Idea Grove Re-Writes Nike Kobe Bryant Ad

On its Media Orchard weblog, communications agency Idea Grove has re-written Nike's new Kobe Bryant ad replacing airy, superfluous puffery such as "Love me of hate me, it's one or the other. Always has been. Hate my game, my swagger. Hate my fadeaway, my hunger" etc." with more realistic verse such as "Hate my lies, my infidelity" etc. Check out the complete re-write here. It's pretty good.

Knob Creek Campaign Says 'Drink Life Deeply'

Knob Creek has launched a new print campaign, its first since 2001, for the distiller's super-premium bourbon. Three ads were created by energy BBDO and will appear in men's magazines including Esquire, Fast Company, Men's Journal, Spin, Wired and The New Yorker. With the tagline, "Drink Life Deeply" and collage imagery that features the bottle, the campaign wallows in the self importance a high end brand is supposed to instill among its audience.

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MasterCard Asks People to Write Its Priceless Ads

Fully embracing the notion and value of consumer generated content, MasterCard, during the Oscars, will air two commercial which say basically nothing. The ads, Sailboat and Typewriter, will follow the customary format of listing prices for various items and closing with the final item labeled "priceless." However, the item lines in these ads will be left blank. The ads will close encouraging people to go to priceless.com, click on "Write a Priceless Ad Contest" and complete the commercial by filling in the blanks using their own words.

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New Celebrity-Powered Aids One Campaign Makes Online Debut

Today, the celebrity-fueled Aids One campaign launched a new :30 video online on the AOL properties AIM Today, AOL.com/Television and TMZ. Tomorrow, the campaign will spread to AOL.com and the AOL service. All ad space has been donated by AOL. Celebrities appearing in the campaign include Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Gwen Stefani, Dave Matthews, Coldplay, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent and Bono.

Pre-Photoshopped Nicole Richie Jimmy Chew Ad Revealed

Waifish Nicole Richie can be seen in the new Jimmy Choo footwear ads being voraciously swallowed up by paparazzi. Gallery of the Absurd has done some investigative research behind the Brett Ratner shoot, unearthed the original photo and revealed the extensive Photoshop work which was done prior to the ad making its way into fashion mags. Check out the before and after here along with analysis.

42 Below Promotes Vodka With Russian Bride Contest

Cheeky New Zealand vodka marketer 42 Below is at it again. This time the company is highlighting its Stil vodka with a "Win A Russian Bride" competition complete with video and print ads. Geoff Ross, chief executive of the 42 Below company, explains the promotion thusly, telling the Sunday Star-Times, "For the single Kiwi bloke who might not be an All Black or very good looking, this is a chance to get hooked up with somebody pretty hot. The ideal woman for the Kiwi bloke is one who keeps him fed and looked after all day and meets all his needs."

Of course it's all a tongue in cheek joke but, predictably, not everyone is taking it that way. View the video/ad here.

Dog's Name Change Likened to Tobacco Company Name Change

We think there's a great point behind this new Truth campaign commercial in which the notion of changing a corporate name to avoid negative connotations is debunked but the execution just seems, well, not so compelling. Maybe it's just us. Maybe we're stuck one of the campaign's earlier spots in which the "Marlboro Man" rides a farting cow. Who knows. The spot is a follow up to orange arrow-themed campaign launched last year which was created by Arnold Worldwide of Boston and Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami. See the spot here.

Dread and Shock Used in Canadian Drunk Driving Commercials

Like the emotion felt while watching the UK Department of Transport cell phone ad, these ads, which have been floating around since late 2005, from DDB Canada for the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia's long-running CounterAttack don't-drink-and-drive campaign fill one with dread. Following the same sudden-shock approach the UK DOT ad used, two of the three commercial feature kids in a car driven by a drunk and a third features a guy talking about the negative aspects of drunk driving. All three ads have endings that while somewhat predictable, still shock. The ads are said to begin airing this summer. See all three here.

Minnesota Lottery Thinks Players Are Buck Toothed Idiots

OK so maybe this campaign grabs attention visually but does anyone playing/winning the Minnesota State Lottery want to look like a stupid, buck toothed gopher? Oh wait, that's pretty accurate. See more idiots here.

Diet Mountain Dew Says Don't Be Fooled By Name

Mountain Dew has launched a new campaign created by BBDO New York for its Diet Mountain Dew. The campaign, which breaks this weekend during NASCAR and in March issues of Sports Illustrated and FHM, consists of a television spot and four prints ads shot by Sasha Waldman which carry the headline, "Don't Be Fooled By A Name" and the tagline, "How Dew Does Diet." The television spot explores whether Diet Mountain Dew is as much of a thrill as regular Mountain Dew and the print ads, as the headline indicates, encourage people not to get hung up on the term "diet."

The print ads bring the message home clearly. The TV spot not so much. We had to watch it a few times before we realized the guy in the water with the shark was actually the guy drinking the Diet Dew. But that's just us. You can see all the print work here and the TV spot here.