- A handful of rich-ass celebrities use reverse psychology to cajole MySpace users into voting. What, does Jennifer Aniston not do it for you? Maybe Leonardo DiCaprio's poverty-ridden excuse for a blog will.
- The wife of David Warthen, founder of Ask.com, is facing tax evasion charges on money she made while working as a hooker to pay for law school.
CollectiblesToday.com is promoting these M&M-sponsored Ashton-Drake dolls as its top Christmas gift this year. Each six-inch "Heavenly Handful" (cringe) sports an M&M's onesie with a matching cap, complete with darling one-liners like "Never let 'em see you melt" and "Sweet on the inside." My favorite, though, has to be "There's a little nut."
Lest anyone try replacing a nearby child's Bratz doll too hastily, this ad takes pains to remind you the collection is to be "enjoyed by adult collectors" only. So keep your grubby paws off, kid; those non-blinking M&M's evangelists are staying behind the glass case, preferably in the living room.
Philips -- the guys that probably sold you your first affordable TV and DVD player -- have entered the sex toy market with Intimate Massagers.
"For couples to explore and enhance their most intimate relationship together," the website says, in that way where they want you to think "dirty experimental sex!" while pretending to actually be referring to something you and your husband might have considered after deep thought and four intensive marital counseling sessions.
The ad at left (via) features two people in the throes of said responsible counseling activity. They appear to be composed of waves and heat. A banner on the website uses parts of this wave/heat illustration to describe how the ergy, rock-shaped massager will fill you with "feel-good" chemicals and boost your immune system.
Variations come in "intimate," "warm intimate" and "intimate dual" -- two massagers sitting inside an oyster shell. Looks like Lelo finally has a rival!
In a stroke of genius, Italy's FLY PIZZA used packages of rolling paper as business cards to promote its night delivery service.
"The initiative was a total hit among FLY PIZZA's customers: they took home smoking paper packages and delivery phone calls increased sensibly," said Publicis/Milan, which hatched the idea after noticing that many FLY customers are young smokers that ostensibly roll cigarettes to "save money." (A cute way of saying the late-night fanbase is probably high off its rocker when the 2am orders start pouring in.)
"The Fly in the Eye" follows in the tradition of old-school psychological horror cinema. Created by Cisma/Sao Paulo, it's the story of a man who, in his efforts to get rid of a fly, bends the constraints of reality and for some reason ends up with two irises in one socket.
Weird shit. The video concludes with "Always expect the unexpected!", followed by a link to BlackThinking.com.
Came across this ad for the Tantra Chair earlier today. (NSFW, unless your boss is into artistic nudity.) Under the tagline "For the sensually sophisticated," the spot starts out with rave reviews and flashes dramatic imagery of a woman lying across the chair in sexually suggestive positions.
Neato. But where would one put a Tantra Chair -- between the recliner and the yoga ball? (It's not exactly a stashable copy of Joy of Sex.) I guess if worst came to worst, you could always wipe it down and tell the kids it's one of those newfangled video game chairs.
For Hatfield Quality Meats, Red Tettemer built a foosball table where sausage links take the place of soccer players.
The set-up brings a grill to mind, but unfortunately all the sausages are plastic. The game will be used at events and sponsorships.
Neat way to build engagement. Wondering whether it might compel stoned co-eds to try building their own foosball tables out of cocktail links and bamboo skewers. Will trawl YouTube regularly, just in case.
- Last night Steve Hall hit Nokia Theater for Adobe's Battle of the Bands (photos here). Later he ran into Barbarian Group, which brought him a-frolicking to a hip hop club. Steve has all the fun.
- Guinness World Records taps greenfield media to manage its 3D book campaign. You'll need 3D specs to get the full experience from the ads, which run from Oct. 6 to Dec. 25 in the United Kingdom and United States.
- Blogging taxpayers aren't keen on this whole "Wall Street bailout" thing: "[We] have yet to see any online evidence of organic support for the Paulson proposal. Instead, what's going on may be the largest flowering of civic dissent since the antiwar protests of 2002-2003, but with a [bipartisan] twist." Our own online digging corroborates that (HuffPo! Michelle Malkin! YouTube junkies!), but Pew says 57 percent of the public favors the bailout. Confusing.
- Speaking of France, one Languedoc vintner launched a saucy new label: Le vin du merde (Shit Wine). For optimum psychological fuckery, serve with dark chocolate cake.
- Childhood icon Paddington Bear sneaks Marmite into egg sandwiches during his birthday party. Surprise! All the guests gasp and gag. Wonderful stuff by DDB.
Ever see those Advent Day calendars that count down to Christmas, and with each new day you can pop open another part of the calendar to reveal a wooden toy or a piece of chocolate?
Gerrymander, a company that produces political oddities, worked with Ignited/LA to release an election day calendar that does pretty much the same thing. Buy one for $12.98. Then, starting from October 1st, pop open each of the cut-out doors to find neither chocolate nor choking hazards, but non-partisan political wisdom, like what's listed below.
Guess who said what!*
o "I never vote for anybody, I always vote against."
o "Democracy is never a final achievement. It is a call to untiring effort."
o "Who's more foolish; the fool, or the fool who follows him?"
I like how when you Google "advent day calendar," the "2008 Election Day Advent Calendar by Gerrymander" is the first organic result that comes up. Way to usurp the old-school kitsch kings!
