Allstate's Past Makes Prime Ad Opp

Here's something we didn't know: Allstate was founded in 1931 and has weathered nine recessions.

Taking advantage of this illustrious history in "Back to Basics," baritone spokesman Dennis Haysbert tells dollar-skittish viewers that recession is a cure for frenzied overindulgence. Now is the time to have meals at home, that kind of thing. Later it all ties back into Allstate's "in good hands" tagline.

Work by Leo Burnett and production firm GARTNER.

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Because Penguins Fans Are Just Loyal Like That.

Cenergy/East Aurora recently put together "In the Game," a triage of spots for the Pitsburgh Penguins. Each depicts a Penguin fan testifying to the degree of his/her loyalty in random, occasionally inappropriate places.

Once in awhile the characters toss in a statement meant to make them relatable to tech users, like "I will sign off Facebook!" and "I will ask complete strangers to check their PDAs!"

Each breathily concludes, "...because no matter where I am, I'm in the game." Around this time you're supposed to be so into the Penguins that you wanna buy tickets, so a cinematic voiceover invites you to visit pittsburghpenguins.com.

We're not convinced sports fandom is really an impulse-buy kinda thing. And the fans are so ordinary that the incentive to follow them into Penguinsville is totally lost. Probably would've been a better campaign if the camera eye focused on the unique merits of the team and players; less so on three forgettable groupies.

Ads below.

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'Look at that Detailing. That is a Sweet Ride, Right There.'

Last week we reviewed a St. Lukes ad for IKEA's PAX wardrobe, which wordlessly depicted women being jostled about in an ongoing quest for safe haven.

In response, zig sent us its take on PAX. "Garagetalk" airs in Canada and was adapted in Germany. The vibe's completely different, but it still ties PAX to women and our apparently insatiable need for ambient shoe space.

Easing a friend into her PAXed-out closet with a casual "Welcome to the Jane-zone" (wince!), one chick shows off her wardrobe space with the attitude men adopt over modded "bachelor" garages. In case you miss the cues, concluding text wryly reads, "Men have the garage. Women have the PAX wardrobe."

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Western Union Delivers World Peace With Floating Yellow Blobs

Don't you love those commercials that paint the world as a place in perfect harmony? Where everyone is happy? Where children play together happily? Where everyone is optimistic?

While it always seems to be asking too much, that didn't stop Publicis Hong Kong from creating this feel-good Western Union commercial in which floating blobs of yellow form the word "yes" reaffirming that, yes, life does move forward and people are saying yes to a brighter future.

Oh, and Western Union is there to help that happiness happen.

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'Behind every detail ... there's a detail.'

In "House of Cards," Lexus showcases its buttery engine and vibration absorbing capabilities with not one but many houses -- and towers and turrets and a single Parthenon -- of cards.

The mini-monuments are built over and around a jet-black Lexus, with final flourishes added by a concentric figure in jeans and wavy hair -- the kind of guy you'd expect might know something about cardplay -- just to prove the work is legitimately fragile.

As the narrator sets the stage ("What happens when you take one of the smoothest engines anywhere ... and add 88 separate measures to absorb vibrations?"), the engine starts, underscoring the punchline: "Absolutely nothing."

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Sky Arts, ENO Court Opera-Goers of Tomorrow

Hoping to win new ears for high culture, the English National Opera and Sky Arts enlisted three well-known directors to jazz up some arias.

See all three clips. Kinda sucks that Baz Lurmann wasn't invited, given that he's tried interpreting La Boheme before, but everybody's probably still pissed at him over Australia.

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Shiny Happy Relay Puts Olympic Torch in Canadian Hands

"Carry the Torch" is an animated cause spot meant to encourage Canadians to "Create a better Canada." The song is called Shiny Happy Relay; lyrics appear below. (It is such RetroJunk fodder.)

A TotalWork effort developed by BBDO/Toronto and Proximity/Canada, the spot depicts RBC's "Arbie" character kicking off the Torch Relay in the top half of the North American continent.

Canadians that feel the fire can register at rbc.com/carrythetorch, enabling them to take hold of the actual Olympic torch as it crosses their borders.

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Coke Super Bowl Spot, Surveillance Beetles, Ingestible Syke

- Creatives Chris Yi and Jesse Epstein spent a month and $2000 producing three spots for that Doritos Super Bowl ad contest. Obviously they didn't make the cut, but hey, can you ever have too much material to compare your own to?

- AOL to cut 10% and forgo merit pay increases in '09. Join the club, guys.

- Coca-Cola's contribution to the Super Bowl: Heist. 'Tis cute.

- Print and TV ad tropes invade the online contextual ad space, and this is the kind of crap we get.

- Hey ambitious marketers, here's a radio controlled live beetle. Use it for something magical ... like whispering jingles into the ears of impressionable window-shoppers, Jiminy-Cricket style.

- One reason to spend $9, plus the popcorn fees.

- New energy drink! Syke. No, seriously though.

Like a Well-Bred Debutante, Bud Saves Punchlines for the Big Day

The press folk representing Anheuser-Busch sent us a passel of teasers for this year's Super Bowl. Slapstick takes a backseat to dramatic setup; all punchlines have been saved for Sunday.

Here's three:

"Clydesdales: Generations," an American immigration story starring last year's heavy-hoofed underdog. (They're milkin' this bad-boy for all its worth. The Clydesdale appears in at least two more spots: one circus-themed, another featuring his old Dalmation buddy.) By Waylon Advertising/St. Louis.

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Fiat Faux-Pas, Burger Bed, Hulu's Super Bowl Foray

- Hulu will be launching an ad campaign on Super Bowl Sunday. It's promised to "reveal the secret behind" its, uh, Huluness.

- Something about sharing fluids.

- Burger Bed. For some reason we instantly think Burger King (maybe the Whopper Virgin influence?), but it has nothing to do with that, actually.

- AgencySpy is unhappy with Fiat.

- Don't just rock that rosary, rawk it. Popin' it up on YouTube.

- Interested in movie marketing? No? Youwill be.

- M&Ms is giving away a trip to Paris. Go win it. Then we can sit around together and stare sullenly at the rain while the wifi blinks in and out of operation.

- Trust Me's Eric McCormack on being an ad man.