Giant Egg Opens to Announce McDonald's Breakfast Hours

As an apparent follow up to their salad billboard, Leo Burnett Chicago has created a giant egg in front of a McDonald's which opens between 6:30AM and 10:30AM, the hours breakfast is served at the restaurant. It's not your average billboard and it. once again, proves the worth of a medium that, while old, still has a lot of flexibility for creative use. See time-lapse photography of the egg opening here.

Automated Language Translation Can Yield Humorous Results

No advertisement for a (human-powered) translation service could possibly do a better job than this image of a sign in China that was produced even though, apparently, the automated translation service used failed epically. For those in China who do not speak English, making an error like this is entirely feasible. After all, if the tables were turned, would an\ English speaking person with no knowledge of Chinese language be able to discern the difference between one hieroglyphic-like Chinese symbol over another?

State Farm Pushes Peace at Hollywood Car Wash

State Farm erected some Chinese Theatre-style installations above a busy local car wash on Sunset Blvd. The vibe is very Mao meets car salesman. Overhead, banners read, "Experience peace of drive."

Hrrm. Going Zen behind the wheel is cool while your car's getting sudsy, but it's a fine line between clearing your mind and falling asleep while in transit. Though if a meditative trance does guide you to someone else's bumper, I have no doubt State Farm will appear at your side, genie-style, with a smile and a very big abacus.

More photos here and here.

Oh Look! It's A Flash Mob Staring at a Ray-Ban Billboard!

Now that Ray-Ban has all but used up its viral video tricks, its now turned to culture jammer Ron English who recently unveiled a giant billboard in New York, part of the brand's Project Colorize campaign. To add to the unveiling, flash mobs (yes, like trucker hats, they go on and on) were organized beneath the billboard to simply look up and stare at the board...while wearing Ray-Bans, of course.

Animal has pictures and a video of a New York Post interview with Ron English

You Mean it Builds Buzz AND Kills Plaque?

Check out the Aquafresh interactive mobile, complete with virtual tooth-brushing games and free teeth cleaning duds.

The only thing that would make it cooler would be if you could step inside a giant mouth and bounce on its big foamy tongue while getting slightly high on a fresh-breath smell.

Philly Does Single-Stream Recycling. Oh Boy

Philly's doing this "single-stream recycling" thing, a convenience ploy to make urbanites more earth-friendly.

Single-stream recycling is when you take all recyclable goods and put them in one bin. We've been doing that in Walnut Creek for years. Here's what ends up happening: everyone disregards the rules and starts putting damn-well whatever they please into those bins.

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Th1ng Saves London, Flash Searched, Millennials Charge, FailWhale Merched

- Th1ng was chosen to whore "London's outstanding cultural and business successes" and "its film industry and talent" for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Sounds like hard times in the Mother Country.

- With the launch of Facecard, edo teaches Millennials how to confuse money with plastic. I wish I'd had a self-interested big brother who cared enough to teach me how to charge. Oh wait, I did: Wells Fargo.

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City Trees Transformed Into Carrots to Promote Farmer's Market

Here's a bit of ambient street work for you. To promote a local farmer's market, Portland, Oregon-based Owen Jones & Partners placed plastic linings in the shape of carrots around the bottoms of several trees on a city block. In addition to the linings which make the trees look like carrots, the agency also placed placards over the antennae of automobiles throughout the city making them look like scrumptious barbecued vegetable skewers.

'Two Bedrooms, Two Baths, and a Free Ride on My Electric Pony'

To promote certain houses on the Village Homes lot (Denver, CO), marketing director Barb Anderson said the company used a kiddie-ride. You know, like the coin-op space ships at grocery stores.

"One of the important influencers on a home purchase is the kids. At the end of the day ... the home with the kiddie ride is sure to get remembered by the home-buyer family," she said.

Gimmicky, but I can see the charm.

Kiddie Rides USA (KRUSA) of Denver, CO provides machines for this and other interested parties (doctors offices, car dealerships and reporters in midlife crises have also tried them). KRUSA also claims to be the last indy kiddie ride company left in the country.

Army Wives Pranked, Pig Glides, Product Placement Studied

- Lifetime's Army Wives poster becomes Iraq Wives courtesy of a few pranksters who've recently also pranked boards for the move The Happening and Get Smart.

- That lawsuit Naked Cowboy filed against Mars Inc. for making a blue M&M look like a cowboy is moving ahead.

- A pig stuck between two buildings somehow promotes Crest Glide dental floss.

- The Federal Communications Agency will launch a study to examine product placement on television which Reuters reports increased 13 percent from 2006 to 2007.

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