CareerBuilder Gruntledness Index Highlights Hotpots of Happy

cb-gruntled.jpg

To cash in on the quiet misery that ornaments cubicle life, CareerBuilder gives us the National Gruntledness Index, which highlights the happiest places to work. Results can be divvied by industry. But if the NGI is any indicator of reality, Oklahoma City is the best place in the nation no matter what you're doing.

Contribute to the index by getting a read on your Personal Gruntedness. The test is longer than it should be, condescending in tone (hey, like your boss!) and set to music like "Brutal Flute" and "Celtic Hip-Hop." All told, it's not dissimilar to water torture or an elective butt-wax.

The average of your money, career and lifestyle comprise your final score. This was ours.

CareerBuilder, why do you want to hurt us when all we did was love you?

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Games, Good, Online, Promotions



HP Exploits Idle Hands with Idolhands Contest

hp-idol-hands.jpg

HP is looking for the world's most talented hands.

Entrants to the Idolhands contest could win $10,000 or one of four TouchSmart PCs. Contest ends February 28.

Having sat through five or six of these, we don't imagine the expectations are super-ambitious. If you're Vera Wang or Jay-Z, that is.

Other brands have have relegated talent to fancy fingertips include Guinness, Elle MacPherson (in panties, no less!), and Phaeton.

Oh, and Campusfood, if soliciting handouts counts.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 8-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Consumer Created, Online



One-Man Dodgeball + Flash = Shake & Bake Advergame

roscoes-shake-bake-game.jpg

Here's an advergame to promote Roscoe's Shake & Bake, which debuts February 8 for Universal Studios.

Austin-based Q1Media put it together in tangent with Makai. It's simple: all you have to do is dodge the food being thrown at Roscoe.

We've had more fun plucking our eyebrows. With quad-edge razors. It'll probably generate a lot of one-hit plays though, because it loads fast and is simple.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 8-08    
Topic: Games, Online



Mazda Courts YouTube Car-Lovers with YouTube-Esque Demo

pasadena-mazda.jpg

Maybe because it has so much trouble getting people into actual cars, Mazda is inviting users to test-drive its virtual cars on Southern California roads: Angeles Crest, Arroyo Pkwy, the Pacific Coast Highway and Decker Canyon.

There's an explanation for the odd action angles (for example, the one where you get a birds-eye view of the front wheel). Mazda observed that on YouTube, car enthusiasts strap cameras to the sides of their cars to show you how gears shift and such.

Okay, then. Now excuse us while we head back to Problem Playground.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online



Silk-Clad Singers Bring Us Cerealbox of Love

breakfast-in-bed.jpg

It's not Justin Timberlake's Dick in a Box, but Dawn's Early Knights have our more immediate interests at heart: honey-sweet lovin', coated in chocolate romance.

Visit I Made You Breakfast in Bed, a Valentine's Day effort by Honey Bunches of Oats with Real Chocolate Clusters. (Score a $2-off coupon on the site, and visit The Pantry to find out how to make artificial roses seem less ... artificial.)

Props out to Eddie, who gave us exceptionally fresh morning creepage when he personalized the song for us. With rose petals.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Online, Promotions



At Honda UK, Problems Are Just Bigger Playgrounds

problem-playground.jpg

Check out this fun new Honda ad by Wieden + Kennedy. Also see LOL-worthy website Problem Playground. It will bring out your inner Alice.

The effort is for Honda UK. We like the collective "HURRAAAAAAY!" in the site intro and its straightforward nav: "Click on things to go there. Click 'Home' to come back here." Site includes puzzles, 360-degree vehicle features, download options for the commercial, and a making-of-the-ad video.

Whoever said assembly line work was dehumanizing clearly wasn't employed in the Hybrid department. Suddenly we're starving for a big fat zero-emissions jigsaw.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Incarcerated Chickens Get Tortured by KFC's Colonel

button_fried_down.jpg

Portraying KFC's Colonel as a sadistic prison warden, this new Kentucky Fried Cruelty campaign, in three videos, explores the supposed life of a chicken while under the control of KFC. There's kicking, beating, drugs, electrocution - all the necessary elements one might imagine in a Hostel or Saw movie.

more »

by Steve Hall    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Video



Sleepy Alesha Dixon Video Fails to Stimulate Focus

ford-focus-alesha.jpg

Champion Alesha Dixon of Strictly Come Dancing stars in this valium-esque Ford Focus ad, which debuted February 1st on Ford.co.uk. Cake masterminded it, tapping Alesha for her number-one status among the Brits, and included nifty knick-knacks like instruments made of real car parts.

The latter sounded neat, but we didn't much notice. All told, the video lacks life and seems too smoked-out and tame to even be decadent. Nice icepick shoes, though. And okay, the personalized plate? Cheesy.

Maybe this is just another one of those clashing Brit vs. American sensibility things.

Psst, Ford and Alesha. Watch Beyonce and Armani do it.

Update: Oops. Look like we pushed an angry button. Brit fans are really sick of comparisons between Alesha and B (see YouTube comments).

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 7-08    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Online, Sponsorship, Television



Have a Heart; Save a Manatee for Mom

manatee.jpg

...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.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 6-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Promotions



Yes, But Will There Be a Technicolor Dreamcoat?

sound-of-color.jpg

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.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 6-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Online