Hasta La Creative!

Dan Bergeron (aka fauxreel) has been very busy this past month plastering Canada with 324 seven-foot-tall Vespa Squareheads wheatpastes to promote the new Vespa S in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.

Vespa’s aren’t just scooters, they’re a fashion statement, an extension of the rider. This is particularly true of the Vespa S re-issue. It’s square headlight and mirrors may seem like subtle differences to some but to those who know, it makes the S, and the people who ride them, a breed unto their own. It’s cool, it’s retro, and so are the people that ride them.
– Glen Hunt, Creative Director, Dentsu Canada.

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(TrendHunter.com) There’s coffee, there’s espresso, and then there’s “energy” on the menu list of additives to get you powered up at Starbucks. They’ve added the option to enhance the caffeine in their already-stimulated beverages with shots of +Energy, a combination of ginseng, guarana and B vitamins, th…

LONDON – Adam & Eve has teamed up with AMP to produce a new ad campaign promoting the dating website at Telegraph.co.uk.

Looking at 2007 earnings reports, Ad Age notes the health of the industry’s top indies—Richards Group, Doner, Wieden + Kennedy, RPA and Cramer-Krasselt in particular.

In terms of U.S. revenue, the hardest-charging independent is Chicago-based Cramer-Krasselt, which grew domestic revenue more than 16% last year to $137.2 million, thanks partly to account wins such as Porsche, Zantac and Bissell.

C-K’s revenue grew 42.3% since 2005, and if the trajectory holds, it would likely catch Richards and Doner within a few years, an oft-stated goal of the agency. Los Angeles-based RPA, the No. 4 U.S. independent, also posted double-digit revenue growth, rising 10% to $116 million.

“(Larger) independents ought to have a leg up in this environment,” said C-K CEO Peter Krivkovich. “We’re all getting to the point where you have enormous resources, so [having success] is really just a question of vision.”

I bet subway stations are among the most bountiful wellsprings of suicidal feelings. They are generally ugly, reeking of piss and bad food, and we get stuck at some such place for longer than we’d like, contemplating the creative career we failed to pursue.

One of the top stories on Yahoo! News this week was the onslaught of bicycle sales in the wake of $4 per gallon gasoline. Adults are buying bikes for the first time since they were children and bicycle shop owners couldn’t be happier, many of them doubling their monthly sales projections. Re-born ri…

Tip o’ the hat to Wegerer.

Dentsu’s been plastering Vespa graffiti around Canadian cities like Calgary, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The pics show the scooters sticking up through people’s shirts, where their necks and heads should be. It’s arresting imagery, intended to celebrate the individuality and fashion sense of the folks who ride the scooters. For some reason, however, it makes me think of crashes – crashes so horrific, the headlights and mirrors of the scooters have torn through the riders’ spinal columns, decapitating them in the process, and popping out through their cardigans. Hey, maybe the work can double as a highway safety campaign. Then again, those Canadians aren’t ones for subtle warnings.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

So, you want to make a movie based on deep Forteana legends about Nazi UFOs (aka foo fighters) but don’t have the cash? No problem. Just make one hell of a trailer and then ask the world to finance your creative efforts. Sounds like a plan to me. And, hey, if I were a major studio head I think I’d want to talk to these guys. The concept is at least as interesting as this.

(TrendHunter.com) Takeshi Miyakawa’s unique Fractal 23 design utilizes each and every inch of a cube by having a whopping 23 functional drawers. Suddenly that abstract and minimalistic-looking cube becomes much more exciting!

There are drawers on each side, which means you have to give it enough space if you want f…