Captain Morgan's Liquors Up Kid's Holiday

We're sure this Captain Your Halloween promotion and accompanying cheesy DRTV-style commercial are supposed to be kitsch-filled fun but, we just don't see it. Perhaps it's seeing grown adults in Halloween costumes meant for kids. Perhaps it's a liquor company's trying to make a kid's holiday into an adult's holiday. Perhaps it's just Captain Morgans' attempt to be dumb in order to be seen ad funny when it's really just dumb in the first place.

Suzuki Illustrates, Chaos Conferenced, Tweens Over Sexed

- These BBDO-created Suzuki ads have some very intricate and intriguing illustration.

- Beginning November 17, the University of Texas in Austin is hosting Chaos 2006, a two day event focusing on the crazy changes going on in advertising. Yes, Bob Garfield will be in the house.

- Of you're sick of sponsoring that same old boring sports for your marketing programs, you might want to check out this combination of volleyball, soccer and gymnastics called Bossaball.

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Google's YouTube Acquisition Kills uTube

While everyone's fawning all over Google's purchase of YouTube, the poor guys over at pipe and tube equipment company Universal Tube whose web address is utube.com wish the party would end because, apparently, several million people can't tell the difference between YouTube and Utube causing the company's president Ralph Girkins to tell CNN, "It's killing us." Indeed it is. The site is currently available. Hey Google, help a little guy out. Send a spare server or three over to these guys so your $1.6 billion party doesn't put this guy out of business.

'Meers' Make DLP TV Better

OK then. Need a campaign (1, 2, 3, 4) that explains Texas Instruments DLP technology which makes a TV's picture better and brighter? Easy. Get a cute little girl. Bring on that "elephant in the room" metaphor with an actual elephant. Put them together in environments that need DLP technology to look good and talk about the mirrors. Yes, the mirrors. You see, DLP TVs are powered by Texas Instruments chips filled with millions of mirrors that direct the light towards the TV screen. The trouble is, unless you knew that prior, you'd think it was some strange entity called "meers" that made DLP TV beautiful. Here's a tip. When casting a kid for a spot in which she needs to say the word "mirror," it helps to make sure she actually can before you cast her in a campaign about "meers," uh, mirrors.

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Billboard Scares Passersby Into Afterlife

We're all used to people accosting us on the sidewalk to sell us the latest piece of crap but we don't usually expect street-based billboards to shock us into submission.To promote its new show, Afterlife, Britain's itv is scaring the shit out of people with billboard that, well, watch the video and experience it all for yourself. For you widget heads that will comment, "Yawn. So and so did this eons ago," save it. We still like it and think it's very effective in getting notice.

TXT Message Links STDs to Geico Insurance

Adrants reader Heather Dougherty received an odd text message today on her phone that may have been part of the currently running, very strange Geico advertising campaign. The message read, "Call me ASAP! I just found out someone u used to mess with has an std. But don't stress - I just saved a ton of money by switching to GEICO. Keep this going!"

Whether or not this is a sanctioned viral SMS campaign is unclear. We've contacted Geico seeking confirmation. While spoofs like this happen all the time, we have a hard time believing the average person would actually create a TXT message like this just to send to their friend. It has advertising copy written all over it. On the other hand, does anyone really want unsolicited TXT message of any kind delivered to their phones? We're not sure we do. What about you?

Photobooths, Tongues, Giggling Make Ice Cream Hot

Ariel points us to the oddities of ice cream marketing in Europe. Ice cream company Magnum (and yes, there's all kinds of fun stuff you can read into that name) has set up a kind of photo booth for people (mostly attractive young women, natch) to film themselves eating a big ass Magnum ice cream bars...seductively and teasingly, of course. Sweet. Hmm. Makes Hood look positively church-going.

Tennis Hotties Swap Shirts For Magazine

Continuing it's Keep Dreaming of A Better World campaign, Che Magazine gives us yet another thing to dream about when it comes to a better world. That is if you think a better world is made of up female tennis players exchanging shirts at the end of a match. Oh, the things people do for publicity. This comes from our friends over at Duval Guillaume Antwerp.

Ooo. Aah. It's So Big. It's So Jewish. It's A Jewish Social Network

From our hot women-obsessed friends over at Jewish social network. Koolanoo, comes yet another video filled with, yes, hot women and...huh...what is that gigantic thing between your legs, my friend? Oh just watch and find out. While there's no nudity (aside from a guy's backside) in this video, you might want to turn the volume down before viewing lest you want your office mates to think you've got some kind of orgy going on in your office.

Greased Interview Nets New Subway Tagline

One has to wonder whether or not Agency.com's Subway Video fiasco might not have turned out better if they took this tack when they did their man on the street interviews. At least they might not have offended that Amish guy Hassidic Jew. Oh wait, it wasn't the interviews that did it. They crucified themselves but whatever.

Adrants reader Nicholas Hall points out Will McKinley likes to go to Subway but he only goes for the Diet Coke. It's his "delivery method of choice for the precious elixir caffeine." He hates the food but loves to go to various Subway's throughout New York for his caffeine needs. The other day, as he was leaving a Subway, he was approached by a guy with a video camera and a microphone who wanted to talk to Will about his Subway experiences. Will offered that he might not be the best guy to talk to as he has no love for the place but the guy, undeterred, offered Will $5 and said, "I'll pay you $5 to say something good." So Will thought for a second, said sure, and decided to lie about hw much he loved Subway. Score one for that marketing organization.

Will didn't stop there. When asked his favorite thing about Subway, Will invented a new tagline for the place, "Subway is healthy, fast and cheap. Just how I like my women."