Can you say CHEESY?

For romantics that can't hold a tune, Canadian TailoredMusic.com now offers the perfect service: customized love songs performed by professional musicians. Customers pick a vocalist and genre, ranging from experimental to folk waltz. The website then shows the default lyrics for the song they selected. While a demo of the song plays in the background, customers edit the lyrics in an easy to use online word processing tool. Some lyrics must be customized (the love object's name), while other fields are written for easy customization, allowing users to add personal experiences, locations, events, colors, etc. Any words or lines can be changed, and TailoredMusic's singers can adapt to varying numbers of syllables and different rhyming schemes. Cost is between $99 to $250 USD.

(from Springwise.com)

All-State Misses the Mark?

Is it memorable? Sure. Is it edgy? Yup. Is it cool? You Bet. But is it relevant to the business of an insurance company like All-State? That's debatable. What is great, is that they've extended the campaign to other areas... like this crazy PR stunt at Chicago's famous "honeycomb" building.

TV



PR STUNT

3 Men Are Killed Every Day

Just Plain Ridiculous

The coolest thing is that this is some Korean kid who wants to remain anonymous and has turned down numerous record deals.

Bookvertising

Not quite what the name suggests, a Brajacket is an advertisement disguised as a dust jacket for a book. According to Trends in Japan, Brajackets are one of the hottest new trends in Japan. Created by an advertising agency (Setup Inc), Brajackets offer consumers a free cover to keep their book nice and neat, and advertisers a space to advertise that goes everywhere readers do.
Made from high-quality, coated paper that makes designs and colours pop, Brajackets come with a built-in bookmark. They're available from stands in bookstores. Free, and no purchase necessary. New designs come out a few times a month, and the most popular ones are gone in a matter of days.

Brands that are already using bookvertising include Perrier and Haagen-Dazs (shown above), Adidas, Canada Dry, Universal Studios, Levi's and famous Japanese rock band Mr. Children and a host of movies and musicals.

A simple idea that gives consumers something useful while creating a playful new space for advertising, this one could be copied to any city that has lots of people reading on subways and trains.

http://www.b-j.jp

Man calls 911 to report stolen drugs

AP

(12/12/06 - WICHITA, KS) - A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery. The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.
The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and stole the drugs.

Police brought in a drug-sniffing dog to the house and located more marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The victim was booked into Sedgwick County jail on several charges, including possession with the intent to sell drug.

The thief has not been found.

The greatest invention since sliced bread

How many times have you stood in line for half an hour to purchase an $8 beer at the hockey game only to finally hike the 100 steps to your seat and realize that you've finished your beer?

Say hello to the Beer Belly.

Richard Simmons' Exploding Food Steamer

If you're a Late Show fan like myself, you've probably seen numerous interviews over the years where Letterman cruelly pokes fun at Richard Simmons. Some of the stuff is beyond mean. I've always wondered if Richard Simmons was told before hand what was going to happen of if he just agrees to be the patsy each time he's on. After watching this video, I'm still not sure... but it had me rolling on the floor laughing!

Sick of working in a traditional office?

Thinking out-of-the-box? Why not try working out-of-the-box? Check out iscapes' garden offices. They're currently sold in the UK at a cost of $5,000 GBP (about $11,500 Cdn)

Check out their website at www.i-scape.co.uk

Check out the Audi R8 Microsite

Another blog item from Rick Sanderson, who's drawn attention to Audi's microsite for the new R8. The price of the car hasn't been released yet, but if the microsite is any indicator... it's going to have one helluva price tag... and it's going to be one helluva car. I'm not sure if this makes me want to buy a car... or play a video game. Click here to go to the Audi R8 microsite.

What do you think? Make sure the volume's turned up real loud :)

Fast food and video games - who would've thunk it?

The marriage between Burger King and Crispin Porter + Bogusky has become even more adventerous. They've ccontinued to push the envelope and with video game maker, Blitz Games have created 3 game titles for Xbox that feature BK Characters such as "The King" and "Subservient Chicken".

The games, which only cost $3.99 more when you purchase a meal combo are available at BK stores from Nov 19 to Dec 24.

There's also rumours that BK and CPB plan to shoot a movie together... the plot of which revolves around an apartment above... you guessed it... a Burger King restaruant.

Check out this link for more info.

music machine

Rick Sanderson sent this one out - I'm not sure if it's real or computer animation:

97% of the machines' components came from John Deere Industries and Irrigation Equipment of Bancroft Iowa. It took the team a combined 13,029 hours of set-up, alignment, calibration and timing before filming this.

so, so bad.....

Saw this video on dangermain.typepad.com - I have trouble just thinking about this....

Smash my PS3

The best part of this video isn't the dude in the pimp outfit and his friend smashing the PS3 with a sledge hammer, nor is it the reactions of the people waiting in line outside... it's definitely the guy at the end of the video, who calls them "douche bags".

A car commercial without a car

An urban myth? How can a car company make a TV spot without a car... who would be brave enough to do it? Well Cadillac was and they did it well.

Sick of the grind of public transit?

Check out this ad. Who said transit advertising couldn't be fun.

This has nothing to do with advertising, but it's time well-wasted.

Click here... say this tongue twister or else...

Xbox's latest efforts fall flat

San Francisco Agency McCann-Erickson worked in tandem with a ton of talent, including director Garth Davis of Anonymous Content and editor Angus Wall of Rock Paper Scissors, to release a playful ad for Xbox entitled "Cops & Robbers". But doesn't it seem a little familiar to you? Is the idea of portraying a video game in real life, really that novel? To me, the spot' s underwhelming... and given today's politically sensitive climate... it's surprising that they would use characters that resemble "terrorists". What do you think?

Don't Waste My Time

Scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla. Don’t waste my time!!

As much as this is a good clip it was also my first foray into stealing content. My cousin and I always laughed about this clip so when the show came on the other night I sat with my remote and recorded it on my DVD recorder. Then I downloaded some ripping software to put it on my hard drive and then bammo… I uploaded it to You Tube.

Anyway… I think this clip is funny but it gets even more funny when someone is wasting your time and you throw out the “Scoop of chocolate, scoop of vanilla… don’t waste my time!!”

Another simple idea taken to the next level

Why can't I think of these LOL? Ever use the communal messages boards at the top of Whistler Mountain to meet up with your friends? Ever try to sell anything by posting a notice on the communiy centre cork board? Ever want to talk to the pretty girl at the bar, but didn't have the guts too? Well, Wiffiti (wiffiti.com) has given you another option. They've created a service that allows people to send text messages to large flat panel displays in venues such as cafes, bars and clubs... and you can also check in from the web too. Right now they're in the 8 US Cities - Boston, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Knoxville, Boulder and New York.

What will they think of next?