Bug Slapping Game Promotes Bug Eradicating Software

Ever sit around on your couch slapping flies as they buzz around you? We didn't think so but McAfee thinks there's an analogy here between pesky flying bugs and the pesky kind of computer bugs its software can eradicate. Anyway, this little game allows you to slap bugs as they fly about your head while you hopefully make the connection between real bugs and computer bugs.

Paper Toss Game Promotes Something

We already forgot who this is for but it has something to do with soccer and it's a lot easier to play than the FIFA game.

Kick the Ball And Win FIFA World Cup Tickets

If you like soccer (football to the rest of the world), you might like this new game from Philips which is promoting the game and providing a chance to win tickets to the FIFA World Cup Finals. While the game is supposed to be simple to play which just three clicks, we couldn't get it to work. But, don't let that stop you from tryting.

Don't Waste Your Time Working In Advertising

- Unilever in Brazil is promoting its Rexona Sportfan deodorant with a site containing an amusing Atari game, a manifesto and videos.

- Sean Ganann points to an article in Australian Creative magazine by Glue Society's Jonathan Kneebone that says creatives shouldn't waste their time working in advertising but go out and do something really creative.

- Alan Taylor Communications, in the second of its Communicast podcasts, interviews Xbox Live Group Marketing Director Aaron Greenberg and how he's marketing Xbox Live.

- If you're into the whole Web 2.0 thing and don't want to miss any conference on the topic, Eric Weaver has put together a nice list of upcoming events.

- Starbucks "We Built This City" parody gets video.

New Game to Hook Up With Fashion Labels, In-Store Shopping

Eden Games has developed a game for Atari that takes in game advertising to a new level: in-store shopping while in the game. IGA will release the simultaneous-play game in September. In the game, Test Drive Unlimited, players, while driving around Hawaii in a selection of 100 customizable cars by Lamborghini, Feffari and Mercedes Benz, can stop and go into Ben Sherman and Marc Ecko stores and try on the fashion brands' clothing. The game will also interact with another game, Massively Open Online Racing.

IGA Worldwide CEO Justin Townsend says the company's Radial Network will track how often, when and where gamers are exposed to in-game ads.

Sex Sells For Axe, Clio Happens

- Shaun Irving is traveling across Spain in a truck he converted into a giant camera. He's taking pictures for a project with *S,C,P,F, a WPP agency. The images will be displayed at the PHotoEspana photographic festival in June.

- The 47th international Clio Awards announced three ads selected as its 2006 Hall of Fame inductees: "Bear" for John West, from Leo Burnett, London; "Whassup?" on behalf of Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser brand, from DDB Worldwide, Chicago; and "Turkey (High Dive)" and "China (Tree)" for FOX Sports Network, by Cliff Freeman & Partners, New York.

- It seems sex does sex for Unilever's Axe. Axe deodorant is now the leading brand in the category.

- OnRequest Images has released a new product which can measure the impact imagery has on brand equity.

- Adverblog doesn't like the new Lonely Planet advergame and thinks it's too similar to the previously released Virgin "Exercise Your Muscle" game.

Eurostar Launches Da Vinci Code European Treasure Hunt

European high speed rail operator Eurostar has teamed with producer's of this summer's Tom Hank's film, The Da Vinci Code to create Join the Quest, a multi-lingual online treasure hunt game, created by space, de-construct, Stream, TBWA\London and TBWA Brussels. The game has 15 puzzles spread across a virtual Europe which must be solved to qualify as a final five contestant. At the end of the Quest, five finalists will be brought to London for a one-night stay at Claridge's Hotel before travelling by Eurostar to Paris. Once in Paris, they'll stay at the Ritz Hotel and take part in a Grand Final, where the winning code-cracker will be named. Prizes range from Sony PSP consoles to Eurostar tickets to a grand prize which includes free travel on Eurostar for the winner and a friend for the rest of their life, accommodations at the Ritz and Claridge for five years, 180,000 euros to spend inLondon and paris, 10,000 euros to spend at the Galleries Lafayette in paris, 10,000 euros to spend at Harrods in London and other specialized prizes.

Paris Hilton Makes Pointless E3 Appearance

Sarah Gim who writes for Joystiq attended the gaming conference E3 this week and caught Paris Hilton's appearance to promote her new Gameloft Paris Hilton Jewel Jam mobile game. Gim gives us the story on clueless PR reps, uninformed press, Hilton's need for 100 feet of clear space around her, the LAPD and Hilton's bubble-headed intelligence expressed by simple "Hello's" and Thank you's." Not to mention her screwing up the name of her own product during her intro. Anyway...

Simple Pepsi Ice Block Game Amuses

Considering our amazingly short attention span and simplistic mindset, here's an online game we can spend some serious time with. In fact, it's perfect for those who love Pavlovian-like response/reward simplicity. It's a game for Pepsi Japan in which you become a running man who must punch his way through ice block walls. Click at the right time, and the punch breaks through the ice. Click at the wrong time and you do a body slam into the wall. We made our way through about eight walls before figuring we'd better get back to work. Give it a go here.

MySpace Pointrolled, Timesheets Gamed, Handrail Ads Licensed

Aap Global, the company that created the technology behind elevator handrail advertising, is now licensing the technology to partners internationally.

MySpace is now part of the PointRoll Include program. We're not sure how all those teens will take to the company's Fatboy, BadBoy, TomBoy, PaperBoy and TowelBoy expand-o-banners creeping all over their pages.

We're not quite sure how but this game, Maconomy X, is supposed to induce creatives into filling out their times sheets.

Doubleclick has released a new white paper, Best Practices for Optimizing Web Advertising Effectiveness, that aims to share help marketers improve their online advertising efforts.