Girl-On-Girl Facial Suckage the New Drool Inducing Ad Tactic

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Ugh. Anything to get guys to drool. Oh wait, that's a good thing. We like to walk around with our jaw dropped to our knees and saliva drolling down our face like a Neanderthal who hasn't seen his cave hottie for over a year. Apparently, Clontarf Irish Whiskey knows guys are easy targets for this stuff and the latest drool-worthy tactic is the girl-on-girl kiss.

That and a cute play on the phrase, "Kiss me, I'm Irish." We like is as we're sure many others will. However, Complex wonders just how well this might go over in the predominantly Catholic Irish culture.

by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Good, Magazine, Racy



Virgin Active Health Clubs Encourage Destruction of Your Couch

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Is there anything Richard Branson doesn't do? Apparently he's now into health clubs with Virgin Active. And to promote the 70 clubs that exist in the UK, we've got Sofa Bash, and fun little game that lets you destroy a sofa with various weapons such as a chainsaw, a shotgun, a cleaver, an axe and others. It's all to get you in the mood to proverbially destroy your own couch, get off your ass and head over to a Virgin Active health club.

Oh how we do love games that let us beat the shit out of stuff. Must be some latent childhood horror we experienced. Mom? Dad?

by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Games, Good, Online



Kim Kardasian Goes Bongo, Hotties Leave, India Comes, Gates Bails

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- Following Vanessa Minnello, bootylicious Kim Kardasian is the new spokesbabe for Bongo Jeans.

- If you're sad to see that really hot office mate leave for another agency, send his or her picture over to Office Hotties Who Leave, a site which features images of "men and women who make coming to work more bearable."

- American Express, Coke, JCPenney, L'Oreal, General Motors, Mars/Masterfoods, MasterCard, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, Bertolli Frozen Dinners, and Dove Cream Oil Bodywash are a few of the confirmed advertisers for ABC's 80th Annual Academy Awards broadcast.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Agencies, Celebrity, Social, Television



For Presidential Candidates, It's YouTube, Baby. Screw Network News

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Politics has come to this? Hmm. What would your grandfather say? Likely, he'd be horrified. Strange as this goofy Hilary Clinton video may be, times have changed and politicians have to, ya know, get down with the cool kids. Was that just Up With People we saw?

Can you imagine any presidential candidate before Clinton (the first one) doing anything like this? Reagan doing a two step in front of a green screen later proliferated with dancing bunnies while repeated his classic debate line, "There you go again..." over and over? Jimmy Carter wearing a straw hat with a big wad of chew in his mouth giving us his best "aw, shucks, y'all" drawl? George Bush (the first one) doing some kind of appropriately robotic break dance while rapping about the dangers of "nucular" weapons? Oh wait, that was the second Bush.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Political, Strange, Video



Michael Bay Commands Awesomeness, Blows Stuff Up For Verizon

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In this first commercial, breaking February 17, for Verizon's FiOS TV and Internet campaign, Jerry Bruckheimer's boy, Michael Bay, is seen hyping his own over-the-top obsession to blow things up. From The Rock to Armageddon to Pearl Harbor to Transformers, Bay is all about blowing things away and that's the central message of this campaign: Verizon blows away the competition when it comes to internet upload and download speeds.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-15-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Celebrity, Commercials, Good



If 'Precious Moments' Had an Adorable Death Frolic, This Would Be It

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Here's a happy Valentine's day message from Psyop. It all started cavity-sweet until the back-shaving, tooth-pulling, organ-dissembling and decapitating happened.

And what's going on with the gaunt stranger giving away razorblades, candy and saws of varying strength?

Wait a second ... we get it now! This is based on "The Gift of the Magi," isn't it? You know, the story where that couple buys gifts for each other at the expense of something they love, and the things they get directly relate to the stuff they give away, so neither can use their gift, and they're both miserably poor, so all they have left at the end is each other?

Wow. Brutal interpretation, Psyop. But hey, the ending is less pathetic (and way more literal) than O. Henry's version.

Oh, and for those dying to know, the song is by VHS or BETA and it is called "Love in My Pocket," which now we won't be able to listen to without thinking of ... scissors.

Anyway, we went ahead and sent the message to everybody we love.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-14-08    
Topic: Agencies, Good, Online



Thirsty for a Mother's Love? Hit a Mother's Milk Bank

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Advanta Bank Corp's ideablob, which awards cash to entrepreneurs with great small business ideas, just handed Naomi Bar-Yam $10,000 for her business.

Bar-Yam is the co-founder of Boston's Mother's Milk Bank of New England.

*canned laughter*

The world probably laughed at blood banks, too. And sperm banks!

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by Angela Natividad    Feb-14-08    
Topic: Online, Promotions, Specialty



Don't Just Love the Puppies; Spread Puppy Love in Puppy Tongue

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Remember that Talking Pets campaign for Purina? Probably not -- unless you're from Canada, or just way into the idea of communion with your furriest chums.

Anyway, for Valentine's Day you can send a Valentine in dog language.

We're not really sure what to say about that, so we'll go with the generic "...awww."

by Angela Natividad    Feb-14-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Online, Strange



Cupid Brings V-Day Color to 'Hate Late' Campaign

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To bring holiday character to its ongoing "Hate Late?" campaign for Pizza Hut, BBDO Guerrero Ortega ran this ad for Valentine's Day.

Cupid -- who needs to either shoot someone or pass a stool really badly -- hates late. And in a country known for its tardiness, the Pizza Hut delivery guy is his only friend.

Cute. Cuter still if he helped out on deliveries. Looks like he brought some unnecessary stress to that cargo.

by Angela Natividad    Feb-14-08    
Topic: Brands, Campaigns, Poster



Ugly Mug Coffee Goes Bold With Brand Re-launch

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Sometimes even lowly coffee brands needs the occasional boost and that's what Indianapolis-based Young & Laramore did for Memphis-based Ugly Mug coffee as part of a complete re-branding. Focusing on coffee's true purpose, to dramatically kick your head into gear each morning, Y&L went bold. Very bold.

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by Steve Hall    Feb-14-08    
Topic: Brands, Good, Packaging