Strobey Audis, Midlifers on Hulu, Social Media Mobbin'

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- Strobey Audi D7 ads.

- Middle-agers inflate Hulu 490%.

- More BeanCast shenanigans: "Johnny Wall!"

- Contemplating Wolfram|Alpha.

- Something about pumping iron. And also furniture.

- Leonard Nimoy talks origins of the Vulcan salute. (*swoon*). Via @ChristopherY.

- Mob mentality invades social media. (Wait a sec ... aren't they kinda the same thing?)

- Doner CEO Barry Levine retires.

by Angela Natividad    May-18-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Creative Commentary, Podcast, Social



Talking VWs Spice Up Suburbia. Or Not.

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In case you're not yet sick of Volkswagens with German accents and too many opinions, here's fresh fodder for the pile: "Carefree Maintenance," by Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

In addition to plugging a current VW model (fortified with free scheduled maintenance!), it features cameos from the classic Bug and the '63 VW bus, which sounds sort of stoned.

Whatever's clever, dude. Oh, yeah, one more thing: Heidi Klum couldn't make the shoot this time, but there's a Zoloft-enhanced man covered in motor oil, and I guess that's almost the same thing.

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by Angela Natividad    May-15-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



Cadbury Enlists Canadians to Build Bicycles for Africa

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"The Bicycle Factory" is an uplifting piece about the many uses of bicycles in Africa. Under the weight of a single enterprising pedaler, one bike can deliver food and water, or play the roles of ambulance and school bus.

Put together by The Hive/Toronto for Cadbury Canada, which is raising funds to send 5000 bicycles to Africa. Whenever users enter a Cadbury UPC at thebicyclefactory.ca, they're adding a bicycle part to somebody's spiffy new ride. 100 UPCs build a complete bicycle.

Nice way to add a hands-on dynamic to a good cause. Here's hoping Cadbury gets the 500,000 UPC entries it needs to meet its goal, because boy, that's a helluva lot of Fruit & Nut bars.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Cause, Good, Online, Social, Video



Twitter-twitter-twitter, and a Video Marketing Gig.

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- Creativity launches design blog.

- After user freakout resulting from a small change to its replies feature, Twitter's decided to go back to the way things were. It's also promising to release features that enable individuals to customize their Twitter experience.

- Feed Company, the viral seeding firm that's given us this and this, needs an experienced Social Video Marketing Manager. The position is full-time and based in Southern California. Email josh [at] feedcompany [dot] com for more details or to turn in a resume.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-09    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Online, Social



PA State Yields Glimpse into Life of Another PA -- Peter Arthur.

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It's not often we're impressed by a tourism campaign, particularly for a state like Pennsylvania, which hasn't exactly wowed us with its past initiatives.

For PA Tourism, Red Tettemer rearranged the PA Stories effort it launched late last year. Now, instead of courting campy tales from real Pennsylvanians, "PA Stories" promotes the misadventures of one Peter Arthur, an ordinary Pennsylvanian whose two defining characteristics are a two-man scooter and his unrequited love for a red-headed waitress, who once served him some amazing shoofly pie.

If the look, feel and plotline vibe suspiciously like Garden State, we don't blame you; judging from the PR folks' eagerness to position this as an "indie love story," it was probably more than a little inspired by the slice-of-life indie film genre.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Television, Video



Carl's Jr's Resident Burnout Shakes Milk Cows for Milkshakes

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Some ideas should never see the light of day. "Making Milkshakes" is one of them.

To plug its new orange cream milkshakes, Carl's Jr. releases this mildly bestial ad in which a hipster dances around a cow and tries shaking the shit out of it. We hate him. And we don't feel thirsty in the slightest.

Brought to our attention by BL Ochman, who seemed equally repelled by the prospect of an orange milkshake after recovering from this instance of audiovisual molestation.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-09    
Topic: Brands, Commercials, Promotions, Television, Worst



Success of 'Signs' Springboards Schweppes into YouTube Top 10

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In a coup to position itself as the refresher of choice for discriminating grown-ups, last year Schweppes Europe launched the Schweppes Short Film Festival.

Like Little Minx's Cadavre Exquis ("Exquisite Cadaver") project, five directors from The Sweet Shop were tasked with creating short human dramas for the 'net, the only requirement being that each film contain a "Schhh Moment."

"Consequently all the shorts make reference to Schweppes at some point, however this product placement is thankfully subtle and clever," says Creative Review, which posted the films on its blog.

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by Angela Natividad    May-14-09    
Topic: Best, Brands, Campaigns, Online, Specialty, Video, Viral



California Milk Grafts More Human Stereotypes Onto More Heifers

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Real California Milk's Happy Cow Auditions gets two new entries: Anna, who's Swedish and yodels; and Destynee, who wants exclusive grazing rights to her own field of alfalfa.

See the last audition we passive-aggressively hated.

by Angela Natividad    May-13-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Video



Stride Lasts So Long Your Children's Children Will Be Chewin' It

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In "Heirloom," a somber man intercepts his son -- clearly bound for some far-off initiation to adulthood (uni? The military? The jungle?) -- to pass him something that's been in the family for generations.

Check out the molar marks on that ancient piece of Stride ("the ridiculously long-lasting gum")! Heirlooms don't get more intimate than that.

Agency: JWT/Puerto Rico.

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by Angela Natividad    May-13-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Commercials, Television



MoMA's 'I See' Weds the Abstract to Real Life

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We confess to being surprised by this video, one component of a campaign called "I See" for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In it, a bored museum-goer holds an audio guide to his ear and listens while it describes an abstract installation in a way that, while mundane, still struck us as strangely magnetic.

Without any audible change in tone, the audio guide suddenly ties the humiliation of the artist, who debuted his work in 1913, to a recent experience its listener suffered at the office. The voice, markedly female, remains sympathetic but professionally pitch-perfect, as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening.

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by Angela Natividad    May-13-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Online, Outdoor, Video