American Apparel Hooks Up With Chictopia Bloggers

American Apparel has teamed with fashion blog social network Chictopia to feature the site's member's in a new advertising campaign. The campaigns will run on Chictopia's website as well as the member's individual fashion blogs. The models will wear a combination of American Apparel and the company's vintage line California Select.

Contest Encourages People to Out-Bimbo Jim Beam Bimbo

Remember the Jim Beam girlfriend ad? It's back. And this time it comes with a contest which kicks off today. As part of the campaign, people will be urged to create and upload their own versions of the Girlfriend commercial for a chance to win $25,000 and a trip to Las Vegas.

The commercial which will air through February 15 on sports networks including TNT and ESPN during the NBA playoffs. People will have until March 19 to enter the contest.

So if you've got something even more bimbo-headed that the original then, by all means, send it in. No doubt we'll feature the winner here.

Shortys Discounted, Paws Funned, Commercials Hated

- Check out Paw Fun, a t-shirt site which spoofs Obama, will let you put your pet in the White House. Figuratively speaking, of course.

- If you're going to the Shorty Awards (best tweets on Twitter), use the discount code "adrants." The first 25 who use it by Jan. 23 will get 50 percent off.

- On January 30 in London, PSFK's Good Ideas Salon will "curate a collection of our favorite forward-focused innovators and thought leaders to discuss ideas in the fields of arts & culture, collaboration, design, digital, marketing, mobile and youth."

- Lemondrop has a list of ten commercials and "bother the hell out of" them.

Given the Chance, Could YOU Conquer Either Finish Line?

Hoping to take the euphemistic "special" out of "Special Olympics," TDA ADVERTISING & DESIGN/Boulder developed a print campaign that focuses on the sporting similarities between the event you watch and that other one.

"The typical perception of 'Special Olympics' is young children with Down Syndrome, playing track and field. We want to change that," said VP-Marketing Heather Hill of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games. "The majority of our athletes are serious, adult competitors."

There's a brand repositioning worth throwing some weight behind.

Variants include "Slalom" and Ice Rink. If so inclined, you can also read the radio script.

Facebook's Whopper of a Sacrifice, Polygamous Secrets, GOOG Slims Down

- Facebook shuts down Burger King's "Whopper Sacrifice" app, which offers users free Whoppers after they de-friend 10 people. The data-sharing giant treated the app as a privacy breach.

- Google shafts 100. Dodgeball will be no more; Google Video will cease taking uploads in a few months' time.

- Paris-based Havas is splitting CEO duties between COO Gabriel Saenz de Buruaga of Madrid, and CSO Anthony Rhind of London.

- How advertising works.

- Got a secret, but can't be bothered to make a postcard? Contribute to Big Love's web of secrets. Note that each secret you enter endorses polygamy. Kidding. Maybe.

- Get a load of Obama's beast.

- Oh nooooes, renting a movie is just too hard for some.

- The Social Path lists emerging careers of 2009.

- MTLB's gas-related wisdom.

- Eyewear for the poor.

Doritos Narrows 'Crash the Super Bowl' Finalists Down to 5.

Having long ago concluded it never has to finance another agency-produced ad EVER AGAIN, Doritos announced the five finalists of this year's "Crash the Super Bowl" contest. They are:

1. "Free Doritos," Joe Herbert, Batesville, IN
2. "New Flavor Pitch," Oren Brimer, New York, NY
3. "Power of the Crunch," Eric Heimbold, Venice, CA
4. "The Chase," Chris Roberts, Burbank, CA
5. "Too Delicious," Michael Goubeaux, Los Angeles, CA

Impressively, they all share Doritos' abrupt frat-boyish brand persona. Almost like they were made by guys cut out of the same mold but of varying degrees of funniness.

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'High-Profile Client' Puts Brand in the Hands of WTF.

This morning we got a press release announcing the launch of a riotously ironic! ad agency called WTF & Associates, spearheaded by president/CEO John Bristol.

Bristol says the objective is "to revolutionize art and culture." His team is purportedly also "putting the finishing touches on an ingenious multi-platform campaign" for a high-profile client.

Natch, we made a noise along the lines of "WTF...?", then visited the site, aptly hosted at wtfass.tv.

Click on the doors to watch some dementedly-cheery talking heads (in the style of this TD Bank Theatre campaign) make bullshit agency talk. And if you're patient enough, you may hear the actual pitch for said "high-profile client."

Clueless as to who? Find out below the drop.

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Finally, a Place in the UK Where Racy Ads May Live.

The United Kingdom's got this really anal government body called the Advertising Standards Authority. Based on citizen complaints and its own yardstick for appropriateness, it's banned everything from nightmare-inducing Marmite ads to blasphemous haircare messages to mundane (but deceptive!) mascara spots.

But agency envelope pushers, take heart: the UK's FIVER network is working with Celador Productions to launch The Sexy Ad Show, a six-part send-up of some of the "raciest, most politically incorrect and barely-broadcastable adverts to [emerge] from ad-land."

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Everyone Has a Song Inside. But Few Should Give Birth to It.

Microsoft channels Dr. Horrible with this scary new ad for Songsmith. Not since Vista's Rockin' Our Sales music video has Bill Gates' baby so deftly tapped the Twitter rubbernecking reflex.

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Imagine if 'Jackass' Had an Educational Bent.

To promote a marathon of The Discovery Channel's top shows, CA Square put together "Best of Discovery," a montage of clips where men get slapped, crocs are wraastled bare-handed, bugs get eaten live, and things are inevitably blown up.

Also, I'm pretty sure somebody got struck by lightning.

In his sauciest, most vigorous key, the narrator promises "more thrills, more explosions, more dirt ... more INSANITY." Curious? The marathon kicked off this week. No worries if you missed anything; it lasts for 13 days.

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