Crispin Plays at Necromancy for Popcorn King

We don't know what to say about this creepy iPod-wielding Orville Redenbacher resurrection except that we're horrified, and popcorn won't console us. To add insult to injury, it's also badly taped and executed in a manner most shitty.

Turning a childhood icon into a twitchy zombie is the air fluffed foodstuff of nightmares.

Thank Crispin for this work when you're done being paralyzed by fear.

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Neurotic Geico Caveman Gets All OC On Our Asses

Make the Logo Bigger shimmies us over to the latest Geico installment involving their star neurotic having the usual no-fun-at-all at a caveman schmooze fest.

The spot's a bit smug for our taste but we love those douchey Park Avenue twangs.

CMO's Shy Away from $2 Million Super Bowl Spots

It may have been a smarter move than we thought for the pigskin free-for-all to lean on audience marketing muscle because apparently only 13 advertisers will admit to having purchased a seat in the ad line-up this year. Those most vocal in pre-game marketing include Anheuser-Busch, the NFL and Dorito's.

Advertising Age notes usual suspects like Snickers, CareerBuilder and Taco Bell are keeping mum, and not one ravenous big pharma name, movie studio or telecom brand has admitted to getting on board.

Increased pressure on CMO's, nervousness over one-click critics, and higher figures (upwards of $2-2.6 mill) for ad units are allegedly to blame, but we're looking on the bright side: possibly more attention paid to the actual game and more exciting marketing campaigns executed through a calendar year, as they should be, instead of advertisers traditionally slacking 11 months then blowing their load on game day. Because come on. Did it ever make sense to have people talk about your wicked ad campaign for a day versus all fucking year?

Geico, with their well-timed execution and clever ads, are great at generating attention season after season. And in case you were wondering, word on the street is the gecko's not batting an eye in the direction of the Super Bowl.

AllState Gets Good Hands Dirty with Car Thefts and Swan Dives

AllState, best known for its mild-mannered commercials and provocative slogan, "Are you in good hands?" conducts an out-of-character but well-orchestrated PR stunt with the help of Leo Burnett.

In the subsequent ad a man on a mission steals a vehicle and drives it surreally off the top of a Marina City parking garage in Chicago. And just when you're like "OMGWTFBBQ," that soothing meme of a tone takes over: "AllState. Are you in good hands?"

Nervous laughter all around.

This print ad, where a Grand Am teeters precariously over the edge of that same parking structure, follows up on the idea.

AllState, typically favouring the soberest of marketing stances, surprised us with this one. It's a little like God making a joke at our expense. We're sure they got some good buzz out of the deal and maybe even an account or two since people accidentally drive off narrow parking structures all the time.

Halo Makes Good on Split Floating Ads

For their snazzy new Halo videoconferencing tool, DreamWorks and HP commission Goodby, Silverstein and Partners (who, by the way, just won US Agency of the Year courtesy of Adweek) to help make magic.

To illustrate the medium's visual benefits and the idea that people can work together without actually being together, the agency called on The Ebeling Group to create a series of vignettes meant to be played on HDTV split-screens at events and such.

The spots, directed and conceptualized by Tennant, are esoteric but pretty, which is what they were shooting for so we suppose they succeed. They also get that complex "work together without being together" idea out nicely. We haven't added the Halo videoconferencing system to our nighttime prayers, though.

One of the spots can be seen on The Ebeling Group's website. They're fun both to watch and listen to, and we can only imagine what it must be like trying to watch the ads in entirety when they're playing 20 feet above you on either side of your face. They must blow the mind. At the very least we figure people will stop, stare and do that awkward back-and-forth foot pivot for a second or two. That weird reaction on its own is almost worth putting ads up high and splitting them apart.

Dove Asks Users for Ads. Does This Even Count as Marketing Anymore?

Dove hops on the consumer-generated-ad-contest hype (at this point we're trying really hard not to use the word "begging" for the 200,000th time), assisting would-be advertisers with a tutorial on Dove Cream Oil. The winning ad will air during the Academy Awards in February.

Thanks Shawn for the news. Here's hoping another ad person doesn't win this one because the way everybody's beating this "campaign strategy" to death, we're obviously trying really hard to engage consumers here. Like, really, really hard.

Stashwax, SNL Duke it Out Over Who Spoofed Anti-Semite First

Stashwax makes a Braveheart spoof with the anti-Semitic comments Gibson made during his Malibu DUI arrest. Saturday Night Live does the same thing (but slightly better) with Apocalypto. We have to admit Gibson makes the pairing of his melodramatic films and drunken bigoted hyperbole a little irresistible.

Despite this inarguable fact, Stashwax has its panties in a twist over SNL's outright piracy of "their" idea, even showcasing this momentous battle on their homepage. Stashwax President Lloyd Grenache tastefully adds, "Stay off our gags [...] Gibson is our Anti-Semite - go find your own."

Looks like Stashwax is trying to leverage itself by suggesting it's SNL's only logical media nemesis. And we're sure we haven't seen the end of one-upmanship between TV and the 'net. But there's really no contest here. South Park has long owned Mel Gibson with its own artful rendering way back when Passion of the Christ came out. Sorry.

Thoughtful Robber Leaves Complete Contact Info

The robber in this Crime Stoppers ad holds up a bank while barking out full name and contact info to the teller facing the gun. After spitting out his number he quickly adds, "...and if you can't reach me there, try--"

We laughed for a moment, then realized this is no laughing matter. Jokes aside, today's customer-oriented world demands a different kind of criminal. You have to make sure the people you're robbing are happy. Post-filesharing, stealing's gotten seriously legit. Apparently even pirates have to report hard-earned plunder to the IRS.

And all this time we thought stealing was a cop-out. That just added a whole new complication to tax season.

Agency credit for "Bank Robber" goes to DDB Canada. Perhaps one day the thoughtful antagonist can graduate to business cards like any other corporate raider.

iPhone to Revolutionize Phones, Music Players, Lives at Large

Owning an iPhone is the equivalent of an out-of-body experience which is the only way to justify the 7% leap in Apple share post-unveiling and the $499-$599 price tag that out-hurrahs both iPod and BlackBerry.

ZDNet talks pros and cons, foreseeing death and suffering for many companies left vulnerable in the storm of common interest. With Apple's cultlike status they could have released this to the exact same jizz-in-the-pants fanfare.

There's a vibe in the air like people are down to give Apple their credit cards for safe-keeping until June, when the first iPhones will slide off conveyor belts and into warm laps. That is, if WOM is anything to go by as the topic's received a whoppin' 1,684 mentions on Google news alone per Adfreak's last count. Obviously iPhone is already more popular than the Beatles, a sweet irony because it's really only a platform for the Beatles and because Apple recently exercised total ownage over the Beatles.

Apple also changed its official title from Apple Computers to Apple Inc, better suited to accommodate its menagerie of soon-to-be-successful non-computer products, including iPhone and the iTV which will marry the 'net to the tube. That's definitely a pairing we've seen attempted before but with Apple's blessing (and the fact that the original WebTV is now owned by MSN, adding the critical pwnage component) we're sure it will fly this time around.

NFL Fan Contest Won By Ad Guy

Of the 1,700 body paint-stained videos dropped off at the NFL's doorstep, Gino Bona's idea was chosen for the coveted 30-sec spot on Feb 4's Super Bowl. The Bills fan claims he tapped into his own "pathetic emotions" to illustrate how bummed fans get when football season ends.

Bona's also the biz-dev director for up-and-coming marketing firm Garrand. (To be fair, this is his first attempt at a TV spot.) And an Adrants insider would bet his life or at least $5 that his agency troop helped at least a little for the consumer-generated ad contest.

Commercial Director Joe Pytka will assist in turning the tear-strewn "fan" idea into a bonafide ad. Pytka's done a slew of Super Bowl slots in the past so from beginning to polished end the spot will have been invented by ad people and completed by ad people. After all that begging, way to go consumer-gen, guys.