HDTV Makes Traumatic Impact on Collision Kind

Martijn over at Fresh Creation pointed us to this ad for Videotron, which sought to emphasize the HDTV experience with a crash test dummy.

We dig the voice-over and the concept, but why haven't crash test dummies been retired to the annals of old-school yet?

:30 Not Dead, Cannes Goes to Coney, Stern Sued, J&J Robs McCann

- All those predictions about the death of the upfront? Still wrong. It's looking healthy and on it's way to 9 billion, up three percent from last year. Death of the :30? not this year.

- PricewaterhouseCooper says global web ad spending will hit $80 billion by 2011.

- Even more Cannes idiocy: Wrath of Cannes

- Howard Stern may be sued by weight loss company JEC for disparaging comments he made about Stern regular, Cabbie who is using the product.

- Johnson & Johnson has pulled creative duties for all but one account, Acuvue, from IPG's McCann Erikson, a loss of $90 million for the agency.

'Lost' Gets Found With TomTom

If you're head is about to explode because you can't follow the increasingly insane Lost plot twists. If you're sick of the Jack/Sawyer/Kate will they/won't they crap. If you can't figure out whether the show is biblically purgatory-based or some kind of time travel experiment gone wrong. If you think the Dharma Initiative is run by Bill Gates' detached-at-birth twin, TomTom has all the answers for you inside it's Lost in 30 Seconds video.

One Generation Promises Another It Will Care For Environment in PSA

Created by Brainchild Creative and given the XFX treatment by Phoenix Editorial & Designs comes a campaign for California's Flex Your Muscles energy efficiency PSA. Employing non-professionals and using a loose scripts, the "California" spot features parents promising to leave their children the beauty they know to be California. Closing with the tag, Global warming isn't just a fact. It's a choice, the spot urges people to realize what they do today has a serious effect on future generations. Three other spots, Climate, Drought and Floods complete the campaign.

The first two spots, California and Climate broke June 11. The second two spots, Drought and Floods will break July 2

Widgets Measured, Upfront Begins, eBay Yanks AdWords

- Cynopsis reports ComScore will now begin measuring the reach of widgets, used more and more buy brands as a commercial platform.

- Cynopsis also reports the first major upfront deal has been struck between NBC and Group M. The deal is reported to be between $800 million and $1 billion and was based on live plus three ratings.

- There's a bit of a bitch fight going on between Google and eBaby over Google's courting of unhappy eBay merchants who Google would like to have as Google Checkout customers. In an apparent reaction to that, eBay has pulled all its AdWords advertising

- When NBC's Heroes returns this fall, Nissan will be all over the show like Syler on Hiro with increased product placement and exclusive sponsorship of the season opener.

- Ford Models has hooked up with MySpace for its International Model Search. MySpace will be home to the search for both aspiring models and those who just like to look.

- It seems the iPhone is too big for some over at Apple and they want to make it appear smaller in their ads.

Well Endowed Bikini Adjuster Can't Be Held

Upon viewing this interrogation of a nicely endowed, bikini clad beauty who, after the interrogator leaves the room and tells her co-workers "guys, we don't have enough to hold her," adjusts her bikini top to, well, hold her better, we were ready for this to be something entirely different than the program promotion it turned out to be.

50 Cent Bastardizes Orchestra in Name of Vitamin Water

In theory we have nothing against 50 Cent. All he has to do is not steal things from us and not replace symphony members with DJ Whoo Kid in order to weave "In Da Club" into classical fare.

He breaks the latter rule here. Thanks bunches, Vitamin Water.

And thanks Shedwa for the heads-up. You should probably also check out this Vitamin Water ad where Kelly Clarkson charms a snake. It reminds us of this, except less funny.

Live Garmin Commercial to Air on 'Tonight Show'

For a very different reason than it was done years ago, NBC will air a live commercial during Tuesday night's broadcast of The Tonight Show for Garmin International - the folks who brought us that Godzilla-style Super Bowl commercial. Tonight Show announcer John Melendez will perform the spot dressed in a white lab coat discussing direction disorder which is an allegory to the company's mobile direction devices. A "regular" spot will also air during the commercial break immediately following the live commercial.

With DVRs having a noticeable effect on commercial viewership, we may begin to see more and more of this as the nets continue to circumvent ad skippage.

McDs Gets All Stop Motion. We Remain Unconvinced

We hardly recognize the McDonalds we've come to know so well in this stop motion ad by DDB, Chicago and production company Vitamin.

Stop motion is, like, the new sex (Lux best demonstrates: 1, 2). Gotta say, the method that helps make soap sexy can also do wonders with McD's.

The only question is, can the crisp and health-savvy ad get rid of the perpetual moisture that seems to plague the restaurant's floor? Or the square-shaped eggs in the breakfast sandwiches that betray utter non-freshness? Or the unhappy-looking, sickly-colored cheese? Or the flat and unimpressive non-meat-tasting patties?

Like hook-ups on MySpace, McDs runs the risk of traumatizing the ad-charmed with its actual appearance.

Nike Loosens 'Victory' Jockstrap, Rebukes Man Boobs

Advertising for Peanuts points us to a Nike ad put together by Wieden & Kennedy, Amsterdam for the UK.

It's a lot more casual than other work they've done but maybe it's a precedent-setter for the type of tone their iPod collabo will take. Because really, we haven't seen jack out of this liaison since the OK Go liftoff.