic consumer, Cilantro Animation has this to say: "Be prepared to offer more than just Hola!"

(Though we'd like to point out that strategy worked wonders for Dora the Explorer.)

But Cilantro -- which creates Hispanic cartoons like the one at left -- makes an interesting point. When we hit ad:tech Miami we were overwhelmed with a sense that the Hispanic market remains unimpressed with the way big media has (or hasn't) tried to reach out.

And indeed, a salsa-colored Hola! just doesn't cut it when you consider the range of ethnicities blanketed under what we breezily dub Hispanic: Mexican, Cuban, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Colombian, Ecuadorian, and others -- all with their own cultural customs, jokes and sensitivities.

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Christine Aguilera Debuts Ginormous Breasts (and CD) At Best Buy

Last night at a West Hollywood Best Buy, Christina Aguilera turned (and perhaps lifted) heads when she made her first post-pregnancy appearance. In support of her Live and Down Under CD, she made one woman cry and, in an interview, told Ryan Seacrest on his KIIS morning show, "I'm very excited [about] this whole incredible thing that's taken place in my life, between the pregnancy and the birth. I've been brainstorming for the last nine months of my pregnancy. This next album will have a whole new me. A different me." Very different, indeed.

Google's Social Graph API Explained

Social media junkie Alisa Leonard has a video of Google's Brad Fitzpatrick, guru behind LiveJournal, Memecast and OpenID, describing the company's Social Graph API which makes it easy to determine social connections on the web. It's quite fascinating. If you like to know where your friends are and what they're doing online, this API can help accomplish that.

AdFemme's Lindsay Mure-O'Neill to Spice Up Datran

So Steve says, "But Lindsay, we never do hires/fires/career changes." Then Lindsay teases, "You want first dibs on letting the world know?" OK. We cave. Adrants to have a world exclusive on the where abouts of the [adjective redacted due to its possibly being misconstrued to focus upon beauty versus professional accomplishment] Queen AdFemme? We're all in.

Lindsay Mure-O'Neill founded AdFemme, a "community of women in advertising who network with each other online and at events to gain new contacts, clients, resources, employees and other femtastic connections." She's built the organization from little more than a single newsletter into an empire of content, resources and events for women working in many different industries and s now known as The Femme Network.

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Gear Factor: 'Come Fly Away in a Car-Shaped Balloon!'

Check it out -- a car that both flies and wheezes.

Video of the levitating wonder was sent to us by Gear Factor to promote its "flying" brands campaigns. If conditions are right, the balloons can play outside, too. GF calls its work "ambient media." Ooooh.