Iggy Pop Jiggles Belly for Swiftcover

We're a coupla months late on this one. But when a shirtless rambling Iggy Pop pushes insurance (--"ON MY INSURANCE!"), you can't let it lie without imposing it on others.

This is better than that one time Gene Simmons tried reigniting relevance through cola. Or almost anything Ozzy Osbourne's ever done for anybody.

Props to @tamega for sharing.

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Kaiser Hits Creative Bargain Bin to Stretch 'Thrive' into '09

Kaiser Permanente continues its insufferable five-year-old "Thrive" campaign with two new ads, Kabuki and Mural.

The latter targets Spanish speakers without trying too hard (Latin music + "Viva bien." Way to go). Meanwhile, Kabuki features a Kaiser employee performing "Kabuki" with an electric guitar and selective gravity. He is later joined by a bunch of grinning people that tear off their clothes to reveal medical gear.

Campbell-Ewald (with help from Miami-based sister agency Accentmarketing) came up with this and the tagline du jour: "You and your Kaiser Permanente team. Together, you rock."

Fucking kill us. The campaign cost $50 million, and we apologize to the inhabitants of California, Oregon, Washington, Southern Colorado, Hawaii and Georgia, which will have to see it all over their daytime TV.

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Because Sending a Package Shouldn't Feel Like the Temple of Doom.

There's something ballsy about the UPS Store comparing itself to complex acrobatics or death by amphitheater. So, props for being flagrant.

But while the cardboard animation is fun to watch -- enchanting, even -- we could've done without the Universal Studios soundtrack, the extra-extra voiceover and the trite ending ("Hey, we do more than shipping!").

Apart from all that, pretty work by agency Doner and production firm Psyop.

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Inspiration Being, You Know...

What do you do when you don't have a big budget or a lot of ideas? Homage! I don't mean a great spoof for spoof's safe, but actual commercials for products, like...

- The Cleveland Cavaliers add a twist to the Heinken shoe closet spot. Score! (The extended version, too long.)

- Next, Dear Jane Sample finds a damm good Obama impersonator for Lastman's Bad Boy Furniture in Toronto. (Extra points on the name alone.)

- Freecreditreport.com? Hold up a sec, Uncle Sam fires back with annualcreditreport.com.

Unthink Chicken? Unthink THIS. IT'S CHICKEN THROWDOWN MADNESS!

In response to KFC's free Chicken Monday, Southern California-based El Pollo Loco is going them one better by inviting people to try their food free on Tuesday April 28th until 8:00 pm. FREE IS THE NEW...! See all the gory details here.

*waits for Burger King to announce counter-gueril... er, chicken stunt*

Heinecab.

Freaking. Love. This. Spot. It has such a great vibe in showing the idea of safe rides, doesn't even need the line at the end. [Post-jump.] Heineken almost has that Bud thing down now, where it can do both high-larry-tee and real. They just need a touching Super Bowl spot with an animal. Oh, and if you needed to know, yeah, it's from W+K. Guess you want the song too. Okay: Biz Markie's "Just a Friend."

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Mercedes-Benz Drives Out of This World.

What else to say, this Little Fluffy Clouds spot for Mercedes-Benz is slick as hell.

Why Pharma Sucks.

Regular readers of my blog know the special place I hold in my heart for the pharma side of advertising. Any category has good and bad work in it, but the limits placed on pharma by the government affect the look and feel like nothing else. All pharmaseutra brainstorms usually end up in an orgy of medaphors: "Can't say power, but we can say strength. No, can't say strength, but we can say long-lasting. NO? Damn. Okay, what about mild. Can we say mild? No, (Brand X) owns that. SHIT." And so on.

The fair balance info that needs to accompany ads is worse than anything you'll find in financial or automotive work, but more importantly, the government watches over how things are worded and what you can claim. This is so you are not duped in :30 seconds into making a life or death choice. Ironically, what FB doesn't protect consumers from is the real stuff that matters: Product recalls or misleading ads by brands like Yaz.

No, today it really sucks because this Viagra spot in Canada from Taxi and The Perlorian Brothers shows how good pharma work could be if we would just lose all the legal requirements.

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Always Have Your Hockey Dance Ready.

Just because Adrants is Boston-based, doesn't mean we're rubbing it in or anything. But why not celebrate today with a little old time hockey dance and our new favorite character, yah! If you're a Canadiens fan, you can't bear to watch though. GET IT? Funny, eh! Post-jump bear freaks.

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Philips and Their Insane Clown Fosse.

It's like getting your heart set on going somewhere, but the trip along the way turns out to be far better than the destination. As it is with Philips Carousel, a cool as hell stop-motion one-shot trip through tightly choreographed clown bank heist madness. [ Post-jump ] Even though I can't figure out what it's for at the end unless I'd read the background, it's an amazing piece. (Or, maybe no explanation needed as to who it's for because people will just pass it around: "Hey, did you see this clip from Philips?") It's the first cinema-scaled screen at 21:9, hence the "cinematic" vibe. Hurray end to letterbox! Yea! The microsite though takes it to another level. Scroll back and forth inside the scene and watch extra commentary as you move through by clicking on the blue icons in the timeline. (Via Corey.)

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