Hasta La Creative!

If a fugitive Bosnian Serb leader wanted for war crimes can elude arrest by turning himself into a bearded, pony-tailed practitioner of alternative medicine, then the world is certainly ready for less-drastic New Agey phenomena—like the sight of a car achieving “peace of drive” by relaxing with cucumber slices over its headlights. The same State Farm campaign (via BooneOakley of Charlotte, N.C.) included an installation of a full-sized car in an oversized bubble bath on a Hollywood sidewalk. And to think that insurance companies used to content themselves with handing out calendars.

—Posted by Mark Dolliver

(TrendHunter.com) These mini gummi bear soap bars look and smell just like the real thing! When I say just like the real thing, I mean just like the soft, gummy candies as they are the same size, shape and smell as the…

TBWA Singpore has launched a campaign for stock-image provider Photolibrary that invites creatives to be “part of the world’s biggest ad.” The idea is that you visit theworldsbiggestad.com and, using Photolibrary’s database of royalty-free stock images and the site’s editing tools, create a unique square piece of art (like the sample, shown here, of a midget wrestler about to filet a fish) and send it in—it will become part of a mosaic that Photolibrary will run as an ad. The gallery is filling up with submissions, mostly from TBWA shops. Maybe the coolest part of the campaign: participation gives creatives a demo of the product. As for the “world’s biggest” claim—that may be hyperbole. There are no evident plans to unfurl the resulting collage over the desert in Dubai or anything, though that would be fun. Thanks to Campfire’s Sean Gannan for the tip.

—Posted by Brian Morrissey

LONDON – Carat, OMD UK and MediaCom have been shortlisted for the 2008 Agency of the Year at this autumn’s Media Week Awards.

To some, yawning lions who break into song could be interpreted as funny, amusing or even entertaining.

This may be our favorite story of the year so far. On June 18, somewhere in Utah, one motorist (and apparent fan of classic TV ads) got another to roll down his window, then asked him, “Excuse me, sir, do you have any Grey Poupon?” According to local press reports, “after hearing the request for Dijon mustard, the 22-year-old driver pulled a black handgun from his glove compartment, cocked the weapon and pointed it at the three people in the other car. ‘Here’s your Grey Poupon, roll your [expletive] windows up,’ he responded.” The first driver, who admittedly was asking for it, got the license plate of the other guy, who was charged this week with aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Seems that old tagline hasn’t aged well after all.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

New Orleans has plenty of five star hotels, but there’s so much more to Louisiana. Trumpet captures that truth in the above ad. And they make another important point in this pro-NOLA t-shirt.

LONODN – Ad-Air, the global network of large outdoor advertising sites, has unveiled a partnership with large format print specialist Tectonic Group.

LONDON – Heineken has moved its UK media planning and buying account into MediaVest from Mindshare without a pitch.

One of the best things about Levi’s 501 jeans are the button fly. A new global campaign from Bartle Bogle Hegarty will exploit this fact, although in a seemingly contradictory fashion.

According to the press release, the new “Live Unbuttoned” campaign centers on the experience of unbuttoning yourself and breaking free from inhibitions and convention. The campaign utilizes the act of unbuttoning Levi’s 501 jeans as a symbol of personal expression and revelation.

The Wall Street Journal describes one TV spot from the campaign:

One TV ad debuting in early August, for example, shows a young man and woman exchanging flirtatious glances as they unbutton their 501s.

Ultimately, they both pull down their jeans and, holding hands, leap off a pier into the ocean. The final shot shows them kissing underwater as the words “501” and “Live Unbuttoned” appear.