Immortal Robot Tells Humans to Achieve Immortality by Walking

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Dishing up iRobot and Bicentennial Man robot-wants-to-be-human sentiment, this Johnnie Walker commercial tells us, from the perspective of a robot who wants to be human, to keep walking which, collectively as a species, grants us immortality in manner much different than that of a robot. As long as we don't drink too much while on that quest for immortality.

by Steve Hall    Nov- 1-06    
Topic: Best, Commercials



Microsoft to Embed Viral Growth into Zune MP3

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In what could be a masterful viral approach to growing a business that goes far beyond viral marketing, Microsoft is embedding viral expansion into its new iPod competitor, Zune. Users of the Zune MP3 player can send songs to friends over the devices Wifi who have three days to listen to them before they disable. If the recipient of the song decides to buy the song within the three day period, the sender of the song will receive a portion of the song's purchase price in the form of credits to be used towards purchasing music and other items from the Zune Marketplace.

Currently, it's a rumor and it would certainly be difficult to topple iPod from its reigning position but the approach is indicative of what many brands should be doing to grow their business beyond just traditional advertising tonnage. And yea, yea, yea, the whole referral thing has been done since cavemen traded rocks but this is high profile and it will be intresting to see if it works.

by Steve Hall    Oct-25-06    
Topic: Best, Brands, Social, Viral



Killface Eats Douchey Scion Exec

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This Frisky Dingo plug for Scion is so awesome, we're willing to look past the fact of the car's ugliness and appreciate their magnanimous capacity to feed their own minions to Killface. We just love that long pause that happens between the words "PPO" and death.

More Scion inclusions here and here. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

by Angela Natividad    Oct-25-06    
Topic: Best, Strange, Television



Kids Say 'No Stank You' in Anti-Smoking Campaign

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"You Stank!" Or rather, "No Stank You!" is the rallying cry in a Washington State Health Department ant-smoking campaign that focuses on the negative social and cosmetic aspects of smoking. With lots of weird videos, interviews, TV spots, radio spots and a huge collection of downloadable, spreadable messages, the campaign is way more fun that the TRUTH campaign by far. Scare tactics ain't everything my friends. This one works.

by Steve Hall    Oct-20-06    
Topic: Best, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Radio, Television, Video



United Nations Hires LonelyGirl15 For Poverty PSA

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Yes, it's come full circle. An entity with seemingly no purpose has been hired by one which has a very important purpose, the United Nations. Y&R, which works on the United Nations' Millennium campaign, contacted Greg Goodfried, one of the guys being the 40-video LonelyGirl15 series to see if LonelyGirl15 herself, Jessica Lee Rose, wold be interested in fronting a PSA. The deal was made and the video is now on YouTube for all to see.

While the marriage of LonelyGirl15 with the United Nations might, at first, seem odd, we're thinking it's kinda brilliant. With her following, a generation raised in a world of media vastly different than that of just five years ago, the move shows someone behind this effort truly understands social media and why tonnage television buys aren't always the best thing for getting the word out.

by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-06    
Topic: Best, Campaigns, Commercials, Online, Trends and Culture, Video



Gap Destroys Itself In Preparation For Makeover

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During this week's OMMA Conference, Crispin Porter + Bogusky showed some Gap work which aired nly in movie theaters in New York and LA. The :90 spot shows a Gap store being demolished by customers and workers as a sign of the new, aged-up Gap. While one source claims this ad was done by Laird+Partners, the fact Crispin showed it at OMMA sort of dispels the notion they sometimes "bend" the list of credits on a project.

by Steve Hall    Sep-27-06    
Topic: Best, Commercials



NBC Bitch Slaps Detractors of YouTube Promotions With Smackdown

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In a very un-TV network-like manner and in response to freaks like this who are offended any company would dare to promote anything on YouTube, NBC created a video called Bill the Promo Guy in which Bill asks viewers to understand he does the promos because the salary he receives for producing them puts his son through prep school and buys his daughter a horse. NBC has arrived. It gets YouTube. It gets the video response. It gets this groovin' social media thing. Ah fuck it, it's just another ad. But a good one. A really, really good one. Kudos.

by Steve Hall    Sep-22-06    
Topic: Best, Online, Promotions, Strange, Television, Trends and Culture



Colorado Anti-Smoking Effort A Barney-Like Second Life Experience

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Part Barney cartoon, part Second Life experience, part Honda Hate, this entrancing Colorado State Tobacco Education & Prevention effort created by Cactus and AgencyNet with help from Biscuit, Final Cut, Company 3 & R!OT, Lime and Beacon Street Studios on the TV spots is an elaborate creation of an entire online town, called C-Ville, with endless things to do and see. The underlying message within the town is choice. The right choice of course and the importance of choice when it comes to deciding whether or not to take that drag.

PSAs, viewable on the site and currently on air, show the importance of making the right choices and direct kids to the site for more education about making the right choices. Final Cut's Carlos Arias explains the approach saying, "Kids are so sophisticated these days so we don't need to make the message obvious. This is a new way of communicating with youth -- by not spoon-feeding them. Through great visuals and interesting stories, we were able to build up the intrigue. These PSAs had an interesting, short film style - like a throwback to 80s movies or branding commercials with sing-a-longs. They're just zany!" And, indeed they are. Zany enough to maybe actually work.

by Steve Hall    Sep-22-06    
Topic: Best, Campaigns, Commercials, Online



Remington Celebrates Pubic Beauty

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Taking body grooming and fashion to an entirely different level, this three minute video created by Grey Worldwide and The Viral Factory and co-directed by James Rouse nonchalantly illustrates the potential beauty that resides between a woman's legs and celebrates it like any respectable high fashion designer would. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, this three minute video for Remington is most definitely not your father's shaving commercial.

This is an ad that's not an ad that is an ad. Only the production staff and actors knew what was up. The audience had no idea. This is an ad that's actually fun to watch. This is an ad we really like.

by Steve Hall    Sep-19-06    
Topic: Best



Internet Celebs Star In Wacky Net Neutrality Videos

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What would you get if you collected all the Internet celebrities like the Subservient Chicken, Leslie Hall, Tron Guy, Peter Pan. the dancing baby and put them all in one place? You'd get the hilariously kooky We Are the Web. The Barbarian Group's Eva mcClosky sent us this gem in which the celebs are there to support net neutrality, the movement to stop big business from tiering Internet access. It's a hot political potato but the site's a deliciously quirky delight.

by Steve Hall    Aug-25-06    
Topic: Best, Online, Strange