Hasta La Creative!

We hear that Starbucks has dropped W+K and is headed into a review process. WTF? Analysts are expecting weak 4Q reporting from the brand due to price increases and poor overseas sales. Remember those 600 stores in the U.S. they closed, too? However, the ‘Bucks plans on opening its first location in Portugal next week.

UPDATE: Adweek has Dan Wieden saying: “In this case, this seems to be the best decision for both parties.” The publication is also calling it an amicable break-up.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

The largest record label in the world is going to sell Akon’s newest album on mini flash memory cards. Universal, along with four other major record labels, is teaming up with Sandisk Corp. to market the…

The G Phone is set to be released today, the T Mobile G1 making its world debut in the U.S., but official G1 photos have already been leaked!

As we know, and clearly Google knows too, ‘leaks’ are a huge…

The Beijing 2008 Games had official Global Partners spending a total of $866m for their day in the sun. What were the results? On average each of the twelve official brands increased their brand awareness with Chinese consumers by 7%. Yes, that’s an average. The brand emperors of China turned out to be Coca-Cola and Adidas. These brands took two different approaches to skinning the same cat.

Coca-Cola received a 19% increase in awareness for its efforts. Mediedge:cia is saying that the key factor in the boosted results for Coca-Cola was “its investment in activation of its sponsorship.” Or, it could be that the soft drink maker spent 1.4m on above-the-line advertising, nearly 20% more than any of the other of the Global Partners. Well, that will do it. If you can afford to saturate China in marketing and advertising messages, surely it’s going to pay off.

Meanwhile, Adidas got the same bang for their buck resulting in a 24% increase in consumer awareness. Part of their success came from the Adidas sportswear winners wore on the medal podium. Adidas got the cheaper and better deal if you ask me.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

(TrendHunter.com) Today’s top 20 ranges from red carpet fashion and sexist advertising to Britney Spears ‘Womanizer’ (leaked music) and David Blaine’s ‘Dive of Death’.

To start from the bottom up, David Blaine’s Dive of…

(TrendHunter.com) The largest record label in the world is going to sell Akon’s newest album on mini flash memory cards. Universal, along with four other major record labels, is teaming up with Sandisk Corp. to market the…

Not too sure what to think of this. Toronto-based furniture shop Simone Interiors now sells art created by the company owner, Lin Gibson.

There’s a new site out there for all you dudes who want an easy way to navigate content that’s aimed specifically at…well, dudes. Yes! We first told you about The Daily Lowdown (.com) last week, after we went to their launch party in midtown.

Impressively, the TDLD has the support of Burger King (for now, bwa ha ha) and Don Julio tequila. Not bad for a tiny little one man (plus 29-or-so moonlighters/freelancers) operation.

OK, to be fair, we didn’t give the TDLD party the best review. Er, we kinda thought we’d rather be drinking milk than rubbing shoulders with whoever was there. To be more fairer, ‘Attack of the Show’s’ Olivia Munn did show up and made our night much better. So, we guess it was pretty cool in the end. Free drinks baby!

No, we’re not pulling a 180 on you. Regardless of the party, the site itself is pretty cool. Built by Maxim online creator Keith Blanchard, TDLD is a content aggregation site that promises to have the content you want, first. It’s like Drudge (or AgencySpy, if you want to be really on the pulse) back when it was just a superblog. The difference? Coverage like sports, girls, fitness home & leisure, etc. (we’re not sure how that last one fits in), TDLD carries everything you’d find in Men’s Health. The diff? It’s not limited to one publication. Aggregation, bitches!

More: “That’s Not My Role Via Digitas Client Services“

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media

After Red Roof Inn was sold last year to a private equity group, the new management team wanted to break out of TV advertising, in favor of a more integrated approach.

They found it in a celebrity endorsement deal with country artists Phil Vassar and the group Little Big Town, according to The New York Times.

As part of a multimedia campaign, the voices of Mr. Vassar and the members of Little Big Town can be heard when guests at Red Roof motels ask for wake-up calls or potential guests are placed on hold when calling to book rooms.

The campaign seeks to capitalize on the popularity of country music among customers of Red Roof and the fact these fans often take road trips to see their favorite artists. That is reflected in the theme of the campaign, “Red Roof loves country road trips,” as well as the address of a Web site devoted to the campaign.

“We wanted more of a guerrilla or viral campaign, something that would get a buzz,” said Joseph A. Wheeling, chief executive at Red Roof Inns in Columbus, Ohio.

Mr. Wheeling described himself as a country fan who likes performers like the singer George Strait.

“I grew up on a ranch in Montana,” he said, and although “I try not to influence us from a business or management perspective based on who I am,” when Hill & Knowlton/Samcor “came to us with this idea, it was, ‘No doubt, this is our customer.’ ”

(TrendHunter.com) Julia Goland, an Israeli artist, makes amazing, wearable art jewelry including this bonsai tree. She crafts her art pieces using mostly leather but also includes wire, beads, fake moss, grass and other…