Dog Judo Back, Still No Judo, Still No Point

Rexley and Roy of Dog Judo are back in a holiday promo as pointless and confusing as ever. Watch them duke it out over philosophy and headlocks while wearing gis, swigging beer and eating chicken. And don't forget to pick up some Christmas cards, which are just so awkward you can relish in the feeling of alienation that emanates from family and friends. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Toyota Swathes the Usual Pitch in Elaborate Flash

Toyota pairs up with Swedish agency SWE to create On Toyota's Mind, a site that's supposed to creatively communicate to Swedes what Toyota's philosophy and values are without directly selling vehicles.

The site's certainly unique and has interesting music involving what occasionally sounds like a goat, but despite assertions that "we're not trying to sell any car directly on the site!" (PR guy, verbatim) every graphic leads to a cleverly-rendered media-kit style pitch about different facets of Toyota and new vehicle features. And unless what they're referring to is the tone in which this Flash-ridden kit was written, we're not finding much philosophy either.

We much preferred the Aygo campaign. At least then they were more direct about their intention: actually getting a car inside your living room. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Scarlett Vamps For Louis Vuitton

OK, so like ya know brands love to do ads with celebs because, like, it's really hard to pass up the opportunity to hang with someone like Scarlett Johansson, ya know? Besides, it's much easier to just whip together a celebrity photo shoot than it is to, say, come up with an actual advertising strategy. Look at BBDO's Pepsi work. All celebrities all the time. Still the number two soda. Oh fuck it, Scarlett's nice to look at so we're shuttin' our mouth now. More Scarlett here.

'Entertainment Weekly' Declines Hollywood Humor Campaign

It seems silicone breast implants and Scientology are two topics Entertainment Weekly would rather leave alone lest it spark fury among the Hollywood elite that makes its existence possible or raise the ire of Tom Cruise's lawyer Betram Fields. The magazine rejected a TDA Advertising & Design-created campaign for outerwear company Cloudveil Mountain Works' new Hollywood skiwear line. The campaign was intended to reach Hollywood elite during the Sundance Film Festival and other events held at Aspen and Vail ski resorts.

One ad pictures a mock Aspen street sign, stating "Silicone implants begin to freeze at -10˚ Fahrenheit." Additional text, underneath inset photos of three Cloudveil jackets, read: "We'd like to remind you Hollywood types to dress accordingly." A second ad showed a Cloudveil jacket over copy reading: "We wanted celebrities visiting ski towns to know about us. It was either run an ad in this magazine, or become scientologists." See them both here and here.

Travel Agency Campaign Transforms Daydreams Into Reality

We like the way this Grey-created campaign for travel agency Cruise Ship Centers integrates with everyday life and plays into the daydreams we all have about that perfect vacation we'd rather be on than the boring meeting we're sitting in or the monotonous work we're in the middle of. Each image in the campaign from the cruise ship-like iron to the leaning tower of Pisa-looking stack of cocktail glasses to the Alaskan iceberg-looking ice cream cone to the Caribbean island-looking coffee spill masterfully enables the dream. The ads are simple with minimal copy and they do their job beautifully. See all four ads here.

Bizarre Nissan Ad Shows Promise for Agency Newbie

Ads involving carriages in a desperate race against crocodiles, tigers, spherical killer rocks and Satan always make for promising fare, which is why Oregon Trail was so popular, and which is also why this Nissan ad by Curt Detweiler via TBWA\Chiat\Day is so awesome.

Curt's new to LA having just come from TBWA Paris and this work suggests he merits some watching - for slapstick entertainment value if nothing else. And by the way, that image at left has little to do with the video but lots to do with QuickTime being douchey. It is, however, part of the TBWA Nissan campaign. Try not to get confused. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Coke and Youtube Team Up for vGreetings

There's nothing sweeter than a holiday pairing between a monolithic moniker and the scruffy new brand whose platform lies in user appropriation of copyrighted material.

Yet somehow Coke and Youtube make it work for their "wishcast" vGreetings, a touching dual effort to spread goodwill among mankind.

Send video greetings with Coke-oriented staples of Americana like the polar bears. And if that's just not your hype, maybe a greeting from Youtube personality Geriatric1927 is. Big ups to nalts for pointing this in our direction. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Illuminated Reindeer Draws Energy from Enslaved Pedalers

In what's got to be among the suckiest jobs ever, BC Hydro commissioned Vancouver-based DDB Canada to create an illuminated billboard that ran 24/7 on the pedaling power of over 120 volunteers.

The campaign in toto featured 1500 LED lights, an enviro-savvy choice at least, and for every hour the reindeer was lit Hydro made a donation to the Canadian Association of Food Banks. Well, that's sweet. We hope the donation makes for some serious holiday dinner considering a lot of literal blood, sweat and (possibly) tears went into keeping that magical deer afire. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Talking About Sex Makes For Better (And Safer) Sex

Before the wonders of the Internet, we never had the pleasure of experiencing how open other countries are about the subject of sex. In America, we toss the subject into a box, throw away the key and hope no one ever finds it. Caffeine Marketing points us to a Belgium-based sex and AIDS awareness campaign by Sensoa. There are several versions of the ad that were developed for both the general public as well as specific audiences such as school children and homosexuals. Translated, one of the ads reads, "Oral, vaginal, anal. How about verbal? Say what you like, what you expect, how far you will go. And expect the same from your partner. Because good agreements makes good sex."

Greenpeace Admits Its Guilty in New Campaign

Acknowledging it's "guilt" in such "crimes" as "convincing the EU to outlaw development of all genetically modified organisms" and "helping ban corporations from dumping radioactive waste into the ocean," Greenpeace has launched a newish Zig-created print campaign that aims to call attention to its work. Five print executions are here.