College and pro football are that increasingly rare bird in the modern TV landscape: "appointment television." This means very little DVRing for later, and makes the gridiron-loyal audience one of the last remaining viewer demos that reliably sees most ads aimed at it.

Those who watch enough football come to despise many of the commercials they see over—and over, and over, and over again and, please just make it stop. Even a commercial that seems interesting the first time, can be unbearable by the 100th viewing, when tiny details become annoying and the "sports fan" sell becomes unbearable. (We're looking at you Buffalo Wild Wings "Sprinkler Maestro.")

For this reason, two new Nissan ads deserve praise.Continue reading...

AOL's 25th anniversary gift to 25 artists: $25,000 in cash.

As part of its 25th anniversary, AOL is joining the ranks of Huggies and PepsiCo in offering grants for creative innovators – a welcome disintermediation in the laborious process of researching and applying for grants. Final submissions must be snail-mailed and postmarked by midnight tonight, September 20th. Online submissions are closed.

Seeking to support cultural creators of all stripes, twenty-five creative thinkers will be awarded the $25,000 grants as part of the Web giant's 25 for 25 grant program, which itself is part of the portal's year-long Project on Creativity to invite artists and creators (such as UK-based digital artist Matt Pyke, above) to freshen the AOL brand.

Inspired by Chuck Close's philanthropic work in art and arts education, the 25 for 25 advisory board includes Close, designer Andy Spade, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and other leaders in the arts.Continue reading...

Sometimes a movie or an ad campaign makes it too easy for critics. For example, a terrible film titled The Bomb is just begging for the obvious pun. Such is the case with fashion label Diesel's latest campaign "Be Stupid." But that doesn't mean stupid doesn't work.

"Be Stupid." That seems to be the entirety of Diesel's brand marketing. Forget "Keep it Simple, Stupid." Think: "Keep it Stupid. Simple!"Continue reading...

Then you won't want to miss the “Million-Dollar Challenge.” It’s an open invitation to would-be entrepreneurs to create and launch a marketing communications agency.

The winning startup's business plan will receive $1 million from MDC Partners in return for a 51% stake. MDC Partners is the Toronto-based holding company of Crispin Porter & Bogusky and Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners.

The criteria: “you do brilliant work, you want to make brands famous and you want to drive results for clients.”Continue reading...