Creative for the Smuin Ballet Company is all over BART right now, and every time we come across one of the pieces we can't help but stop and stare for awhile.
One of the biggest problems with ballet is it's traditionally classified as a "high culture" pursuit, which gives the dance some cachet, but also shuts potentially innovative new young audiences out.
Hoping to level this barrier, agency Evolution Bureau positioned Smuin as a ballet group that dances on the razor's edge. Each piece has its own tagline, beginning with "Ballet but...", and the ballerinas are double-exposed over some human element of pop culture manifested in their dancing.
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God, what a spot. For client Benadryl, JWT/London mashes up footage of nature violently spewing out pollen, seeds and whatnot to the equally-violent sounds of modern warfare.
And as my nostrils clogged and my single pinkish eye watered in sympathy, I realized that's exactly what this is: War.
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Even before sparks start flying out of their heads and orifices, there's something unsettling but unnamable about the four attentively-groomed men (or are they boys?) in "Two Weeks."
"Two Weeks" is the first single off Grizzly Bear's new album Veckatimest, and it's circulating the blogosphere to drum up promotional love for the band's music. The track has a dreamlike nostalgic quality, Jens Lekman-esque, which heightens the surreal appearance of the men before you: are their eyes just a smidge too big? What is it about their hair that seems disturbingly unnatural? And is it just me, or are their smiles ever so slightly psychotic?
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"Shaped for nothing else" is the premise behind this Pringles campaign, illustrated by Grey/Hong Kong with print imagery of objects bent into the shape of a Pringles crisp. In addition to the warped ping-pong table at left, feast your eyes on an unplayable vinyl record and a rubbery china dish.
"Simple, efficace!" gushes one commenter on fubiz. No better way to say it than that.
You know what's neat about Pringles? Its brand persona may be a little square, but it never mistakes itself for young flashy frat brands like Doritos. When all else fails ad-wise, it falls back on old faithful: its unique shape, which is part of the fun of eating them, one after the other, until your lips sting from the seasoning and you mildly hate yourself, because hey, you just ate a gigantic tube of chips.
Ben Kunz over at Thought Gadgets drew our obliging eyes to the latest manifestation of Hitler. This time it's for Rasayana, the anti-stress tea.
It might be overstating it to suggest Hitler would've been a totally different dude if he were more of a tea drinker, but you never know. At least one blogger has suggested to us that clutching a hot beverage generally makes you nicer.
More pretty pictures at Ads of the World.
Heineken follows up its ultra-popular walk-in fridge spot with "Walking Fridge."
The end result is much the same -- frosty rows of Heineken nestled in ice, swathes of men screaming like little girls -- but the premise slightly different: instead of getting a walk-in fridge, one brand-new homeowner gets a miniature fridge that brings beverages to him on little mechanical legs.
It's like Wall-E for the hopped-out blue collar set. Agency: TBWA\Neboko with production company CZAR.NL.
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Heh. Shakespeare County just released the Shakespeare Game, a Prince of Persia-esque challenge in which you, Romeo, have to hunt Juliet down and whisk her off the balcony.
Gather books and roses to fortify you along the way, and beware walking skeletons, spiked ditches and warthog-looking things. Every once in awhile the Bard appears to drop hints.
After an infernal loading period we blew at least 10 happily-lost minutes on the first handful of levels. No word on if success results in double suicide though.
Jack in the Box's mini sirloin burgers ad has compelled at least two of our local friends to actually try the wee bready buggers. Every time it hits the TV, somebody within proximity has a cuteness explosion and shrieks something to the effect of "The COWS are MINI! Because the BURGERS are MINI!", their pupils all dilated and whatnot.
It's weird. But we conveyed a similar reaction when we watched South Park's "Fun with Veal."
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Unwitting public transport users were treated to a depressing sight at some bus stops in Chile: a simulation of emaciated, depressed dogs peering out of cages, one side of which is actually the bus shelter wall.
The video below demonstrates the effort drew a crowd of gawkers and photo-snappers. Whether it earned any of those sad oily mutts a home, however, remains to be seen.
Work by TBWA\Frederick, Chile for an adoption program sponsored by Pedigree, whose kibble our dogs have consciously avoided since the early '90s. You know what'd be a real buzzkill though? A pet shelter desktop widget, like San Diego Zoo's panda cam, which we listlessly stare at between blogs.
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Troy-Bilt hikes its ad budget up 50% from 2008 to $1.8 million, springing for a folksy little tune called "Shinin' Down", which can be heard in its ads or on hold with its tech team. Download it for free at troybilt.com.
The ad itself is a modern nod to a young and trendy generation of gardeners, which I guess downloads MP3s in addition to steering tractors with a grin. It will appear nationwide across popular networks, including HGTV and DIY. This is Troy-Bilt's first TV push in five years.
Feels authentic. Don't you just wanna race outside and fertilize something? (*checks pocketwatch*) Still plenty of time left in the day to indulge that inclination.
Work by Marcus Thomas/Cleveland.
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