Adidas Yellow Series Not So Nice to Asians.

Our Asian cultural expert Tian tells us Adidas should expect a bit of backlash from the Asian community in reaction to a newly introduced line of sneakers called the Yellow Series. One particular shoe has the image of a buck-toothed bowlcut slanty eyed face on the shoe's tongue - not exactly the currently acceptable rendition of the Asian populace.

Lincoln Mercury Returns to Webisodes

Lincoln Mercury, which previously launched a serial Internet-based movie called Meet The Lucky Ones, is launching two new webisodes featuring the Mercury Milan mid-size sedan and the new Zephyr, Lincoln's first entry-luxury sedan. The first installments of the five-week Web series debut today at LovelyBySurprise.com and TheNeverything.com, bringing together stars from Oscar-winning movies and hit television series, including "Grey's Anatomy," "A Beautiful Mind," "Amistad" and "Walk the Line." Written and directed by Kirt Gunn, they tell the story of an author whose fiction overtakes her real life. The two sides of the story are presented on two separate Web sites - one by Lincoln, the other by Mercury.

Our brief review of the work interests us. This isn't your standard web video stuff. This is stuff you'd expect to see on TV or in the movie theater. If this is truly where advertising is going, we're all for it.

Nelly, Daddy Yankee Join Reebok' 'I Am What I Am' Campaign

Joining Reebok's rap-tastic "I Am What I Am," campaign, which we still think they stole from popeye, are Nelly and Daddy Yankee. In April, Reebok will introduce a Nelly-inspired line of sneakers, t-shirts and hats. Daddy Yanke will join the party May23 with a line of sneakers. The two will become part of Reebok's $50 million campaign.

Fashion Brand Pulls Offending Tiananmen Square Image From Campaign

While we don't profess to know all the details behind the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, an ad for men's fashion brand Oliver Sweeney has used imagery from a day during the incident in its current ad campaign which has stirred complaint. It shows a man standing in front of a tank, just as in the famous Tiananmen Square photo, dressed in Oliver Sweeney garb.

In response to complaints today, Oliver Sweeney has removed the image from its stores as well as from its website and apologized for the controversy it caused.

Reebok UK Signs Teen Boxer For Marketing Deal

Reebok UK is signing an endorsement partnership with British boxer Amir Khan. He becomes the first ever boxer to be signed by Reebok and joins existing sport and music icons such as Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and Streets front man Mike Skinner. The ad, which breaks March 12, is part of the "I Am What I Am" campaign created by New York agency Mcgarrybowen.

Coke Viral Says 'I Am The Mouth'

We're told this is a viral effort from Coke. It's a video called The Mouth which shows a bunch of guys (agency creatives goofing off perhaps?) talking into their video camera phones while pointing their phone at another camera to capture it all. The video ends with a product shot of Coke and a guy drinking a bottle of Coke while filming himself doing so. Weird. But weird usually works. Pointless does too. In fact, this could easily be swapped out for a cell phone company promoting its video cam. The video, posted on YouTube March 2, now, as of March 5, has 16,000 views. Hardly network television numbers but we'll watch where it goes.

Modernista Brings National Cadillac Business to Boston

Once upon a time, there was a little town called Boston that wasn't so little when it came to advertising. Then the agency M & A spree began and, combined with the mass exodus of national brands, agency after agency skipped town or shuttered their doors forever. For years, the town has lived in the shadow of New York but that may be about to change.

Today, Cadillac awarded close to half its national and regional creative business to Modernista, a very cool agency in Boston that, aside from work they've done for Hummer, many may never have heard of before. This, of course, is no watershed moment nor will there be a flood of national brands flooding Boston's Boylston Street (a misnomer. really since most agencies have found homes elsewhere in the city) but to see Modernista kick some Leo Burnett butt surely pleases the underdog agencies around the country.

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Ford Pays $14 Million For Bond Film Appearance

Countering all that is sacred about the James Bond franchise, the producers of the film have decided to throw any semblance of respect for the brand to the wind and accept $14 million from Ford to allow the automaker to place its Mondeo in the the upcoming James Bond film, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig. While Ford certainly makes a decent car or two, the Ford brand and all it stands for is so counter to what the James Bond brand has imbued into culture over the past 40 years that we simply have to believe the producers behind this movie have thrown up their arms and said, "Fuck it. No one's gonna go see this movie anyway so we might as well get some cash now."

Marketers Could Learn From Microsoft iPod Re-Brand Spoof

OK, we're a few days late in sharing this but a spoof video showing how Microsoft would brand the iPod is hilarious, true and indicative of the horrific packaging and marketing most brands puke out of their verbal diarrhea spewing mouths. Give it a watch then show it to everyone in your company and watch them squirm as they embarrassingly acknowledge, "Uh, yea, we did that once too."

Mercedes Thinks AOL Is Icon of Pop Culture

Laughably describing AOL as some sort of "icon of pop culture," Mercedes Benz has signed a deal with AOL to "spotlight a new generation of artists through the premier online music destination AOL Music." Mercedes-Benz and AOL Music launched "On Our Radar," a feature that lets fans wallow in discovery of new music. It's part of the car manufacturer's yearlong collaboration with AOL Music on its Breakers program, which showcases a selection of developing artists. The partnership will promote the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class while bringing new artists to what Mercedes and AOL believe to be "the eyes and ears of trendsetting, young music fans."