These Might Be the First Condom Ads That Try to Make You Less Excited

Most condom ads are all about sensual pleasure, but what if the product is just too good at delivering that? That’s the theme of three 15-second spots for Okamoto condoms from Cleveland agency Marcus Thomas. The ads suggest a remedy for the problem, and it brings some levity to an often overwrought category. Via AgencySpy.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Re-creates Terminator 2's Bar Fight Scene for Video Game Ad

“I need your clothes. Your boots. And your motorcycle.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger really needs some new material. A quarter-century after walking naked into a seedy bar and uttering that famous line in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Arnie’s still sizing up biker-dive patrons with his robo-vision and ordering folks to strip down and surrender their modes of transportation.

Here, the action-movie icon re-enacts that memorable scene in a fun spot for game maker 2K promoting its upcoming WWE 2K16 title. in which Schwarzenegger’s Terminator is a playable character for fans who pre-order.

“It’s a nerd’s dream: a painstaking recreation of a classic film with a relevant twist to the cast,” says Pete Harvey, creative director at barrettSF, which made the spot. “Our hope is that people pull up this scene with the original to compare what stayed absolutely consistent and what subtly changed.”

The most obvious change is the supporting cast, with real-life WWE stars such as Eva Marie, Daniel Bryan and Finn Bálor playing barflies and waitstaff. (Dean Ambrose is so going to wish he’d used an ashtray to put out that cigar.) There is no sign of Hulk Hogan—and I have a feeling he won’t be baaack anytime soon.

Also, in the cinematic original, Schwarzenegger was a sculpted god whose body epitomized muscly manhood, even if he was all transistors underneath. Today, though still in good shape, Arnie looks more like an aging, confused ex-governor of California, searching in vain for a bill he can veto.

CREDITS
Client: 2K
Campaign: Raise Some Hell – “Biker Bar”

Agency: barrettSF
Creative Director:  Pete Harvey
Senior Art Director: Brad Kayal
Senior Copywriter: Brad Phifer
Integrated Producer: Nicole Van Dawark
Assistant Producer: Heather Bernard
Managing Director: Patrick Kelly
Account Director: Brittni Hutchins
Account Manager: Jillian Gamboa

Production Company: Acne
Director/Director of Photography: Anders Jedenfors
Executive Producer (Production Co): Rania Hattar
CEO/Executive Producer: Line Postmyr
Line Producer: Taylor Pinson
Production Designer: Joshua Strickland

Editorial Company: The Vault
Editor: Kevin Bagley
Assistant Editor: Dustin Leary

Recording Studio: One Union Recording
Engineer: Eben Carr
Engineer: Matthew Zipkin
Executive Producer: Lauren Mask

Sound Designer: Joel Raabe

Animation Company: Oddfellows
Creative Director: Chris Kelly
Animator: Cosmo Ray
Animator: Stan Cameron
Executive Producer: TJ Kearney
Producer: Erica Kelly

Color Correction: Apache
Colorist: Shane Reed
Executive Producer: LaRue Anderson
Producer: Caitlin Forrest

Finshing: Everson Digital
Smoke Artist: Mark Everson

Hey Developers, Unlike HP, Betabrand Doesn't Give a Crap What You Wear

If you’ve got killer programming chops and a closet full of ill-advised sartorial selections, Betabrand might be the workplace for you.

HP took some heat this week for reportedly telling enterprise developers to comply with the company’s “smart casual” dress code. In a comical response, crowdsourced retailer Betabrand (whose founder was recently named to Adweek’s Creative 100 for stellar branded content) promoted its own job openings by highlighting the extremes to which it’s willing to let employees dress.

So, if you have an interest in wearing nipple tassels and undersized kitten shirts, or just want to work somewhere that finds dress codes laughable, check out the jobs at Betabrand.

TD Bank Gets Absurdly Cinematic to Show Off Its Drama-Free Banking

You expect big-budget, slam-bang drama from Hollywood action movies. But doing simple banking chores like depositing checks shouldn’t make you feel like you’re trapped in an out-of-control Michael Bay production.

Ad agency Tierney develops that fun storyline in a trio of spots, using familiar cinematic tropes to illustrate how TD Bank provides a better experience for its customers.

“Floodnado” posits a violent deluge of Biblical proportions, but that’s no problem, because TD lets you easily make deposits online from your dry, comfy home. Why crash through shop windows and climb over rush-hour traffic to get to the bank, like the hero of “Closed in 60 Seconds,” when TD stays open longer? And if you’re planning a vacation with a spendy friendy, relax—TD’s mobile tracking will help keep you on budget, as it does for the lesbian couple in “Cash Me If You Can.” (Wells Fargo also used a same-sex scenario in its first ads from BBDO this spring.)

Benji Weinstein, via Tool of North America, directed the 30-second TD commercials, part of the ongoing “Bank Human” campaign. He keeps the pace brisk and the mood light, while the on-screen antics never overwhelm the brand message.

In a clever twist skewering Tinseltown’s facile casting requirements, the average folks in the spots morph into younger, stronger, hipper versions of themselves for the action scenes. These transformations are noticeable, but subtle enough that some viewers might hit replay to confirm what they’ve just seen. (No harm in that, eh, TD Bank?)

Related campaign elements—which in most cases also spoof Hollywood, TV and social-media clichés (from zombies to Kung Fu and dubbed cats)—include pre-roll videos on Hulu, as well as Web banners, BuzzFeed lists and quizzes. In addition, digital billboards in select cities will display personalized responses to viewers’ tweets.

Using multiple platforms underscores “our commitment to delivering leading omni-channel solutions without sacrificing the personal experiences” that keep customers satisfied, says TD CMO Vinoo Vijay. Moreover, he says, the bank strives to tell stories “that address fundamental human truths, recognizing that since our customers’ problems are big to them, they are big to us, too.”

Freshpet Tricks People Into Eating Its Dog Food, and It's Pretty Hilarious

Tricking someone into eating something disgusting—tarantulas, worms, insects in general—is nothing new. Some game shows have whole segments based around that look of horror that comes over someone’s face when they realize what they’ve just swallowed.

Usually it’s only fun for the audience. But in this new video from ShareAbility, pet food company Freshpet found a way to make it somewhat enjoyable for the victims, too—or at least, not as gross as it sounds.

The presentation helps. The secret dog food here is presented like a foodie’s dream—fancy-looking grub in small portions. But it’s when the tasters are told what it is that the magic really kicks in. (Plus, the little kids are charming.)

Harrowing Ad About Kids in War Puts a Girl at the Center of a First-Person Shooter

Anyone who’s ever played a war-themed video game like Call of Duty has effectively imagined what it might be like to be a soldier. But it’s far less common for people to imagine themselves as children victimized by military conflict.

A potent new PSA from nonprofit humanitarian group War Child U.K. invites viewers to do just that by adapting the camera angle of first-person shooter computer and console games, and making the protagonist a girl named Nima who gets caught in the crossfire.

It goes almost without saying that the storyline is heartbreaking—all the more so because the scenarios are based on testimony from real children caught up in actual conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. The stylized approach is gripping in its own right, driving home the point that people aren’t thinking seriously or often enough about protecting children—or, to put it differently, spending enough money on the issue.

At the same time, the secondary implication that video games trivialize warfare and inure players to its real human costs is also a hackneyed, and generally ineffective argument that ends up becoming a bit of a red herring here.

Plus, the creators seem at moments to have gotten a little too carried away with the concept, like when Nima gets shot within an inch of her life then finds a magical first aid kit which she administers to herself before continuing on her mission. It’s a sequence that strains a powerful metaphor into exactly the fantastical terrain it’s criticizing, and risks making the issue seem less immediate. On the other hand, the ending doesn’t leave any doubt.

If the spot does drive you to action, War Child is working to raise awareness around the issue leading into the World Humanitarian Summit.

CREDITS
Client: War Child U.K.
Agency: TOAD
Creative Directors: Guy Davidson, Daniel Clarke, Heydon Prowse
Production Company: Mother’s Best Child
Director: Daniel Lucchesi
Co-Director: Heydon Prowse
Editor: Elliot Windsor
Producer: Heydon Prowse & Guy Davidson
Postproduction Coordinator: John Thompson
SFX Producer: Andy Ryder
Colorist: Jack McGinity (Time Based Arts)
Postproduction: H & M Ogilvy One
Audio: Liam Conwell
Music: Jamie Perera

Foster's Embraces a Male Rugby Cheerleader and the Tagline 'Why the Hell Not?'

Adam&eveDDB and Glue Society director Gary Freedman made this British spot for Australia’s Foster’s beer about, of all things, a male rugby cheerleader. The ad is part of a growing trend of faux-documentary ads about people with quirky jobs, though it’s also a throwback to ’80s- and ’90s-style beer ads. (The beer commercial may be the last safe-ish haven for gender jokes like this.)

The male cheerleader here isn’t all that weird, even though he looks like Jack Black’s trash-eating hobo cousin, but he has to put up with ridicule from his parents and unceasing awkwardness at work as the only dude on a cheerleading team full of women. His uniform chafes, too. Still, he has found success on his own terms, and is functional enough to drink in a bar with other normal humans. The “He’s one of us” tone is essential to ads like these.

Adweek responsive video player used on /video.

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The most noteworthy thing here, aside from the cheerleader’s Zoolander-esque uniform, is Foster’s new slogan, “Why the hell not?”, which seems a trifle fatalistic for a consumer product. They might as well snipe from Hot Shots and go with “Foster’s: No one lives forever.”

Don't Get Too Excited About the Steamy Curves in Carl's Jr.'s 'Natural Beauties' Ad

If you were looking forward to drooling over whatever hot, near-naked model would grace Carl’s Jr.’s notoriously lascivious advertising next, you’re in for a disappointment.

In a new 30-second commercial, the crass burger chain plays on its reputation for portraying women as pieces of meat who love to eat smaller pieces of meat in the most ridiculously carnal way possible. But here, it turns out the sweaty, glistening curves belong to something way less titillating.

Titled “Natural Beauties,” the concept is essentially a rehash of one of the older jokes in the book, if cleverly tailored to poke fun—in a nonetheless leering, winking sort of way—at the brand’s history of scantily clad talent including Charlotte McKinney, Kate Upton, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton.

In the end, it’s all just part of Carl’s Jr. attempt to make its products seem less terrible for your health—i.e., natural. Everyone knows that’s a nonsense classification to begin with, and seems particularly half-hearted here—which is fitting, because each time you eat one of the brand’s hot-dog-and-potato-chips-on-a-burger burgers, half your heart is probably liable to just give up.

CREDITS
Client: Carl’s Jr.
Chief Executive Officer: Andy Puzder
Chief Marketing Officer: Brad Haley
SVP, Product Marketing: Bruce Frazer
Director of Advertising: Brandon LaChance
VP, Field Marketing, Media & Merchandising: Steve Lemley
Director, Product Marketing & Merchandising: Christie Cooney
Product Marketing Manager: Allison Pocino

72andSunny Team
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Group Creative Director: Justin Hooper
Group Creative Director: Mick DiMaria
Creative Director: Tim Wettstein
Creative Director: Mark Maziarz
Sr. Designer: Marcus Wesson
Group Strategy Director: Matt Johnson
Strategy Director: Kasia Molenda
Strategist: Eddie Moraga
Group Brand Director: Alexis Coller
Sr. Brand Manager: Scott Vogelsong
Brand Coordinator: Anthony Fernandez
Director of Film Production: Sam Baerwald
Executive Film Producer: Molly McFarland
Jr. Film Producer: Kira Linton
Film Production Coordinator: Taylor Stockwell
Business Affairs Director: Amy Jacobsen
Business Affairs Manager: Jennifer Jahinian
Business Affairs Coordinator: Ryan Alls

Coast Public Relations:
Founder and CEO: Jeanne Beach Hoffa
Group Director: Melissa Penn
Director: Kate Franklin

Production Company: Strange & Wonderful
Director: Will Hyde
Executive Producer: Celeste Hyde
Producer: John Gomez

Editorial: 72andSunny Studio
Editor: Doron Dor
Executive Producer: Jenn Locke
Producer: Becca Purice

Online Finishing: Brickyard VFX
VFX Producer: Diana Young
VFX Artists: Patrick Poulatian & Mandy Sorenson
CG Artist: David Blumenfeld

Telecine: Beach House
Colorist: Mike Pethel
Producer: Denise Brown

Audio: On Music and Sound
Mixer: Chris Winston

Sound Design: On Music and Sound
Sound Designer: Chris Winston

Music:
Track name: “Beastie”
Written and Performed by: The Blancos
Used courtesy of GODIY Music

Moms Are Bugging Out About This Bugaboo Ad With a Model Jogging in a Bikini

It was just one Facebook/Instagram post among many, but Bugaboo’s pairing of a running stroller and a bikini-clad fashion model has sparked plenty of laughter and derision from its target market.

In the photo, 23-year-old Dutch model Ymre Stiekema is seen running with her 2-year-old daughter while wearing what appears to be a black-and-white bikini—you know, the sort of thing moms always go running about the neighborhood in.

Immediately after it was posted, the photo became a flashpoint, as (mostly) moms began attacking and defending the model, along with the outfit they put her in. The debate is mostly about how women’s bodies are portrayed in advertising—and actually, it’s the subgenre of the conversation, about unrealistic expectations surrounding post-partum figures where the goal is to look like you’ve never been pregnant at all.

Allow me to summarize the arguments against:
1. This woman’s body looks unrealistic. We want realistic depictions of women.
2. She is also posed/behaving in an unrealistic manner.
3. How can you expect women to buy your product if they can’t relate to the images you’re displaying?

And the arguments for:
1. You are all just jealous haters.
2. It is too a realistic depiction for the target marketing of women who are avid runners and can afford an $800 (yes) stroller.

I just gave birth to my second child a couple of weeks ago, and yeah, I understand the feels—from intense personal pressure to bona-fide self-loathing—you can have when you look at a Prada model running in a bikini behind a stroller. As an advertiser, I could also recognize why you’d hire the most attractive person you could find to hawk your goodies and sex up the pictures to whatever socially acceptable amount you can get away with.

So, it comes down to deciding which makes your brand happier: a plethora of negative attention, or a smattering of positive. Because people pay a lot less attention when you give them an ordinary, realistic depiction of anything.

Of course, these sorts of images are so everyday, it can be hard to even muster a frustrated comment. And when you see yet another difficult-to-obtain image, maybe the only thing you can do is laugh. Which is probably why the comments with the most likes are the jokes, including the highest-ranking one: “I prefer running naked with my children.”

Check out more from the Facebook thread below. And yes, it seems Bugaboo only replied to the person who asked about the stroller’s suspension system.

Sorry, USA. It's Jamaica in the Gold Cup Final, and They're Celebrating With This Ad

Fans of the U.S. Men’s National Team are still reeling from the team’s shocking semifinal loss to Jamaica in soccer’s Gold Cup. But you can’t stay mad at Jamaica for long. And this ad from FCB Garfinkel for the Jamaica Tourist Board, created on the fly to cheer on the team, is simple and fun and reminds you of Jamaica’s remarkable achievement—the island nation is the first Caribbean country to reach a Gold Cup final. The match against Mexico will be broadcast tonight on Fox Sports 1 and Univision beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Honey Maid's Latest Wholesome Family Features a Disabled Aunt and Her Niece

Honey Maid’s campaign featuring inclusive depictions of American families takes another step forward today with a spot showing a disabled aunt and her niece making apple and cheddar melts together on their graham crackers.

It’s a simple, quiet 30-second spot, Cheerios-like both in its simplicity and its unspoken embrace of all types of families. Honey Maid has become one of the most famous brands embracing such diversity in its ads with same-sex couples, mixed-race, blended and immigrant families, and more.

The aunt in the ad is Stephanie Woodward, a disability rights lawyer and activist who is currently director of advocacy at The Center for Disability Rights. She signed on for the project, Honey Maid says, because she—and many in the disabled community—want real disabled people featured on TV and in the media, not actors playing disabled people.

Here is the 30-second online version of the spot:

Woodward was also drawn to the simple realism of the ad in a media landscape where disabled people are often portrayed “in either a pity or a superhero light.” (By the way, while there is much debate around the language of disability, Woodward prefers the term disabled person to person with a disability. “I am a proud disabled woman and prefer not to identify with ‘people first’ language as it separates me from my disability identity,” she says.)

The latest spot coincides with this weekend’s 25th anniversary of the signing into law of 1990’s Americans with Disabilities Act. Honey Maid says the ad is also one of the first to include audio descriptions on the 15-second TV version—describing what’s happening on screen for blind and low-vision audiences—along with standard closed captioning. The audio description will run on Bravo, E!, Nick @ Nite, Lifetime, LMN, CBS and ABC.

“The ‘This Is Wholesome’ campaign launched in March of 2014 and has been committed to featuring a cross-section of the American family,” says Gary Osifchin, portfolio lead for biscuits at Mondel?z International. “From a same-sex couple and single dad, to a mixed-race military family, a blended and an immigrant family, the sweet moments between a disabled aunt and her niece are just another example of Honey Maid’s commitment to feature real American families and the wholesome connections they share.”

Here is the 15-second TV version:

CREDITS
Client: Honey Maid / Mond?lez International
Senior Director, Biscuits North America: Gary Osifchin
Senior Brand Manager: Mikhail Chapnik
Senior Associate Brand Manager: Jared Moran
Campaign: “This is Wholesome”
Title: Honey Maid: How to Make Apple & Cheddar Melts
Agency: Droga5 NY
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Executive Creative Director: Kevin Brady
Associate Creative Director: Tara Lawall
Associate Creative Director: Devon Hong
Copywriter: German Rivera Hudders
Art Director: J.J. Kraft
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-Ann Dale
Associate Broadcast Producer: Goldie Robbens
Global Chief Strategy Officer: Jonny Bauer
Group Strategy Director: Matt Springate
Senior Communications Strategist: Taylor Hines
Senior Social Strategist: Kat Popiel
Social Media Manager: Rob Engelsman
Data Strategy Director: Katty Lein
Data Strategist: Annie Corbett
Group Account Director: Brett Edgar
Account Director: Amanda Chandler
Account Manager: Jasmine McDavid
Associate Account Manager: Amy Rosenberg
Project Manager: Andra Johnson
Production Company: Variable
Director: Jonathan Bregel
DOP: Stuart Winecoff
Executive Producer: Tyler Ginter
Producer: Alex Friedman
Production Supervisor: Paige DeMarco
Editorial & Post Production & Audio: D5 Studios
Music: de Wolfe Music

Wienermobile's Pint-Size Offspring, the Wiener Rover, Is a Cute, Destructive Little Bastard

The Wienermobile is one of the world’s most revered vehicles, seemingly capable anything, except for one pretty major flaw: It doesn’t actually deliver hot dogs.

Which is part of the reason why Oscar Mayer just created a miniature version called the Wiener Rover—a tiny, indestructible beast that will roam the country delivering a “precious cargo of warm, ready-to-eat hot dogs to fans wherever they find it.”

The Wiener Rover is one-seventh the size of the Wienermobile. It’s 23 inches tall by 43 inches long—or using the Oscar Mayer measurement system, about four hot dogs by eight hot dogs. It is battery powered, travels up to 20 mph and can hold up to eight hot dogs, plus condiments.

“We consistently hear that people are hungry for a hot dog after they see the Wienermobile, but we have never been able to offer them the deliciousness they desire,” Corey Rudd, senior associate brand manager at Oscar Mayer, said in a statement. “We developed the Wiener Rover to go where no Wienermobile has gone before to surprise and delight our loyal fans at their local parks, beaches, festivals and beyond.”

Watch out, though. As you can see in the video, the Wiener Rover—which made its debut in New York City on Thursday, which was National Hot Dog Day—appears to have a mind of its own. It may, given the opportunity, jump up on your picnic table and just mash right through your carefully arranged picnic place settings.

Olive Garden Becomes the 'O.G.' in This Hilarious Gangsta Ad From Jingle Punks

You might think of Olive Garden as a conventional family restaurant, a little on the vanilla side, that sits somewhere near the Best Buy in suburbs across the country. You’d be wrong. It’s a dope establishment straight outta Compton. And just so you know, Holmes, the breadsticks are killer.

The Olive Garden ad account is in review, after 30 years at Grey, so the pranksters at Jingle Punks are making a play. To grab some attention, and potentially a piece of business, the music and marketing studio created a spec ad that gives Olive Garden an “O.G.” makeover. Or rather, it brings out the gangsta that was already there. Expect bling, bandanas and pit bulls aplenty in this video.

The tactic has worked for Jingle Punks before—the firm landed a multi-year deal with Yahoo after coming up with a music video on the fly when Marissa Mayer complained about the tunes on the company’s “hold” mode. The studio also works with NBC’s hit The Voice, and did an orchestral remake of the classic Meow Mix ditty that racked up 20 million views on social media.

In the current case, the targeted brand is near and dear to their hearts, according to Jingle Punks co-founder and president Jared Gutstadt, who highly recommends the fried calamari. “Whenever our company closes a big deal, we go down to the local Olive Garden, and I realized that only real gangsters call it the O.G.” 

Truth.

McDonald's Billboard With Heat-Sensitive Paneling Doles Out McFlurries in Super Hot Weather

Heat-sick Dutchmen rejoice! McDonald’s in the Netherlands teamed up with outdoor ad company JCDecaux to create a billboard with heat-sensitive paneling that contained 100 free McFlurry cups. When it gets too hot outside, the panel opens, and people can take a cup to redeem for a free McFlurry.

Not sure how this even qualifies as a billboard, really. If anything, it’s more like a vending machine. I do love the hubris of McDonald’s challenging the sun, though (as implied in the video for this thing).

Unfortunately, the temperature has to be 101.48°F for it to open, which seems unfairly high for this kind of promotion, unless Dutch summers are more brutal than I’ve been told. I live in Maryland, where even the low 90s feels like death thanks to the crushing humidity.

If it ever got hot enough down here to trigger a free McFlurry, I wouldn’t be able to accept it because I would be a puddle of sweat and curse words by then.

New York Lottery Posts Fliers in Last-Ditch Search for Winner of Unclaimed $7 Million

The popular knock against the lottery is that you can play it, but you’re an idiot if you do, cause nobody ever wins. But a new campaign for the New York Lottery is about a different kind of problem—someone who actually won, but who’s yet to claim the $7 million prize, and almost a year later, is about to run out of time.

McCann New York has posted street fliers in Canarsie, the Brooklyn neighborhood that’s home to Milky Way Deli, where the winning ticket in a Cash4Life game last summer was bought. A sketch of the ticket and the headline “Have You Seen Me?” adorns one flier. A stick figure smiles dumbly on a second with the headline “Is This You?” The subtext of both is: Are you the fool who’s about to let seven figures slip through your fingers?

In other words, the whole thing is devious and hilarious because it’s playful and it also reinforces the perception that people actually win—and invites everyone who sees it to imagine how much smarter they would be if they did.

Of course, it doesn’t really seem like the New York Lottery’s heart is really in the mission of finding the lucky lost soul. The winner, whoever he or she is, bought the ticket last July 24 (and needs to come forward by the same date this year, or the money goes back into the pool). But the lottery only started its canvassing campaign yesterday (July 22)—and the super high production values of its posters pretty much say it all.

Maybe the whole thing is a grand hoax—and the organization has the really winner stashed away somewhere, to roll out at the last minute—or there’s no winner at all. Then again, none of that really matters in the end, because whatever $4 million lump sum pittance would be left after taxes still isn’t enough to live in New York anyway.

Danny Trejo Just Made a Funny, Badass TV Ad for Some Random California Lawyer

Danny Trejo raises the bar for personal injury lawyer ads with this memorable outing on behalf of California firm Bergener Mirejovsky.

The 30-second, black-and-white spot is fun but also pretty low-key, eschewing the insane antics that, to some extent, have come to define the category. (We find you guilty as charged, Jamie Casino!)

Staring fiercely into the camera, but with tongue strictly in cheek, Trejo extolls his toughness in no uncertain terms. “When the boogeyman goes to sleep at night, he checks under his bed—for me,” says the craggy-faced, tough-guy actor, whose credits include Machete, the Spy Kids films, Breaking Bad and a Snickers Super Bowl commercial. “Have you ever wondered who Waldo’s hiding from? Me!”

In his summation, however, the imposing pitchman concedes, “If I get into an accident, I’m calling the boss—James Bergener. If you’ve been hurt, don’t back down.” (Trejo also appears in a Spanish-language ad for the firm.)

Some amusing fine print pops up around the 25-second mark, noting that “Dannny Trejo isn’t an attorney or a client. He’s a paid badass. If you need to take down a drug cartel on screen, hire Danny. But if you need to take down an insurance company in real life, hire Bergener Mirejovsky, attorneys licensed in California.”

Here is the Spanish language version:

This Creative Director's Clever 'Combophotos' Are Awesomely Off-Kilter

If you like neat visual tricks, here’s a set particularly worth checking out.

“Combophotos” is a project featuring clever pairs of pictures spliced into single images, playing with scale—and often food—in delightful ways. It’s the brainchild of Stephen McMennamy, a BBDO Atlanta creative director behind work like AT&T’s riffing kids campaign and new Milana Vayntrub work.

It’s worth spinning through one of his pages—there’s an Instagram and a Squarespace, but the Tumblr‘s linear layout is probably most enjoyable, allowing for more focus on each image.

Some of the compositions are just visually curious and charming—like a turtle with a vintage bike helmet for a shell, or an albatross with a plane’s tail. Others are witty, like a boxing glove/tomato (imagine how that story ends), or laugh out loud funny—like an apricot that stands in for a man’s ass (by no means a new joke, but exceptionally executed, and perhaps a bonus for industry insiders, shot in Cannes … which is apparently not like Las Vegas).

There’s even a little borderline social commentary, like a cigarette topped smoke stack (though the caption demurs “not trying to stir up any trouble. Just combining some photos”).

They’re all the more notable for the fact that McMennamy actually shoots them, rather than using stock—and that the cuts are obvious (Some of the commentary over at Reddit captures why that’s nice.)

In fact, the only real, small complaint might be that, at least among certain small populations, the “Combophotos” name itself might evoke panic at the thought of an ad campaign for pepperoni pizza pretzel snacks.

And if you’re wondering whether someone has already productized donut headphones, the answer is, of course, yes.

Art Director's Portfolio in a Bottle Gets Him Off Desert Island and Into an Agency Job

To stand out in the piles of applications DDB Istanbul received when it was looking for an art director, Canhür Aktuglu sent out an SOS and presented his portfolio as a message in a bottle. They hired him, so obviously they like the Police as much as he does.

“After that my life changed and it was guaranteed no more boring!” he writes on Behance.

The idea was a clever one, and well executed. The cover letter was sealed inside an empty glass bottle, while his résumé and portfolio were stored on a USB stick in the bottle’s cork.

DDB Istanbul had better make good use of Aktuglu while he’s there. On Behance, he also mentions that he wants to see kangaroos and go surfing—and might look into approaching DDB Sydney next. He could even use the same bottle.

Via Design Taxi.

Painfully Funny Airbnb Parody Reminds You Who'll Really Be Staying in Your House

Airbnb’s existential-crisis ad with the waddling baby didn’t lend itself to being taken all that seriously in the first place. Now, a parody is now helping it along the path to full ridicule.

A grown man replaces the infant in this clip from digital shop Portal A, which turns the moral musings of the original voiceover into a biting satire of its sales-pitch subtext—and drives home why maybe you shouldn’t blindly trust the vacation company’s assessment of human nature. No, he’s not technically wearing diapers, but he probably should be.

Portal A, makers of Pitch Perfect 2’s crowd-sourced fan montage and YouTube’s Rewind videos from the past couple of years, shot the new video two days after Airbnb launched its global campaign.

In fact, the shop has been building a channel dedicated to ad parody—other bits so far include a more down-to-earth version of Carnival Cruise’s JFK Super Bowl spot, and if you’re a sucker for punishment, that older, NSFW play on Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches.

Here’s the original Airbnb spot:

Sweden's Favorite Fishy Paste Delights in Disgusting the Rest of the World With It

Ever hear of Kalles Kaviar? It’s cod roe, and you eat it out of a toothpaste tube.

Cringe away, but Kalles is a beloved Swedish product. They put it over eggs and eat it on toast. It’s basically Sweden’s Marmite. To drive sales, parent company Orkla tapped Forsman & Bodenfors to produce a self-deprecating campaign. For the last year, Kalles has been traveling the world, seeking to initiate others—unsuccessfully, to put it mildly—in the Swedish taste of home.

The first ad takes place in Los Angeles and sets the tone. An earnest sampler with a pillowy-soft, Swedish-accented voice, perched in the one shadow on a well-lit boardwalk, shyly stops random strangers to offer them seasoned Kalles on slices of bread. People are eager to give it a go. It’s an open-minded crowd. But the reactions come fast and hard.

“This is not food,” one victim exclaims with a certainty usually reserved for proclamations of love or long-awaited deaths. After taking a reaming all day, our unlucky sampler reclines on the beach at sundown to enjoy his slices of the motherland in peace.

Our favorite is probably “Kalles in Tokyo.” The Japanese, they’re so polite! They leap in for the kill, and you can literally see their faces transform in horror as their mouths close. In a key moment, the sampler asks a still-chewing (and evidently disgusted) woman, “Do you like it?” She covers her mouth, nods politely, and backs away—slowly, like you would if you suddenly found yourself face to face with a bear.

The self-deprecating work plays on the cottage food-challenge trend. Kalles itself has starred in many. Two years ago, Maker Studios’ Morfar ate a whole tube over the course of nearly 10 minutes, and after a few unsettling dry-heaves, he cuts the video off—ostensibly to vomit in private. In another stunt, vlogger Big Steve from England tried getting locals to let him squeeze a hefty portion of Kalles in their mouths. The video is called “EATING THE WORST FOOD IN THE WORLD! (KALLES CAVIAR)”.

The genius of the campaign lies how it magnifies those chimes of universal disgust to bolster Swedish pride. (The ads are airing in Sweden, where there’s no need to win people over to the stuff.) Look at the beatific faces of those samplers when they’re finally done for the day. Hours of rejection can’t shake their love for the salty pink goo, because in the end, it’s a little squirt from home. (This kind of nationalism, evoked by acquired tastes, has made for good ads before—notably’s Pizza Hut Australia’s punking of backpackers with a Vegemite-crust pizza. Plus, there’s inherent value in saying your product isn’t for everyone—as Laphroaig scotch has realized lately.)

We’ve all got a Kalles, right? The Aussies have Vegemite. The Brits have Marmite. And Americans have peanut butter. Sweet, sweet peanut butter. You won’t know how much you love it—and how singular and alienating that love is—until you’re living elsewhere. Say, France. And when we spread our respectively weird creams over a bland carb, wherever we are in the world, they bring us back to a place we understand intuitively.

A few other Kalles ads appear below. In the most recent variant (at the very bottom), Kalles visits New York, and the first person to approach the kiosk is a black dude with hipster glasses and a Yankees cap. This time the response is surprisingly different. On the other side of the world, the brand finally finds its people.