Disney Promotes Movie Everyone's Already Seen

Not that this particular movie needs any promotion since everyone's already sen it or they're already lined up for the DVD but Disney felt it necessary to put together, Dead Man's Mail, a "create a customized pirate and make it speak whatever you tell it to" promotion just in case the two people who haven't seen Pirates of the Caribbean 2 are aware of the DVD's release.

Bus Trimmed, Game Infomercialed, RFP Analyzed

- OTO Trimax weight loss product demonstrates its slimming capabilities by wrapping a bus with a very creative, DDB Worldwide-created bus-squeezing wrap.

- The new Ubisoft video game is getting infomercial-style promotion in the form of John Badsky's Fifth Freedom.

- Blogging under the name "Corn Mash Whisky," this "27 year old southern born woman who fled nawth to New Yawk City in search of something new" shares with us a recent RFP she received from a cola brand which, more than most, takes itself way too seriously.

- Pamela Anderson has signed with Virgin Mobile to appear in a RKCR/Y&R-created commercial for the company's mobile TV service.

CEO Craps On Over-Worked Friends For Nokia

Like a clumsy butcher trying to trim the fat off a mouse, this virally-intended hack job is supposed to promote the new Nokia E-Series Smartphone by enabling one to create a personalized message from an overbearing company CEO and send it to a friend. Trouble is, like that annoying "Head On. Apply directly to the forehead" commercial, this creation is so bad...uh...oh wait...we didn't finish reading the release. OK. There it is. "The jerkiness of the clip transitions add nicely to the impersonal irony of the message." There. That explains the hack editing job. Irony.

The clip is being seeded by Rubber Republic which tells us there's an NDA that prevents them from telling us who created the piece. Hmm. A smart move. Wait until if and when it becomes popular, then take all the glory. If it fails, face saved.

With 'Huge Flavor' Comes Huge Portions

While this Draft FCB Interactive-created site for Applebee's does a great job highlighting four new "Huge Flavor" dishes, the site (and every other American restaraunt site) should really be called Huge Portions since each featured dish looks like it could feed an entire family.

Humping 'Donnie Darko' Bunnies Somehow Promote Brazilian MTV

We know most MTV promotions are whacked but this Brazilian one whacks the ball way out of whack. Aside form potential references to Donnie Darko and that freakish bunny suit, we're guess the creative brief or this ad had two words in the "tone" section: fucking whacked. If we could read "Brazilian," we probably be able to better resolve the whole humping bunny thing with the intended goal of the spot.

Sony Lets People Choose Ending to Commercial

Leveraging a previous commercial for its line of HDTV, Sony has released a collection of alternative endings to the original commercial so that...well...we don't know what becasue the endings are so stupid we lost track of what the ad was trying to accomplish. Oh but wait. The endings are riffs in actual movies and they choices tie into the tagline. Witty. It's always great fun to let the consumer think they're controlling things with these prepackaged, predetermined "optional endings" but sometimes it seems a lot of people forget what an ad is supposed to do: sell stuff. Oh but wait, maybe this does sell stuff but we didn't realize that until we watched the ads a few times. Oh but wait, that's why we have this thing called frequency.

Netflix Needs Help, Altoids Get Shot, Walkman Saves Ears

- The Bay Area Interactive Group has launched its second season of its Big Sessions podcast with industry guru interviews.

- Netflix doesn't know how to improve its movie recommendation feature but it thinks there are people out there that can so the movie rental company is offering $1 million to anyone who can improve accuracy by 10 percent.

- Tokion's Fourth Annual Creativity Now Confernce will be talking place October 14 and 15 at Cooper Union in New York City.

- Here's a litte shoot the Altoids out of the sky timewaster for you.

- To promote the Sony Walkman (they still make that?) in Italy, Ebola Industries created a site, SaveYourEars, on which videos show people singing horribly out of tune in concert presumably to show using a Walkman will prevent youo from hearing this badness. We're not entirely sure since the site's in Italian.

Target Offers Personalized, Customized, Localized Weekly Ad

To make it even easier to merch you, Target provides an option to receive a Weekly Ad via e-mail. If it were any easier they'd buy the products themselves, wrap them up and send over a pair of cute chicks in red uniforms and a gigantic Target truck to deliver them to you along with beer and hell, why not, maybe even a cheese calendar. But of course you have to do the buying, otherwise all Target's efforts are moot.

more »

Wrigley's Offers Dooney & Bourke Handbags

Want a new Dooney & Bourke handbag? Head over Candystand where candy maker Wrigley's has partnered with Dooney & Bourke to host a contest to give away handbags. It's all to introduce the company's new packaging for its line of Cream Savers. In a separate promotion for Juicy Fruit, Wrigley's is offering a sweet looking, tricked out gaming laptop.

Italian Restaurants + New York Chefs + Whois = Unilever Viral

While all is said to be revealed Monday, a site called Chef's Rights Now is home to a movement that gathers together New York city Italian chefs who are experiencing some sort of empty restaurant syndrome and, while it's not a fist bump, are pulling together to fight the problem. Who knows. It's probably another Axe promotion whereby all the chefs will suddenly start using Axe deodorant thus attracting the ladies who will thusly attract the men which, together, will thusly fill the restaurants which will thusly end the problem. Oh but that's way too simple. It's probably for one of a million of their food brands.

Ogilvy Public Relations Interactive Marketing VP tells us there will be a pseudo protest in Times Square October 5. One of the categories he's filed his story under is Travel & Tourism. We have no idea what that indicates but it' certainly not deodorant. Whatever. We'll know Monday.