Part-time Gillette spokesman (and trickster?) and full-time Swiss tennis champ Roger Federer's endorsement deals are expanding, even though he's no longer the world's #1 tennis player.

He debuted on last night's Emmy Awards telecast as the "global ambassador" of Lindt, the Swiss chocolatier, with a spot for its Lindor Truffles brand. (See the extended version of his Lindor ad after the jump, along with a behind-the-scenes look, with more on Facebook.)

Making a rare comment about newly divorced pal Tiger Woods, Federer was quoted over the weekend saying that he and Woods would rise again. He's eyeing his sixth title at the US Open, where he faces tough competition from current men's tennis #1, Rafael Nadal.Continue reading...

• Geico's vlogging, Facebooking, Twittering caveman is in a Debbie Downer mood today (above).

• The upcoming Love and Other Drugs is about a fast-talking, philandering medical salesman. What does he drive? A Porsche ... of course.

• Krispy Kreme doughnut's latest filling: Meat.

• 1984: Gillette offers $1 million to ZZ Top band members to shave iconic beards; band declines.

• 2010: Rise-N-Shine's Go Away Grey offers $1 million to CNN's silver fox Anderson Cooper to darken mane; fans balk.

• Verizon's "Rule the Air" spot aimed at young women irks feminists and net neutrality activists alike.Continue reading...

Consumer brand powerhouse Procter & Gamble is out to conquer the world.

The company is ramping up an aggressive international expansion strategy, a necessity if it hopes to continue to grow. Traditionally focused on U.S. and Europe, P&G is now setting its sites on the rest of the world as sales sag in its stronghold territories.

One of the main reasons for the soft market has been the changing spending habits of consumers, who've become more frugal and cost-conscious during the recession. According to the Wall Street Journal, nearly two-thirds of U.S. consumers replaced at least one food, beverage, or household product with a cheaper substitute.Continue reading...

The video above, shot on the set of Roger Federer's new commercial for Gillette Fusion in the U.K., has attracted more than 2 million views on YouTube for a simple reason — nobody's sure if it's real or faked. Federer, whose last U.K. spot for the brand showed off his wizardry as an all-around athlete, knocks an empty water bottle off a crew member's head (twice) with blazing speed.

Gillette isn't saying if it's real or a digital trick. A spokeswoman tells Mashable, "All we’ll say at the moment is we’ll leave the ‘real or fake’ debate up to the viewers, but the evidence is there to see. Roger’s skill and ability is incredible (that’s why he’s a Gillette ambassador!) so of course it was filmed in one take during a shoot for Gillette Fusion’s partnership with the British Skin Foundation."

We have our theory; what's yours?

It's the "Ultimate Summer Job" — and a dream come true for two friends from Syracuse University. They've been traveling around the U.S. to sporting events and other public venues to make a pitch for a new razor — and blogging and tweeting about it along the way.

Yesterday, Adam Ward and Jason Fisher stood on a street in downtown Boston, Mass., inviting men to step up to a mobile sink and try a shave with the Gillette Fusion ProGlide.

Jason Fisher tells the Boston Globe, "Young guys can relate to us. We're not celebrities. We're not paid endorsers. We're just two normal guys."

Ward and Fisher won the right to represent Gillette in a June contest and have been promoting the razor since July 1. They each won $25,000 and, more importantly, snagged a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be street marketers for a major brand run by a powerhouse brander: Procter & Gamble.Continue reading...

The latest episode of Mad Men, as usual, revolved around the relationships of advertising executives on the 1960s. But it also involved the agency pitching a brand, Jantzen. The swimwear brand is, of course, real, and still around. In fact, it's turning 100. Coincidence? Hard to say. But without a doubt, product placement is the unspoken meta-genius of the show.Continue reading...

Edge gel hopes to make its brand stand out by looking at the lighter side of shaving.

In partnership with humor website Funny or Die and comedian John Caparulo, Edge is soliciting user-created videos on what irrititates men most; just tape and upload a gripe (the funnier, the better) on Edge's website for a chance to win a trip to Las Vegas for four. It's also luring them back with $500 weekly drawings.

The brand's digital outreach is being promoted on websites for The Onion, Sports Illustrated and Men’s Health with the tagline ("Comic relief for life's annoying situations") and a clean-cut message: Edge helps prevent shaving irritation amidst life’s everyday general irritations.Continue reading...

And so we bid a fond farewell to Old Spice Man, aka actor Isaiah Mustafa, who swan dives off in the video above after a suave success this week. His now-concluded personalized video responses to social networkers on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Digg and even 4chan blew up the social web.

Not only did Mustafa, in character, deliver a marriage proposal and respond to celebs such as Alyssa Milano , Twitter co-founder Biz Stone and sister brand Gillette — the P&G-backed campaign redefined "viral" with its barrage of tongue-in-cheek responses and set a new bar for branded social marketing.

W+K creative director Iain Tait discusses the "great trust" and "bravery" that P&G exhibited in allowing his team to respond in real-time on the social web, "with little to no supervision," after the jump.Continue reading...