Comedian Danny McBride as Kenny Powers is back as the MFCEO of K-Swiss sneakers, with a teaser (above) that promotes K-Swiss Blades and the return of his HBO series, Eastbound and Down — and a longer video which you can "find on the Internets," or watch below. No surprise, it's seriously NSFW.Continue reading...

Microsoft takes a swipe at Google (personified as a fast-talking salesman; check out the sly tie with Google's colors) with the viral video above that's being promoted on Twitter with a #Googlighting hashtag.

The spot's description: "What happens when the world's largest advertising business tries to sell productivity software on the side? Beware the Googlighting Stranger. Learn more at WhyMicrosoftProductivity.com"

Chronicle — the new #1 movie in North America, taking in over $22 million over Super Bowl weekend — is a thriller in the tradition of The Blair Witch Project, in which the film is presented as a collection of real footage found after the event. But Chronicle's innovation goes well beyond the "found footage" gambit.

Where the film was truly innovative was in a promotion that won the film boatloads of attention and earned media. The week before its release, 20th Century Fox flew "people" above New York City in a stunt that generated viral buzz.Continue reading...

One of the most predictable things about Super Bowl advertising over the last few years is that GoDaddy.com runs a sexy spot and then everyone debates whether it was effective, while agreeing that at least it was provocative.

This very predictability explains why Go Daddy tries to get the buzz going early, and has leaked the first of its two Super Bowl XLVI commercial, above. Called "Body Paint," it features returnees Danica Patrick and Jillian Michaels and a "nude" model and promotes its .CO domain, which was announced during last year's Super Bowl. The second spot, titled "Cloud," features Danica Patrick and the Pussycat Dolls.

But some other brands, notably autos, are still playing things closer to the vest about their Super Bowl plans.Continue reading...

Air New Zealand isn’t above doing something a little scandalous to bring in customers and publicity. Two years ago, it painted uniforms onto the skin of supposed members of a ANZ flight crew for an ad campaign, raising more than a few eyebrows.

Then a year ago, the airline introduced a brand mascot: a raunchy puppet named Rico, who starred in an online-only ad campaign in which he used “sexual innuendo and chats with B-grade celebrities,” such as David Hasselhoff, Richard Simmons, Snoop Dogg and Lindsay Lohan, to help sell the airline, according to New Zealand’s Stuff.

Rico found some success, collecting 4.5 million YouTube viewers and more than 48,000 Facebook fans along the way. ANZ is likely the only major airline that had a series of online ads starring a puppet that all opened with the text, “The following video contains language and themes of a sensitive nature. Viewer discretion is advised.”Continue reading...

When it comes to advertising, or anything really, you can never go wrong with being a "first." And what better first for a beer than to be the first beer in space?

On November 18th, sometime between 11:01 am (launch time) and 1:45pm (landing time), Natural Light (aka Natty Light) became the first beer to enter space, or that particular edge of space that Natty Light calls the "Nattmosphere."

So how did Natty Light make it up there? two Facebook fans of the brand, Danny B. and Rich T., came up with the idea for the beer company and pitched it on FB. Naturally, Natty gave them the green light and their blessing.Continue reading...

Tebowing! Is it a web meme? Is it trademarkable? Is it an affront to God and country? Will the all-powerful smite those who mock Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow? And can Tebow really be an underdog if, as he believes, God is on his side?

The only clear thing is that NFL fans, players and sports wonks are getting completely bent out of shape about something that won't matter in two weeks.Continue reading...

Trending on YouTube with over 66,000 views and counting is a tribute to Michael Jackson. But it's not just any tribute - if you're going to perform Michael Jackson, you better make sure you can take it on and have it be as spectacular as if Jackson himself was performing. Who better than the Cirque du Soleil employees?

The video features the employees performing Michael Jackson's "They Don't Care About Us," lead by choreographer Travis Payne. Taking place in Montréal, on a cold October evening, they turned this performance into a street performance, with the employees and artists from their various shows.Continue reading...