Hasta La Creative!

The notion of being secretly photographed, digitally manipulated and publicly displayed might make some folks shudder. But the furtive surveillance in Adobe's "Street Retouch" stunt, via Swedish agency Abby Norm, seems almost jolly. While waiting at a Stockholm bus stop, people were surprised and, judging by the video below, mostly delighted to see themselves Photoshopped by retouch wizard Erik Johansson (operating from a nearby van) into various scenarios on a seemingly typical outdoor ad panel. One particularly crabby-faced gent steals the show, his sour demeanor sweetening as he watches himself transformed into a city-smashing monster on the electronic billboard a few feet away. The guy winds up smiling, and like others caught up in the stunt, promoting Adobe Creative Day this Tuesday, he snaps a picture of the panel as a keepsake. Unlike more malevolent ad stunts that hinge on provoking fights, flight or just plain fear, this prank gives more than it takes—instant gratification, a novel and positive experience and a cool product demo. So, despite the invasive setup, the stunt succeeds because the people involved seem less like "targets" and more like partners in the campaign. That righteous vibe pervades the highly viral clip (9 million views since Friday) and helps put viewers in the picture about Adobe's creative potential.

The curmudgeonly mug of Tardar Sauce, the Internet sensation known informally as Grumpy Cat, has been spotted on an outdoor board promoting a dry prom in Elizabeth, Pa. A picture of the board greatly pleased Reddit, the original source of Tardar's fame. The ad is one of a kind and was paid for by Elizabeth Forward High School, which held a design competition for students and chose four winning boards. J.T. DeMarco, a junior, created the Grumpy Cat design with some great concepting and a poor grasp of copyright law. DeMarco told the local news, "I think it does work because it's something that's really popular that a lot of kids see, so they kind of can relate to it." Luckily, it doesn't seem like Tardar's owners have seen it. Or maybe they're just not grumpy enough to sue.

When longtime Richards Group copywriter Matt Bull finished his first highly visible solo gig in Dallas this week, it felt like a pretty big deal to him. And apparently Redditors agreed, giving his billboard for the local Chicken Scratch restaurant a massive boost in publicity by voting it to the site's front page on Wednesday. Part of the appeal was the creepy, counterintuitive tone of the board, which highlights Chicken Scratch's location "between some trailers and a condemned motel." But another key to Bull's success was his clear excitement at creating something on his own after a lengthy stint in agency life. "After 16 years, I quit my ad agency job to work for myself and spend more time with my family," he wrote in his Reddit post. "Thought I'd share my first solo ad with you guys—for a great local restaurant. I've worked with much bigger budgets in every media imaginable, but I've never been more proud of the outcome than this." Created with illustrator Elliott Park, the R. Crumb-esque billboard has quickly launched Bull and his one-man shop, The Department of Persuasion, into the public eye. We caught up with him for a quick Q&A about the story behind this odd bit of outdoor.

How did you get connected with this gig?
Chicken Scratch is in Oak Cliff, which is a pretty tight-knit neighborhood in Dallas. The owners traded a party for an outdoor placement with CBS and needed something to put up. They wanted to work with someone locally, and another neighbor I'd done some work for recommended me. That was all there was to it.

How much direction did they give you?
The initial direction was only, "We're thinking we want something kind of Church of the SubGenius." Which I can honestly say I've never ever heard from a client. In retrospect that was probably them vetting me, to see if I was on the same wavelength. Then later the co-owner, Christopher, was talking about the challenging sell the restaurant has and said, "I mean, we're between a trailer park and a condemned motel!" And I thought, "That would make a pretty great ad, actually."

Were they (or you) concerned about the general creepiness of it?
Not in the slightest. In fact, the only feedback they made when looking at pencils was, "Can we make the guy creepier?"

How about the fact that you don't show the address?
Nah, no concerns. They didn't even ask for it. I've done a lot of outdoor and had given them the basic ad agency party line on what to expect from outdoor. This one was already on the crowded side, and everyone has a smartphone anyway.

What's your take on the Reddit response? Did you ever expect it would blow up the way it has?
I'm genuinely shocked. I only did it on a whim. I expected, like most of my posts there, that it would get swiftly downvoted into oblivion. How much time have you spent there? They hate ads more than they hate organized religion. I imagine there are entire nu-marketing shops packed with interns leading deeply frustrated lives chasing the front page of Reddit for global brands. That we did it for a fried chicken biscuit sandwich place is gratifying.

The best part of the comments is all the ad-strategy criticism. I think because everyone's grown up assaulted by ads from day one on the planet, they end up a) feeling like they're experts by virtue of passive experience and b) carrying a lot of low level resentment around over having no say in being forced into becoming an audience for thousands of pitches a day. Which they then work out on a billboard for a one-off chicken place. But overall, they really seemed to love it.

For more on Matt Bull and to see his previous work, visit DepartmentOfPersuasion.com.

Today in weird, leechy Justin Bieber news, we have this new billboard that just went up in Los Angeles speculating on the cause of the young pop star's dramatic descent into sadness, as seen in pretty much everything he does these days. The ad, from a group called the Employment Policies Institute, offers the least likely of explanations for the Biebs' malaise—suggesting it has something to do with the employment status of his millennial-age fans, as it relates to the level of the minimum wage. The irony, of course, is that the billboard will make Bieber even more sad, should he happen to spy it on his express elevator to hell.

Droga5 and publisher Hachette Australia recently bestowed upon Qantas frequent fliers an anachronistic little gift that will come in handy aboard Qantas flights when approved electronic devices must be completely turned off.

The agency's Sydney office packaged together a 10-book box set of previously published paperbacks "specifically edited to last just as long as each of Qantas's key routes." It's a fun idea, and Droga is playing the nostalgia factor to the hilt. "In this world of Kindles and iPads, it seems that the last bastion of the humble paperback novel is actually at 40,000 feet," says David Nobay, creative chairman of Droga5 Sydney. "You only need to look at the bulging shelves at any airport bookstore. Maybe it's the fact that everything seems so far removed from the real world up there."

All 10 books are by Australian authors: James Castrission, Tony Cavanaugh, Sean Fewster, Kimberley Freeman, Lian Hearn, William McInnes, Peter FitzSimons, Jack Marx, Rob Mundle and Roland Perry. The collection spans adventure, crime, women's fiction, literary, history and romance. The books are meant to correspond to the lengths of 10 popular Qantas flights (Sydney to Dubai, Melbourne to London, Perth to Singapore, etc.), with meals and other breaks factored in. Designer Paul Belford created a unique cover for each book.

"One of the greatest challenges in publishing is to remind people of the pleasure that reading brings, and that even though the online world is growing, there is still a romance in the printed page," says Fiona Hazard, publishing director of Hachette Australia. "At Hachette, we are always looking for new ways to bring stories and voices to life, so when Droga5 approached us to discuss this idea we jumped straight in. It's been great fun working with them to get this project off the ground."

I love it when brands finally catch on to jokes the rest of us were making in fourth grade. This time it's Charmin, which treated fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Sprint All-Star Race to an underwear-shaped billboard that said "Stop Skidmarks." That phrase also applies to cars, you see. Given the kinds of ostentatious crap we often see with billboard design, this idea was refreshingly concise and to the point, if a tad juvenile. And it's certainly less offensive than the "Back Got Back" commercial. Photo via @trippmickle.

This new billboard in Milan for an insect spray also serves as a huge pest strip, thanks to a few layers of aerosol glue. The glue was applied in the shape of an Orphea can's spray arc, which filled in as bugs got stuck in it. The visual effect of that little mosaic of suffering is quite unique, and now all of Milan's summer tourists will see and understand the potency of aerosol glue. And maybe Orphea, too. Agency: Publicis Italy. Via The Denver Egotist.

The 139th Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The spectacle is as much a soiree and fashion occasion as it is a prestigious horse race. Thousands will flock to the grounds in their Sunday best. For women, flowered floppy hats and sundresses are always a hit. As for the men, a seersucker suit with a festive tie will do. But all that beauty and enimence won't hide the fact that horse racing can be, and often is, a dark sport. To that effect, PETA is launching a new mobile billboard, which will be driven outside the racetrack, to remind visitors of the cruelties that can lie beneath the surface of the thoroughbred sport. The ad, created by a Temple University student, shows a horse with a marking on his nose that looks like a syringe. (He probably races under the name Old Needleface.) The copy reads, "Drugs. Breakdowns. Death. Horse racing is a bad bet." PETA had better get the ad out there early tomorrow, though, because we all know no one remembers anything after that second mint julep.

Dude's got an axe! He's gonna chop up movie posters! Aaaaahh! Lionsgate has overlayed images of scary, animal-masked killers on posters for some of its non-horror releases—such as Tyler Perry's Temptation and Peeples, and the Robert De Niro vehicle The Big Wedding—to promote its upcoming slasher flick You're Next. If you look at the posters, you can see a ghostly maniac poised to strike. It's a pretty freaky effect. Some folks might run screaming from theaters as fast as they can. If they've just watched Temptation and The Big Wedding, they definitely will.You know what's really scary? Lionsgate is releasing two Tyler Perry films this year. Aaaaahh! Via Vulture. Images via Collider and Bloody Disgusting.

LG is making a splash with bathroom humor in its latest piece of prankvertising. Marketing shop SuperHeroes installed ultra-wide LG IPS 21:9 monitors at eye level above urinals in a men's room at Amsterdam's World Fashion Centre. When guys showed up to use the facilities, the screens sprang to life with crisp images of sexy female models, who appeared to be appraising the men's … plumbing. The images were so lifelike, as seen in the hidden-camera footage, that most guys got stage fright—with many suffering a delay before they could urinate, and 25 percent failing to pee altogether.

"The film was shot … with actual visitors of the centre," SuperHeroes creative director Rogier Vijverberg tells AdFreak. "We spent a full day in the adjacent toilet filming the reactions of unsuspecting men. As a backup, we'd hired a handful of extras. Nobody knew they were filmed beforehand, not even the extras."

The video is on track to top 1 million YouTube views in little more than two days. And though invasive, this prank seems more playful and less upsetting than some other recent ones, including the last hair-raising SuperHeroes-LG collaboration—the one with the monitors lining the elevator floor. The guys at the urinals seem mildy miffed, but those elevator riders were truly shafted.