Orbitz: Ruining Memories, One Botched Farewell at a Time

To push TLC, its on-the-go flight update function, Orbitz gets behind YouTube in these ads which, if nothing else, show the perfect good-bye depends as much on the timeliness of your beloved's leaving as on your demonstration of suicide-inducing sadness.

Funny funny. We like how the gay one is labeled LGBT. It really led us to believe the spot would be racier than it was.

Tanqueray Transfixes with Far-East Adventure Show

There's just something about the phrase "master of disguise" that dissolves us into giggles.

Grey Worldwide and Asabailey Viral Advertising put together an explorer-style "branded entertainment feature" (not viral) to showcase Tanqueray's adventurous new Rangpur gin. Created for the Globe Probe and set in mystery-ridden India, the show has an Austin Powerness to it that's inexpicably appealing.

Take a seat for The Hidden Lime Groves of Rangpur. It's actually almost worth it until the Tanqueray comes out of the snake basket and you realize that you just lost 10 minutes of your life to a gin ad.

Ray Ban Appeals to the Uncool Cool

Alongside that chic McBride run for its Never Hide campaign, Ray Ban is also pushing this funny little YouTube effort that both laughs at and laughs with the hipsters.

Really. It's a pair of dudes wandering around catching Wayfarers with their faces.

But that aside, it does a good job of taking the occasional stodginess associated with Ray Ban and demonstrating how the post-post-modern uncool-cool kids have invested it with new life.

more »

Cheerleaders Aren't the Only Ones Who Need Saving

We love expansive thinking and chain-of-event style dramas such as NBC's Heroes so it is without surprise we think this newish campaign, Save the Monkeys, for Swedish carbohydrate supplement Gainomax is one of the wittiest we've seen in a long time. Borrowing Heroes' famed premise, "save the cheerleader, save the world," Gainomax, in a hilarious logic-taken-to-the-extreme video called Bananageddon, asks us to "save the monkys, save the world" by drinking Gainomax after exercise instead of eating a banana.

In the Bananageddon, a world without bananas becomes a world without moneys which, in turn, leads to a world full of lice and world leaders who can do nothing expect perpetuate the extinction of all human life...all because we eat bananas. Yes, it sounds very twisted so just watch the video and it will all make perfect sense. Well, sort of.

more »

Volvo Sets Scavengers on Typo - Er, Treasure Hunt

Volvo thinks it's the only vehicle sound enough to transport buried treasure from the Caribbean to your home. We would've guessed armored car, private jet or pirate ship, but you know, whatever.

Indulge the automaker by digging around for the gold doubloons and car key they hid for a campaign collabo with Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

If you're too jaded to do that, indulge us by playing Bill's game instead.

That's what we did. Why hunting down a stylistic inconsistency won out over doubloons, though, is anybody's guess.

Solving puzzles posited by cryptic voices just seemed like too much of a commitment. There are other things that demand our time.

Like Bloxie.

Bloxie is Latest Poison to Join Candystand Family

Candystand takes advantage of us. We know this. Whenever they send us a new game, we crack our knuckles and prepare to trash them.

Unfortunately we can't, because the games have gotten really freakin' good. No, scratch that. The Candystand folk are just mighty talented at isolating classic standbys (ping pong? Come on) and appropriating them for their own maniacal purposes. Consider Bloxie, a new concoction that's had us stuck on stupid for at least a half hour.

If we could track how many hours we've lost on the Candystand website, we'd probably find we're putting in the same amount of time as a Wrigley's intern.

10 Ton Says Entertainment is Key to Engagement

With a dependable combination of vivid colour, fast cuts, screenplay dialogue and campy melodrama, the video at Get Engaged Quickly accomplishes what we thought it wouldn't: it had us watching until the end.

Get Engaged Quickly is a promotional effort for 10 Ton, an agency that posits the rules of audience engagement have changed, and they hold the golden key: entertaining, rather than intrusive, video.

It's not like we didn't already know people want to be entertained and not pitched. But now that there's somebody to pay to think on behalf of the major players, perhaps we'll start seeing some good stuff.

We don't buy the notion that the best virals are by nature non-corporate. The best virals are by nature authentic. If you can be authentic, you're going to move people. Consider the (exhaustive) success of Dove Evolution.

Guess it helps to have Oprah accolades too.

Old Jingles Make Comeback in Nostalgic Ad Quiz

If you've ever harbored questions about the quality of your ad indoctrination, ease (or aggravate) those concerns with the TV Jingles Quiz from Mental Floss. We nailed 11/16 and lament the absence of the Whatchamacallit song, which was our favourite.

There's something deliciously twisted about feeling childhood fondness for a sales gimmick. Then again, what music isn't trying to sell you something? Even the Beatles are pushing shopping carts these days.

Palmolive Pushes Sudsy Soap on Dish with Doris

Like shame, camp is one of those marketing tactics that never dies. Dish with Doris, an interactive microsite promotion for Palmolive's Scrub Buster, pushes the latter to its limits.

Appliances in Doris' kitchen afford users multiple opportunities to play with the little old woman. Lest you search in vain for yet another film-making opportunity, hit the fridge.

Axe and Tag Are for Boys, Not Men, Says RGX

A clever little campaign dubbed RGX Life touts RGX as a mature brand that's easier on the senses than flashy jockstraps like Axe and Tag. In a compelling series of ads, actress Rachel Specter challenges the camera eye's manhood with a few well-written insecurity jabs.

Bravo, RGX. Shame is a time-honoured and totally legit tactic. Consider how long Listerine's been doing it.

If you're curious about how RGX is holding up against the competition, Advertising Age has practically written a novel about it.