sam in your pants

Is the school play a normal place to talk about the fact that you can't control your bladder and get all weird about it? I get it, sometimes these things are necessary, but is making it sound like there is a man taking care of her "needs" while sitting at your kid's play really the way to go? The mom in this ad with SAM in her pants should probably have child protective services called for an assessment... if she even has a kid in the play.

twitter writes directv's story

DirecTV's recent ads about getting rid of cable have been entertaining and funny at times. So, what do you do with a successful campaign? Take it to Twitter and let them have a go at writing a script. And what does Twitter come up with? The plot twist from Back to the Future... Way to go twitter.

#food #photo #studio

There is no doubt that social media has changed the way we communicate and interact. Sometimes it goes too far, like #dinnercam (because everything needs a hashtag). If you strongly feel that you need to bring a photo booth with you to a restaurant to take a photo of your dinner plate and you don't have one of the top 3 food blogs on the internet, then maybe it's time to put the phone down and just enjoy a hot meal and the company of the person sitting across from you.

coding gets sexy (and offensive)

Coding is not be the sexiest profession on the planet, which is something a newly-launched website "CodeBabes" is trying to change. By leveraging sexual innuendos, the website offers coding tutorial videos of sexy, scantily-clad women to teach the basics of the trade. Although some would like to think the site is fake, it appears to be very real, and here to stay.

broken arm, or robot costume?

Clunky casts, be gone! Having a broken arm could soon look a lot cooler, thanks to a new 3-D printed cast, with the extra bonus of healing bones up to 40% faster with the help of an ultrasound device. Some people (we're thinking young boys) may like it so much, they won't want to take it off!

who says urban sprawl isn’t beautiful?

Urban sprawl has a reputation of being unimaginative and uninspired. In a new book, photographer Christoph Gielen shows us that it can be beautiful, with an array of stunning photos taken from a bird’s eye view. You may never look at a generic subdivision the same way again!

street view time machine

So let's say you're stalking your crush from your dim, dank basement apartment, it's 2am, and you've exhausted the day's Facebook posts, tweets, and instagrams. What now? You know where she is… but do you know where she's been? Thank Google, now you can check out her house, her workplace, her favorite haunts, from months, even years in the past. Down another Red Bull and feed the beast, psycho… Google Street View Time Machine lets you go all the way back to 2007 to view imagery from past street view collections. Watch things change. Watch things stay the same. What's next from the Google Overlords? Imagery from the future?

does your Instagram suck?

A sunset. Your dog. That weekend afternoon craft beer. Your dog. Whatever you're about to Instagram, we all know the tension of that pre-post moment: Will they like it? Will they think I'm hip, interesting, clever, talented… or will the world let it slip quietly by, uncommented, unliked, unloved? Wonder no more. This handy chart from The Bold Italic takes the guessing out of the game and lets you calculate the likelihood, so to speak, of your post. Your dog drinking craft beer at sunset? Score, baby.

required reading for dicks

Anyone who's been on the agency side of the designer/client equation will relate to the need for this recent missive from the folks at branding agency We Are Goat. The ebook gives guidelines and advice on the design process and, more importantly, how to be a better client. The premise is simple: Don't be a dick. The first step is always the hardest…

sacks are shrinking

A TRAVESTY! Sun Chips is decreasing their portion size by over 30%. THIRTY PERCENT! How much are they reducing the price? Zero. Same price, less chip. Their Facebook page is probably not going to be a happy place for a few days.

amazon gets hbo... mostly

Amazon and HBO hit the newsroom today when the announcement of an exclusive deal for online content distribution hit the wire. It's nothing but big love between the two companies when they announced an enlightened part of the deal that adds the HBO GO service to the new Kindle Fire TV's family tree. One show that didn't find its way into the Amazon Prime library... Game of Thrones.

fly comfy

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines seems pretty cool. They wanted to give away an upgrade for some World Business Class tickets to a random person, but not just any person. They wanted to make sure the lucky person would enjoy the reclining seats by getting them to lie down in a busy airport with a bunch of hidden cameras and then busting out of a hidden room punk'd style.

NYPD's Twitter contest gets a beatdown

Most of the NYPD work their butts off to keep the streets of NYC safe, so it's clear they deserve the love they were looking for when they launched a Twitter contest encouraging people to share picts of themselves with NYPD using the hashtag #myNYPD. All was going well, until some not so flattering photos started surfacing showing some NYPD officers using (allegedly) excessive force... and then it snowballed from there to sarcastic tweets, rants and so on. And there went that. Ah yes, even the PoPo can't escape a good 'ole social media campaign gone bad.

this is your baby on drugs

You've probably seen a lot of fantastic anti-substance abuse campaigns, but can you recall any using babies, using? Yeah, that's right. This campaign for 12 Keys Rehab uses adorable babies to point out that everything you do, directly affects your child... because they're more like you than you know. Powerful.

Siri asks, are you gonna eat that?

What's not to love about Siri? She gives you directions, she answers all your weird questions without judgement, she calls you big daddy if you want her to, and now, she keeps you from getting fat. Sort of.

The creators of Siri are in development on an app that will analyze the food you take photos of and tell you a general calorie range for the meal you're about to ingest. And let's face it, you're not taking photos of your kale and tofu salad, so it's going to be pretty painful.

The team is currently working out ways to accurately estimate calories taking into account "hidden" things like the 4 sticks of butter in your cupcake, or 20 TBS of sour cream hiding in your burrito. The app is estimated to launch within the next year, so obliviously enjoy those 1,200 calorie "healthy" Brussels sprouts covered in oil, bacon, parm, walnuts and gluttony, while you still can!

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make it rain on them friends!

Bank apps make paying your friends back (and making them pay you) easier than ever! Typically a monotonous task, a new app named “Stacks” lets you “make it rain” on your friends by virtually throwing dollar bills at them as you transfer money into their Venmo accounts. How offensive this is will depend upon what exactly you are paying them back for.

a day in the life of a stormtrooper

List of jobs that are just as awesome as you would expect: zookeeper, marketing professional, and stormtrooper. To depict this, artist Zahir Batin has photographed a series of miniature “Star Wars” figurines going about their daily adventures. Using props (even baby chicks!) Batin was able to depict several trials and tribulations of these fictional characters. Almost makes you forget they’re not real.

a print advertiser’s worst nightmare

Advertising 101 taught us that ads should be relevant to their audience. Unfortunately, with mass advertising (think subways, bus stops, and billboards) there is no way to control who sees any given ad. That is why the Skip Ad Project was developed, encouraging consumers to place “skip ad” icons (similar to those on YouTube) on ads that are irrelevant to them. This provides a loud, clear message to ad buyers and advertisers - step up your game!

who did it better…Taco Bell or Seattle’s Best?

While neither company had the idea first, both seem to be thinking the same way. By now, most of us have seen the Taco Bell ad, where real guys named “Ronald McDonald” are featured enjoying Taco Bell’s ummmmmm “delicious” breakfast sandwiches...

But Seattle’s Best actually ran a strikingly similar ad with guys named “Duncan,” two days prior. While it didn't garner the same amount of publicity, it is likely that the folks over at DD are not amused.

design and race your own track

In an effort to promote their pro_cee’d GT, Kia Europe recently launched an awesome viral game that allows you to design your own racetrack with your phone. Once complete, your track is shared out to friends to see if they have what it takes to conquer your track. Unfortunately, they haven’t done anything this cool in the US market yet. Maybe we will be next.

Street signs double-up as weaponry

Artist Coby Kennedy created some badass weapons with some unlikely resources: street signs. Sure they will be very handy for hacking up a zombie or two, but the meaning of these weapons go a bit deeper. While they may look liked twisted pieces of art, Coby is designing these to help shed some light on the gentrification taking place across the country and more specifically in his Brooklyn neighborhood.

stalking the most interesting man

Dos Equis has decided to unleash The Most Interesting Man in The World on... the world. They have sent him out to the farthest reaches of civilization to check-in on foursquare. Does The Man get jet lagged? Does he have a time machine to check-in in Rio de Janeiro in 1961 before the founders of foursquare were even born? Why isn't he sharing this technology?! Go ahead and stalk him on the location based social network and see if you can get the answers.

good coffee isn't really that important

Nothing starts off the morning like a good cup of single origin, dark roast coffee. You are probably sipping a blend of deliciously roasted beans right now. You know what probably isn't in that tumbler... Maxwell House. As it turns out, the big blue can doesn't care that you think their java sucks. All they really want is to make coffee that is passable.

our robot overlords are here

Once upon a time phones didn't have more than 512kb of memory, touch screens, or realistic voices that would reply when you call it horrible things and say it is useless. But then, one fateful day, we created the smartphone. A devise that change the way we think, navigate, and avoid eye contact with strangers on the train. And now Samsung has changed the game once again by creating tiny robots that have mega storage capacity for smartphones that can easily hold a record number of selfies. Is this a plot to enslave the human race from our future robot overlords, or just a clever marketing ploy?

Chatroulette saves lives

Ok, we need a little suspension of disbelief here... Chatroulette still exists. Ok, now that we're over that, check out this awesome Chatroulette campaign from VCCP in Spain.

They set up a good looking woman to hang out on Chatroulette and engage men who were clearly ready and willing to expose themselves for her. She eggs them on, getting them all excited, and then bam, hits them with a powerful (mood-killing) message: if you're willing to to show your junk to millions of people, why not show them to your doctor? The point being that "testicular cancer is the second most common cancer among men between 15 and 45 years old, and 95% of cases detected on time can be cured without problems."

Brilliant.

a texting tragedy

Anti texting and driving PSAs have gotten a ton of buzz over the last couple of years, particularly the ones that are graphically horrific, showing teens lives end in terrible car crashes. This one from Honda, however, does a great job getting the point across in a deep and meaningful way, without being graphically horrific. Very simple, but smart and effective.

Dove's "real" beauty doesn't seem so real

Everything Dove does in their long-running "campaign for real beauty" gets a ton off buzz, both positive and negative. But regardless of the sentiment of the buzz, they've all seemed pretty genuine... up until this latest experiment.

Dove gathered a handful of unsuspecting women and hired a professional to convince them to try a new "self esteem" patch, that much like the nicotine patch, doses you with self esteem throughout the day. The women were then asked to keep a video blog during the 2 week experiment to see how their self esteem is affected.

As expected (spoiler alert), they see a noticeable difference in their self esteem throughout the 2 weeks, only to find out, the patch is fake.

While the moral of the story is sincere and accurate (how we feel is completely in our heads), the experiment seems completely fake. Are we supposed to believe that these otherwise seemingly smart women bought into this nonsense? And if they did, are these women a true representation of most women? It's just a tough pill to swallow... or should I say, patch to wear?

brands jump on Tax Day

From April’s Fool’s Day to Pi Day, there is virtually no “holiday” brands won't exploit. We can’t complain too much when they involve steep discounts and freebies. Whether or not you’re getting a return on your taxes, you can use Tax Day as an excuse to get some deals at these restaurants and stores today, April 15.

a printer you can take anywhere

While most technology is advancing at a rapid pace, traditional printers seem to be stuck in the past. That is, 'til Zuta Labs decided to re-imagine the product, developing a Mini Mobile Robotic Printer. Described “like a Roomba that squirts ink,” this little guy will fit in the palm of your hand, and can travel with you anywhere!

Snapchat goes loco

Taco Bell certainly knows its demographic. The chain is announcing the latest in the Doritos Locos Taco line with a four to six-minute-long Snapchat movie. The movie will feature a cast of Vine and Snapchat "influencers," and was developed using Snapchat's Stories feature. Taco Bell has long been considered a pioneer in Social Media marketing, and it looks as though that won’t be changing any time soon.

a devise to ride your ass

Ah, the freelance life. What a dream. You're responsible for your own output. You're you're own man/woman. Nobody tells you what to do. And you just spent the entire morning on Reddit. Wouldn't it be great if you had a little virtual supervisor to nudge you into working every now and then? Sure it would. Introducing Naggy… er, Bossy, the low-profile, high-tech answer to all the annoying things you worked so hard to get away from.

happy deadly Easter

Colored eggs and candy. Pretty dresses. Chicks and bunnies. And oh yeah, Jesus and that stuff. Easter is almost here, and it's so much fun! Unless, of course, you're PETA. Then it's all about stripping away the glitter and glee and exposing the dirty underbelly of, well, pretty much everything. Still, kudos to the folks who put this beautiful shocker together.

boring is not your color

So… if you're a Gaplike retailer in Australasia (not to be confused with Canadexico) and you spell color with a u, how can you sell more brightly-colored (coloured?) T-shirts in a world that loves its basic black? You build some cool tech to tell your customers that they look like crap today. Check out The AS Colourmatic, which uses the science of color theory to critique your togs.

verdict: bank of america sucks

Not that this is any surprise, but it turns out Bank of America is shady. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is making BoA pay out $727 million dollars because they lied in their marketing around their credit card add-ons according to Consumerist. They illegally charged 1.9 million people. That's $382 per person. That'll buy you a lot of Taco Bell waffle tacos.

crack open a can of wine

 

If you happen to be hanging out in Lithuania you can get yourself some wine in a paint can. AdFreak notes that the wine is the famous French Beaujolais Nouveau. This promotion is not associated with a winery though, because no reasonable wine maker would be caught dead putting wine in a paint can. This is the brain child of Lithuania's McCann Vilnius all because the wine turns your teeth purple.

the ikea train is rolling through

IKEA is opening a new store in Tokyo near a monorail station. To celebrate, and probably expose a few people to their laminated tables, rugs and knickknacks, IKEA decorated an entire monorail train with insane seat covers and rugs. They also supplied some food and drinks for train goers. PSFK points out that the arraignments on the train car were less traditional than would be found in the store.

princess causes serious side effects

The girl-power loving toy company, GoldieBlox, is back at it again, this time spoofing that good ole 1980s "brain on drug" PSA. The spot illustrates what a girls brain is like on "princess" and what it's like on engineering, in a super fun, Easter festive way. So, when creating an Easter basket for your girls this year, pass on the nail polish, tiara, and lip gloss and grab a toy that will help her become even more badass.

a balls-eye view

No, not those balls. This is WAY cooler. Adidas and TBWA put 6 cameras inside a version of the 2014 World Cup official game ball (named Brazuca) and will be sending it on tour across the world to capture amazing soccer footage from never before seen angles and perspectives. Adidas will be releasing updates and footage regularly leading up to the World Cup, which you can follow on Twitter at @brazuca.

bring down the king

Game of Thrones hype has been all up in yo face this past week, so why not hit you with another gem? This one comes from New Zealand and featured a huge statue of King Joffrey with a giant rope tied to it. Every time someone tweeted #bringdowntheking, the rope was tightened, until he finally collapsed this past Monday. A big idea, but simple... just how we like 'em.

thanks, Samsung! White House may ban selfies

When Red Sox all-star David Ortiz snapped a selfie of himself with the President last week (which turned out the be a Samsung marketing stunt), White House staffers were not too impressed. Turns out, it is frowned upon to use the President’s likeness to promote a product without his knowledge (who would have thought?). So, if you’ve ever dreamed of snapping a selfie with the leader of the free world, you can thank David Ortiz for ruining your fun.

putting zombies to good use

Turns out, there are valuable lessons to be learned from the hypothetical zombie apocalypse! Siemens's Ben Collar has been tasked with figuring out how to help cities design transportation systems that can move people quickly in times of emergency, whether that's a terrorist attack, a natural disaster, or a zombie apocalypse. According to Collar, a zombie infestation is a great lens through which to examine a city’s resilience to withstand a disaster. Does this justify all the time we’ve spent watching Walking Dead over the years?

cheap beers of the nation

In honor of National Beer Day, the folks at Floating Sheep have compiled a map of the most popular “cheap beers” of America based on one million tweets. As it turns out, the results are essentially just as you’d expect. So those of us in Connecticut can proudly raise our Sam Adams to the United States of Cheap Beer.

Who will take the social media throne?

The social media “kingdoms” have been battling one another for years and the war is still raging. HootSuite (a social media management company) decided to self promote their services by leveraging the popularity of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Check out their reinvented version of the GOT intro with the social media kingdoms we’ve come to know and love/hate.

A picture tells a thousand calories

The geniuses behind Siri are now working on a new project that will estimate calories in your meals via image recognition. There are several outliers that factor in, including hidden fats/oils and where you’re actually eating. Just a hunch, but the counts may be slightly different for burgers from McDonalds vs. Umami Burger. Still, it’s pretty interesting stuff for those health buffs out there.

aussies mail their faces

This is pretty cool. The Aussies are able to send a short video along with their mail. Instead of having that awkward phone call after they open your package, or trying to coordinate a skype call for right when the package arrives you can record your greeting and send it as a QR code and stamp all in one. Good luck explaining this one to grandma.

waxing the sac

Cancer awareness seems to be at an all time high. It is a sensitive subject for a lot of people. But a Canadian charity is bring awareness to this sensitive area by waxing a sensitive area. A campaign spokesperson told AdFreak, "we wanted a light-hearted way to get them thinking about their own groins." So gents, don't forget to check yourself out. Waxing is optional.

mcdonalds vs. taco bell... food fight

Taco Bell and breakfast are a newer match, and some people have not embraced it as well as they may have hoped. Just ask Reddit. BUT, a bunch of people named Ronald McDonald seem to enjoy it as the video evidence above will attest to. This has stirred things up over at the golden arches. McDonald's has taken to Facebook to rally fans around the Egg McMuffin with mixed results. But Digiday points out that both brands seem to be benefiting from the social buzz. Taco bell breakfast still looks horrible though...

GOAL for Google+

If you ever questioned the usefulness of Google+, this will make you eat your words. Google+ BRILLIANTLY let 22 fans from across the world get the most amazing view ever of the Manchester United match at Old Trafford via live hangouts. Best use of Google+ ever!

naked for a cause

A survey in Brazil revealed that 65% of respondents partly agreed with the statement, if a woman is provocatively dressed, she deserves to be sexually assaulted. Yep, hard to believe, but it's true.

Appalled by the results, Brazilian journalist Nana Queiroz spearheaded the #EuNaoMerecoSerEstrupada (or #IDontDeserveToBeRaped) social media campaign where women are encouraged to post partially nude photos with the hashtag to drive home the point that no matter how a woman is dressed (or not dressed), they don't deserve to be sexually assaulted. And, as the man's sign above points out, "I'm ashamed of being a man and having to say something so obvious."

Powerful stuff.

5-star dining for the homeless

Sure, the homeless are incredibly thankful to have a fresh meal every day from their local shelters, but they too have emotional needs, desires, and aspirations just like everyone else. So wouldn't it be nice to do something uplifting for them? To treat them like like the wonderful people they are?

Well, that's exactly what prankster Greg Benson did as part of Break.com's Prank It Fwd campaign to perform positive pranks for good causes. He helped turn the Ascencia Homeless Shelter in Glendale California into a 5-star restaurant, complete with fancy decor, menus, waiters, delicious food like filet mignon, and even live classical music. And, to top it off they donated $5,000 to the shelter to help continue to feed those in need.

The looks on the faces of the patrons enjoying this wonderful experience are absolutely priceless. Totally a tear jerker.

beer on the brain

The craft brewing industry is full of attempts to see who can put the weirdest ingredients in their brews. Dock Street Brewery may have officially taken the prize with their newest creation: Walker. To pay homage to the AMC hit Walking Dead, these brewmasters have included goat brains in the recipe. Are you up for drinking like the undead?

take a walk on the wild side

Wild animals have always held a certain amount of allure and intrigue. Russian Photographer Katerina Plotnikova has tapped in on these feelings, creating a series of mind-blowing photos featuring real live animals. While the concept may seem dangerous, animal trainers were on hand at all times, and the stunning fairy tale themed photos are truly one-of-a-kind.

sometimes, you just need a nap

Google Maps has forever changed the way we get around. Now, thanks to Dutch creative agencies Kakhiel and Venour, a program called Google Naps may forever change the way we rest, by allowing users to share their favorite pubic napping place by location.