Hasta La Creative!

This cute Halloween video from Mekanism introduces a faux product called Lil' Pepsi, "the tiny treat that does the trick at any party!" We're talking about itsy-bitsy cans of soda, maybe 0.5 fluid ounces each, sized to fit in a doll's mini-mini-mini fridge, right next to the itty-bitty beers from that Dish commercial.

We're assured that Lil' Pepsis "are not available anywhere at any time," which is a shame, because most commenters seem enthralled, and Pepsi could make a bundle selling them as curios for keychains and such. (Queens, N.Y., rapper Big Baby Gandhi has a track called "Drink a Lil' Pepsi." It begins: "Drink a lil' Pepsi/Mix it with codeine … Big batch for the whole team." Gosh, I wonder why the song wasn't licensed for this ad?)

Lil' Pepsi sprang from the client's challenge to its in-house marketing execs and domestic agencies to come up with a fun ad concept. The spot is getting a fair share of spooky-week press and starting to pop on YouTube, so I guess that proves there aren't any small ideas. Or maybe it proves there are.

I was enjoying Telemundo the other day when Danny Trejo interrupted a trio of cellphone-using friends to save Miller Time.

I don't speak Spanish, but you don't need to in order to appreciate the presence of Trejo. Casanova Pendrill made an excellent choice by casting the toughest of toughs. Without nothing more than a stone cold stare, he castigates the inconsiderate friends who are paying more attention to their technology than to sacred beer time. He inclines his head slightly, his heavy-lidded eyes drifting downward in an unspoken threat. Drop the phones, his face says, before you disappoint me. All three quickly dunk their phones in the Miller Lite ice bucket. Trejo lets a smile flit across his face before turning, his hair whipping back in an unseen wind, presumably running off to protect Miller Time elsewhere.

From New Belgium's app that shuts down your phone when you're drinking to the Offline Glass, which stands up straight only if it's resting on your cellphone, bars and beer companies are taking a stand against social media's social-killing effect. Of course, none of them stand quite as tall as Trejo.

If there's an unmarried 40-year-old or Library Science student in your life (they might be the same person), you should tell him or her about Japanese cat wine. Some company called B&H Lifes made a 1,000-bottle run of "wine exclusively for cats," which is full of sugar and something called "cat mint," but no alcohol. That's probably for the best, but then what makes it wine, exactly? Image via Kotaku.

Mysterious billboards are a thing now, I guess.

The latest one getting national attention is on Interstate 69 in Flint, Mich. White letters set against a blue background read: "I'm concerned about the blueberries." Well, sure, aren't we all? Michigan is a big blueberry producer, but local groups engaged in that business claim they're not behind the cryptic message, and CBS Outdoor, which owns the billboard, says it was posted anonymously and won't say more.

Theories abound. Some say it's about drugs (Oxycontin's street name is Blueberries, apparently). Others think it has to do with children or education funding, bees dying off or Obamacare. Personally, I'm hoping for a more exciting revelation. Maybe it's from Lena Dunham—she's wacky, right? Or Banksy—that dude's so in everyone's face! Maybe it's from the nation's strawberry growers—a prelude to an epic battle of antioxidants.

Those mystery NSA billboards in New York and San Francisco turned out to be from BitTorrent. That was … exciting. Right? Is anybody else getting a little bored with this trend?

UPDATE: Turns out Flint businessman Phil Shaltz put up the billboard, which is based on a personal and thought-provoking experience he had on a recent vacation. "This is a stunt. It was something I decided to put up to grab people's attention so they could start thinking about blueberries," he tells Mlive.com. "But now you need to make the transition to know what the heck I'm talking about. Blueberries are the concerns and the hurdles and the struggles that all of us deal with in a day."

The goal was essentially to make people see the world from the perspective of others. While vacationing in Alaska, Shaltz met a young tour guide who, when asked how things were going, said, "I'm concerned about the blueberries." Specifically, he was worried there wouldn't be enough rain for the state's blueberry crop.

At first, Shaltz felt like the 21-year-old was naive to be worried about such a specific issue, but he began to respect the young man's perspective and found himself wishing that others could be motivated to think about what's concerning the people around us. "We all go through the day and we see people who have blueberries—their own issues—and we don’t do anything. Even when it's not about rain, when it's something we can impact, we show just how desensitized we've become. We aren't as helpful to the common man in even the small things in life."

Shaltz admits his purpose with the mysterious billboard might prove unstatisfying to many who've been trying to guess its meaning. "There will be people who see this billboard and see this story, that are so disappointed that this is what it's about. Some people want it to be about racism or drugs or the school system, but it's all about something very simple and very human that touches all of us."

Patrice Wilson, the guy who gave us Rebecca Black's "Friday" video, is back to his trolling ways with another ludicrously awful production starring a teen singer—Alison Gold's video for "Chinese Food." In it, Gold sings about—well, about how much she just loves Chinese food. "I love Chinese food/You know that it's true/I love fried rice, I love noodles/I love chow mein, chow m-m-m-mein," she sings idiotically. (Wilson, who appeared in the "Friday" video, shows up here as a rapping panda bear.) The aggressive stupidity of the lyrics matches that of "Friday," and the video is on the same general trajectory—almost a million YouTube views in 24 hours, and almost a 4-to-1 ratio of dislikes to likes. Chinese-food chain Panda Express gets a mention, but hasn't officially responded to the video yet. Judging by their own weird ads (see below), they'll probably like it.

[Mild Breaking Bad spoiler ahead.]

In "Granite State," the penultimate episode of Breaking Bad's final season, Saul Goodman, contemplating his future with a new identity away from New Mexico, makes an offhand reference to a certain cinnamon-roll chain. "If I'm lucky," he says, "in a month from now, best-case scenario, I'm managing a Cinnabon in Omaha."

It took a little while, but naturally, a manager at a Cinnabon in Omaha couldn't let that go without a response.

A spokesperson for Cinnabon confirmed to Consumerist that the sign above, outside an Omaha location, is real and was approved by corporate. It might not be the most stunning creative execution, but kudos to the manager for making the most of what, in the end, wasn't the most flattering reference. (Perhaps he took his cues from the Belize Tourism Board, which earlier in the season embraced a very unflattering mention on Breaking Bad—the use of the phrase "taking a trip to Belize" as a euphemism for getting murdered.)

Cinnabon corporate was quicker to respond to Saul's quip. Check out the tweet below, linking to Cinnabon's careers page, made on the very night "Granite State" aired.

. @mrbobodenkirk When you're ready http://t.co/fynwXF6W9c #BreakingBad

— Cinnabon (@Cinnabon) September 23, 2013

Steinlager, New Zealand's biggest export beer, is concerned about the growing trend at house parties and fraternities everywhere that starts off with people drinking and ends up with people drawing genitalia on the face of the first of the passed-out-wasted.

"Be the artist, not the canvas" (aka, "Party hard, but not too hard, y'all"), Steinlager urges in print ads and a YouTube video from DDB in Auckland. The spot serves as a PSA to partygoers everywhere by showing cleverly, strategically and mortifyingly placed drawings on bodies. A bra on a topless dude. A monocle on a face. A face on a bald head.

But wait, "Be the artist"? So Steinlager wants us to draw on unconscious people, but not be drawn on ourselves? I'm confused. I may need a drink.

Now, on to questions of heavier significance: Where do people get all these Sharpies when they're out partying?

CREDITS
Client: Steinlager
Agency: DDB, Auckland, New Zealand
Executive Creative Director: Andy Fackrell
Creative Director: Chris Schofield
Art Director: Gavin Siakimotu
Copywriter: Natalie Knight
Account Director: Susie Darling
Photographer: Troy Goodall
Account Manager: Jonathan Rea
Photographer, Producer: Michele Richards