Hasta La Creative!

For the third year in a row, Nissan is helping college football-obsessed viewers imagine what it would be like if Heisman Trophy Winners all lived in the same house for some reason.

Why would these former star college athletes live in the same house? Is it because traditionally, Heisman Trophy winners go on the middling (or worse) NFL careers that, in the best case scenario, are ignored when ESPN College Gameday offers them a job as a special correspondent? Or is it just because the “imagine the conflicts that would arise if X kind of people were forced to live together” formula still tantalizes us two decades after the  Real World debuted. TV viewers love reality show parodies, after all.

Anyway, starring in the first spot for this year’s run are former Baylor Bear and current Redskins QB Robert Griffin III teaming up with former Oklahoma Sooner and current Rams QB Sam Bradford to portray themselves as two young cool kids who race around in expensive cars and blast hip-hop. Of course, the idea that Bradford is cool in any way, or imagining him routinely participateingin this sort of activity may be the funniest aspect of this commercial. Sorry, Sam, but you’re like the Billy Joel of the NFL—beloved, respected and skilled, but not exactly “cool.”

Starring as the aging veterans are Oklahoma State Cowboy, Barry Sanders, joined by former Michigan Wolverine and current ESPN NCAA football anchor Desmond Howard, who in tandem remind us how far away the late ’80s/early ’90s seem now. Those were the days, huh? Finally, playing the even older guys are the legendary former Texas Longhorn Earl Campbell and Pittsburgh Panther Tony Dorsett, both new to the campaign this year. The campaign, which will feature a traveling Heisman House that will visit college campuses throughout the country, will run through the rest of the NCAA season. Also, Ron Dayne will be in one of these episodes, which I must mention as a Wisconsin Badger fan.

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Aziz Ansari’s comedy special “Buried Alive” will make its debut on Netflix, becoming the biggest stand-up special distributed by that subscription service, which promises even more comedy.

If the NFL is a dictatorship (in addition to being a comparative kleptocracy), then “RGIII: The Will to Win” looks like the league’s latest piece of propaganda. This movie is the sort of self-serving piece of content that is more of a long commercial with some candid footage than an actual documentary. And my feelings on this have almost nothing to do with Robert Griffin III, his knee rehabilitation, my love of the New York Giants, or TBWA\Chiat\Day LA, the agency that worked on five respectable spots advertising the ESPN “doc.”

The above ad offers a quick and quintessentially underdog take on a comeback story that isn’t really a comeback story, since as RGIII puts it: “how can you come back if you were never gone?” The line is so perfect, it’s almost like someone wrote it for him…There’s nothing wrong with promoting whatever this piece of content is, but there is something wrong with Gatorade, ESPN, and the NFL all taking part in something that would be more interesting without their intrusions. RGIII news has gone from creation myth to creation scripture, written by Roger Goodell and network executives. It’s too disingenuous for its own good, but most of us will end up watching it anyway.

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Mr. Dunning, whose 35 years at CBS News were spent primarily in Asia, is best known for his reporting on the last flight out of Da Nang as that city fell to North Vietnam.

The company initially declined to comment on reports that Roger Ailes, the chief executive, had fired Brian Lewis, one of his chief lieutenants.

Sixteen years after an acrimonious parting, Keith Olbermann and the network are putting on happy faces for their reunion Monday on “Olbermann” on ESPN2.

Taking "a trip to Belize" doesn't sound fun, at least the way the phrase was used on Breaking Bad last Sunday. But the small Central American country took the reference in stride and is out to prove that a visit to Belize isn't, in fact, a one-way trip to oblivion—by offering free vacations to Vince Gilligan and eight members of the AMC show's cast.

"Many of us are big fans of the show and can't wait to see what happens over the last six episodes," the tourism board (with help from ad agency Olson) wrote in its invitation. "While we hope that some of our favorite characters don't get 'sent on a trip to Belize' in the show, we do hope you will take us up on the following offer—we'd like to send all of you on an ACTUAL trip to our country after the season is over."

As Olson explained to us in an email, this is certainly a better response to the unflattering mention than just freaking out about it.

Hey @deanjnorris, not so nice what @mrbobodenkirk suggested last night. We’d love to have U for an actual trip anytime. #breakingbad #belize

— Belize Tourism Board (@belizevacation) August 19, 2013

The cable channel Turner Classic Movies is expanding a slate of offerings like bus tours, theatrical screenings and memorabilia sales to increase revenue and brand recognition.

Dozens of women are featured in the captivating, Regina Spektor-driven opening credits for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black—but none of them are in the show itself. As Fast Company's Co.Design blog reports, showrunner Jenji Kohan wanted the title sequence to suggest that the show—about women incarcerated in a minimum security prison—would tell many stories, not just that of the main character, Piper. So, Venice, Calif., design company Thomas Cobb Group settled on a solution—it photographed real women who had been in prison in close-ups that would shield their identities while also feeling immediate and intimate.

Michael Trim photographed nine women in New York, while Thomas Cobb photographed 52 women in Los Angeles. TCG executive producer Gary Bryman explains: "Thomas directed each woman to visualize in their mind three emotive thoughts: Think of a peaceful place, think of a person who makes you laugh, and think of something that you want to forget. He apologized ahead of time for the last question but found it was incredibly effective in evoking a wide range of unfortunate memories. … Thomas found this really interesting sweet spot of cropped compositions that would not necessarily reveal who the person was, but at the same time provide a portal into their soul through their eyes."

Piper Kerman, who wrote the memoir on which the show is based, is the blue-eyed woman who blinks at the 1:02 mark. Check out the rest of the story at Co.Design.

Madden is turning 25 this year. That means decades of video game football obsessions have now been around long enough to be passed from parents to children and then some. To kick off the game’s promotional campaign, EA Sports debuted “Running Back Sons” yesterday, a minute-long spot about the origins of star running backs Arian Foster and Marshawn Lynch. While you might expect their motivation to come from supportive families, inspirational coaches, and the love of the game, it turns out that their success can be traced back to a friendly battle of brinksmanship between their fictitious fathers, Darian Foster and Marshawn Lynch Sr.

Fathers Foster and Lynch (played by the actual Foster and Lynch, respectively) spend all of their time playing Madden in unusual places as their sons train for football. At one point, young Marshawn even spins around a bear, establishing the beginning of “Beast Mode.” Finally, now that Arian and Marshawn are millionaires, their fathers can play Madden in the pool, which sounds about as dangerous as training with a bear.

This spot is sure to get plenty of airtime in the next few months, especially considering Foster and Lynch have decent acting chops when it comes to commercials. As Marshawn Sr. says, that’s that beast mode right there (raspy old-man laugh) Credits after the jump.

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