Kid-Shaped Trash Bags Aim to Help Street Kids

Here's a powerful campaign which calls attention to the plight of street kids who, for lack of other options, sustain themselves by eating out of the garbage. Created by Leo Burnett Hong Kong for the Christina Nobel Children's Foundation, the campaign consists of trash bags shaped to look like kids. The bags were then placed near trash barrels in Vietnam and Mongolia.

Agency Seeks Business With Outdoor Video

Most agencies pick up the phone and dial for dollars when it comes to pitching new business. You know, to get that all important meeting with the peon who has no decision making authority only to be tossed off when the CEO of the potential client gives the business to his golf buddy. So why bother?

Netherlands-based ph/law knows it's all pointless so they didn't bother calling the CEO of TomTom when they decided to go after the business. No. They affixed snipes to street signs and made a video which they play on a video board 50 meters from the TomTom offices.

And yea, stuff like this has been done before but it always nice to see different iterations of the alternative pitch.

'I Know a Lotta Ex-Homosexuals.'

"I know a lotta ex-straight guys too!"

At left is a promotional poster for Regent Releasing's Saving Marriage, a documentary that chronicles the two-year political odyssey leading to gay couples' right to wed in Massachusetts.

See trailer.

Set against a Pepto Bismol-pink background, a white car sports a "Just Married" wreath and cans on string. Clearly some couple had a happy day.

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Prayers for Palin, Ogilvy Takes Wachovia, McMahon Raps, Fishing for Validation

- The McCain campaign was caught proclaiming John McCain's victory in the Presidential debate -- before the debate even happened.

- For down-and-out creatives that need to feel like heroes. V-v-v-via.

- PETA insinuates that fishermen have small penises.

- Sarah Palin needs prayer from advertisers.

- Ogilvy picks up Wachovia. Good fucking luck!

- Ed McMahon does rap vids for FreeCreditReport.com. Guess the waiter was unavailable that weekend.

- Citigroup vs. Citi-Mobile. Here's a thought: why not just buy the bastards?

Volvo Doesn't Want Any Piece of Our Lov

In an effort called "A Piece of Your Lov," Volvo invites online users to contribute to the first Volvo XC60 billboard, which looks something like this (except without the "download wallpaper" bar up top).

The image has been cut jigsaw-style. You'll be given a puzzle piece upon which to inscribe a raving little message about the XC60. These notes are called pieces of "Lov," named after the Swedish town of Lov, home of the XC60.

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Rok Vegas: For a 'Don't-Give-a-F*** Good Time'!

Unless you have a potty mouth, in which case you'll need to stockpile cards with funny little pictures on them. Well no, not really, but wouldn't that be funny?

More sass-talking picture-play:

o Rok your ass off
o Rok your cans off
o Rok your knockers off
o Rok your funbags off (who says that?)

Tagline: "Like there's no tomorrow." Aww, it finishes the sentences started by the ads! Get it? Get it?! Clever, so clever.

By David&Goliath for Rok Vegas, "THE club to come to for a high energy, don't-give-a-f**** good time," the latter promised earnestly. Note how it never once soils its mouth (or its print!), leaving that to its rowdy, sleepless, perpetually-trashed target market.

White Castle Makes Late-Night Munchie Calls

Pop your number in at White Castle's Crave is Calling campaign site to get random food-related calls on your phone at odd hours. It's kinda like having an aimless 17-year-old friend with the munchies.

Work by JWT. Users can also shoot the end of a Crave ad -- typical food porn-type stuff -- and upload them onto YouTube. So far only one submission has been made this whole summer, so either the campaign sucks or the copyright Nazis strike again.

(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.

25 Best and Worst Fall TV Ads Critiqued

An atrocious "Top Model" poster, a diabolically clever "Dexter" campaign, a witty "Chuck" ad, an insanely Candyland-looking "Biggest Loser" promo and an all-too-sleepy "Fringe" billboard are among the 25 best and worst fall TV "key art" ads bluntly critiqued and graded in a slideshow on Hollywood Reporter's The Live Feed blog.

The Hollywood Reporter's James Hibberd tells us, "Project was inspired by sitting in LA traffic, looking at the annual fall deluge of TV ad billboards and thinking it might be interesting to review the most compelling ones."

Check it out here. One of my favorites, Gossip Girl is first up.

Technicolor Placemats Mark Furniture Store's Foray into Art

Toronto-based furniture shop Simone Interiors now sells art created by the company owner, Lin Gibson. To promote this happy news, Gibson created a bunch of LP album-sized posters with multicolored bars and stuck them in local store windows -- with no accompanying explanation.

Roger Cullman over at BlogTO has more pictures. He also wonders whether passers-by noticed the installations. Commenters say they did, but nobody knew for sure what the promotion was all about.

"We thought it was one of those new gangs declaring their territory. Obviously, it turns out it was only those hipsters doing their hipster things," ruminated a reader called SCREWFACE.