Samsung UltraTouch '38 Cute Animals' Viral

Ever wondered if there was a way in which you could entertain a baby animal with a mobile screen, if so this could be the video for you. To show of the high quality screen of their latest phone, the Samsung UltraTouch, Samsung have seeded this video showing a handful of cute animals using the screen for their own benefits. I've also discovered this is impossible to watch without smiling.


38 Cute Animals, 1 Cool Screen, 8 Different Uses


I have to say my personal favourite is #2,346 Evil Hedgehog Control screen.

Lastminute.com debut Mexican Wave Ad

OK, so a Mexican wave doesn't sound very enthralling, however this isn't any normal Mexican wave, this is a Lastminute.com Mexican wave using a run of three consecutive 60-second ads on ITV, Channel 4 and Five, due to start on Saturday night (28th February 2009) at 9.50pm. As you can see from the preview below, the ads will feature a Mexican wave of thumbs-up and viewers will be asked to follow the wave as it flows from ITV through to Five.



The great thumb wave will take viewers all over the world, and will challenge people to guess the number of thumbs they see in order to enter the online prize-draw. The website set up for the campaign is as follows http://goodstuff.lastminute.com, which will also feature the ads once aired.



This is a fantastic idea, and demonstrates a very well thought through creative and media execution. It has had significant media backing including digital outdoor, in order to generate enough buzz, and personally I cannot wait to see the result. Those times again are:

Saturday 28th February
ITV1 at 9:50pm
Channel 4 at 9:51pm
Five at 9:52pm


Update: To view the full ad - Lastminute.com Great Thumb Wave advert


Enjoy!

Live Cadbury 'Jivebrow' MSN Homepage takeover ad

It was announced today that we could have possibly seen the world's first truly interactive ad according to Flash Talking. The Cadbury's Jivebrow expandable MPU is an online extension of their current "dancing eyebrows" TV ad campaign, and ran on the homepage of MSN today.



The Jivebrow expandable MPU allows viewers to film themselves (directly from the ad!), submit their video for approval, and then have their video appear on the MSN homepage (as per the picture below), and all the user needs to do is connect their webcam. The ad was a joint effort by Flash Talking, MSN, media agency PHD, as well as the creative team at Hyper Happen.



The advert is running today, Friday 27th February and can be viewed on MSN, or here at Flash Talking at any other time. A world first? I'm not so sure, but it looks very cool all the same.

New Milk Matters Cravendale Campaign

As a big fan of the random humour, captivating websites and creative I am very happy to see that Cravendale are back with a new campaign. The campaign sees the return of the wacky humour, with a redesigned website featuring all of our favourite characters, including the cow, cyclist, and pirate.



The campaign broke this week with a Brand republic reporting a £10 million campaign which launched this week with the first of three executions. The new look Milk Matters website includes everything from Games, Downloadable content, Previous Campaigns, and a 'Make the Tea' function.



Enjoy!

Angels and Demons Path of Illumination Contest

In order to generate buzz around the launch of the upcoming release of the movie ‘Angels and Demons’, the much awaited follow up of the massively successful ‘The Da Vinci Code’, an ad campaign on MSN Movies is truly embracing the feel of the picture to engage its audience. For all who are unfamiliar with the Movie here is the latest trailer which also outlines the contest.




The campaign entitled the ‘Path of Illumination Contest’ is a worldwide competition which has been running since January 30th 2009, and will continue up to the closing date of March 13 2009, and consists of two rounds which will really challenge users to find their inner Dr. Robert Langdon.



Round one consists of four puzzles centred around the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water, which were released every Friday from the end of January, and with a closing date of February 27th. Each puzzle contains three levels, which must be completed in order to locate hidden clues within Microsoft Photosynth, which must be found to advance to the next level.



Once advanced to the next level, Round two will give users one chance only, to complete a new array of puzzles, with the winner from each participating country standing a chance to win a grand prize.

This is a great example of a campaign which taps into the psyche of their audience, and interacts with them on a level which will challenge them, and stimulate their anticipation for the movie or love for the book, as opposed to a brand creating a basic click to play game which offers no thinking or relevance to the campaign. You can view the Angels and Demons Path of Illumination Contest here.

'Beate Uhse: Erotic TV' Advert

This is a quick one for you all... Here is an advert for German adult entertainment brand Beate Uhse, as a follow up to their award winning ‘fake naughty’ commercial to promote their child lock parental control feature. The ad shows an ink bolt morph into what seems to be an questionable image before revealing itself as a harmless picture.




Via: Illegal Advertising

Adidas Originals Celebrates “60 Years of Soles and Stripes”

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the iconic 3-Stripes mark Adidas have unveiled a fresh collection that celebrates its brand’s rich heritage and lifestyle credentials set to launch this Spring. To coincide with the unveiling of the new 60th anniversary collection Adidas have launched a new Global Brand campaign, which is in a 'House Party' setting (The theme of their “60 Years of Soles and Stripes” at Milan Fashion week).



The 60th anniversary Adidas Originals 'House Party' TV ad creative brings together a host of stars including David Beckham, Katy Perry, Missy Elliott, Mark Gonzales, Lady Gaga, Estelle, Kevin Garnett, and Young Jeezy all under one roof to the music of 'Beggin' by MADCON.



Adidas are also offering, together with MTV the chance for people to enter a competition to invite 60 friends to a party of a lifetime by proving they are the Host with the Most, through the Adidas FaceBook Page and download the 'Host with the Most application'.



Fans of the Adidas brand may also be interested in the fact that there is even a cameo by company founder Adi Dassler who makes an appearance within the 'House Party' ad.

Kia Soul - Graffiti and Eco-friendly advertising Used to Launch New Model

This is the latest campaign by Kia to launch their new model the Kia Soul. The campaign, which is all about Soul and freedom, and so Kia has commissioned six pieces of street art in six cities around the UK. The graffiti artists 'End of the Line' are painting six pieces of Soul art on walls and billboards around Bristol, London, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham.


Kia Soul - Street Art

As well as the commissioned six pieces of graffiti, Kia have also enlisted the help of unique eco-advertising services agency 'CURB' to use 150 'clean ads' to raise awareness of the Kia Soul and direct people to their dedicated website shapeyoursoul.com.


Kia Soul 'Clean ad' - Pic 1

The green ads work by 'spray cleaning' dirty pavements using a stencil, with the message lasting up to 8 weeks depending on the location, a process which is is 100% legal as nothing is added to the surface except water collected in rain barrels. Throughout the campaign CURB are hoping to deliver over 750 clean ads nationwide in what will be one of the biggest clean advertising campaigns ever conducted.


Kia Soul 'Clean ad' - Pic 2

Earlier this year CURB conducted a guerrilla campaign for extreme sports channel Extreme, by taking advantage of the freak snow which fell over London in January 2009. With the use of branded stencils, London was bombarded by subtle Extreme logos popping up in the snow (roughly 2000, in 350 high-profile locations).


Extreme - Pic 1



Extreme - Pic 2

Axe - '100 Girls' Hair Crisis Relief Campaign

Unilever's Axe have launched a new campaign named 'Hair Crisis Relief' to support their new range of hair products. The campaign sees 100 girls in a warehouse monitored by CCTV, taking it in turns to judge the hair of users who have uploaded pictures of themselves.



The girls then move to the 'Yes' side of the room, or the 'No' side, where the photo in question is given a score (quite simple really). The commentator then offers her pearls of wisdom and suggests various products to improve their percentage score.



A good idea with the pictures getting refreshed regularly offering the opportunity to list the full range within a few rotations, however the commentary gets tired and repetitive very quickly. Still well worth a visit though.

'Nuns Run' Launches Sister Act the Musical with Barnardo's

To promote the launch of Sister Act the Musical which comes to the London Palladium from 7 May 2009, 'The Nuns Run' has been set up with Children's charity Barnardo's to help raise funds and smiles around the Capital.


Metro advertisement - 17.02.09

The run starting in the City will take those running past sites such as the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, South Bank, the Globe Theatre, and the Tate Modern. There is also the added incentive of being entered into a prize draw to win one of 200 pairs of tickets to a preview performance of Sister Act if you sign up before March 8. The site has also put together this promotional video if you are a particular fan!

The Simpsons New Opening Sequence

As you may have read for the first time since its debut on December 17 1989, The Simpsons has refreshed it’s opening titles (shown below).



The original opening sequence created by David Silverman, with theme song composed by musician Danny Elfman has become the most memorable hallmarks of the show, and so although not radically different the new HD quality of the new opening sequence and updated character appearances should be refreshing.

YouTube HD/HQ and Widescreen Options on Embedded Videos

Here is a quick post for all you follow bloggers out there, who like me, like to add some moving images to their posts courtesy of YouTube. YouTube have now made it possible for users to decide whether or not to embed videos in high quality or HD (when those formats are available). The widescreen option is also available when you embed a video (and there is even a step-by-step guide on 'optimising your uploads').


Example - Britney Spears NBA Circus

Routes Game – Channel 4 and Wellcome Trust initiative to teach us about Genetics

Welcome to Routes, a new initiative commissioned by Channel 4 and the research charity Wellcome Trust to teach today’s youth about genetics and how genetic testing could affect us all. The Routes game experience in short is a huge educational project which takes the form of a series of online multiplayer games combining an ARG (Alternate Reality Game), video and viral content, to bring to life the new Channel 4 TV programme Routes which explores the topic of genetics and bio-ethics.



Four games have been created for the project and will be rolled out over the next two months starting with Breeders, which is available to play now. The other games in the series will be Sneeze, DNA Heroes, and Ginger Dawn.



Breeder as mentioned is the first in the series, in which the user gets points for breeding their very own creature. Points are won when someone breeds with their creature, with prizes offered throughout the process.



This is a great idea, with a large amount of users already playing. Other features allow players to upload their customised organisms onto their social network profiles, and watch them evolve over time. With the TV programme’s help, the prizes acting as an incentive for users to join, and with the addictive and easy to follow ways in which people can earn bonus points etc, I can see this catching on very quickly.

Myla – Valentines Lingerie Campaign

Better late than never… This is the latest campaign by Myla for Valentines Day, 'Trump Cards'.


Myla’s – Video 1

'Trump Cards' is a simple video campaign which allows the user to select a card from the deck, each of which contains a seductive video of a model showcasing the lingerie, as well as the crucial stats of which any trumps card would not be complete.




For anyone else interested, here are the other videos.


Myla’s – Video 2




Myla’s – Video 3


Enjoy!!

Yahoo! celebrates 25 years of online communication with online video

To celebrate 25 years of online communication, Yahoo! has created this online video as a brief homage of its journey from early PC's to wireless computing.


Yahoo! 25 years of online communication - Communication Evolution

The song in the background for all those interested is by Shitake Monkey "Those Days" from their Street Beef album.

Kit Kat Perfect Break – So who’s tea round is it??

At last Kit Kat answers that age old question of ‘Who turn is it to get the teas in?’… Or is that just relevant to my pod of desks in the office. This is the new Perfect Break campaign by Kit Kat giving users the chance to enjoy a break on their microsite whether you’re at home, work, or even in the garden. With three different options Kit Kat offers you the chance to enjoy a selection of ‘Fun and Games’, take a ‘Brain Break’, or use the ‘Who’s getting the Coffee tool?’.



Each option is nicely put together and sure to keep you entertained, with Sudoku, Crosswords, Kit Kat style Tetris (Break Down), and Alleyway (Brick Break) games. There is also more downloadable content than you could wave a chocolate covered wafer at.



The campaign is supported by both offline and online activity, with a competition on the site, and interactive 'Kit Kat Perfect Break' Facebook page which launched this week.




Thanks Suni for flagging this one, and Shep I'm pretty sure that makes it your round! Sorry mate!

Back to the 80's - Twins - Yakkety Yak

Here we catch Arnie whilst on his way to visit Danny Devito in Twins (1988). Other than perhaps Danny's later rendition of 'Tonight is your night bro' one of the finest musical numbers of the film. Oh and unfortunately I couldn't discover what airline he had the fortune of flying!

Tic Tacs viral to Everton fans to say sorry!

In order to apologise for those deprived of the winning goal last Saturday during the FA cup replay against Liverpool, Tic Tacs launched a viral ad last night which recreated the goal for Everton fans. The technical error was apparently caused by ITV's automated advertising system, with a Tic Tacs advert interrupting the match as the winning goal was scored. For those of you who want to see the ad, here it is courtesy of Brand Republic...





For anyone who was unfortunate enough to miss the moment when the mistake happened, you can view it below with thanks to Rick Lamb who dug this out.





Enjoy!

COD5 New Maps Announced

Activision makers of the hit Call of Duty: World at War have announced the first Downloadable Content (DLC) for the hit game, one of the fastest selling games of 2008. The new COD5 content is due for release in March 2009, and will feature three new multiplayer maps, as well as an additional level for the bonus Co-op mode Nazi Zombies.



The new multiplayer maps as announced are as follows:

Nightfire
In "Nightfire", players take to the streets of war-ravaged Berlin with only the flames of the burning city to expose the enemy.

Station
"Station" offers a bombed out underground train station littered with hidden passageways and destroyed subway cars.

Knee Deep
"Knee Deep" takes place on the island of Peleliu in a once tranquil village turned chaotic Japanese command center.

Verrückt (Zombie Asylum)
The fan favorite 4-player co-op Nazi Zombies Bonus Mode returns with "Verrückt," a terrifying Zombie asylum featuring more weapons, perks via the addition of Perks-a-Cola machines, electroshock defenses and the endless zombie horde.




Cheers to JMC for the tip!

Agent Provocateur on Twitter

Agent Provocateur has become one of the latest brands to make its debut on micro-blogging social network Twitter (@msprovocateur). Tweets mainly include posts from their blog ‘Hello Agent Provocateur’, and other sporadic comments and replies (So pretty much everything you’d expect).



I know this is nothing really new, but it will give the brand a chance to show that, yes, anyone can follow the latest trend, but when that isn’t enough anymore, how do they stand out (and if there is one brand that should be able to do that it is Agent Provocateur). Plus where else would a fellow Twitterer be able to read about the ‘The History Of The Thong’?


Related posts:

Top 10 Cult Cinema Ads in the UK
Agent Provocateur – Love me tender… or else!
Follow the Virgin - Latest Argent Provocateur campaign

MTV Shockvertising features vintage porn to drive AIDS Awareness Message

Quite a random one now, this is the latest campaign for MTV in Brazil to promote their AIDS awareness campaign. The adverts (below) show vintage porn images with the naughty bits covered by a black box simply reading ‘except for AIDS, nothing has changed’. Make of it what you will, I simply had to share this after the mental scaring caused by the fact the stars of the adverts are probably someone’s Great Grandparents.



Via Agency Spy

Barclaycard Waterslide Advert Competition

Barclaycard have decided to take their recent waterslide campaign to the next level, by launching a competition for the public to spoof their ad. A Barclaycard Waterslide YouTube channel has been set up with a video which sets the benchmark for the entries (Shown below).



Those wishing to enter must create their own version of the waterslide advert, film it, then upload it to the channel by the 8th March. YouTube’s viewers will then vote from the 9th March in order to decide a winner, and send them for a once in a lifetime trip around the world visiting the five fastest, highest and scariest waterslides ever built. There are also additional features to keep users engaged including a rather addictive waterslide game, and of course the videos which have been uploaded by users.



This is a nice idea, and has got me am very curious to see whether anyone comes remotely close to creating anything like the above example, we will have to wait and see I guess.

Back to the 80's - He-Man and the Masters of the Universe - Opening Theme

This one explains itself, we simply can't have SheRa without her twin brother He-Man aka Adam Prince of Eternia and defender of the Secrets of Castle Greyskull... Here is the He-Man opening theme.



'I have the power!!'

Zodiac Race - Onitsuka Tiger campaign

This is the latest campaign by Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger, to celebrate their 60th birthday. 'The Legend of the Zodiac Race' is the main premise behind the 60th birthday celebrations, which takes the form of the Legend of the Jade Emperor of ancient Japan holding a race to decide the order of the Zodiac calendar, 13 animals competing for 12 places.



The race takes place on a funky Onitsuka Tiger trainer shaped island with many different obstacles for the competing animals to overcome. The island of which can be explored in full on the website, along with a host of other interesting features. These include the history and making of the 'The Legend of the Zodiac Race' (shown below), a Zodiac calculator, a very cool '60 years in 60 seconds' movie, and much more.



This is a very funky website, which echoes everything users would expect from the brand, it is a smooth site with a fantastic array of colours, with the content ensuring users will be on there for a while... well I definitely was!



Enjoy!

Back to the 80's - Thundercats - Intro

The Thundercats intro never fails to pick me up, kind of like the visual caffeine which is sometimes needed at the end of the day. One of my favourites growing up, and no, that wasn't just due to Cheetara.




Enjoy!!

The end of Project Kangaroo?

Well so it may seem…It’s been reported on Brand Republic today, that Project Kangaroo, the on-demand joint venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, has been blocked by the Competition Commission, after allegedly spending £25m on staff and development costs since announcement of the platform in November 2007. There were high hopes for the platform which for advertisers meant reining in the rapidly growing video on-demand market, by offering a central platform for users to view popular programming on offer from BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4.



Despite the fact that throughout the last year or so there has always been conversations regarding the concerns that "there was a danger that the platform could be too powerful" (30 June 2008, the UK's Office of Fair Trading referred the proposal to the Competition Commission), it seemed the platform would still be launched intially in 2008, which was later moved back to early 2009. Today however with the news of the end of the venture, it appears that rivals to Project Kangaroo including Virgin Media, Babelgum and Joost will be cheering, after all calling on the commission to block the platform.

From early polls and comments on the news, the agency world seems reasonably split on the decision of the CC. However I seem to think that with the ammount of work which has already gone into Project Kangaroo, I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of some sort of joint video on-demand venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4. Watch this space I guess!!

For the full Brand Republic article click here: Kangaroo killed off by Competition Commission

Behind the scenes - PETA 'banned' Super Bowl commercial

Did you enjoy the recent 'Banned' Super Bowl ad courtesy of PETA? Well the US animal rights organisation, have released a behind the scenes look at the controversial now viral 'Veggie Love' commercial... Welcome to Veggie Love Uncovered!!



The video takes a behind the scenes/ Outtake style look at the advert which sees three models in a series of sexually seductive poses with vegetables around the idea that 'Vegetarians have better sex'.

All Super Bowl XLIII commercials

This is just a quick post for all of those who didn't manage to catch all of Super Bowl XLIII ads, and no, I'm not going to link a massive list of YouTube clips below... What I will do however is direct you to the Advertising Age article which kindly does that for me, so here it is...

Advertising Age - February 01 2009: Watch All the Super Bowl Spots



Enjoy!

Trailer - Transformers: Revenge of the fallen

As a pretty massive geek of this sort of movie, it's not hard to imagine how anticipated Transformers: Revenge of the fallen has been for me. Well the trailer for the second Transformers film, due for release 26th June 2009, is here after its debut during the Super Bowl last night.