HP's 'Maestro' Makes Like a Techie 'Fantasia'

Loving the "Maestro" spot for HP's TouchSmart PC. It's a striking but natural development from the more casual "Hands" campaign. And it would have been absolutely perfect if a few origami airplanes self-replicated and staged a mutiny.

Produced by Psyop for agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners/SF.

In an xD RS, Lava Doesn't Even Sizzle

To promote yet another limited edition vehicle, the xD RS, Scion went all Hot Lava. The subsite -- produced by SolutionSet -- features a bubbling volcano with a gray xD RS in the foreground; an explosion of lava makes it that wild red-orange color we love so much.

I find the bubbling noises comforting. They remind me of this one time we cooked a rabbit alive, invented some nifty rhymes, and put a curse on Bob Dole.

See print variant with vehicle specs. Beyond magazines and the 'net, expect to see "smoking" billboards, and street teams clad in flameproof uniforms, all from the fancy folk at ATTIK.

And while you contemplate getting an xD RS before all 2000 run out, see previous efforts for the limited edition xB Series 5 and Scion tC.

Lamato Brings Social Networking to...Um...Old People

Hey, who says social networking is only for 20-somethings? Not Lamato Network which claims to be aimed at people 32-54. In a series of "real world" promotional videos, created by Tribal DDB Toronto, online social networking features such as poking, friending, networking, sharing photos, notifications, giving a hug and more. Sound stupid? It is but don't worry because it's not real. The whole thing is a promotion for Mott's Clamato Ceaser, some kind of Canadian cocktail made from tomato juice, clam juice and vodka. Sound gross? It probably is. But Canadians must like it.

The Werewolves are Coming ... and They Want that Awesome-Smelling Bucket

Here's to hoping weepy bobby soxers, blood-splattered chicken and scowling Brits get your appetite going. This spoof trailer for pulp film Night Hunger is an (unofficial!) ad ploy for guess-which-fried-chicken-company. (Catch subliminal branding action around 1:25.)

The film was shot by director Ben Whitehouse of RSA Films, the parent company of Little Minx -- the wild and wonderful folks that hope to make film gods out of ad directors. Guffaw.

With Help from Nike, Spain Seizes Liverpool

Liverpudlians adopt fragments of Spanish culture in "Turning Spanish," created for Nike by 72andSunny.

They won't be reading any Don Quixote, though.

The spot aspires to cash in on the emotional cachet of Fernando Torres. He's the English Premier League's current It Guy. And while I guess it's funny to hear some 'Pud go "Gracias, mate!", the whole thing felt like a really long "Sorry ... you had to be there"-type story.

In this case, I think you have to be from Liverpool.

Hooray for You: Splashcast Turns Virals into Ad Platforms

Splashcast just launched HotSpot, which enables advertisers to tag objects in published videos.

When users click on the highlighted items, they're exposed to an ad and a link to purchase.

Splashcast told us the highlighting process is subtle so video viewers don't get irritated, but from what I can tell it's about as subtle as Facebook's photo-tagging feature.

Contact Splashcast directly if this -- and the possible backlash -- is something you want to play around with.

Don't Just Love Obama as He Is. Love Him as He Was

Look, look: It's Obama's first General Election spot, courtesy of AgencySpy and Tribble. I'm guessing much of the footage came straight out of his wedding video collage, because there are a ton of baby pictures in that bad-boy. See Obama at left, all James Deaned-out.

The video's a rehash of his values and how he proposes to graft them onto the US of A. It's an old story, but there's just something about the guy. He's magnetic. He's ... witchcraft.

Impulse donations go here.

Rock Band Brings Moshers to Suburbia ... Which is Where Most of Them Live Anyway

Who's that sexy unstoppable band?! Oh, it's just a bunch of teenage Rock Band junkies.

Uniqlock Scores, Gawker Goes Gorilla, Rio Sees Future, Ludacris Flows Mobile

- Repeating successes at One Show and the Clios, Uniqlo's "Uniqlock" (agency: Projector) won the Cannes Cyber Grand Prix. "Year Zero" for NIN (agency: 42 Entertainment) took Best Viral; "Sol Comments" (Mediafront Oslo) won Online Advertising.

- Gawker chose Gorilla Nation to sell its ads in Canada. The deal is exclusivo, no word if it's multi-year.

- Diggin' R&R's Tarot-style print campaign for the Rio Suites Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Adfreak isn't sold, though.

- WeMix and VoodooVox enable anyone to "drop a flow" (THEIR WORDS! NOT -- MINE!) from their phones and broadcast them. Ludacris is sponsoring. More cringey self-laud: "VoodooVox is the leading In-Call Media revolution." What does that mean?

- MTLB is upset about PETA, the one-sidedness of 30 Days (esp. the carnivore-meets-vegan episode), and changing people via persecution instead of supplying appealing alternatives to destructive lifestyles.

'Music is' a Fusion of Good Beats, Pretty Sights and Heartstrings

To promote its all-music TV network, Fuse.tv launched "Music Is," a $15 million ad campaign that taps into emotional connections with music.

The tagline ("Get your music on") is pretty lame but the the videos are good. Haven't seen any bad ones but I'm partial to Soulmates, probably because Lamp Chop died before I could grow out of his show.

Videos below.

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