Canada Encourages All American Gays to Marry In Canada

OK so it's not really a great spot, in fact, it's really cheesy but it does strive to let all Americans know Canada welcomes, with open arms, all gays and lesbians who want to get married without the hassle of state and federal anti-gay marriage laws. Oddly the spot is 42 seconds long which, actually, is a very good thing because 12 seconds of this spot could be cut and nothing would be lost.

Hair Curlers And Cereal Used to Promote World Men's Curling Championships

To promote the 2006 World Men's Curling Championships, a sport we still don't completely understand, Conover Tuttle Pace created a couple of spots promoting the event at the Paul Tsongas Arena in Lowell, MA. The agency is proud to point out the spots contain no beer, bikini-clad models or farting animals.

1-800-Got-Junk Enlists Rats For Ratvertising

So now there's Ratvertising. 1-800-Got Junk, a junk removal service, has hired a bunch of rats to scare the crap out of people and the crap out of people's houses by unleashing the varmints which, of course, make people scream, which, of course, make people pick up the phone and dial 1-800-Got-Junk. Well, sort of. They don't actually release the rats, they just act out this scenario in a couple commercials created by Vancouver-based Rethink, produced by the always excellent Reginald Pike. See the ads here.

Everyone Loves Freddy Kruger Fonzies Spot, We Don't

Apparently, we're the only ones that don't like this Freddy Kruger Fonzies commercial. Every ad blog has this thing up. It was sent to us. We watched it. We said "whatever" and thought we'd move onto something more clever. Nope. Apparently Freddy Kruger has died so many times and been "so over" for so many years it's OK for some horror-hipster creative team to whip up this overly predictable slop. Some like to call it foreshadowing. We like to call it a bad concept. We can just hear the copywriter during the concepting meeting. "Dude, the AE says these Fonzie chips are, like, finger licking good. Check this - we should get that Freddy Kruger dude to lick his fingers in the spot an then have him scream and shit. That would rock!" Not.

Humping Cows Produce Whopper Junior

We think this one's been kicking around for a while but if you were ever curious where Burger King's Whopper Junior comes from, this "commercial" answers your question.

Commercials Aren't Always What They Seem

Here's another one of those very weird Asian commercials. As you begin to watch it, you might think you have stumbled upon something a bit X-rated. Have no fear, the ending makes it all clear. If your boss catches you watching it, though, make sure he or she watches it until the end before they wonder what you do in your cube all day long.

Mom Gets Cold, Kid Yells, Mom Yells, Medicine Advertised

This commercial for Vicks, which appears to come from the U.K, is just weird. For the first half of the commercial, it plays like a normal, boring over the counter cold medication ad. In the second half, it turns into an odd twist on the old kid freaking out in the grocery store theme. Indeed, a strange combination. The word "disjointed" comes to mind but we still get a kick out if it. What do you think?

Newsflash: See the Banned William Lawson Scotch Ad!

Dave Blake sent us, and apparently everyone else in his address book, this old-ish commercial for U.K.-based William Lawson Scotch Whiskey. He tells us it's "never been seen" and that the agency was asked to change the ending to a more politically correct one. Apparently humping....oh...just watch the spot and find out. It's really not even that good. Let's hope this isn't some lame viral revival or something.

Break Dancing Worm Grabs Attention in Visa Check Card Ad

We all know VISA's launched a huge, new campaign with the new tagline, which we like very much, "Life Takes VISA." We all know there's tons of TV spots supporting this campaign but one, which we saw a couple nights ago, just seemed to stand out from the crown. It's called Worm/Recycling and sort of makes you wonder what it is at first as it begins with line drawings of a worm breakdancing to electronica before it becomes obvious it's a commercial for the VISA check card.

The commercial was created by TBWA\Chiat\Day and the nifty special effects work was done by Brickyard VFX which did the special effects on the Comcast Slowskys ad.

Gatorade Highlights Underdog Mexican Football Player

Amid the legal wranglings between Coke and Pepsi over the Powerade/Gatorade calorie thing, life goes on in the form of a new Gatorade commercial featuring Rolando Cantu, a Mexican who some said would never make in in the NFL. Well, he did and he's now playing for the Arizona Cardinals. It's the usual "underdog makes good" story but that's what sports fans like. The work was created by two-time Ad Age Multicultural Agency of the Year Dieste Harmel & Partners in Dallas.