Hasta La Creative!

Neil Lopez (a copywriting student at Miami Ad School NY), Steve Torres (an art direction student at MAS NY), and Tim Noble (a copywriter in the industry) created “Side Projects Get You Jobs,” a side project offering up free side project ideas for others looking to expand their portfolio with side projects.

The creative trio points out the importance of side projects to help creatives stand out, while acknowledging that “coming up with the perfect idea can be tough.” So they offer up some of their own side project ideas for free (and because it makes an impressive side project). Visitors to the site are immediately met with an idea, such as “Make a Rocky style video of yourself training for the creative week ping-pong tournament.” They can then click on the “More” button for more ideas from Lopez, Torres, and Noble. Some highlights include: “Draw Middle Earth style maps of your booty calls,” “Stage a Tamagotchi Vs. Giga Pet death match,” “Start a Jesse and the Rippers cover band,” and “Write Mad Men spec pitches.” So if you’re looking for a side project to build up your portfolio but seem all out of ideas, head on over to Side Projects Get You Jobs and take one of theirs.

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Toshiba just launched some pretty funny “field tests” on YouTube, including the cringe-inducing “Portege Ultrabook vs. Drooling Dog” featured above, in a series called “Field Testing with Matt & Jamie.”

In each of the videos, they mention a field test performed by Toshiba (for the dog drool one it’s a test to withstand 50ml of water), before Matt and Jamie perform their own, less scientific, more riduclous test, which Toshiba claims the products actually passed. Apparently, in another clip to be added later this week, the Toshiba product actually failed the test, which is refreshing to see from a company (and lends more credibility to the results of the other tests). Aside from the hard to watch “”Portege Ultrabook vs. Drooling Dog,” highlights from the (seemingly neverending) series include “Satellite Ultrabook vs. Paint Shaker”and “Encore Tablet vs. Block of Ice.” Stick around for these two after the jump. continued…

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We’re not sure who’s behind it, but “Delta’s 80′s In-Flight Safety Video” manages to turn the normally insufferable flight safety video into something totally rad (Update:  It is W+K NY, credits after jump).

The 5:22 video should send a welcome wave of nostalgia over children of the 80s (I don’t really qualify, although I did have a Teddy Ruxpin). It manages to cram as many 80s references as possible into the video, while simultaneously tackling the basics of flight safety. From mullets to Alf to vintage electronics, the cultural touchstones are piled on so fast you might not catch them all. It’s definitely the most entertaining flight safety video we’ve ever seen, and a clever way to get people to watch something they’d normally ignore. Bonus points for enlisting Jerry Casale from Devo.

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Daniel O’Connell, a digital strategist at POSSIBLE, has created a website called “What The Fuck Is My Wearable Strategy?” as a response to shit like this ridiculous dancing Cadbury jacket.

The site is basically a compendium of ridiculous wearable tech ideas. Once you’re done reading one of them, simply click the pink colored text for the next ludicrous suggestion. Some highlights include: “T-shirt that posts to Facebook when you need a shit,” “Umbrella that glistens when it’s going to rain,” “Pair of earbuds that glows green when your ex is in the building,” and “Heart rate monitor that makes a vine when you’ve got a hangover.” O’Connell created the site, inspired by shitprideas.com, using WTF engine. Feel free to share some of your favorite entries in the comments section.

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Hill Holliday has a new campaign for NECCO’s classic Sweethearts, “#1 selling non-chocolate Valentine’s Day candy,”  that personalizes the messages on the candy hearts via Twitter.

Here’s how it works: simply visit the Tweethearts site and tweet your message to @tweethearts, then take a look at your Tweetheat, fill out the name and address where you want it sent, pay $29.99 (yikes!) for a one pound bag, and wait 3-5 business days for the gift to show up. Users who don’t wish to order the candy can choose to simply share the digital image of their peronalized Tweetheart instead, not a bad option for those who don’t feel like ponying up $29.99 for a small bag of candy. Hill Holilday VP and creative director Rick McHugh was very excited about the campaign, saying, “Turning something that’s digital into something that’s physical is a dream creative assignment, and we’re thrilled to bring it to life for NECCO.”

The best part of the campaign has to be Hill Holiday producer Chuck Woodard rapping in the above video. Needless to say, it’s pretty funny. We’ll abstain from commenting further, and hand this one over to the comments section…

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Do you like sake? Do you like throwing stars? Ever wish there was a place where you could go to pound sake and throw throwing stars? How about an indoor ninja throwing star range where they serve sake? That sounds like either the best idea ever, or a lawsuit waiting to happen, or both, right?

In what is surely the craziest publicity stunt you’ll hear about today, Whit Hiler, one of the Lexington, KY-based Cornett IMS masterminds behind beardvertising and “Kentucky Kicks Ass”  announced that he was behind the crazy “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range.”Hiler and crew created “Ninjas Indoor Throwing Star Range” because “Everyone loves throwing stars and everyone loves alcohol.” Hiler and Cornet decided to present their “establishment that allows people to pound sake and chuck throwing stars” to the world, presenting it as an establishment that would open in Lexington, Kentucky in the spring. Enlisted to aid Hiler in spreading this madness were “Kris Kross Ange on the design, Golden Nick Child on the video, and Shammy Shamick Gaworski on the web development.”

And spread it they did. The video makes use of YouTube’s “Best Death Scene Ever,” while the website quotes Wu Tang and, according to Hiler, Japanese curse words. They even created a fake Gmail account under the name Satou Watanabe (which has to be the coolest sounding alias this side of Throb Darshall) Soon everyone was talking, tweeting, and posting about the crazy new sake bar/throwing star range coming to Kentucky. For obvious reasons, most people wanted this to be real. The crew received articles from people asking how they could become a franchisee. Articles appeared in the likes of Gizmodo, io9, and Laughing Squid. Hiler even faked an interview with Yahoo, under another cool alias: Timothy San Bernardino.

Throughout the process, Hiler and crew got a lot of attention for Lexington and the agency in which they toil. But when can I really walk into an establishment, get shitfaced on sake and chuck throwing stars, you ask? Well, “maybe we’ll turn this joke into a reality and end up opening the world’s first throwing star range and sake bar later this year,” says Hiler. One thing is for sure though, as we mentioned above, Whit Hiler is a self-promoting ninja.

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We’ve been getting some tips over the last few days regarding the launch of ‘CommentSpy,’ a new website based on our own (AgencySpy, in case you needed a reminder of where you were). The site’s tagline, “Inside your comments. Derp inside” references our notorious comment section, which is apparently enough of a cesspool of hatred, profanity and self-loathing to spin off a separate site wholly devoted to it. Thanks, commentariat.

Initially, we were going to avoid writing about this thing for fear of being Inception-ed, but then we figured “whatever” and also “fuck it.” Plus, the site’s author(s) made funny twists on our names, which we were incredibly flattered by. So flattered, in fact, that we collectively LOL’d and blushed, batting our eyes in an innocent yet seductive fashion. Anyway, here’s a note we got commemorating the launch of CommentSpy from “kiran@commentspy.com”:

“Dearest Kiran, Bob, Erik & Jordan,

It is with great pleasure that I am emailing you all to announce the launch of CommentSpy.com, the premiere online destination for news from the AgencySpy comments section. We will be covering all the latest AgencySpy comments Monday through Friday, particularly the ones that are mean spirited, willfully ignorant, poorly constructed, racist, misogynistic, or ideally all of the above.

Keep an eye on the site in the days and weeks to come, and feel free to throw up a post about us!

Best,
Kiran Adithands
Throb Darshall
Erik Ostraw
& Jordan Derper”

If you visit CommentSpy.com, you’ll also be greeted by funny Photoshopped versions of our headshots. Finally, can I just say that “Throb Darshall,” is the best name of all? It’s like I have a 70′s detective alter-ego who occasionally makes dalliances into porn when I’m between cases. Thanks to whoever made this and meta world peace to you all!

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Goodby Silverstein and Partners‘ latest work for Frito-Lay is a new campaign promoting Tostitos fajita flavored scoops! tortilla chips and Tostitos queso blanco dip — two products launched around last week’s 2014 Tostito’s Fiesta Bowl — as well as Tostitos cantina thin and crispy toritlla chips and Tostitos cantina chipotle salsa. Entitled “Bring The Party,” the campaign is centered around two new television spots: “Grandma” and “Speaker Dancer” (featured above).

Both spots focus on the over-the-top “O’Hare’s Party Repair” company, who bust in on boring parties to save them with their party expertise. It’s a goofy  jab at classic, local home-repair ads that finds the company taking obvious measures like replacing lame snacks with the aforementioned Tostitos products, as well as more drastic ones, like removing grandma from the house for a day or installing a speaker dancer. I think someone forgot that grandmas buy Tostitos, too.

What sets the ads apart is the engagement they offer after the commercials are over. Both the phone number provided and the website are fully operational. At the Bring The Party website, you can find “Pocket Party Repair Tools” such as Conversation Escape Call, Pocket Dancer, and Party Foul Cards, as well as a list of other services. I think we’ve all been to a party that could have benefited from a few Party Foul Cards being handed out. The “Bring The Pary” campaign “also includes digital, social media, in-store activations and public relations.” Stick around for “Grandma” after the jump. continued…

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Josh Gordon and Danny Gonzalez, the two Miami Ad School students responsible for the Party Box Project, have a blog documenting their search for a “winter girlfriend” to cuddle with during the cold winter months. They specify in one of the earlier video blogs, in case you were wondering, that this doesn’t mean exclusively for the winter — they’re not planning on getting rid of their winter girlfriends with the spring thaw.

Winter Girlfriend is set up like a calendar, with each day listing a countdown to Valentine’s Day and a random quote. Click on a given date and you get a blog entry from Josh or Danny with updates on the search for a winter girlfriend, number of days since last cuddle, and how they’re coping with the winter. There’s also a weekly video blog, documenting their progress over the past seven days.

Needless to say, the whole thing is a little strange. Josh and Danny meticulously document their winter girlfriend attempts in exhaustive detail. Obviously, they don’t take the whole thing too seriously, though (because at a certain point that would become really creepy). Some of the best moments are pretty funny, although at times the project seems more like an in-joke amongst friends. Josh and Danny seem like nice enough guys, so we wish them luck finding cuddle partners for the winter, ones who won’t mind being featured on Winter Girlfriend.

Josh and Danny have taken a little break from blogging as of late, but you can check out the most recent video blog above. While we’re not sure the site will actually help them find winter girlfriends (and could actually hurt their case with certain ladies), it’s all in good fun, and should help raise their profile, much like their Party Box Project.

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Josh Gordon and Danny Gonzalez, two advertising students at Miami Ad School in Brooklyn, have created the “Party Box Project,” in which they “take gross newspaper boxes and turn them into parties.”

It’s a pretty silly idea, but a fun one, and anyways, what is college for if not being hopelessly idealistic, right? The duo documents the Party Box Project on their Tumblr, keeping track of the different locations where they’ve transformed an ordinary newspaper box into a party, in a box. In the video above, Gordon and Gonzalez can be seen packing a party box full of tinsel, lights, beads, beer, a musical card, and other assorted party goods. The project seems to be gaining some attention, and was recently featured in popular street art blog, Vandalog.

If you’re walking down the street in New York and you see a newspaper box with a purple lightning bolt sticker on it, chances are it’s a Party Box. So open it up and get the party started. It’s the most fun you can hope for from a newspaper box, now that The Onion has ceased publishing print editions.

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