American Idol Top Eight Does Britney Spears

So tonight on American Idol, Ford and the top eight contestants let unleashed a new commercial for the Ford Mustang GT called Magic Show. In the commercial the remaining eight contestants do their version of Britney Spears' Circus.

Not so bad. Come one, it's American Idol!

Jolie O'Dell Interviews Web 2.0 Expo Exhibitors

If you've never been to Web 2.0 Expo or you've been and you just can't get enough, be sure to watch this Bubblicious video report by Jolie O'Dell. O'Dell spoke with exhibiting company representatives including ooVoo's Tom Herman, MindTouch's Mike Diliberto, Topix' Chris Tolles, Chimp's Anthony Eden and IBM's Kathy Mandelstein.

Miiko Mentz explained this year's Web 2.0 "focused on being agile in uncertain times. Everyone is feeling the pinch of 'having to do more with less' due to declining sales, staff reductions and budget cuts, so this year's Web 2.0 Expo's theme of 'The Power of Less' fit the climate and mood like a glove."

Full length interviews with each company representative will follow over the next week.

Nestea Rides the Mechanical Bear

Weird. Weird. Weird. Thanks to Venables Bell & Partners, Odopod and Nestea, We have...the Mechanical Riding Bear! Yes, that and a collection of other weird activities like the Room of Doom and The Cobra Pit. It's all fun and games filmed Diesel Heides-style. And it's called Liquid Awesomeness.

As it was described to us, "It's kind of like a webcam, a viral video, a video game and a commercial had a disgusting foursome and then somehow gave birth." Yea, we'd have to agree with that assessment.

Inside All of Us is...Poop

Wait, what? So here's the deal. Everyone knows Spike Jonze has adapted the famed children's book, Where the Wild Things Are, into a movie. What everyone might not know is that another famed children's book, Everyone Poops, is also being made into a feature length film. OK, not really but check out the trailer here.

Expresso Goes to Boston, Sapient Makes Coke Happy

- Toronto-based Expresso is bucking the economic odds and opening an office in Boston. The office will be headed by Managing Director Marta Kagan, formerly VP of Marketing at Viximo.

- Sapient has updated the Coke Happiness site which now includes a game allowing people to take on the persona of Factory workers.

- "The e-mail system, like the phone system, helps with communications both internally (i.e., with Agency employees) and externally (i.e., with clients, vendors and media)." Check out this and other gems from an un-named agency's IT policy.

Agency Co-Founder Visits Doctor to Discuss Effects of Eating His Shorts

Continuing his efforts to land his agency a solar account by the end of the year, Captains of Industry Co-Founder Ted Page visits his doctor to discuss the side effects of eating cotton shorts, which he's promised to do if his agency doesn't get a solar account.

In an unscripted video, Page visits Dr. Glenn Rothfeld during which time the doctor talks about the after effects of eating cotton shorts, the fact it could cause a bezoar (hairball), the benefits of cooking the shorts Cajun-style prior to consuming and the fact super models often times consume cotton balls to keep their weight down.

Movie Site Opens Only if Mood is Right, Wins Award

As if there weren't already a plethora of industry award shows, now (not that this is new or anything) we have agencies like Ypung & Rubicon handing out awards to individual agencies within its network for what it dubs great work.

The winner of the agency's annual Idea of the Year Award goes to Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R Interactive Tel Aviv for its work on Orange Time, a site for Orange's entertainment and movie portal.

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Post Office Refuses to Mail 'Obscene' Postcard For Movie

Adam Rifkin is trying to promote his new movie, Look, an examination of how pervasive video surveillance cameras have become and the sometimes shocking footage they capture. The movie's producers intended to mail postcards with scenes from the movie and the copy "Will you be watching? May 5, 2009" on the back.

One of the postcards carries an image from the movie which shows a man having his way with a woman in a storage closet. Technically, there's no nudity but the Post Office has called the promotional piece "obscene" and won't allow it to be mailed.

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ad:tech Paris: Evolving Media with the BBC

Yesterday EVP/GM-Global Ad Sales Chris Dobson of the BBC conducted a keynote on what it takes to succeed in the rapidly-changing media landscape.

The BBC, of course, was his primary example; though whether you believe it's one of the most forward-moving brands in the stratosphere is subjective. (Frankly, I'll buy it when the iPlayer is finally Mac-ready.)

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Yawn. Debate Rages Over Britney Spears' Digital Enhancement

It's been a while since we've had a good healthy debate on the truth and merits of Photoshopping celebrities to wash away the ugliness of their realities and the less than ad-worthy attributes of their physical self.

Thanks to a sneak peak of the new Britney Spears Candie's print campaign, we can all, once again, wonder if Britney Spears is really as hot as she appears to be when she's not shot Paparazzi-style leaving a 7-Eleven.

Oh of course she's digitally altered. What would photographers and graphic designers do all day long if people weren't routinely manipulated to the point of perfection?

This is advertising, after all, right?