Hasta La Creative!

Once again, subservient chickens make a branding video go viral. Mercedes-Benz and German agency Jung von Matt/Neckar are nearing 1.5 million views in less than a week with this extremely offbeat ad starring some white-gloved Mummenschanz types who help chickens "dance" to Diana Ross's disco classic "Upside Down." Supposedly, this demonstrates the automaker's "Magic Body Control" suspension system. The birds' bodies sway, but their feathered faces stay sublimely still, staring stupidly into the camera, as delighted YouTube viewers, myself included, stupidly stare back. This is why Al Gore invented the Internet. This is advertising! Go suck an egg, Boy Hitler!

UPDATE: Was there a thief in the creative hen house? Ogilvy did a similar spot for Fujifilm back in February. Thanks to @axelk for the heads up.

Running-shoe brand Pearl Izumi recently learned, as we all must, that "Run until you kill your dog" isn't a message the public is ready to accept. This print ad, which is part of a campaign that includes a video, has been the target of much consumer umbrage since it appeared in Canadian Running magazine, and rightfully so. Images like that alienate people, and worse, they might prompt Sarah McLachlan to lecture us about giving to the ASPCA. Pearl Izumi has apologized at length, saying the ad "overstepped the bounds of good taste. A lot." The company also made a $10,000 donation to the Boulder Valley Humane Society.

Cats suck. However, this ad made by students at Webster University for Tenth Life Cat Rescue, a St. Louis group that saves strays and promotes feline adoptions, does not. The spot spoofs schlocky infomercials, which is nothing new, but at least it's frank about what cat ownership is all about. "Tired of cleaning up your own vomit? Clothes too clean for you? Couch untainted?" The answer to such "problems," we're told, is adopting a cat. The best line: "Call in the next 15 minutes, and we'll throw in hairballs and extra stinky poop." Top that, Ron Popeil! On second thought, don't. Suki Peters gives an unhinged performance as a gal who really needs a Tenth Life kitty. She scratches upholstery with her fingernails and plays with a toy mouse for her own amusement. Reminds me of this woman in the old Humane Society of Boulder Valley ad, who grooms herself in front of a mirror and tries to spit up a hairball. Both ladies give me … paws. Ouch! Scratch that. You see what cats make me do?! Via Laughing Squid.

Whether they're nourishing babies or enriching the biodiversity of islands in the Indian Ocean, boobies just don't sit well with Facebook.

The social network has long been criticized for its inconsistent approach to breastfeeding photos. And now, a small Australian island's tourism board says a Facebook ad inviting eco-tourists to its Bird 'n' Nature Week has been unfairly banned—for a pun about the seabirds known as boobies.

"Some gorgeous shots here of some juvenile boobies," the ad read, next to images of the Red-footed Booby, Brown Booby and endangered Abbott's Booby. That copy is certainly suggestive, and you may even consider the innuendo mildly pedophilic. But Christmas Island tourism marketing manager Linda Cash figured at first that the ban was a mistake. She tells Travel Daily News: "We presumed our original advert was blocked automatically so we appealed to Facebook directly who re-affirmed the campaign was banned due to the sexual language—particularly the use of the word 'boobies.' "

Sam Collins, founder of Ethos Travel, which offers trips from the U.K. to Christmas Island, adds: "One of the world's great eco-tourism destinations is being deprived of its lifeline because someone at Facebook cannot comprehend that a booby is a bird."

Christmas Island has used the same "juvenile boobies" joke before, as seen in this photo series from January.

Photographe aujourd’hui reconnu et gagnant de nombreux prix, le finlandais Kai Fagerström publie dans le National Geographic une série de photo intitulée Once Upon a Home dans laquelle des animaux prennent possession d’une maison abandonnée. Une série de photos intemporelle à découvrir dans la suite.

Les iPhone Photography Awards mettent en compétition des photographes du monde entier qui capturent des moments de vie à l’aide de leur smartphone iPhone. L’édition 2013 est riche en clichés a commencer par cette remarquable photo de Holly Wesley qui obtient la première place dans la catégorie photographe de l’année.

1ere place, Photographe de l’année 2013 : Holly Wesley

2e place, Photographe de l’année 2013 : Brolin Roney

3e place, Photographe de l’année 2013 : Bob Weil

1e place, Animaux : Jon Resnik

1e place, Architecture : Jose Luis Barcia

1e place, Enfants : Yvonne Naughton

1e place, Fleurs : Britta Hershman

1e place, Nourriture : Massimo Calogero

1e place, Paysage : Maegan Moore

1e place, Lifestyle : Luyu Huang

1e place, Nature : Tomas Stankiewitcz Baldassarri

1e place, News : Mohammed Radhi

1e place, Autre : Lisa Jay

1e place, People : Kim Hanskamp

1e place, Saison : David Rondeau

1e place, Still Life : Daniel Fonseca

1e place, Sunset : Angel Jimenez

1e place, Voyage : Jenny Friedman

1e place, Arbres : Mark Simone

Focus sur le travail du photographe new-yorkais Zack Secklers qui présente des clichés absurdes, parfois surréalistes mais toujours remplis d’humour. Sa catégorie humour est vraiment un bonheur à regarder et amène une légèreté très agréable à l’exercice auquel il se plie. Un travail superbe à découvrir en images.

Here's an ad that's really the dog's bollocks. It's by Grey Mexico for Motor Master floor disinfectant. "What is on your floor is not always on your mind," says the tagline. The ad, though, may be on your mind for some time, and not in a good way. It is topical, though, and Grey confirms it's a real ad. "They don't have big budgets, but they are very willing to use our creativity," a Grey executive in Mexico City says of Motor Master. There's also a cat version of the ad. Via Ads of the World.

The new man-in-a-furry-suit-and-big-ass-jeans incarnation of Smokey Bear is all about huggin' and lovin' strangers he meets in the woods. These days, who isn't? (Well, OK, Purity Bear for one.) Draftfcb in Los Angeles created this integrated Smokey campaign for the Ad Council and the U.S. Forest Service, and as always, the goal is conveying information on how to prevent forest fires. There are TV and radio spots, as well as print, outdoor and digital elements, including the hashtag #SmokeyBearHugs. Past versions of the iconic bear—and there have been many since the character was introduced in 1944—would cry, nag, lecture or simply stare down campers while brandishing a shovel to make a point about fire safety. (The recent CGI Smokey was a preachy douche.) Now, Huggy Smokey Bear literally embraces those who act responsibly, holding them lovingly in his ursine arms. At least he doesn't grin and bare it. The hugees mostly look uncomfortable and make weird faces. Perhaps they're mortified to be in such goofy PSAs.

CREDITS
Campaign: Smokey Bear/Wildfire Prevention

Client: The Advertising Council
Senior Vice President, Group Campaign Director: Michelle Hillman
Vice President, Campaign Director: Amy Gibson-Grant
Campaign Manager: Ricki Kaplan
Assistant Campaign Manager: Kristin Ellis

Client: U.S. Forest Service
Fire Prevention Program Manager: Helene Cleveland
Acting Fire Prevention Program Manager: Gwen Beavans

Client: National Association of State Foresters
Director of Communications: Genevieve O’Sullivan

Agency: Draftfcb, Los Angeles
Chief Creative Officer: Eric Springer
Executive Vice President, Executive Creative Director: Michael Bryce
Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director: Jeff Maerov
Copywriter: Nick Micale
Art Director: Patrick Moore
Vice President, Executive Producer: Thomas Anderson
Producer: Jeffrey Perino
Executive Vice President, Group Management Director: Yolanda Cassity
Vice President, Management Director: Leila Cesario
Account Executive: Jennifer Levin

Production: Park Pictures
Directors: Terri Timely (Ian Kibbey, Corey Creasy)
Creative Consultant: Lance Acord
Executive Producer, Owner: Jackie Kelman Bisbee
Executive Producer: Mary Ann Marino
Head of Production: Anne Bobroff
Producer: Valerie Romer

Editing: Butcher
Editor: Teddy Gersten
Assistant Editor: Leah Turner
Producer: Chrissy Hamilton
Executive Producer: Rob Van

Effects: D Train (Smokey)
Creative Director: Ben Gibbs
Effects Supervisor: Jan Cillers
Producer: Shelby Wong
Coordinator: Chelsea Brewer

Effects: Alterian (Smokey)
Creature Effects, Smokey Suit Designer: Tony Gardner

Wook at the poochies! Wook at the widdle poochie-woochies! What else do I really need to say about Deep Focus's "Dog Goldberg Machine" commercial for Purina's Beneful dog-food brand? It's doggone adorable the way those mutts manipulate toys, food tins and tennis balls to operate a Rube Goldberg device that ultimately spells out the tagline, "Play. It's good for you," in dominoes. My jaw drops in a massive "Awww!" when I watch the ad, which has garnered nearly 1.5 million YouTube views in less than a week. You could never get cats to do this stuff. They'd claw the director's eyes and chew through the camera cords. But check out the choreographed canines. Oooh, does pooch-ums wike his Fwisbee? This is way cuter than the Honda "Cog" spot, which started the whole Goldberg trend in advertising. In fact, there wasn't a single dog in that commercial, though "Cog" spelled backward is … "Goc." So cuuute, I'm woozing my mind! Awww! Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: Purina Beneful
Agency: Deep Focus
Chief Executive Officer: Ian Schafer
Exeuctive Creative Director: Ken Kraemer
Creative Director: Matt Steinwald
Art Director: Scott Jones
Copywriter: Micky Treutlein
Producer: Sean Fleming
Account Director: Jamie Julian

Production Company: Quiet Man
Director: Johnie Semerad

Music: Yessian