UK Girl Group Girls Aloud to Join Nintendo Campaign

Along with Julie Walters, Fern Britton, Harry Redknapp, Boyzone's Keating and, yes, Star trek's Patrick Stewart, UK girl group Girls Aloud will appear in a new Nintendo Karmarama-created campaign for the Nintendo DS.

Nestle grabbed the musical group earlier this year for an appearance in a Kit Kat commercial. Girls Aloud will appear in a series of commercials for Nintendo with the first breaking next week.

MySpace Music Promotes Artist Individuality

MySpace Music, which went live in late September, is running a print ad campaign composed of artists and some of their favourite playlists.

At left is an ad featuring Moby, complete with link to his MySpace site. The text, presumably hand-written by The Man Himself, gives us the skinny on Moby's New York playlist.

Also see "Songs to Come Down To," a handwritten playlist by Kings of Leon, and "Music that My Friends Wrote" by Jenny Lewis.

Sedate, distinctly cool and in keeping with the network's indie band community feel. This is the first time MySpace has stepped beyond its borders to advertise. But hey, this is also the first time major labels have been willing to help foot the bill.

Crimes of Facebook Passion, Palin's Rack Promotes Storage, and More Crappy Jingles

- Avenue A/Razorfish is changing its name to Razorfish.

- Considering an iPhone? Read this first.

- Wife killed by estranged hubby for changing her Facebook status to "single" too soon. Wow ... the world has changed.

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Public Property is Public Property. Why Not Take a Leak?

Like a Calvin & Hobbes decal come to life, "Slash" for MTV Switch depicts people pissing in public places. The moral of the story is to "Save water, flush less." (Niiiiice.)

By Ogilvy/London, which has an odd take on persuasion. Wizzing in a fountain is funny -- hell, incendiary -- while you're stoned and around age 15, but unless things have changed abroad, doing it in the Queen's England remains both unsavory and illegal.

There's no accounting for logic in advertising, however. Along with other "green" MTV Switch ads, "Slash" will likely run across 55 TV channels in 162 countries. The track in the ad is Miserere Mei, by Bouwe Dykstra.

Don't Sleepwalk Out of Your Rights!

The United Kingdom recently considered passing laws that would enable the gov to detain terrorism suspects for 42 days without a trial.

To give ordinary people an emotional education on what the law would mean, Amnesty International launched "Sleepwalking," an eerie spot that depicts citizens crawling out of their beds late at night and in a kind of stupor. Together they walk into a holding facility and file themselves in separate cells, still more asleep than awake.

The ad admonishes people not to "sleepwalk into" this anti-terrorism bill, which in freedom's name would infringe on citizens' rights.

Slow-moving and unpleasant, but it's powerful that way. By production company DarkFibre. Voiceover by Christopher Eccleston. Learn more at Protect the Human.

Because Even the Big Guns Slip Sometimes

This online ad for Cleatskins starts out like a typical sportsgear spot: adrenaline-pumping music, bad-ass sports star, epic narrative. It all seemed very made-for-TV.

And then the end happened, and then I laughed, because this is the kinda stuff you can do on the 'net that you can't risk doing on television. Unless you're Budweiser.

Produced by Kamp Grizzly for agency UXB.

OMG! Axe Leaves Boobs Behind, Focuses on Product Benefit

Just when you think every last idea for selling deodorant has been done, Axe comes up with yet another. In a nod to earlier work centered on a guy who sweats like a fire hydrant, Axe has launched Canadairman, a dude who, because he sweats so much, is used as a means to extinguish a raging fire enveloping a residential area.

On the site, the campaign is extended to widgets, mobile, wallpaper and, of course, a Facebook page.

Contemplating Parenthood? Brooke Shields May Change Your Mind

At left is the baby I made with Johnny Depp, courtesy of the Routan Babymaker3000.

The babymaker's part of a broader Volkswagen Routan campaign featuring Brooke Shields. You've probably seen the ads where she barrages expecting couples with questions about why they're having babies "simply for the love of German engineering." (I didn't really get this at first, but after sitting through the mocumentary, I completely understand: people are having babies so they can buy minivans! Of course!)

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Sometimes, I Guess, the Scars Make the Man

MasterCard's "Priceless" is one of those campaigns you wanna milk as long as possible: it makes a statement about what people value, and potential variations are endless.

But the "product, price tag; product, price tag; sentiment = priceless" formula has gotten stale. And unfortunately for MasterCard, competitors like Visa and American Express have taken advantage of its stagnation to launch their own heart-wrenching commentaries on society.

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Apple Pokes Fun at Vista's $300 million Advertising Budget

Not one to sit idly by while its nemesis gets a $300 million makeover, Apple is out with two new commercials, one of which directly comments on the amount of money Microsoft is spending on its current advertising campaign. In the ad, we see PC divvying up Microsoft's budget allocating the lion's share to the ad campaign and a minuscule amount to fixing Vista's problems.

Mac comments on the seemingly illogical allocation which causes PC to think for a minute before he reallocates in a manner not quite expected by Mac. It's pointed commentary on the all too common viewpoint advertising can cure all ills.

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