Passport Forgotten, Bogusky Elfed, Apple Spoofed, Portals Die

- Kid runs away from home, forgets passport, TV show promoted.

- Alex Bogusky gets his elf on over at Office Max.

- If you're going to spoof a Mac/PC ad for your holiday card, the least you could do what make it good. TM Advertising didn't.

- Joe Jaffe examines the long, slow death of the portal.

Lego Commits 'Advertising Crimes Against Humanity'

Less than one day after a set of Lego ads appeared out of Saatchi & Saatchi China which bluntly belittled major world catastrophes, a video entitled Advertising Crimes Against Humanity has appeared on YouTube that doesn't paint a pretty picture for Lego or Saatchi. The video shows each of the three ads in the series and zooms in on the Lego logo. At the end, Saatchi's China phone number is provided and viewers are urged to direct their concerns to the ad's creators whose name are provided. We've placed a call but it's the middle of the night over there and no one answered.

We're hoping these are fake ads. If not, Lego may find itself in a bit of a PR fiasco.

Via is the S.H.I.T

With the appropriate acronym, S.H.I.T, Via's Santa Hunters Investigative Team is a collection of videos that documents the agency's search for the elusive Santa Clause. It's the agency's version of its holiday card for clients and friends. Our favorite is the downloadable "We are the S.H.I.T" buddy icon.

Best Buy Makes It Easy to Shop For Christmas

Best Buy has done a fantastic job making it easier for people to choose the right gift this holiday season. Called the Wow Factor Finder, this website offers gift ideas based on a short survey about the person the purchased gift will be for. There is also a large collection of videos that have been placed on YouTube that detail particular products and for whom they might make a good gift. It's well thought out. It's not fancy. It's just straight forward advice many people need at this time of year.

ValueClick Media Makes Major Announcement With Cheesy Video

Our friend Snake Oil Guy has a problem with ValueClick Media General Manager David Yovanno's recent announcement video for the company's video offering for publishers wondering why Yovanno:

1. Can't put on a tie for a major rollout announcement?
2. Can't afford a lavaliere mike?
3. Can't shoot in a room with no echo?
4. Can't speak slower?
5. Can't find a decent backdrop?

Indeed, it seems Yovanno spewed this out between checking his morning email and making his first sales call for the day.

Advertising Just Got Harder, Dan Wieden Worshiped

That double-entendre-laden Reach and Frequency video from Elvis & Bonaparte has resurfaced, this time, on a site with its own specialized URL: www.reachfrequency.com. The seventies porn-style video about Tucker Swallow & Rockhard is full of the usual word play including our fav: the insertion order. Along with employees Buck Thrustwell, Nikki Swallow, and Candy Canal, Dan Wieden gets some interesting props in the elevator.

Submarino Does that Traveling Ball Thing

Where do soccer balls go when lost? All over the place, apparently. For client Submarino, agency Santa Clara produced this little ball ad out of Casablanca. We liked the whimsical song in the background because it made us think of Kermit the Frog.

Someone we know called this "yet another masturbatory effort from creatives that want to make movies instead of ads." After that we couldn't help but wonder - does that make a good ad then? - Contributed by Angela Natividad

It's Always a Good Time for a Twisted Video

The holidays are fast approaching. With that in mind, a representative at LAVA Communications, Australia sent us a few bizarre videos they put together to celebrate the season among civilized kind. If we thought Canada was the go-to country for farcical antics and shenanigans galore, Australia may just blow them out of the water.

First comes a video depicting what we figure must be a common misunderstanding around this time of year. And of course there's nothing nicer than licking your own balls to soothing holiday music. Not that we'd know, of course. - Contributed by Angela Natividad

Pre-Roll? Post Roll? Phooey! Embedded Clickability the New Video Ad

A new company, Coull, has launched and promises to make it possible to search for specific moments within a video and have those moments linkable to other content. One drawback. It's not automatic. For videos to be searchable, it seems tags must be placed within the video by the uploader. Most people may not take the time to do that but brands might and that's what Coull is betting on believing it has the answer to the pre-roll, post-roll debate. The answer? Brands can inject links into videos allowing people to click out and explore whatever product was linked. Agent Provocateur recently did it with its Kate Moss film.

Unrestrained Creativity Begets Funny Agency Christmas Video

OK. OK, we laughed. We couldn't help it. We love a sick Christmas (uh...holiday) video and what better to kick off the agency holiday card bonanza than this video card from TBWA\Vancouver sent to us by Mack Simpson. This, my friends, is what we get when creatives are not constrained by pesky creative briefs and annoying client approval processes.