Forget the Snack Bars; Want Some Eye Candy with that Cuppa?

A UK-based Kellogg's Nutri-Grain campaign aspires to bring the office tea trolley back in vogue.

I have no strong feelings about mobile snack trays, but this glorified Nutri-Grain evangelist is sizzling. (So much hotter than his American counterpart, the break room bagel guy.) He can push my trolley any day of the week -- or at least stand around pouring me tea for an indecently long time before moving onto the next hungry cog.

Amstel Light Teaches Us Dutch Word for 'Beer'

And it's a lot like the English way, actually. Also see banner variation.

Sadly, the banner doesn't sing, dance or turn monitors into open bars. Guess it won't be joining the rich media gallery.

Teaser! Countdown Clock! Blog! It Must be...A Marketing Campaign!

Here's yet another one of those videos that presents itself as one thing but is likely just another promotion for something no one needs or wants. In the video, the predictions of Nostradamus are examined as they relate to some mysterious wind that is supposed to "besiege the capital of Europe" otherwise known as Brussels.

The video ends with the classic date teaser, "Fall 2008" and a link leads to http://legrandsouffle.be, a blog with the ubiquitous countdown clock and other goodies. It's not in English so it's unclear if there are any further details on the site. No doubt, those who can read the site will fill in the blanks.

The video was posted by Cherry and Cake, a fairly well known agency in the Netherlands. Care to comment, guys?

Missing Soldiers Put Internet at Standstill

This campaign won a Gold Clio in the Content & Contact category.

To commemorate Ehud Goldwasser, Gilad Shalit and Eldad Regev, Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah on July 12 of '06, Y&R/Tel Aviv asked major sites to shut down for five minutes on July 12, '07. For that short period of time, each page aired this message.

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Because Rappers, Like the French, Never Pronounce the Last Few Letters in a Word

The MySpace homepage has Taco Bell's "Why Pay Mo'" campaign site heavy on the spin.

If you're feeling particularly masochistic, give yourself a shout-out in the campaign rap song while the dead presidents gyrate in their new bodies (likely lifted from New Kids on the Block). Oh, and play with the rap name generator. (Mine is "Allota Beanz.")

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For A Good Time, Visit PickupPal

Back in the day, if you wanted a ride home from college for the holidays, you'd slap up your request up on a bulletin board somewhere around campus or check that same billboard for those already heading in your direction. That's "so yesterday" as one Disney pop starlet used to sing. Now, we have Web2.0-friendly PickupPal.

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'What's This? Oh. It's a Body, Bloated in the Sun'

Somewhere in the bowels of my memory is a man with a 'fro, a soothing voice and a paintbrush. As a kid I watched him on TV, mesmerized as he effortlessly whispered magic onto his canvas.

Right about now, though, I'm wondering whether those gripping pastures and endless telephone lines were not actually thinly-veiled and mildly traumatic messages about ethnic cleansing.

I like how at the end he gets all sinister and hisses, "We're almost done here, aren't we? No. It's never done."

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Yellowbook Promises to Wipe Away Past Mistakes, Present Inadequacies

To distinguish itself from its older and heavier rival, Yellowbook reimagines itself as a kind of digital genie, bestowing not merely phone numbers but self-confidence and clean slates. Instantly.

This is not the first time a lower-back tat has been used to sell something it shouldn't. The VW Touareg, Livescribe and Office Max have tread that valley before (and left the ink stains to prove it). Lower still: Hyundai.

Back to Yellowbook. The campaign is called "Say Yellow to the Future" and was put together by Gotham. No word on whether you can muzzle your virtual concierge if you find him too invasive.

Microsoft to Close Web With Yahoo Search, Facebook?

Who can keep up with this insanity? Since Ballmer couldn't have his way with Yahoo, he's now going at it from a different angle allegedly discussing with Yahoo a partnership or acquisition of Yahoo Search. John Furrier also seems to think Microsoft will scoop up the rest of Facebook as well.

While nothing, of course, is clear and won't be until if and when any deal is penned, Microsoft taking over Facebook is a scary thought. Robert Scoble makes the argument a Microsoft acquisition of Yahoo Search and Facebook would lead to a closed web over which Microsoft would have complete control while Google would be locked out leaving "data and social graph portability ... dead on arrival."

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Alltel Wants to Send You on Vacation ... Just Hope It's Not to the ManCave

To celebrate the second anniversary of its "My Circle" program, Alltel Wireless is giving a luxury vacation away to a My Circle customer and his or her family and friends.

Register at the My Circle Reunion website. You'll also have to text "CIRCLE" to 102102.

The vacation package -- which lasts four days and three nights, like a timeshare sweepstakes! -- includes a "special meal" by celebrity chef Ted Allen. The winner and his minions will also receive a new handset and a $200 Alltel gift card.

Off-topic, Alltel Wireless now claims to be America's largest network. I thought that phrase was handcrafted especially for AT&T. Guess anybody can use it.