Award Shows Aren't About Work; They're About Getting Trashed Beyond Recognition

DDB/Stockholm knows the score. For the Roy awards, which it claims are among Sweden's most prestigious ad shows, it produced this print ad featuring the Cadbury gorilla -- puking its brains out.

"Roy: Great advertising and open bar," the ad concludes.

Get tickets here. Hope you can read Swedish.

(And by 'Change,' They Mean Swapping Light Bulbs)

Here's a :60 spot that'll flash you back to Schoolhouse Rock. It's called "A Little Change Will Do Us Good," released for Gulf Power by agency Luckie & Co. Animation by Z Animation/Dagnabit out of Atlanta. (Don't worry, there's nothing remotely Sheryl Crow-ish about it.)

The ad encourages citizens to save energy while demonstrating how Gulf Power is doing its part. Supporting efforts include print, outdoor and subsite ChangeWillDoUsGood.com, though that doesn't seem to be working right now. The ad campaign debuts Monday, so I'm positive the site'll be up by then.

Simple, G-rated, retro -- and consistent across media. Good stuff.

UPDATE: The folk at Luckie & Co. say the site will be up by tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Know What 'Dishoom' Means? Congratulations! You're the Target Audience

Hoping to target a multicolored crowd that's "losing touch with antiquated [...] ethnic messages," calling card company Rebtel partnered with Monsoon Media, creators of the decidedly-ethnic web comic strip Doubtsourcing.

At left is one component of what Monsoon came up with. Inspired by old-school Bollywood print ads, it features Rebtel CEO Hjalmar Winbladh surrounded by multi-ethnic folk on cell phones. And an Asian dude with a gun. (A more direct and permanent form of communication, I guess.)

"Great service, dazzling features and super cheap rates! Rebtel CEO Hjalmar Winbladh is looking to dishoom ripoff calling plans!" the ad beams brightly.

At first I thought I read that wrong, but the pressie says "dishoom" is the sound a Bollywood hero makes when punching a bad guy. Well then, all right.

Future iterations of the campaign include a web component, some sort of tongue twister, and a third ad where a forlorn mother guilt-trips viewers into calling neglected relatives.

Old Icons Meet New Ones in Primetime Emmy Campaign

When you've got nostalgia on your side, you'd be damn silly not to take advantage.

Bowing to this philosophy, WONGDOODY is promoting the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards by compiling collages of popular TV characters from the last 60 years. See banner ads, a ginormous collage (tagline: "one night. everything you love about tv.") and a fun bus wrap ("Everybody on TV is going. Are you?"). It's so Universal Studios!

The campaign, "Where TV Comes Together," will run until the broadcast of the 60th Primetime Emmys, which airs Sunday Sept. 21 at 8pm EST.

In the meantime, it should guarantee some good clean time-wasting fun. Use the ads to play a makeshift version of Where's Waldo?, except with Captain Kirk and Miss Piggy instead of a stripey-shirt dude you don't even know.

No. Those Are Not the Twin Towers

So how do you let people know your website is all about real estate? You turn a keyboard into a cityscape, of course. That's what Tel Aviv-based Shalmor Avnon Amichay did for Globes, a large Israeli financial newspaper.

And don't go all "twin towers" here. It's just a skyline.

Yet Another Hair Care Product Causes Women to Orgasm

Not quite as blunt as the long-running Herbal Essence campaign which has no problem trying to make us believe its hair care products will give women thunderous orgasms, this new Euro RSCG London-created campiagn for VO5 Hot Oil more subtly eludes the the notion, somehow, hair care products do, in fact, give women orgasms.

The print campaign, with headlines like, "It took my by surprise in the shower," The best 60 seconds in my life, "I glowed afterwards, " It hasn't felt this good in ages" and "Oh. My. God," aims to "reinvent the cult status of VO5 Hot Oil as a miracle product in a manner similar to that women's exercise product on Mad Men which, yes, gave women orgasms.

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Miley Cyrus Stripped, Michelob Reinvigorated, Copyranter Quits (Again)

- Copyranter calls it quits. Again. Don't worry, he'll still be writing for Animal New York, and he's open to sponsorship.

- Speaking of sponsorship, HBO whips out some wad for web celebs like lonelygirl15. The network is rounding up YouTube headliners for a web series called Hooking Up. Witness the lameness.

- Degourget doesn't like Esquire's first-ever digital magazine cover, which was sponsored by the "ugly-assed Ford Flex." The price we pay for bells and whistles.

- Clear Channel Radio hosted an event called Stripped, where artists play "stripped-down" versions of songs in a jammy "unplugged" setting. Why is this news? Because Miley Cyrus performed Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, that's why. Everything involving Miley Cyrus is news, especially when the headline reads "MILEY CYRUS STRIPPED."

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'Blacker-Than-Ever' KUROs May Manipulate DNA

At first I thought the thing at left was a snail. But no, it was an amorous man with a French horn for a head. (Tagline: "Seeing and hearing like never before.")

This is part of a print campaign for Pioneer's KURO line of TVs and audio-video gear. Put together by TBWA\CHIAT\DAY\Los Angeles, each ad depicts a person in some state of metamorphosis, which represents the emotional heights your entertainment system should be helping you reach. Variants include butterfly girl, road carnage, trumpet man deux and trois. (But where is The Fly?)

Weird, but nice to look at. AdFreak observes the stuff Pioneer did last year was "even odder," and a lot less pretty.

For Mere Pocket Change, 'East Touch Magazine' Lets You Into Its Pants

From September to October, Levi's "Live Unbuttoned" campaign invades newsstands and 7-Elevens in Hong Kong.

Agency TBWA\TEQUILA partnered with East Touch Magazine to outfit its next issue in miniature 501s. Mag-lurkers will literally have to unbutton the jeans just to finger a copy. Bonus points if you can fit in them!

There'll also be a guerrilla effort in Causeway Bay, where customers can experience the "Live Unbuttoned" campaign live and, uh, unbuttoned, which I think just means they'll be able to try jeans on in a tent. (I'm hoping there'll also be a lively music component. Chinese gen-yers love free music -- who doesn't? -- so it would make sense if Levi's also promoted its free music downloads there, too.)

Tyra Banks: Not Just an Entrepreneurial Success Story!

If this ad for the Sept. 3 premier of America's Next Top Model is any authority, she may also be Balarama, the zany fete-lovin' brother of Krishna.