Interep Expected to File For Bankruptcy

A tipster tells us Interep, facing repayment of $100 million in bonds, is expected to file for bankruptcy within a month. The move causes one question the viability of radio's current business model and how long it can last before it has to die or completely transform itself into something new and different.

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Burger King Jacks Off Your Morning Tongue With Cheesy Tots

Ah yes, that occasionally embarrassing morning moment when you find yourself (if you're a guy) tenting your sheets with no way to hide the fact you're sprung. Either due to that early morning dream about the hot girl you saw on Flickr and are now having sex with in your mind...or the serious need to take a piss, morning wood is something all guys have to deal with from time to time.

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Both Parties Will Love the New Bush/McCain Lockstep Ad

A new ad from the Democratic National Committee called Bush/McCain: Lockstep argues presidential candidate John McCain, since after 9/11, has been in complete agreement with President Bush regarding America's presence in Iraq. If you're a Republican, you'll love it because McCain will give you more of what you already have. If you're a Democrat, you'll love it because it highlights everything you dislike about America's presence in Iraq. Hmm. A political ad both sides can like?

Publicis Worldwide Wants LIONS. With HEARTS. And SPIRIT

Get a load of the repositioning memo:

Not so long ago in our industry, the holy grail was an ad that "broke through the clutter," was "attention getting," "memorable," "persuasive" (ads usually measure by a copy test of an ad unit).

Today, in the new world of the internet, digital video recorders, mobile devices and myriad other technology -- all in the hands of an empowered consumer -- the new holy grail is maximized presence and multiplied exposure as a result of having an idea picked up, shared, played with, assimilated into the consumer's life.

Some call it viral; some call it buzz. Leading agencies must redefine their end goals in line with this fundamental new end game.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar-17-08    
Topic: Agencies, Bad

JellyBeats: The Musical Meme that Should Really Be a Snack Food

Check out the JellyBeats, which are like jellyfish you can alternately identify with and fantasize about eating. Each is themed with a genre of music (folk, easy listening, acid house -- wouldn't it be funny if that whistle was a pacifier?) and comes equipped with its own playlist.

The JellyBeats represent Aardman and Digital Outlook's attempts to cash in on the 14-18-year-old crowd. They launched on Bebo last week. Individual JellyBeats come with film shorts, downloads, special dances and lingo. And they're all embeddable on other social networks. ('Cause if you can't be everywhere at once, you FAIL.)

Because Get-Togethers, Shindigs and Casual Encounters are SO craigslist.

For interior design site mydeco, TAMBA put together a swanky Facebook app for all the users that are getting too old to cash in on their .edu cachet.

The My Dinner Party widget enables users to create a "dream dinner party" with famous and fictional characters, as well as actual friends. (Then again, everybody's equally actual and fictional when they can all appear on your Top 8. Which is also an app!)

And because no inet offering is worth anything unless it comes with opportunities for validation, friends can change seating arrangements, organize private fetes and rate the dinner parties they attended. How fancy. These days, any plebe can play blue-blood. Who'd've guessed that Wonderland would be so ... democratic?

'Fetch' Didn't Happen. Neither Will 'Shmmom'

The movie American Pie made the term MILF famous. You hear it everywhere. Even where you shouldn't like in kid's movies. Somehow we don't think the same will happen with the term Shmmom or Smoking Hot Minivan Mom. Yea, we know. It's a mouthful. Leave it to a local car dealer to think up this crap.

Warriors Unite Against Dance Factions. Blame MTV.

Imagine The Warriors took place in present-day Manhattan. But replace the vicious gangs with refugees from Flashdance.

Before you virtually bitchslap us and go, "Why would we EVER do that?!", be forewarned: somebody already has.

Can -- you -- dig -- it?

The client: MTV.

Philly Tries Targeting Gay Tourists. Well, Better than uwishunu.

Philly is angling for the gay vote. The Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation just launched "Get Your History Straight" followed by the tagline, "...and your nightlife gay," which -- in tangent with SouthWest Airlines -- will populate creative with gay locals.

At left is Matthew Izzo of Matthew Izzo Boutiques. See the full "We Your People" ad.

Others will appear on gophila.com/gay and on southwest.com/gaytravel. Check out Philly's other campaign, uwishunu.

Underwear Brand Gets Visual, Musical Mashup

We get it! We get it! It's a mashup! An underwear mashup. And, in case we didn't already realize that from the pantheon of colors in this ad, we've also got myriad musical styles to hammer the point home for those of us who might be visually impaired.

For Bonds Youth, Sydney's The Campaign Palace created the ad