Twitter Tweaks, Speeding Kills, Power to the Pot -- Oh, and Phelps Too.

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- Speeding could turn you into Haley Joel Osment.

- The Marijuana Policy people are boycotting Kellogg's for firing Phelps for smoking pot, even though he's been nailed in the past with a DUI. They feel this is hypocritical because pot doesn't necessarily kill; it just makes you real, real sleepy.

- So Good is boycotting Kellogg too, as is HuffPo.

- Guerrilla Comm rebrands.

- Twitter to charge brands for use. No word on how.

- Dame Edna for MAC.

- French billboard rage.

- Radiohead licensed House of Cards one of its songs to a homeless shelter for an ad, dubbed "House of Cards," that breaks this month.



Hope in the Slammer, Witch Buddies, Ad Poetry

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- "Twitter for sports." And then our eyes rolled back in our heads, and then we died.

- BFFs with the Wicked Witch of the West. She seems fun. DDR, your house or mine?

- The question we all must ask. Sometime.

- Shepard Fairey, the guy who did that Obama/Hope poster we all love to wheatpaste on walls that don't belong to us, gets arrested before his first solo art show. Duuuude. Sux.

- Scroll down to the part that reads "cb with a Flair."

- Intern sweatshop haiku.



Michelle Williams and Natalie Portman Catfight For Greed Perfume

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Don't you hate the over-produced, over-styled, ridiculously unrealistic fragrance commercial that insist upon portraying life as if it were based solely upon how you smell? Don't you wish, for once, a Fragrance commercial would do something interesting like...oh...show a cat fight between Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams?

Well now your wish, courtesy of Roman Polanski and Francesco Vezzoli, can come true with this spoof commercial for Greed.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 9-09    
Topic: Celebrity, Commercials, Good, Spoofs



Kellogg Separates Phelps from its Special K.

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From Kellogg: "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract."

How fickle is sponsorship. You win all those golds and everybody loves you, then you smoke one joint* and those self-righteous cereal-peddlers won't even look you in the eye.

more »

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 6-09    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Sponsorship



Katie Holmes: The New Face of Miu-Miu

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Exciting news from the fashion annals of Jeremy Dante: Katie Holmes of the Scientology set is the new face of Miu-Miu, succeeding French actress Vanessa Paradis, and joining a list of other screen stars better known for what they do during off-hours, like Drew Barrymore and Lindsay Lohan.

We've never been very impressed with Holmes and had planned to lash her with our whippiest whip, but the rose-hued imagery gave us pause. It appears she's finally shedded that mealy Dawson's Creekishness -- indeed, even gracefully eclipsed her polarizing husband and choice of faith -- and become a reserved but seductive little lady. (The work also feels less forced than Madonna's stuff for Louis Vuitton.)

We're almost giddy with like of her.

by Angela Natividad    Feb- 6-09    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Celebrity, Magazine, Poster



ESPN's 'Homophobic Fist Kiss' Lays Fist Bump to Rest

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Ah...the fist bump. That manly expression of...well, who the fuck knows? The whole fist bump thing is stupid, awkward and dumb. And has become even more so since Agency.com's Subway video.

It has nothing to do with homophobia, as some have dubbed it when called a "fist kiss" in this Shaquille O'Neal and Mike Breen ESPN commercial, rather everything to do with some men's odd desire to appear "yo, dude" cool or something. It's just dumb.

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by Steve Hall    Feb- 5-09    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Commercials, Opinion



Sean Penn Rolls Out the Money For Hungry Children

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With a supremely effective visual, this PSA for the United Nations World Food Program in which Sean Penn illustrates how, comparatively speaking, cheap it would be to feed every hungry school child for a year makes a powerful statement.

With the Wall Street plan costing $700 billing, the Iraq war costing $600 billion and the European stimulus plan costing $200 billion euros, the $3 billion dollars needed to feed hungry children for a year seems quite affordable.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-09    
Topic: Cause, Celebrity, Commercials, Good



Woody Harrelson Predicts end of World in 2012

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Here's a weird one. Woody Harrelson dressed like homeless geek by the name of Charlie Frost. Something to do with $4,000 Super Bowl tickets, living on Jupiter, the Institute for Human Continuity, a global survival lottery and the apparent end of the world in 2012. December 12, 2012 to be specific.

OK, enough of that. It's promotion for Roland Emmerich's movie, 2012.

by Steve Hall    Feb- 4-09    
Topic: Celebrity, Strange, Video



OfficeMax Organizes the Sky ... and You

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To promote an office organization product line spearheaded by Peter Walsh, this OfficeMax outdoor campaign wryly de-clutters crows, pigeons and seagulls -- a billboard's many friends.

Heh. Clever. Also, we like the rubber band ball. It's friendly.

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by Angela Natividad    Feb- 3-09    
Topic: Brands, Celebrity, Guerilla, Outdoor, Promotions



Adidas Takes Up 'Real Women' Torch

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Failing to observe this approach has already been mined dry by Nike and Dove -- among others -- Adidas launched "Me, Myself," a girl power campaign that rings like a modern-day sports riff off celebrated femme manifesto Our Bodies, Ourselves. The campaign release, for example, is heavy-laden with buzz words like distinctive, inspirational, individuality, confidence and -- our favourite -- intimate portraits.

WNBA MVP Candace Parker lent her face to the in-store/online program. Members of the fairer sex can submit "real" stories about their training struggles and successes on the website (where incidentally, you can also "mix and match outfits"!); three entrants will become the face of "Me, Myself" alongside Parker.

Parker synopsized the effort thus: "[Me, Myself] celebrates women of all ages and athletic abilities and shows that despite our struggles we can achieve our impossible."

Guess that's somewhat more productive than eating your feelings.