No More Adrants. No, More Adrants

Illustrating the unique power of the comma to drastically change the meaning of a given phrase and to call attention to the Brazilian Press Association and its mission to insure freedom of speech, this video offers several examples of what happens when a comma is removed.

The ad was created by Africa in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Because Politics Can Get Dirty, So Can Las Vegas

OK. Having recently been in Las Vegas, this new VEGAS.com campaign caught my eye and made me laugh knowingly at its wit and complete lack of attempting to make the city appear to be anything other than what it truly is: Disney for grownups.

Latching on to the Presidential election, the press release asks, "Tired of all the 2008 presidential election hype? The nastiness and innuendo? The half-truths and naked lies?" And answers, "We're not either. We're good with naked. And in Las Vegas, our 'polls' tend to have half-dressed women hanging from them." Not sugar coated at all and that's to be appreciated.

more »

Pop Culture Plugs Macy's in Nostalgia Montage

Part of doing Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years "properly" is reflecting on how they've been done before, a cultural habit that primes everybody for Memory Lane. That's why the holidays are a perfect time to bang out some pop culture nostalgia, wrap a tagline around it and call it an ad.

Under year-old slogan "The Magic of Macy's" (JWT/NY), Macy's cashes in on these sentiments by leveraging its long brand history. Check out this patchwork quilt of "Macy's" mentions in movies and shows like Charlie Brown, Family Guy, Seinfeld, I Love Lucy and Miracle on 34th Street (which I watched every Christmas as a kid!), among others.

more »

Animation Site Plugged with Kitten-Killing Game

Got a minute to kill and a lust for destruction? Take time out for Suicide Kittens, a strategy game where you play a kitten and the objective is to get shot, preferably by your own laser beam.

It gets surprisingly complicated.

I stayed alive too long in level 4, which landed me a big fat GAME OVER, after which I was invited to check out 4mations.tv, a just-launched site for deliciously sophomoric animators.

The funniest thing about this effort, though, were the game tags: suicide, kittens, lasers, and trigonometry...?

By Rubber Republic/London.

Wii and YouTube Rock the Video World

Apparently just placing a video on YouTube is no longer enough for advertisers wishing to seed their message to as many people as possible. OK, it was never enough for the smart marketers but go with me on this one. Anyway, Wii has placed some Wario Land Shake It game play footage on YouTube that delivers a decidedly different online video experience.

It's only fitting that video pages get the same takeover love "regular" web pages have for so long from the likes of Pointroll, Eyeblaster and other expand-o-banner techniques. Have a look.

'Watch This Video - And Learn from It': RA3 RMX Gives Cult Beat a Fresh Spin

"Red Alert 3 Remix," a promotional video for EA's Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, is the fruit of a partnership between DraftFCB and remix artist CB Shaw. The latter interspersed offbeat Hollywood icons with references to 'net memes and gaming footage -- all to the tune of Hell March, the track used in the opening sequence to the first Red Alert. Good way to draw legacy gamers back into the hype, though many will probably feel alienated by the invasion of Planet Hollywood.

But the line-up is pop culture genius. Jenny McCarthy, Gemma Atkinson, George Takei, Jonathan Pryce, Andrew Divoff, Peter Stormare, Tim Curry, JK Simmons, Kelly Hu, Autumn Reeser, and Ivana Milicevic have all been enlisted as characters in the game.

more »

Pay-As-You-Go Service Compared to Grocery Store Grabber Game

European mobile carrier Orange has this pay-as-you-go program that lets users define their own reward system. To promote it, Fallon/London tapped Reuben Sutherland of Joyrider, who came up with "Grabber."

In the spot above, transparent orange balloons, shaped like random animals, float enchantedly up toward the skylight of a factory building. (This setting was labeled "timeless," which I guess is true, given that we never quite run out of deserted warehouses.)

more »

'Wario Land: Shake It!' Sends Tremors Through YouTube

My sister, who's way into video games, sent me to YouTube.com/ExperienceWii, where users can watch footage from Wario Land: Shake It!.

The :45 video had major nostalgic appeal. I remember playing Wario games on Super NES and even on Virtual Boy -- where, in addition to wreaking havoc on a titillating infrared world, Wario also wreaked havoc on my vision.

more »

Android Unveiled, Candystand Sold, Teachers Targeted, Flat Screens for Fiesta

- T-Mobile debuts first Google Android phone, thereby changing face of mobile forever, etc., etc.

- Wieden and Starbucks break up.

- Wrigley sells advergaming goldmine Candystand to Funtank. No word on why the service, which CEO James Baker of Funtank called "great viral marketing," was sold. Maybe it was just time to cash in.

- Biggie Smalls hits the big screen. "Too bad we're not in middle school anymore," says a twenty-something colleague. "I'm imagining the tears ... and the hugging."

more »

Brin Blogs Heart Out, Lee Jumps Ship, CP+B Not Quite So 'PC'

- Google's Sergey Brin started a blog. In the first entry, he discloses his risk for Parkinson's disease. The New York Times probes why he'd do that.

- British actor Paul Kaye plays Seamus Murphy, the shady proprietor of an airport car park, for another one of those not-yet-viral "viral" campaigns. This is for Holiday Extras, a travel website.

- Esther Lee departs EuroRSCG.

more »