IKEA Gives Every Girl Her Space

You just need to battle its hordes, brave the lines and spend a weekend alone with a Philips and a hammer to claim a little Pax for yourself. =P

Work by St. Lukes Communications and production company Outsider.

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'Your Cadillac on Sex Steroids!'

"Sex Car" -- another one of those I-wish-I-were-rejected-from-the-Super-Bowl-but-the-truth-is-I-don't-wanna-spend-money-on-the-broadcast-time spots.

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Because America Can Never Have Enough Burt Reynolds. Or Stale Coffee.

Denny's promises to "bring dignity back to breakfast" in this teaser for "Thugs," a :30 spot slated to run in the Super Bowl's third quarter.

This represents its first-ever Super Bowl spot, and it's guns a-blazin: narrated by Burt Reynolds with a little Sopranos going on, mixed with Pulp Fiction cafe grit and some hipster sans-serif, but all in all we got a hankering for IHOP.

The work -- directed by Canada's Perlorian Brothers for the charmed folk at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners -- looks promising. But based on way too much experience, no amount of advertising can convince us that Denny's isn't one of the most depressing places in the world to visit.

Their mozzarella sticks are cool though.

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Saxsofunny Weds Sensory Delight to Your Average Print Ad

Brazilian sound production firm Saxsofunny's launched a print, outdoor and TV-based campaign that gives you something to play with. Under the slogan "Every image has a sound," the ad at left takes advantage of the human compulsion to pop air bubbles for that satisfying mini-'splosion.

We likesy-likesy. Other prints here, as well as a TV spot that ties 'em all together.

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Nike Channels Transformative Sister Magic

Nike shoots for sporty-chic in "Be Transformed," a fresh campaign for a line of trainers called Nike Zoom Sister One +. (We half-expected lotto numbers after that, but alas there were none.)

Following the "transformational stories" of six female athletes, the AKQA effort incorporates digital, print, mobile and outdoor, with the largest of the latter 110 meters, apparently -- a wrap around Beijing International Plaza, slated to appear in early February.

Check out "Punchbag." Sorta reminds me of Adidas' Beijing Olympics campaign, except less it's less melodrama and more Heroes. See other spots at Nike Women.

Energetic stuff, and just dynamic enough -- the kinda thing you can stomach seeing on Oxygen and the Sci-Fi Channel on Manga Night. All we can say is, thank heaven the "real women" phase is over.

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Recharging Dead Voltage, Inspiring Ads, SocNet Cannibalism, Pubfatico

- Mountain Dew brings the DEWmocracy slogan back for its new flavor, Voltage, which sadly brings to mind the vintage Volt, a green carbonated drink with a funny aftertaste. (It appeared, then disappeared, in the late '90s.) Subsite by Tribal DDB.

- On how Kaplan and Carnival open minds.

- Word on the street is MySpace wanted Facebook way back in '05. All ended much like a more recent unrequited love. Karma bites, bitch!

- Uh-oh: Publicis tries cobbling together some Enfatico-type thing for Carrefour. Squeeze your sphincters! This turd's been turned before.

- On Circuit City and its approaching demise.

MSFT: All Up in Everybody's Business, for Almost No Reason at All.

Remember Clearification, that neurotic but sometimes-funny Vista effort featuring Demetri Martin? Microsoft revisits hipster animation and irreverent anecdota with a JWT-developed ad dubbed "Because it's everybody's business."

According to GM-Advertising Gayle Troberman at Microsoft, the "I'm a PC" campaign was about "creating a 'vibe'" to "define our brand for consumers," whereas this spot is all about "showing business people the real value they can achieve with technology."

Yeah, good luck with that. Quiksilver President/CEO Bob McKnight justifies the ad's papier mache-style surfer imagery with use of his voice; and while nothing he says is truly memorable, I recall him comparing tsunamis to business. Then some rolled-up dollar wads with sheep heads traipsed across my screen.

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Air France Plays the Sky's Seductress

Few airlines can boast stripes different from those of any other, but Air France pimps its merits with shots that diverge from the typical relaxed business-classer gazing mildly out the window.

The copy's nothing to gawk at, a laundry list of amenities that include free Champagne in all classes, good food and big beds. But each piece is punctuated with the whimsical features of a woman, coyly guiding eyes to the Air France logo: it slips, for example out of the sharp point in her white patent leather stiletto heel, and glides like heather out of her disheveled cowlick as she naps in business class.

Slick. It lacks Virgin Atlantic's hot-whip sex appeal, but the low-key approach does Air France justice.

Coke's Open Happiness Super Bowl Spots Get Animated

Coke will have three commercials in the Super Bowl. One will be for Coke Zero featuring Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu. The other two from Wieden + Kennedy are for the broader Coke Open Hapiness campiagn and are heavily animated.

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Katarina Van Derham Named St. Pauli Girl For 2009

Back in October, we wrote about St. Pauli Girl's promotion during which people, for the first time, could vote for one of four contenders for St. Pauli Girl 2009. Well, the choice has been made, a new ad has been created and we are pleased to announce Katarina Van Derham as the St. Paulie Girl for 2009.

Katerina, a model, is a native of Slovakia, lives in LA, speaks five languages, and has appeared in ad campaigns for AT&T, Dodge, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Ed Hardy and Christian Audigier and on the covers of Iron Man, Max Muscle, Muscle & Fitness, Best Body, Double XL and
British Maxim. She's also an actress and has appeared on television in Monk and CSI as well as on film in Cellular and 15 Minutes.