Because Your BFF is DYING to Paint Your Nails in St. Louis

Perhaps inspired by The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hoffman|Lewis sent us this creative for the Missouri Division of Tourism.

Cheesy tag: "It's amazing what a body of water can do to keep a group of friends from drifting apart."

Alternatively: "It's feeding time for the Fishpersons!"

It's Holocaust Awareness Week, and Anne Frank is Not Fiction

This is one of those well-tempered print ads that forces you to really look before you know what's going on. Most people will probably miss the point while rushing by on the subway, but those that catch it might go, "Hrm" and bring it up in random bar conversation. (That's totally okay though, because MTV will probably catch the speed racers with this.)

Put together by TDA Advertising & Design out of Boulder for Hillel Colorado, the ad promotes Holocaust Awareness Week (which is NOW!). It features a copy of The Diary of Anne Frank, marked "Fiction" with a library label. The copy: "Millions of Americans don't believe there was a Holocaust."

Alternatively, maybe a few library aids just never read Anne Frank. (In which case, they can't have grown up in the western public school system. Anne's plight -- in print and as a Fox 20th Century Studio Classic -- was resolutely hammered into our 10-year-old minds and souls).

Neither Sexy Nor Smart

...is a Renault Scenic with a built-in PSP.

Our eyes hurt and we probably have brain damage. See more reasons why here and here. Oh, and here's some compulsive steering behaviour. (Please tell us the unit's in the back seat; why's it being marketed to drivers?)

The agency: Publicis, Rome.

Toronto's Fake Drug Campaign Revealed to Be College Advocacy Ad

The Torontoist has been following a a local teaser campiagn which, for a couple of weeks, appeared to be a campaign from a pharmaceutical company for a fake drug called Obay. After much sleuthing, the campiagn turned out to be for Colleges Ontario, a pre-college group representing area colleges in Ontario.

A teaser campaign using a fake drug is a daring move but it appears no one got lawsuit happy. The campiagn itself is funny. It promotes a drug that makes kids think more like their parents, sort of like mind control in a bottle.

The ad copy is great. It reads, "My son used to have his own hopes and aspirations. Now he has mine. Thanks, Obay!"

Denver to Remove 'Less' From 'Homeless,' Hopes Reality Will Follow

The Denver Rescue Mission is in need of $12.5 million to support the needs of 10,000 homeless people who seek shelter each night in the city. To call attention to the need, the Mission asked Cultivator Advertising & Design to develop a campaign. The agency came up with an interesting outdoor and transit campaign which composed the word "Homeless" from photos the agency took of 143 Denver area homeless.

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CD-Turned-Author Self-Promotes without Spending. Much.

CD and president Kelly Simmons of bubble, Philadelphia is sharpening her ad chops by promoting her own book, Standing Still. Released by Simon & Schuster, it's about a mom who exchanges her life for her kidnapped daughter's.

Publicity includes $200,000 of online, sweepstakes, broadcast, direct mail and guerilla efforts, allegedly all bartered.

The effort includes promotional postcards ("The ultimate beach read") stuffed in women's swimsuit orders, courtesy of Miracle Suit. A radio campaign will air on B101 FM, an indie station.

And when it rains, ziplocked flyers (via Tri-County Printers) promoting the book as "the perfect read for a stormy night" will appear on parked car windshields.

Check out Simmons' e-zine, bykellysimmons.com. You could win a Tiffany's bracelet that matches the one worn by the protagonist (product placement! Nice touch).

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Cupid Brings V-Day Color to 'Hate Late' Campaign

To bring holiday character to its ongoing "Hate Late?" campaign for Pizza Hut, BBDO Guerrero Ortega ran this ad for Valentine's Day.

Cupid -- who needs to either shoot someone or pass a stool really badly -- hates late. And in a country known for its tardiness, the Pizza Hut delivery guy is his only friend.

Cute. Cuter still if he helped out on deliveries. Looks like he brought some unnecessary stress to that cargo.

Second-Hand Smoke Destroys Gastronomic Experience

To celebrate the first birthday of Louisiana's Smoke-Free Air Act (Act 815), New Orleans-based Trumpet created this ad, which appeared in newspapers throughout the state.

It features an overturned ashtray with a birthday candle on top. Part of it reads, "For the past year, the Louisiana Smoke-Free Act has increased the flavor and health of Louisiana dishes by removing one toxic ingredient: Secondhand smoke."

We like the unique message (which makes us hungry, actually) and brave use of white space. Happy first birthday, Act 815.

DDB, Paris Adds Racy, Political Undertones to Iconic VW Campaign

Here's a contemporary homage to the classic Volkswagen ads created by Doyle Dane Bernbach, NY. This version was put together by DDB, Paris. Adland has more. Some, like this one, position the 60-year-old van as politically transcendent as well as timeless.

Hey. Didn't the Dharma Initiative in Lost use VW vans?

Piggly Wiggly: Why Diamonds? Slide Some Beef On 'Er

For Valentine's Day, grocery chain Piggly Wiggly is offering a $5,000 diamond necklace to its Angus beef buyers. The winner will be selected on February 11.

We're weirded out by the contest creative, which feature a woman wearing meat where a diamond should be. Clearly the difference between uncut rock and uncut bloody raw rack is narrower than we thought. Check out the Say it with Beef variant.

If nothing else, we're gonna assume this means we can take Steak and Blowjob Day off the calendar.