Apple Pokes Fun at Vista's $300 million Advertising Budget

Not one to sit idly by while its nemesis gets a $300 million makeover, Apple is out with two new commercials, one of which directly comments on the amount of money Microsoft is spending on its current advertising campaign. In the ad, we see PC divvying up Microsoft's budget allocating the lion's share to the ad campaign and a minuscule amount to fixing Vista's problems.

Mac comments on the seemingly illogical allocation which causes PC to think for a minute before he reallocates in a manner not quite expected by Mac. It's pointed commentary on the all too common viewpoint advertising can cure all ills.

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Grab the Fridge! There's a Guinness Truck on the Street

In "Fridge Magnet," a Guinness truck stops in a Buenos Aires neighborhood, gets all magically magnetic and starts drawing refrigerators to itself.

Notably, one random guy looks down at his glass of Guinness, which appears to be frothing mischievously. There's a beer with some naughty ideas ... and possibly a deep-seated affection for puns. "It's alive inside," the ad concludes -- half-joking, half-not.

By Irish International BBDO. I liked Saatchi & Saatchi's "Spoken Word" better, but "Fridge Magnet" is more in line with the casual "beer" persona. It also manages to pull that off without forsaking Guinness's sense of playful enigma. Nice.

Gonzaga Needs YOU! to Support Women's B-Ball

To sell tickets for its women's basketball games, Gonzaga University produced a well-executed online campaign that makes your attendance feel vital.

Pop a name and phone number into the Inspired Season microsite. (The marketing team told us this data isn't kept.) Later, when the girls need some pre-game pep, the coach calls you to pontificate on how important your presence will be to them.

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Vincent Price Incarnate Lures Mouse to Cheesy Destiny

This is disturbing. Seriously disturbing. Like a scene out of a old Vincent Price movie, a talking mousetrap taunts a mouse on the prowl for the cheese bait atop the trap. With equal levels of confidence and outright psychotic insanity, the trap beckons to the mouse until...snap...the trap captures the mouse.

But that's not where the story ends. Oh no. As the trap continues to creepily taunt the mouse quietly listens then makes an important decision. It eats the cheese and, because this is a dairy product ad touting the category's strengthening qualities, lifts the mousetrap bar and scurries away to the dismay of the mousetrap.

There quote a few of these oddities over ar Must Drink More Milk.

Created by Tribal DDB Vancouver, the commercial is for the British Columbia Dairy Foundation.

Nike Gets Good, Bad and Ugly

Weiden + Kennedy has created another beautiful commercial for Nike. This one is direct by David Fincher and illustrates the glory of life's successes and accomplishments by following the lives and differing skills of two child athletes turned NFL football players, LaDainian Tomlinson and Troy Polamalu.

Adding appropriate emotion to the commercial is a remix of Ennio Marricone's moving L'estasi Dell'oro from the classic film The Good, The Bad and the Ugly, a film everyone should see if only for its grandiose spaghetti western cheesiness. Not to mention Clint Eastwood in his early cowboy years.

Luhrmann Promotes 'Australia' by Promoting Australia

You probably know Baz Luhrmann by reputation, if not by name. He directed Strictly Ballroom, a tribute to the art of dance; Romeo + Juliet, his altar to the written word; and Moulin Rouge!, a garish but dazzling musical homage to pop culture.

He's just completed his latest film, Australia. I don't know much about it, but -- here's an interesting twist -- he's promoting it through a tourism gig.

DDB Worldwide -- which represents Tourism Australia -- tapped Lurhmann for its "Come Walkabout" campaign, which is technically for Australia but also for Australia. In the debut spot, a mystical (and naked?) little boy encourages a stressed woman to defect from her unraveling life.

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Finally, a Blog Devoted to Calling Out Realtor Ads!

Keepin' It Realtor, a blog devoted to rewarding realtors for being true ground-floor creatives, is objectively awesome, if only because you've sat one too many times on the face of a grinning stranger who's plastered himself all over your park bench.

I used to be partial to the "great wings" guy, but Mr. Lamb at left really takes all. Wondering whether realtor ads grow more conservative -- or just more insane -- as the economy whirls down the porcelain funnel.

You Don't Sleep Around But She Does

Mirrors don't lie. That's the tool this Erwin-Penland-created commercial for Clemson University takes. Noting most people don't undress in public, don't humiliate their friends, don't vandalize the campus and don't sleep around, the commercial makes it clear you shouldn't either.

"Our goal with this campaign is to reach people - students and non-students - and make them think about their own behavior," said Vice President for Student Affairs Gail DiSabatino. "There is such a bombardment of advertising that promotes alcohol and sports. This is one attempt to combat those promotions."

It won't be an easy job but the message will be spread across posters, newspaper, radio and video.

Ask.com Puts a Face on the 'Nagging Question'

Giving the New and Improved! Ask.com a promotional kick, Hanft Raboy & Partners personified the nagging questions that sit fussing in the back of our heads -- or, in this case, on our shoulders.

Watch as an elephantine nag weighs down an inquisitive 8th-grade boy. Here, a cop contemplates where to meet cool girls. And in our favourite spot, a pregnant woman wonders, "Can I eat eggs, clams and crab legs?" -- through an elderly Indian man.

Each question-asker accentuates its host's musings in a slightly tone-deaf way, imbuing the spots with quirky charm. And the tagline ensures we know exactly what each shoulder-bound burden represents: "Get the best answers to all your nagging questions."

Nokia Understands Your Phone Knows Everything About You

Tapping into the truism that one's phone is, in a sense, one's life, Nokia is out with an interesting online promotion for what appears to be a new phone. Two playful videos (Anna, Luca) do the montage thing to illustrate the lives of Anna, Jade and Luca, all of whom, of course, have accompanying Facebook pages.

On the promotional site, somebodyelsesphone, where the symbiotic relationship between a person and their phone is further explored, people can sign up to be notified via email when the phone will be unlocked...in other words, released.

Or, or, or...it's not a promotion for a new phone, rather, a playful promotion that attempts to make everyone love Nokia even more. Or hate their friends for even thinking about stealing a person's little secrets out of their phone. In 5.5 days, we will know. W+K London created the work.