'Carol of the Pickles' Stops Short ... for Murder.

pickle-carol.jpg

In this tiny burg populated by upright-standing pickles, the townsfolk come out, don hats and carol for the viewing pleasure of omnivorous predators.

All's well until a giant hand reaches down and takes a big noisy bite out of a baby pickle -- right after his solo. The savage! Mangled bits of soured cucumber fall from the sky, a disturbing yellow stain splashes across the snow, bystanders vomit relish ... and the miracle of singing dill becomes a wretched crime scene.

By Firehouse/Dallas, which, as of this moment, are the only people we want to invite to our birthday party.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec-15-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Online, Strange, Video



Twitter Before Birth, FlightLipDub, Best/Worst of '08

free-will-power.jpg

- Geek rigs maternity device to tweet when his unborn baby kicks. Probably the earliest instance of Twitter use EVAR. (Thanks, Atif!)

- Collateral Damage's top 10 marketing blunders of '08. There's way more than 10 ("It was a very good year for very bad things"), and the top two are tied. Go figure.

- Deep Focus does FlightLipDub.com -- the new online home for Flight of the Conchords.

- Free Will Power aims to safeguard "the future of pro-choice America." There's spoken word poetry! And a T-shirt contest!

- It's a site on the hunt for beautiful ads.

- Another advertising socnet.

- Best and worst of AdFreak. If you consider what Collateral Damage's worst marketing campaign was, you can probably guess AdFreak's best ad of '08. We'll give you a hint: celebrity mashup.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-15-08    
Topic: Cause, Online, Opinion, Strange, Trends and Culture



Yahoo Games Dances to Rhythm of iPod touch

yahoo-games-ipod-touch.jpg

Like the iPhone 3G, the iPod touch is sensitive to motion and stimulus, making gameplay a funtastically engaging experience. To illustrate that, the Yahoo Games page "reacts" to the movement of the gamer in this piece by TBWA/Media Arts Lab.

Niftay.

Wii did something similar on YouTube to promote Wario Land: Shake It!. And every once in awhile, a somewhat-less-awesome page manipulation spot for Marley & Me appears on MySpace. (In it, the dog Marley drags a leaderboard across the screen, knocking stuff around as he moves.)

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec-12-08    
Topic: Agencies, Brands, Campaigns, Good, Online



Pepsi's Super Bowl Coup, Grills Gone Wild, Evil Dead Musical

lucy-linus-agency.jpg

- Pepsi blocks other non-alcoholic beverages from entire first half (!!!) of next year's Super Bowl. And Halftime! Now that's just gluttonous.

- To promote its Scott Shop Towels ("like paper towels but way tougher," the PR folk explained), Kimberly Clark goes on safari for grills gone wild!.

- Bill Green lends valuable insight on how to gain a near-instant boost in Twitter followers.

- Evil Dead -- the Musical.

- If the Peanuts crew were an ad agency, Lucy would be the obnoxiously bitchy, but refreshingly honest, Christmas party organizer. And Linus would be an AD. (The security blanket should've been the tip-off.)

- Powder Blue trailer strips Jessica Biel down to her bare minerals. Eat your heart out, Natalie Portman! (Neither link is SFW.)

- Burger King's King loses wallet.



Emoticarolers: Yahoo's Take on the Singing Telegram

yahoo-emoticarolers.jpg

Hoping to make Yahoo! Messenger more appealing to the apathetic, Colle McVoy brings us the Emoticarolers. Bear witness while four floating emoticons struggle to wrap a holiday tune around customized greetings.

Not to say we didn't have a blast building our own. Hear ours. Features for sharing and embedding your carols are included on-site. In the unlikely event that you grow attached to one and want to listen to it every Christmas forever, there's also an option to download an MP3.

by Angela Natividad    Dec-12-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online



Mrs. Claus Wants Better Bedtime Action.

virgin-mrs-claus.jpg

After knocking a few drinks back, a svelte and shit-faced Mrs. Claus powers up the video cam and asks the kiddies around the world for a few friendly favors.

One of them: forego the mantlepiece cookies for a rice cake this year. "Sometimes when mama wants some sugar, she wants to be able to find the cane! -- if you know what I mean."

Yes, Mrs. Claus, we do. One drink later, she also solicits aid getting St. Nick to give her more love down South.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec-12-08    
Topic: Brands, Online, Video



If You Can't Get into W+K, You Can At Least Get on the Window.

w-k-christmas-cards.jpg

London-based? Swing by 16 Hanbury St. and walk by the offices of Wieden + Kennedy, where a giant Christmas card is fusing the faces of passersby to various holiday characters. Stand there long enough, and you might see your own face appear on Santa, an elf, or some kind of creepy egg-shaped bird.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Guerilla, Online



Feed Your Kids the Arts ... Before the Arts Feed Them First.

raisin-brahms.jpg

I was watching Heroes on Hulu last night when I caught these two utterly-bananas PSAs by Americans for the Arts.

Each ad spoofs prototypical cereal and junkfood ads in a fresh, over-the-top way. And they are hilarious, even after 80 watches (which you'll inevitably endure if you're watching any streaming TV on a network-owned site).

In "Raisin Brahms," Johannes Brahms bursts into a family's breakfast nook, Kool-Aid Man-style, and offers the kids Raisin Brahms -- "fortified with increased test scores and creative problem-solving skills!"

Pan to Dad. "Bobby? Susie?!" he whispers, aghast, when Brahmsy beards appear on his kids' faces.

"Don't worry, that's just the POWER of the ARTS!" Brahms explodes.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Commercials, Good, Online, Television



Get Your Steve Hall Christmas Doll!

dancy_pants_steve_memeo_share.jpg

To demonstrate the new Memo Share, a print and video sharing service, Woo Agency created Made Up Memories, yet another insert-your-picture video maker which, shocker, you can send to your friends.

So here I am promoting the Christmas season "it" toy, Dance'y Pants Steve. Yea, you read that right. My face (from an old picture which I can't seem to eradicate from the bowels of Google) is atop a dancing bunny who looks like he's one of those Barney characters.

by Steve Hall    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Online, Viral



SNL's 'Jizz in My Pants' Clip Makes For Awkward Hulu Ad Placement

big_brothers_big_sisters_jizzed.jpg

Bummer. Even beloved Hulu has fallen prey to the dreaded AWKWARD AD PLACEMENT. While Adrants reader Roger viewed the Saturday Night Live Jizz in My Pants clip, which carried the pre-roll notice "the following material originally aired at 12:40AM and may not be suitable for younger viewers," he was presented with an ad banner for Big Brothers Big Sisters.

It's not that anyone viewing this clip isn't a perfectly decent person worthy of being made aware of Big Brothers and Big Sisters. It's just the association could be seen by some as awkward.

As of this writing, the Big Brothers Big Sisters ad is still atop the clip. Jizzing aside, it's always nice to see Molly Sims and Jamie Lynn Sigler. Apparently, as the video proves, it was nice for the boys to see them as well.

by Steve Hall    Dec-11-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Video