No, No. He Doesn't HAVE Crabs, He's HALF Crab.

This random spot by Heat/SF for Electronic Arts depicts a tragic sk8erboi who can't play Skate It because he has crab claws for hands.

"All my friends play it. They say it's rad. It's just my dad married a ... crab."

Collective awwwww. Sucks to not be able to live the dream. But hey, he'll get over Skate It, and you know what they say about men who like fish.

By Green Dot.

more »

Ozzy Osbourne Faces Off with WoW's Prince of Darkness

The ad cash just keeps pouring in for Ozzy Osbourne. Fresh off that Samsung spot for Leo Burnett, he's enlisted with Mojo for a World of Warcraft promotion.

The more blitzed he is, the better. And it probably only helps when he makes batshit-insane statements like, "Well, maybe you're the one who's been riding a fucking CRAZY TRAIN!" while teetering. (In case you didn't catch that with your ears, captions -- now a staple for Ozzy cameos -- have been included.)

At spot's end, WoW's "What's your game?" slogan is modified with yet another bleeped-out F-bomb.

Just another piece of high art by production company Green Dot Films. The latter called it the most-viewed spot on YouTube this weekend. We don't know about that, but ratings have been generous.

more »

There's More Than One way to Skin a PSA

No sooner are we lauding the importance of honest, graphically intense PSAs, we get this from Strawberry Frog, "ChangingThePresent.org seeks to make the world a better place one gift at a time by connecting givers with 350 non-profit organizations offering 1,600 gifts and to a universe of 500,000 registered philanthropic organizations. The two :30 spots spoof traditional holiday commercials by poking fun of gifts like bow-topped cars by replacing it with a sheep adorned by a big red ribbon (supports the Heifer Project International), and a beautiful jewelry box containing a polio vaccine (UNICEF)."

Without belittling the very important objective this campiagn seeks to accomplish, it just feels like the wind has been removed from the sails. Or maybe it's just the sudden emotional shift from empathetic compassion to tongue in cheek humor. Both are good. Both can work. Let's just hope the two campaigns don't appear back top back which, of course, they won't becasue one is UK based and the other American. Just sayin'.

Sean John Extends Puke-Inducing Campaign to Video

In what simply has to be a joke, Sean Combs/John/Whatever released a video (which he painfully calls "a blog" ... it's a POST, people. A POST on a BLOG) for the movie I Am King. And the best part? He wants to be the next James Bond. Seriously. Or not.

The entire campaign -- which promotes his new fragrance -- is so far fetched, it's not easy to discern the difference between joke and cringe-worthy creative intent.

more »

LL Bean Paints White Christmas on Cozy Canvas

Every scene in "Making Christmas," a glimpse into one family's holiday, belongs in a frame on a department store mantelpiece. It's a painfully pretty picture of someone else's life -- never mine, maybe yours; you can almost touch the glossiness.

I like the scene where The Men walk in with the presents, then there's coloured paper everywhere, then this short gorgeous shot of a doe-eyed freckled boy. Moments like that make an otherwise-discreet* ad priceless -- part of the narrative of a viewer's season.

All that lux, casual idleness is punctuated by a page number -- "Page 55," "Page 49" -- printed in LL Bean's catalogue typeface. Nice tie-in.

By GSD&M Idea City with help from Sticks+Stones. Background track is Valley Winter Song by Fountains of Wayne. More fun facts here.

more »

Stripvertising, Social Media Etiquette, Pot-Driven Cautionary Tales

- Hurtin' for love? Advertise on a stripper's apple bottoms. Dolla make you holla! (Via.)

- BU needs money too.

- Mind your social media Ps and Qs.

- The rumours are true: it snows in Switzerland.

- Ivanka Trump blogs for Brides.com.

- Bogus Nike discount code. Boooo. (Hoooo.)

- Maybe that dam is somebody's house.

- Possibly the best marijuana PSA evar. If you watch it while high on 4/20, the universe will fold in on itself. Also, just for the record, I have ironed my hair while under the influence. It is so, so dangerous.

Starbucks Goes (red).

Late to a party long populated with the likes of AmEx, Apple, Converse, Motorola, Microsoft, Dell, The Gap, and Giorgio Armani, Starbucks finally joins the Product (red) brigade, spearheaded by U2's Bono to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

Buy a Starbucks exclusive beverage, save lives in Africa! If the watch-worthiness of the ad isn't equal to the cause, it's at least a tribute to the crippling mediocrity that halos brands grown lazy and slow. Way to go, BBDO!

If I'm shocked, it's only because this didn't happen sooner. Really. This has to be a record for the amount of time a top-heavy "lifestyle" company's spent resisting the rejuvenating call of Bono.

more »

Claus is in Da House. Yes, Santa Gets A Makeover

Come December, Santa begins to make appearances the world over and since some easily tire of tradition, others are there to shake things up. Actually, no one really tires of Santa and his traditions. Just ad agencies trying to get a nut...and a chance to do something new to something old.

Because smartphones like the Palm Centro are supposedly all the shizzle, Santa, who just got a new one, needs his life upgraded as well. So Seattle-based Creature gave Santa a new haircut, a new suit, a new attitude, a diet and a new name, Clause - pronounced Klouse, of course.

more »

Crispin Trots Globe in Pursuit of Whopper Virgins

See teaser visuals for the Whopper Virgin campaign by Crispin Porter + Bogusky for Burger King. Turn the volume down unless you dig the cacophonous din of high-pitched wind instruments.

According to AdFreak, Crispin -- our fearless leader! -- will scour the world in search of people that have never tried a Whopper, then publish a documentary about this deep spiritual journey alongside director Stacy Peralta.

The site boasts footage of unravaged remote villages as well as cultural wisdom, of which this is just one example: "If you want a real opinion about a burger, ask someone who doesn't even have a word for burger."

Ahhh. Today their stomachs, tomorrow their labour force. It's enough to make Hernan Cortes beam with childlike delight.

TD Bank Uses Regis and Kelly Puppets to Attract Young People.

And it's like ... it's like ... a less funny Terrence and Phillip.

By Tierney Communications/Philly, which hopes to draw 18- to mid-twenty-year-olds choosing a bank for the first time. Two other spots, "Lincoln" and "Operator" -- use your imagination! -- are currently in production. Keep an eye out for those bad-boys at TD Bank Theater.

more »