Target Preps for Back-to-School with Revolving Dorm

We just caught a glimpse of Target's new back-to-school ad. It falls under the tagline "Brave new dorm," which made us think of Brave New World, which gave us chills, which only worsened with thoughts of Target's size and omnipresence (New York is still slathered with Hello, Goodbuy. Why, Target, why?).

In any case, it goes without saying that Target knows how to get your head bopping. Now if only dorm rooms were actually that size.

'Smashing' Compiles Collection of Snazzy 404 Pages

Speaking of 404 pages, check out Smashing Magazine's compilation of error message remixes.

You're probably thinking, "Sitting around revising a 404 page is inexplicably geeky and lame." Fair enough. But honestly, we wouldn't mind getting lost if we could find an easter egg once in awhile. The people that bother redesigning error messages are probably the same species that lifted us out of the MS-DOS, type-in-command days.

Arizona Launches Second Phase of Meth Campaign

While not quite as powerful as the recent Montana Meth campaign which inspired us to write "watching these new Montana Meth spots makes one want to grab a gun, hunt down a drug dealer, stick the barrel of the gun in his mouth and blow his fucking head off," the second phase of the Arizona Meth Project delivers the same powerful message: don't do it even just once.

The eight spot campaign, along with radio, print, outdoor and online, takes two different approaches. The first features kids wishing they had experienced other horrific events such as a car crash or a beating as opposed to getting hooked on Meth. The second envisions what a person's life becomes once they get hooked on Meth. The spots are powerful for sure but one does wonder how effective the scare tactic approach is. Peer pressure and the desire to fit in are almost insurmountable obstacles to overcome but the effort is worthy.

There are some recognizable faces in the spots including The O.C.'s Willa Holland. All the spots and the rest of the creative can be viewed here.

Brylcreem Does Honda Cog

Who says Honda has a lock on the one-shot domino effect ad? Not London's WCRS who created this commercial for Brylcreem in which a guy seamlessly goes through his morning ritual...effortlessly, which is the tagline (tag word?) for the campaign. If only everything in life went that smoothly.

I'll Ride That Mustache Off Your Damn Face!

We have to hand it to Axe. For years, they've managed to keep the central idea of their brand alive. With each outing, the message is the same: Axe attracts women and serves them up to the whims of men. Of course, that's not at all true but it makes for a great ad campaign.

The latest entry in the campaign is The Axe Naughty to Nice Program which plays out the continuing scenario of women going crazy in the presence of men wearing Axe products. This time it's about women who turn into lust-crazed vixens and commit crimes. The Naughty to Nice Program aims to rehabilitate these women.

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Nike Introduces the Greatest Team We've Never Heard Of

Hoping, perhaps, to bring back the days of Mia Hamm, Wieden + Kennedy just launched a new Nike campaign for the Women's World Cup with the headline, "The greatest team you've never heard of," which introduces women's soccer's next greats. Illustrating the dedication of the team, the copy in one ad reads, "Together [they] have missed out on 13 proms, 74 birthdays, 21 Thanksgivings and 989 boyfriends." And in an effort to familiarize us with the team, copy in another ad reads, "[the team] includes a tattooed surfer, a scholar, a college football fanatic, a humanitarian and a trucker hat-wearing scuba diver."

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method: Pretty Cleaning Products for Hipsters Against Dirty

We really dig method, a company that took it upon itself to develop cleaning products that are non-toxic, easy on the eyes and gentle on the senses.

But probably the biggest reason why we like them is they can push that manifesto in a trendy, almost sexy way.

We recently got an email blast from method under the subject line, "(still) cleans like a mother." Ha-ha, right? We are over this hipster crap. Then we opened it up and saw this.

And we're like, that picture is cute. That copy is clever. Wait, our kids lick tile? (Indeed, they do.) But wow, a method cleaning product does look really good with any decor.

Microsoft Cuckolds the Search Beast with Games of Chicken

Because Microsoft can't drive users to its search engine by merit (recall the Ms. Dewey effort), it's been dangling bait over internet users with various mind games and search-oriented word puzzles.

One such game is Chicktionary, where you try to build as many words as you can with a given set of scrambled letters. Once you engage an ad banner, you're driven to Live Search Club, where your engagement with the game is counted as ongoing use of Live Search.

This is how: each time you use the scrambled letters to make a word, successful words are counted as queries in the search engine, which then brings you its definition.

This and similar games have brought inordinately good tidings to the Microsoft search camp.

Clever.

Divine Intervention Illustrates Triumph Boat's Toughness

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways. It's not often, you have religion so intertwined with a mundane secular activity such as advertising but Triumph Boats has gone all out one this one to show just how tough its boats are and how a simple wish can elicit divine intervention.

We're not sure, though, who's being taught the lesson here. The boy who learns the power of pseudo prayer or the priest who realizes spiritual gifts don't always have to come in the form of hard to interpret intangibles. No matter. The bot gets his boat. The priest realizes materialistic desire might not be wrong. And Triumph gets to show just how tough their boats really are.

The Republik in Durham, NC created the ad.

The LA County Fair Bimbos Are Back!

The LA County Fair Bimbos are back again to celebrate this year's event. As we wrote last year; normally reserved for upstate New York or any flyover state, county fairs are full of cotton candy, barf-inducing tea cup rides, tractor pulls, all form of pig - both cooked and live, trucker hats, beer guts, "git r done" accents no one can understand and lots of girls who think they look hot with their gut bulging between their belly shirt and their way-too-tight low rider jeans.

This year the sisters are back with their equally bimbo-esque mom to tell all about how much fun riding bumper cars and eating pie can be. Enjoy.