Mammoth Mountain Takes (OK, Gets) 14 Inch Dump

Ski areas love to tout their snowfall. So why not employ some bathroom humor double entendre rather than the usual "we get tons of snow" boredom that usually passes for ski area advertising. From LA-based David&Goliath comes this outdoor campaign for Mammoth Mountain.

Using digital billboards and weather widget on the mountain's website, snowfall amounts are posted to the billboard in real-ish time. The euphemism for these updates are Dump Alerts.

Church Challenges Mary's Virginity With Billboard

"Is it about a spiritual male God sending down sperm so a child would be born, or is it about the power of love in our midst as seen in Jesus?" That's what Auckland's St Matthew-in-the-City Church Vicar Archdeacon Glynn Cardy told the New Zealand Press Association in response to complaints about a billboard the church erected.

The board, which shows Joseph laying in bed with Mary along with the caption, "Poor Joseph. God was a hard act to follow," has been labeled "inappropriate" and "disrespectful" by the Catholic Church and others.

Supporting the rationale behind the board, Cardy said, "What we're trying to do is to get people to think more about what Christmas is all about." While he claims there were supporters of the creative direction, the board was defaced by detractors shortly after it went up.

Speaking for the opposition, Auckland Catholic Diocese Spokeswoman Lyndsay Freer said, "Our Christian tradition of 2,000 years is that Mary remains a virgin and that Jesus is the son of God, not Joseph. Such a poster is inappropriate and disrespectful."

Blasphemy or call to challenge stereotype?

Death and Dismemberment Not the Only Way Promote Sober Driving

Far from the blood, guts and wrenching emotion of overseas drive/safe/sober commercials come this staid, measured Buzzed Driving ad from Mullen for the Ad Council and NHTSA featuring the Pope, the Dalai Lama and...uh...Rachael. Yes, Rachael who appears to have been inserted Forrest Gump-style into several newsworthy events is the poster child for sober driving.

Rather than focus on the horrific results of drunk driving, this commercial focuses on the lives saved becasue a person chose not to drink before she drove. A novel creative approach. Though it lacks the intensity of the aim and maim approach and goes for the positive, uplifting aspect of the subject, we have to wonder if it will be as affective as the more common scare tactic approach used by most.