Safety first for the whippersnappers

A teenager getting their driver's license is often seen as a rite of passage. Distracted driving and speeding are most definitely not, especially when it comes to the mental welfare of the parents.

Toyota Europe and Saatchi & Saatchi London have attempted to ease the burden on the parental side of this experience by introducing Safe & Sound, a smartphone app that deters speeding and phone use while driving.

The app uses Google Maps API technology to know when the car is moving over 9 mph. It then proceeds to block all social media notifications and incoming calls. The app will also detect if the driver is speeding or touches their phone. It will then move to embarrassment level, as it stops their Spotify playlist, replacing it with the parents' playlist of choice. Keep in mind that the parents themselves do not need to like what they put in their playlist, as long as it is effective.

Good luck speeding to "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)" on repeat.

A delicious social media post for lunch

Even if you're not into surfing food porn images, you have no doubt run across instances where nearly all pictures of a potential meal location are just plates of food. They may look great, but that doesn't put them in your stomach.

Heinz changed that for food FOMO sufferers in Sao Paulo when they teamed up with ad agency Africa and Facebook Creative Shop to create the Irresistible Posts campaign that turns social content into a real-life, omnomable experience.

Local users of Instagram Stories are targeted based on geolocation and shown videos of burgers made by chef Santi Roig from Underdog Meat & Beers. The chef would then tell users to swipe upward on the screen to have Heinz deliver the burger to them in a personalized box (along with other Heinz products thrown in), effortlessly transforming the consumer experience from wishful thinking to delicious reality.

Finally, food porn that doesn't leave you feeling empty inside.

Throw up your horns!

Most everyone has headbanged (to slightly varying degrees) at some point in their lives, whether sarcastically or in true metalhead fashion. However, the only reward they've ever received is a motion/booze induced headache and possibly a sore neck the next day. Well, now you can receive a real reward.

Ogilvy Japan has partnered with Sony Music Japan to create a website that turns metal band Crossfaith's new album "Freedom" into a fully interactive experience.

The website will stream their new track "Diavolos", but only if the user continues headbanging to their webcam. Any stoppage, the track quickly grinds to a halt, and the website proceeds to diss you for not being metal enough.  If you continue to headbang, the entire song will play, along with some visuals thrown in as extra incentive.

Let's just hope this doesn't catch on for live performances.

James, this one is for you

If you saw an ad that called out you personally, by name, would you click it? If it showed up in a magazine that you subscribe to, would you read the ad and think it was creepy, or impressive? We know that the customer experience starts well before anyone actually walks through your door or visits your site, and World Market gets it.

They didn't do any fancy data mining or online stalking to get this information. They went old school by having people opt-in to share their information on their own. Then the info was printed, digitized and put in video for the world to see. The purpose of the campaign? To let people know that "We know your small space." Well played. You can see more of the campaign over at AdWeek.

Pizza Hut lovers get loyal

You're a pizza connoisseur, right? If so, you probably haven't thought about Pizza Hut in a while. But, if you are a Hut-loyalist you may be happy to hear they're improving your online ordering experience by adding a loyalty program.

They aren't exactly breaking any new ground with their points based system, but if you eat a lot of pizza from them and want to get a freebie every now and again it certainly is a boost.

Customer loyalty is always a key component to creating a great experience and it is nice to see Pizza Hut lean in to it. Now, if we could redeem our points for some classic collectible glassware it would be a real home run.

My life, my experience

Life changes. That is one constant. Sometimes it changes more drastically and leaves us changed forever. Volkswagen is launching a new car, the Arteon, and their ad campaign to go along with the launch taps Pete Eckert. Pete is a photographer who also happens to be blind. Being blind gives him a whole different experience with Volkswagen, which is the whole purpose of the campaign.

Most of us will experience a car from behind the wheel, or in the passenger seat watching the landscape go by. VW has brought Pete in to show the way he experiences the Arteon by emphasizing the textures, lines, sounds and presence through image.

It's simply beautiful. Just remember, because someone may not be the primary user of your product doesn't mean they won't be experiencing it. Head over to The Inspiration Room to see many of the photos.

Green is the new black

There's a lot of talk these days about energy. Whether it's a Tesla Solar Roof, coal miners in PA, or wind turbines dotting the hillside, energy is something that's crossing over political, economic, social and technological boundaries. Enter energy start-up, Inspire. Their service isn't just an energy bill you have to pay every month, but rather an energy experience.

With Inspire you won't pay based on usage month-to-month, you'll pay a flat, Netflix style, subscription based on your average use. That subscription isn't just paying for your lights to turn on either. For every megawatt-hour of energy you use, Inspire will purchase a Renewable Energy Certificate from a nearby wind farm.

This is a large departure from the traditional utility model, and that is not by accident. Maloney, Founder of Inspire took a cue from Uber and Lyft noting that they "were able to drive rapid, irreversible change by making the consumer king, and figuring out how to develop technologies that reshape the customer experience."

Dusting off boxes of boxed

Over the weekend did you go grocery shopping to restock and get ready for the week? If you did, you might have seen me in the masses. That experience (grocery shopping on the weekend) is painful. It seems as though it isn't going to get any better in the immediate future with stores implementing self-checkout. But, what if you could relieve some of the pain by getting your bulk shopping done online.

That's where Boxed is trying to help you out. Their new tagline "Bulk is Beautiful" sets their eyes squarely on Costco, but with a fun social focus. Boxed has found great growth creating their social experience growing their team from one to 22. Take a look at their write-up on Digiday to see how they are trying to shift the experience of bulk shopping online.

Taking the plunge

Just when you thought Squatty Potty was safely consigned to the annals of Advertising We'd Rather Not See But Watch Anyway, they're back.
This time they're enhancing the restroom experience with Poo Plunger, playfully designed to resemble everyone's favorite poop emoji. And they're inviting fans to join the fun, with a Kickstarter campaign to launch the handy stool tool. So far they've got a ways to go to achieve their $70,000 goal, but hopes are high that they'll be flush soon.

ASU ups the tech ante

When your school is ranked #1 in innovation - ahead of Stanford and MIT - and you're a popular PAC-12 football team, but your stadium was built in 1958, it might be time to rethink the experience.

And that's exactly what Arizona State University did. They took a long step back and looked at the stadium-goers experience through the lens of technology and innovation, and they got to work. Sensors throughout the stadium, a custom app, parking enhancements... they examined the entire game day experience, then applied the technology that made it better.

With college football season approaching, more schools should take notice of why Arizona State just won the “Best Gameday Technology Experience Award”. Here’s a great video and a perfect example how they’ve used tech to give fans an entirely new engaging experience at the stadium.