Rumpus Room, Young Guns Join to Make Trade Fair

Lots of liaisons happen around holiday time. The Rumpus Room, Young Guns and some other noob-oriented groups get together for Make a Big Noise, a competition to promote fair trade worldwide. Anyone under 30 can enter.

Here is the requisite MySpace. We like Rumpus Room, we like Young Guns and we like their concept but the MySpace sucks. We're sure they know that though. Considering fair trade and all that good stuff are causes now embraced by the tech-savvy, super-trendy, organic smoothie-sipping post-Google crowd, we look forward to seeing what kind of entries slip out of the woodwork. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Hospital Campaign Gets Artistic

We don't usually expect to see famous impressionist artwork in hospital ads which is why this ad campaign for New Hampshire's Exeter Hospital by Boston-based Winsper jumped off the pages of the press release and slapped us pleasingly in the face. With the tagline The Art of Wellness," the campaign aims to, well, be different and, thankfully leave behind the overused, meaningless white coat and cutesy family imagery of which most hospital ad campaigns, sadly, consist. The creative will see representation in print, on radio and on billboards. See all the creative here.

Bizarre Nissan Ad Shows Promise for Agency Newbie

Ads involving carriages in a desperate race against crocodiles, tigers, spherical killer rocks and Satan always make for promising fare, which is why Oregon Trail was so popular, and which is also why this Nissan ad by Curt Detweiler via TBWA\Chiat\Day is so awesome.

Curt's new to LA having just come from TBWA Paris and this work suggests he merits some watching - for slapstick entertainment value if nothing else. And by the way, that image at left has little to do with the video but lots to do with QuickTime being douchey. It is, however, part of the TBWA Nissan campaign. Try not to get confused. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Santa Liberation Says Fight Global Warming for Santa

Thanks to the enigmatic Comandante Hermey of the Santa Liberation Front we got to check out this neat stop-animation message about global warming. We enjoy stop animation in general because it reminds us of the shitty cartoons we watched as children but this one has a uniquely poignant message: if you won't do your part against global warming for earth's sake, or even for Al Gore, do it for Santa and the children.

That "do it for the children" stance never gets tired. It's the non-profit version of the more common "if you loved me, you'd..." And hell, we'll bet at least 35 people a day are suckered in by that one. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Dentsu Demonstrates Fine Line Between Fandom and Activism

The fine people at Dentsu Canada created this magazine ad that won Finalist caliber at this year's IAA Young Creative Competition in London. Peel the pro-Justin message off a love-starved fan's sign and turn her into a passionate anti-war activist.

If only it were that easy in real life. Though we're less jarred by the girl's transformation than the contextual change of the goofy-looking man with the open-chested shirt and necklace behind her.

Copy reads "Support a better cause" and is for the United Nations Youth Group. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Beer Promotion Strangely Linked to Whale Killings

Apparently, the Japanese have a substantial interest in several Australian beer brands and that's tightened the underwear of the conservation group Sea Shepard Society and Australia's Bluetongue Brewery who want the public to know which Australian beers are "whale safe." Apparently, the Japanese kill a lot of whales under the pretext of research. In a video found on YouTube and on the Whales Safe Beer website, a fat Japanese business man, in response to ordering the "full whale experience" at a restaurant, is served just that but we're sure it's not at all what he was expecting.

Listed on the Whales Safe Beer site are the beers Bluetoungue and the Sea Shepard Society say are not whale safe. These include Castlemaine, Emu, Hahn, James Squire, Southwark, Swan, Tooheys, West End and XXXX.

Coke and Youtube Team Up for vGreetings

There's nothing sweeter than a holiday pairing between a monolithic moniker and the scruffy new brand whose platform lies in user appropriation of copyrighted material.

Yet somehow Coke and Youtube make it work for their "wishcast" vGreetings, a touching dual effort to spread goodwill among mankind.

Send video greetings with Coke-oriented staples of Americana like the polar bears. And if that's just not your hype, maybe a greeting from Youtube personality Geriatric1927 is. Big ups to nalts for pointing this in our direction. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Infomercial Madness Promotes MSN Search

This has Wexley School for Girls written all over it. Oh wait, of course it does...because they did it. They created it for MSN Search. Using the kooky infomercial format and several of its stars, Anthony Sullivan, Matthew Lesko and Tony Little, Infomercial Madness pumps up MSN Search informercial-style and offers visitors the chance to make their own promotional informercial. It's all a bit cheesy but, then again, we're talking about the cheesiest form of advertising here.

Levi's Scores with On4Life

Despite the lame On4Life tagline and the suggestion they've done this before, Levi's Red Tab campaign gets its point across nicely and doesn't waste words doing it. It also happens to be damn good-looking. Check out the subtle use of shading in one variation and the contrast between dark, light and body shape in another.

We've always lamented Levi's unique penchant for creating visually stunning, provocative adwork while somehow still managing to suck in the real world. Let's hope they get it right. They can start by firing the douche who named the campaign. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Talking About Sex Makes For Better (And Safer) Sex

Before the wonders of the Internet, we never had the pleasure of experiencing how open other countries are about the subject of sex. In America, we toss the subject into a box, throw away the key and hope no one ever finds it. Caffeine Marketing points us to a Belgium-based sex and AIDS awareness campaign by Sensoa. There are several versions of the ad that were developed for both the general public as well as specific audiences such as school children and homosexuals. Translated, one of the ads reads, "Oral, vaginal, anal. How about verbal? Say what you like, what you expect, how far you will go. And expect the same from your partner. Because good agreements makes good sex."