No Nice!: Genuine Guerrilla.

To a fault, even. More here and here.

We've got no idea what No Nice! is. But based on the occasional martini accompanying the brand, we figure -- hope, at least -- it can get you drunk.

The, uh, campaign went down in Rome, Milan and Turin, Italy. The brand: No Nice. The "branded" vehicles: dirty cars parked on the streets.

Weeeeak.

Starbucks Goes on Sabbatical, Dunkin' Steals the Slack

Starbucks is staging a sales sabbatical for several hours tomorrow. At Chairman Schultz' behest, all company-owned stores are shutting down so baristas can go back to basics.

"Starbucks partners will have an opportunity to connect and deepen their passion for coffee with the ultimate goal of transforming the customer experience," Schultz said in a staff memo.

more »

Justin Timberlake Sucked Into Givinchey Spokesmodel Position

Maybe Justin Timberlake is the new ad babe. He hooked up with Pepsi for that Pepsi commercial that sucked. Now, he's hooked up with Parfums Givenchy to be the brands spokesmodel for an un-named fragrance to be launched in August. The dude's a singer, actor, clothing designer and now a cologne salesman.

And let's not forget. He's the "wardrobe malfunction" guy that, as a result, has given us a steady stream of old rockers every year for the Super Bowl. Which, perhaps, is not a bad thing. After all, if they're still doing it at age 60, they must at least be sorta good.

Test Drive a Land Rover. On Your Phone!

"But how do I do that?" you wonder.

Actually, you can't. But if you have a Blackberry, Treo or iPhone, you can locate a dealership and schedule a test drive.

"This is everything I've ever wanted!" you cry.

Wait! Don't thank us. Thank Ford, Mediaedge:cia and AdMob.

American Apparel Ad Complaints Get Slammed

After receiving a copy of a recent American Apparel ad (which appeared in the Austin Chronicle) with a sticky note adhered to it which read, "My God!! What were you thinking? What the hell are you selling anyway?", Austin Chronicle writer Michael Bartnett humorously dissects the query and offers up a lengthy and witty reply.

Delta Gets Cute with Classic In-Flight Safety Video

Adrants reader Atif sent us Delta's new airline safety video. It's all slick production and jammed with in-flight classics:

o A hot pilot
o A distractingly hot spokes-stewardess (Dubbed "Deltalina" by the Flyertalk forum geeks, for her similarity to Angelina Jolie)
o The requisite forced enthusiasm for the 5 minutes of life-saving schlock we've heard 30382943908453908 times
o The "No Smoking" finger wave
o An Orbit tooth glisten, complete with sound effects (wait for it!)

The spot felt gimmicky because it was gimmicky. But maybe there's genius in thinking a formulaic safety video can win back some groove with a commercial tribute feel.

more »

Microsoft Promises to Stop Being So Damn Mean

The breakdown of its commitment:

o Open APIs (a la Google) for Microsoft Office
o 30,000 shared pages of documentation for Windows client and server protocols
o Resisting the temptation to sue the crap out of open source devs

We'll see how long that lasts. What's the turnaround time for a bully in rehab?

Hayden's Hottness Hawks Candies's Cuteness

Kelly Clarkson did it. Jenny McCarthy did it. Ashlee Simpson did it. Hilary Duff did it. Fergie did it. As have many others. Now it's Hayden Panettiere's turn. So after a few uptight GQ readers got angry after the magazine dolled up sweet little Hayden in frilly pink do-me wear and pimped her out as the latest object of desire, Candie's has dolled her up in pink frilly Candie-wear for its new Kohl's ad campaign. Sweet.

Hayden seems to like the gig, saying, "I am excited to be working with Candie's. Their campaigns are fun and playful and always feature the hottest stars. I am honored to be the new Candie's 'girl' and I look forward to working with them on lots of exciting projects."

Kraft Preys on Office Angst to Promote TASSIMO Hot Beverage System

Say hello to Who Hired Bob, a go-to hub for contrived office-centric web drama, created by Ogilvy Entertainment for Kraft's TASSIMO.

It's not funny. But Who Hired Bob does two interesting things:

1) It offers a $20 rebate on a TASSIMO hot beverage machine in exchange for your email address, and
2) It does that "choose your own adventure" thing at the end of each webisode, which we've already professed to like a lot.

more »

Sound of Color Habitat Fails to Work Up a Crowd

We mentioned recently that we thought Gap's Sound of Color effort was really cool. In response to our call for news and pictures of how Gap is promoting Sound of Color at stores, Adrants reader Chris sent us the following email:

"I walked passed the GAP store on 5th Avenue in NYC this evening and it appears they have set up a Pop Up Store of some sort to promote the Sound of Color promotion. However, when I walked by it was completely empty except for a DJ and a lone employee."

more »