Google Goes Beyond Conquest of Advertising, Wireless, Hearts, Minds: the 'Net Itself

Rumor has it that our favourite soul-snatcher, Google - in tangent with a few other telecoms - plans to slide a proprietary broadband cable under the Pacific.

A Google representative points out that more infrastructure for the internet is better for users overall.

Fucking fantastic. Google: transmitting data across an ocean near you.

Netflix Preps for Halloween with Strangely Cheerful Zombies

We really only noticed this ad because we were busy looking for something critical to the happiness of all mankind -- an ice cream parlor open at midnight -- when these undead faces practically leaped off the page.

Then we thought, Oh right, Halloween is coming.

Does commercial preparation for this holiday always have to involve ugly costuming? It would be nice to witness more of the tranquil, pretty sadness of Corpse Bride get-ups, for example.

Look, they even have zesty variations.

Biker Boys Raise Hell to Maroon 5

...that is, if Allstate is any authority on their musical palates.

And with the help of Rolling Stone, apparently it is.

The campaign is to promote motorcycle insurance. A lot of Allstate's biker insurers are bikers themselves. Neato. Then again, you probably wouldn't buy car insurance from a guy on a bicycle.

Nielsen Hopes Social Networking Whores Could Use One More ... for Data's Sake

You'd probably feel like an ass if you were tracking all kinds of data about the mountain-moving power of social networks without actually doing anything about it. And because it's in just that position, Nielsen is finally jumping aboard the buzz train.

The company has just sent us a beta invitation to Hey! Nielsen, a very late attempt to lavish in the data that MySpace and Facebook are swimming in.

We're still kind of tooling around with it. For obvious (er, metric-oriented) reasons, members are invited to air their views about movies, music, TV shows, online destinations and celebrity personalities.

And here's the Hey! Nielsen value-add: unlike with "other" social networks, the viewpoints of Hey! Nielsen's valued members may be "shared directly with key decision makers in the entertainment industry."

"We have every intention of making sure Hey! Nielsen members are heard," stated the company in an email to us.

The site opens to the public this 24th. Here's to hoping people will fall in love with it and participate obsessively, so marketers won't have to pay MySpace for stats that Nielsen will have to turn into palatable data anyway. We'll totally ignore the fact that MySpace has a head start comprised of years, and millions on millions on millions of users.

Wicked Handplay Drives Users into Lovin' Arms of Guinness

ichameleon group -- the cats notably responsible for the human Subservient Chicken, better known as Trevor the Mentos Intern -- have sent us their latest oeuvre: Guinness Hands.

Watch a pair of hands do zany things to zany music. It's very old-school Nickelodeon, and it kind of reminded us of Elle MacPherson's Drummer Girl, except without the whole lingerie aspect.

If you get really sucked in, you can actually use the keyboard to teach a pair of hands new gestures in your own film. Cute. Will it push beers? Who knows.

Mainly, we're happy because the agency didn't get high on its Mentos intern success and try replicating that across the board. You know, like 42 or Fuel.

Advertising is one of those exceptions where you don't want to see much recycling.

Dairy Queen Finally Gets with the Times ... or Does It?

According to a press release, the Dairy Queen hasn't given its site a much-needed overhaul since the mid-'90s. Agency space150 was commissioned to bring it up to date.

Strangely, it still looks like it's from the mid-'90s. Seriously - DQ-topia?

We liked the billboard, though. When you click on it, you get to see old photos and Dairy Queen TV spots. Learning a brand's history is always neat.

Here's a funny coincidence: A company's inception always seems to take place during a time when no colored photographs were available.

Big Boobed Cheerleader Teases New Movie On YouTube

Oh we love how some marketers know exactly how to attract attention on YouTube. To promote the new Fox movie The Comebacks, which aims to do for sports movies what the Scary Movie franchise did for horror flicks, videos of a very pretty, double-entendre spewing, huge breasted hottie in a low cut cheerleader's uniform spouting valley speak are making the rounds.

In the videos, cheerleader Amy, who is the proud owner of magnetically eye catching cleavage, sits in the locker room and in the coaches office of the team telling us things like how hot the players are and how quarterback Lance, who stared at her during cheer practice, is "way hotter than Trotter." All while stroking (jacking off?) a baseball bat she's placed between her legs as she mentally imagines it's the real thing.

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Fubar Promotes Online Happy Hour with Sultry ... Teenager?

Here's an ad for Fubar, an online bar, that just leaped out at us. Jailbait, anyone?

Somebody pinch us; that chick looks young. If she walked up to us with a line like, "Wanna get me drunk?" we'd be all, "Wanna show me some ID?"

Oh, snap. Here's our girl of the hour, about five years prior (NSFW). If she looks young now...

Tribal, Dallas Adds Method to Mountain Dew's Campaign Madness

Mountain Dew has a lot going on: from Prohibition songster revivals, to tattoo-inspired designs, to geriatric deejays.

Maybe to ensure each of these different personalities hits the right target, Tribal, Dallas has coordinated the first major redesign of the Mountain Dew website in three years.

The site is gritty without being too busy, and it definitely did what it was supposed to do. We targeted in on our favorite effort, the New York hand puppet video, and savored the Dew's efficiency.

Adrants Unleashes AdGabber, A Social Network For the Ad Industry

It's not easy to officially launch anything when you don't even have a logo. Now that we do, we are pleased to announce the official launch of AdGabber, a social network for individuals in advertising, marketing and media. AdGabber, which soft launched in May, has just over 1,600 members with about 40 new members joining each day. An offshoot of Adrants, we couldn't be happier with the growth and the activity we've seen to date on the network.

AdGabber offers all the usual social networking stuff like member profiles, forums, topical groups which member can create on their own, a video section that serves as the ad industry's YouTube, a photo section, a calendar section where industry events are listed, a music player, and chat feature, blogs for individual members and an RSS feed providing news from Adrants. In fact, the thing is so flexible, that anything at all can be added to the network such as daily or weekly survey, ad industry job listings and creative portfolios.

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