Okay. See the hands at left grasping greedily for the giant diamond? That's supposed to represent the mobile web ... and the faceless villains that will immediately try to exploit it.
This is the first of a three-part video series that explains the whole "4G=IP" thing to people that buy tech items, such as iPods, primarily because they like the pretty colours.
We're suckers for smooth animated magic -- and for Cisco in general -- so we kept our eyes on the piece, which was a comfortable length and not too stuffed with strange-sounding geek noises. It's possible we even learned things.
That squeaky Adventures in Odyssey-sounding narrator kinda pissed us off though.
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In this cockle-warming story about a hyperventilating geek who now wears onesies and gets his pick of trophies (both metal and collagen-enhanced), Tony Stewart reinforces the power of Swagger.* The Old Spice product previously de-geeked Brian Urlacher and LL Cool J.
Actually, LL Cool J's still pretty square. Sometimes getting all muscly to stop being square will only make you squarer.
But we digress. What were we talking about? Oh yeah, the Swagger campaign. It's starting to feel a little less highlariously kitsch-tacular and more like Axe/Lynx. Which sucks because once upon a time, both brands were uniquely neat, and now they're almost exactly alike, except Old Spice is too red and Axe/Lynx is too potent.
Work by Wieden + Kennedy/Portland -- which succeeded, as always, in stimulating provocative discussion on YouTube.
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Feed Company sent us some online video magics for Frito-Lay, the good folks that bring you both Sun Chips and beef jerky. (They also own Cracker Jack. Now that's just impressive.)
Inspired, wethinks, by their own chip-and-dip combinations, the campaign premise is Made for Each Other. Each painfully adorable video features a piece of technology on that lonely and familiar quest for The One.
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Rebel Virals did something we imagined was impossible: it created a B2B online video for Microsoft that is actually funny -- not because it's sad, but because it's funny.
We're just happy we were alive to see it.
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Greek mobile phone network Cosmote is promoting its social merits with "Our world is you" -- shorthand for in our world, you can do whatever you want.
The ad aims to represent "the everyday as you see it," and is supposed to be a snapshot of the world from the perspectives of different individuals.
But mostly we just felt confused. A guy walks out into an ordinary street. Suddenly there are cowboys, and a space ship -- by gad, is that a giant disembodied heart?! -- then it snows, shortly before everything dissolves into a big awesome rave.
We did the only thing we could do under the circumstances: we tore out our brains and stepped on them.
Lively stuff, though!
Agency: Bold Ogilvy. Song: anti-war hymn "I'd Love to Change the World" by Ten Years After.
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Team One gave us a "YouTube sneak preview" (wait, what?) of its All-New! 2010 Lexus RX ads.
The theme of each is "driver inspired" -- think magical cranes pulling obstacles out of traffic, or an assembly line in your house. All this is to say the Lexus is a perfectly calibrated luxury instrument whose specs revolve around you.
Visually interesting and slightly surreal, as per usual. We really liked "Intersection."
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To get Canadian co-eds to enter their dearest back-of-the-class freehand sketches into Red Bull's Doodle Art contest, Sid Lee whipped out its own No. 2s and created an ad composed entirely of unretouched print musings.
The final result -- which includes work from accounting, tech support, creative and client services -- looks like the emotional lovechild of Napoleon Dynamite and Juno. We want to hug it (especially this little guy) while listening to The Decemberists.
Sketches from uni kids will be accepted through February 27th. Locations for "drop boxes" are organized by province. So far, four drawings have been added to the gallery. No ligers have been turned in -- but we're getting pre-ty darn close.
Our only complaint is that the images aren't big enough to examine more closely. Sid Lee, please add zoom-in.
To demonstrate gratitude to the US troops fighting overseas -- and encourage other people to do it, too -- musician Astara Mink came up with "Mr. Trooper," a smoky, sugary-sweet '40s-style anthem.
The video was done pro-bono and directed by Scott McCullough. It features five all-American sex kittens (including Mink) that occasionally wear teeny little polos, and other times wear nothing but the Stars and Stripes. They do things like simper and dance in tandem. There's even one of those scenes where they lie on the ground and make snowflake shapes with their legs.
Families with a soldier of their own can buy a Mr. Trooper video here. As for the heterosexual female troops, we're sure somebody's coming up with a showtune for you too. Well ... don't hold us to that.
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Avatars on Twitter are going ominously black to protest a new law, Section 92A, that's been passed in New Zealand.
After the 28th, users can get their lifelines internet disconnected "based on accusations of copyright infringement without a trial and without any evidence held up to court scrutiny." Because of the unveiled creepiness of that language, the law's been dubbed "Guilty Upon Accusation."
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Every once in awhile you come across some viral propaganda that's actually pretty neat, actually. (Consider.)
Hoping to reignite the sleeping flames of The Watchmen comic series fans, Rubber Republic launched a YouTube channel to populate with retro news stories.
Commentary's mostly favourable and views are high: all signs of happy viral life. People seem impatient for more news stories to appear as the public release of The Watchmen draws near. (In theatres March 6, boys and girls.)
We're suckers for an elaborate backstory, so this is some pretty cool shit. Hopefully the film will maintain the same fidelity to the spirit of the original comics.
Find more goodies -- including a retro game, widgets and all the necessary social network tie-ins -- at thenewfrontiersman.net. One of the videos has also been posted below.
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