Hasta La Creative!

You're not going to believe this bullshit. Cards Against Humanity created this holiday promotion called Holiday Bullshit, where they promised to send anyone 12 random gifts for $12. And they sold out of their 100,000 spaces in less than a day with zero advertising and zero guarantee that you'll get anything halfway decent. Now that is some brand trust.

If you're unfamiliar with CAH, it's a foul card game that was kickstarted back in 2011 and quickly became a party-game sensation. Last year, CAH created a pay-what-you-want expansion that generated $70,000 for Wikimedia. This year, they have this bullshit.

Cards Against Humanity co-founder Max Temkin explained the reason for the season to Wired: "We're a very small, independent company, so it's hard for us to compete for attention during the holidays, when all the huge companies spend millions of dollars doing all kinds of crazy advertising. So, we always like to come up with something kind of clever and kind of weird and kind of dumb, just to remind people that we exist around the holidays."

Clever, weird and dumb are all great words to describe the accompanying video, website and not-to-be-missed FAQ. Of course, to coordinate an effort this herculean, they had to limit the number of receivers, so sorry for all you suckers who missed out. Gifts ship the first week of December. I'll let you guys know how awesome mine are once I get them. CAH assures me that if I don't like them, it just means my expectations for the quality of my life are too high.

"Say no to dog or cat meat." That's the message in 279 new ads being plastered across Chinese train stations, bus stations and elevators by a pet advocacy group called Animals Asia.

Steering consumers away from eating dogs and cats would be a pretty easy sell in America, but apparently the problem is quite massive in Asia, with millions of dogs slaughtered each year for food, according to the group.

Each ad shows someone putting chopsticks over a malnourished stray or beloved family pet. Some warn that dog meat is made from stolen pets, while others highlight health and safety issues.

"Cat and dog meat sold in restaurants is often sourced from stolen domestic animals and strays snatched from the street," one ad variation says. "Don’t pay for this cruel and dirty industry with your own health. Be healthy, say no to dog and cat meat.”

Check out several of the ads after the jump. Via One Green Planet.

Is it possible to have work-life balance in the advertising biz? Sure, with the right amount of self-inflicted sabotage.

That's the idea behind "The Happy Hour Virus" from Colorado agency TDA_Boulder, whose tongue-in-cheek recruiting effort encourages workaday types to fake a computer catastrophe and leave work early.

The HappyHourVirus.com site explains TDA's workplace philosophy: "We are all better employees if we achieve something called work-life balance. However, pursuing that goal is not always an easy task in today's corporate culture. Please use the Happy Hour Virus to leave work early and enjoy the company of friends, family or co-workers. We are aware that this might jeopardize your productivity the following day, but we are willing to take that risk on your behalf. And if this sounds like a philosophy you could live with, learn more about us here." That last word links to an employment application.

Visitors to the site can click a button to select one of three "crashed computer" motifs—"Kernel Panic," "Broken Monitor" or "Blue Screen of Death"—to make it seem as if technical troubles are forcing them to call it a day.  I'd use one of the fake screens to help me escape from AdFreak a few hours early, but I'd still need a hacksaw to break these ankle chains.
 

NBA stars are a festive bunch, with great timing to boot. They need both in the league's holiday campaigns. Last year, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, Russell Westbrook and Joe Johnson impressively played the popular Christmas song "Carol of the Bells" just by bouncing basketballs (in a spot that soared to more than 8 million views). Now, here's the sequel—also from GS&P.

It stars Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, James Harden, Steve Nash and Stephen Curry shooting three-pointers at nets outfitted with Christmas bells—producing an even more impressive musical performance, this time of "Jingle Bells." LeBron James punctuates the song with a dunk at the end, then asks, "Please tell me the camera was on." It's a perfect spot.

Like last year's spot, this one promotes special-edition uniforms, available for sale, that 10 teams will wear on their Christmas Day games this year.

See a making-of video, plus credits, below.

CREDITS
Client: NBA
Spot: "Jingle Hoops"

Agency: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Executive Creative Director: Jeff Goodby
Creative Directors: Nick Klinkert, Adam Reeves
Associate Creative Director, Copywriter: Rus Chao
Associate Creative Director, Art Director: Kevin Koller
Producer: Benton Roman
Executive Producer: Tod Puckett
Director of Broadcast Production: Cindy Fluitt
Account Directors: Jason Bedecarre, Janice McManemy
Account Manager: Heather Morba
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Julie Petruzzo

Production Company: O Positive
Director: Jonathan Klein
Executive Producer: Ralph Laucella
Line Producer: Angie Revell
Director of Photography: Eric Steelberg

Editing: Final Cut
Editor: Matt Murphy
Assistant Editors: Tara Wall, Nate Connella
Producer: Suzy Ramirez
Executive Producer: Saima Awan

Visual Effects: Moving Picture Company
Visual Effects Supervisor, 2-D Lead: Jake Montgomery
Nuke: Brendan Smith, Will Voss
Shoot Supervisor: Eric Pascarelli
Design, Animation: Casey McIntyre
Senior Producer: Juliet Tierney
Executive Producer: Asher Edwards

Title Graphics: eLevel
Creative Director: Brady Baltezore
2-D Artist: Chris Carmichael

Sound Design: Barking Owl
Creative Director: Kelly Bayett
Sound Designer: Michael Anastasi
Producer: Whitney Fromholtz

Mix: Barking Owl
Audio Engineer: Brock Babcock

And here is last year's spot: