belgium scores with Knacki

There’s so much wrong with this. First, aren’t vending machine stunts over yet? Maybe the Belgians didn’t get the memo. Second, this is kind of elder abuse. Exploitation of a has-been at the very least. And third… what the hell is a Knacki? If you get past all that, well, Knacki’s vending machine stunt is pretty cool. Tres European, admittedly, but nevertheless it’s a pretty fresh and unexpected twist on what’s by now become a go-to stunt.

turning jeep ads upside-down

TV spots still give us a chuckle now and again, and though digital ads are all but invisible, there’s branded and sponsored content out there on the ‘tubes that’s damned fine. But print? When’s the last time you saw a print ad that made you look twice? Do they still even make magazines? If they do, these new Jeep ads from Leo Burnett should be in all of them. Even they do smack of an idea in search of a campaign, they’re cool as hell.

ain’t-it-the-truth infographics

In the eighties it was stand-up comics wearing blazers with the sleeves rolled up who played us back all those little observations about life that we all knew, and made it funny. Most of them started out with “Didja ever notice…?” And most of them were about air travel, but that’s beside the point. These days, we don’t have time to sit through comedy shows. Plus, we’ve got the internet, which serves us up tidbits of whatever tickles us in a way more appropriate to our gnatlike attention spans. All of which has culminated in some really clever infographics from the really clever folks at New Creations. None of them are about air travel, but we bet they have their sleeves rolled up over there…

bisnuts... what are bisnuts?

Donuts are the best breakfast item ever. They essentially make it acceptable to have deep-fried dough covered in ice cream and cake toppings to start off your day. Well, Carl's Jr. has decided that they need to add them to their breakfast menu... sort of. Introducing the BisNut. They are now making these confections out of biscuit dough for you to enjoy. They are probably tasty, but couldn't they have thought of something better than BisNuts? Now one wants to have to say that when they order. It just sounds dirty.

watch your back, or shoulder... BiteMan!

You didn't have to see it to know that a guy got bit at the World Cup. Uruguayan footballer Luis Suarez has inspired a Dutch agency to re-purposed the incident for a nice PacMan-esque game. You play as Suarez as you chomp through Italian defense-men while running away from the ref. If you believe that playing a game will cause you to live it out, then steer clear. Otherwise, enjoy.

the anti-hipster beer

South African hipsters are not going to be happy about this. Garagista beer doesn't care if hipsters like their beer. In fact, it would appear that the brand had a bad run in with a few in their day. Their latest series of ads are clearly anti-hipster making claims that the beer is just not for them. But in reality what are hipsters happy about, so does it even matter...

fear for your jobs, advertising friends

Ah yes, nothing like devaluing the amount of time, effort, experience, and talent advertising and marketing agencies put into brand positioning, messaging strategy, and the like, than major brands crowdsourcing their next big campaign.

Yep, you can thank Tongal for that. Tongal is a new platform that allows brands to put out a call for work, and for anyone interested to given them an idea in 140 characters or less. If their idea is picked they're paid for it, and contracted Directors actually execute it.

If not an agency planner, creative director, designer, or strategist blinded by fear for our jobs, the concept of the platform is a super interesting one that has attracted the attention of major brands like McDonald's, LEGO, Oral-B, and more. And, those that get to execute the ideas can make a good living off of it.

So, is the future of our biz?

make a man say anything

Amnesty International is campaigning against torture as a valid method of intelligence gathering, and to prove their point, they've created a new ad campaign featuring famous people looking beat-the-heck-up, saying things completely out of character.

Although done without the permission of the famous faces, the point comes across brilliantly with Iggy Pop praising Justin Beiber as the future of music, and the Dalai Lama proclaiming a Rolex is the mark of success. Both end with the tagline, "Torture a man and he will tell you anything."

gun rights or gun control, you can't deny this

No matter what you believe in the gun rights / gun control debate, neither side can deny that if a person owns a gun, it should be safely locked away from children. This PSA from The Ad Council, the National Crime Prevention Council, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance expresses that straight from the mouths of babes... those same babes parents preach all sorts of safety precautions to. A simple message, a powerful execution.

the World Cup is killing it on Facebook

Here is a snippet that will be sure to infiltrate marketing plans of the future: In 2014, the World Cup has generated more social media action than the Winter Olympics, Academy Awards, and Super Bowl. With 10 million users generating 20 million interactions during the U.S.-Portugal match alone, the tournament is on track to be the biggest social media event in the medium’s history. Come 2018, chances are EVERY brand will be jumping to get in on the action.

the private social media

Ever wonder what the strangers around you are thinking? Now, thanks to Slight, you can anonymously communicate with others within a 40 meter radius of your geographic location. The app was developed by John Nash and Michael Petruzzo, an artist/developer duo in London. Nash claims that the idea was born while sitting through a “dreadful presentation” and wondering whether anyone around him felt similarly unengaged. With that in mind, this could almost certainly make conference calls MUCH more entertaining.

co-branding isn’t going away

Would you use Dial-brand Froyo Frozen Yogurt Cooling Body Wash? Co-branding is one of the oldest tricks in the advertising book. Although some of the combinations are downright absurd, market-intelligence company Datamonitor has discovered that these combinations are actually significantly on the rise, with 6% of products relying on co-branding so far in 2014. This is good news for anyone passionate about Tabasco flavored dark chocolate jelly beans.

fake it until you make it

Except for when you shouldn’t. Durex is tapping into the World Cup convo with their over the top ad about the drama that is “flopping" in soccer. If you’ve watched any soccer in your life, you’ve definitely seen the flop. These guys are some of the best actors out there. Durex is calling them out, or maybe there’s some other hidden message / innuendo in play? Yes, yes there is.

what do you poupon?

Grey Poupon is getting some extra buzz with this fantastic spoof, from OBVS. Not sure why this gem wasn't created sooner. Sure it’s potty humor, but who doesn’t love that? Oh, well there's Grey Poupon, but free publicity and grabbing attention of the Internetz = a win win for everyone.

the holy grail of jelly beans

From the makers of some of the best and worst jelly beans comes the world’s first draft beer flavored jellies. It’s nice to see Jelly Belly going away from the nasty flavors of stinky socks, toothpaste and skunk spray to focus more on this delightful treat. The only downside may be the “alcohol-free” part, but kudos to Jelly Belly anyway.

everyone loves a good sale

Some people go crazy for sales. We all know that person that got threatened with a sharpened spoon on Black Friday over a Bluray/Espresso machine combo for their 6-year-old. And then there is the Steam Summer Sale. For those of you not part of the PC Master Race, you may have never heard of it, but rest assured a nerd near you has and they are about to part ways with a lot of money. People even make tribute videos for the sale. How can you help? Find a gamer near you and offer them an extra cup of coffee as vote for tomorrow's daily.

brazilian spices of old

Old Spice isn't exactly known for their subtlety since they brought Terry Crews into the fold as spokesman. Their World Cup ad is no different, and you get double the Crew's muscle ripple. In case you miss it from the ad, Old Spice is available in Brazil, and maybe a sno-cone. Fair warning, take out your headphones before watching the ad.

jack in the breakfast box

The breakfast taco is all the rage these days. First Taco Bell, and now Jack-in-the-Box. The once infamous brand brought back their Monster Taco with a couple of variations including Bacon Ranch, Nacho and now Breakfast. What's in it? Eggs, American Cheese and Taco Sauce (exactly what one needs to start their day off right).

how advertisers bullshit you (infographic)

The advertising industry has been messing with your sense of reality for yeeeears. This infographic shows you just some of the many ways...

beware of the global pandemic

Fiction meets reality in this super cool, and slightly frightening, campaign from unlikely partners, TNT and Purell.

TNT's new show from Michael Bay, called The Last Ship, is about a US Navy crew that sets out to save the world after a pandemic kills 80% of the population. Purell is about killing germs to save the world from getting sick from nasty germs.

Ergo, Purell is there to help passerby's be prepared when they read posters about the pandemic from the movie. Brilliant idea, although I'm fairly certain Purell won't help you in a pandemic powerful enough to kill 80% of the world... but you know, it's Hollywood and Advertising so, yeah.

your digital dermatologist

Ever wish you could have your very own Dermatologist and Beautician to tell you how to take control of your (ever-changing) skin issues, how to prevent those crows feet and other signs of again, what colors and types of make-up to wear for your skin tone, and so on?

Surprise! Now you can, but in an incredibly smart little mobile app called Beautiful Me. The app scans 500 photos from your Facebook profile and can analyze a ton of information from your face... skin tone, skin type, skin changes over time, and so on.

From there, the app clearly (and beautifully) tells you everything you need to know about how to care for, and make-up, your face, completely personalized to you. Fantastic!

where WAS that chocolate factory?

Some of our favorite movies take place in mysterious locations. Now, thanks to Wondernode, there is a comprehensive map developed from info on IMDB and Wikipedia demonstrating the supposed and actual filming locations of some of our favorite films. Can’t say we ever would have pictured the whimsical Oz in the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

why is Facebook running Facebook ads promoting Facebook?

You’ve probably seen them, and maybe as a marketer, you’ve been slightly confused as to why Facebook is running promotional ads on its own platform. Luckily, AdAge has investigated, and learned that the ads are a result of an ongoing and open-ended campaign dubbed "Where will your friends take you?" According to Facebook, the campaign aim is to build a better understanding of the brand itself, rather that just its many uses. So our next biggest question is how much ad revenue are they passing up by doing this? We can only guess!

constantly freezing? Your life is about to change

Some people simply seem to ALWAYS be cold. This can be particularly irritating for not only the person, but also anyone sharing a living or office space with them. MIT Senseable City Laboratory has developed a product called ‘Local Warming’, which delivers localized heat to areas directly around the cold-blooded individual. Hopefully this will provide peace to the thermostat wars once-and-for-all.

if it's the internet, it must be about cats

Everyone knows that cats secretly invented the intertubes (Al Gore notwithstanding) to convince the world of their cuteness. What they're really plotting has yet to be revealed, but we at Brandflakes would like it be known that we, for one, welcome our new feline overlords… In the meantime, it appears they're making inroads into our classic artworks. In this series of abominations from artist Svetlana Petrova, grossly obese tabby Zarathustra defiles forever some of the world's beloved masterworks, once again convincing us that Photoshop is an evil tool.

coke thinks little

To promote the launch of its new 150ml can (that's about 5oz for the metrically-challenged), did Coke create a big extravaganza, or invent a cool new interactive vending machine? Oh no. In typical just-right fashion, they downsized the hoopla with a mini-kiosk experience. No two ways about it, this is just plain cute, and done just the way it should be.

the man your man could smell like revealed

If there's anyone out there who hasn't seen the now-legendary Old Spice spot "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like", please raise your hand. No one? Anyone? Bueller? Well, in case you thought the spot was done in a cozy studio and is mostly CGI, think again. Laughing squid gives us a pretty cool glimpse into how the spot was done here. I'm on a horse.

lowe's (almost) holodeck

The future is (somewhat) here! Google has a self driving car, VR headsets are all the rage, and now Lowe's is giving us the beginnings of a Holodeck. Their "Holoroom" will give people the ability to see their projects virtually come to life. All one has to do is find one of these crazy rooms, input our details, and walk around the room with a tablet to view how things would potentially look in real life. It's still a bit of a ways away from enjoying a glass of synthahol with Captain Kirk and Commander Riker, but it is a move in the right direction.

queued up for rice snacks

If Steve Irwin taught us anything it's that Aussies be crazy.  Australian agency Clemenger BBDO partnered up with a snack brand to see what people in Australia would endure for a free sample of rice snacks. Turns out the answer is pretty much anything. The latest shows people making their way though a serpentine queue in some questionable circumstances. But, is anyone surprised that and Aussie would forge through murky water for a snack? Isn't that just an average day in the outback?

your coke is on the way

Are you tired of your roommate stealing you Coke? Does it bring rageful tears to your eyes when you reach in the fridge for your favorite carbonated sugar water only to find that it has been stolen by your significant other? Has this resulted in years of therapy and thousands of dollars worth of Sharpies? Well, Coca-cola has finally come to your rescue, as long as your name is on their pre-approved list. The 'personalized' bottles swap out the logo for one of 250 top names for teens and millennials for their "Share a Coke" campaign.

"But my parents wanted to make sure I had a unique name. They spelled it in a fun and interesting way so that my teachers in school had to stare at the paper for 5 minutes before calling my name on the first day of school. What will I do?" you may ask. More therapy.

how your city does mornings

IKEA's commitment to making the lives of their customers better really shows in their new Life At Home series, which deeply researches the daily lives of city dwellers so IKEA can develop products that fit perfectly within their lifestyle. Sure, research is typically a huge part of many big brands' product development process, but few turn that research into super cool, interactive websites intended for consumers to play around with.

Enter IKEA's A World Wakes Up website which gives you fun, bite-size data points from the morning routines of IKEA customers in 8 major cities around the world. Data can be scrolled through for a nicely designed, story-telling like overview, or you can dig in deeper by click on the various Data Mixing Boards. Many of the data points are supported with helpful little tidbits of advice and scientific facts to make your mornings better.

A fun way to spend 15 minutes digging around to see how your morning routine compares to those around the world.

foot-fairy translator

It seems soccer has become more and more popular in the states over the last 10 years, but still most of us have no clue what the crap any of the lingo means. And, nothing makes you more acutely aware of your complete lack of futbol knowledge than when the World Cup rolls in.

This June, follow the action like a champ with the Football to Football Translator Google Chrome extension, which translates soccer lingo into terms you can understand... American football terms, of course!

Just visit any website talking about all the World Cup action, and the extension will give you the definitions of various words, and liken them to American football terminology.

How handy dandy!

texting & driving taken to the next level

We've seen a LOT of PSA ads with bloody, startling crash scenes begging people to stop texting and driving. And, although most of them are very well-done and 100% right, they still can seem a bit removed from people's personal lives. After all, most of those guilty of texting and driving think "it won't happen to me."

But this latest scare tactic from VW in Beijing, puts YOU in the driver's seat, to bring it a little closer to home. As movie goers walked into the theater, their cell numbers were captured. Then, during the previews a clip is shown of a guy driving down a road, from the 1st person perspective. It seems you're driving along for a while. until suddenly everyone in the theater simultaneously gets a text message and...

...well, watch the video for the rest. Very powerful.

Ikea through the ages

Chances are you have never thought of the words “Ikea” and “museum” in the same sentence. The value furniture company wants to change that, with plans to turn its original store built in Älmhult, Sweden in 1958, into a corporate museum. The company estimates 200,000 people will make the trip to the museum each year. Believe it or not, they’re not just going for the meatballs!

music & fashion goes together like H&M

H&M understands that music and fashion go hand-in-hand. Partnering with Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Shanghai, the clothing retailer has released a new digital platform that allows customers to create their own personalized tracks and “remixes” by browsing through the new summer clothing collection and adding their selected fashion items into a music sampler. Creating your own unique tune is as easy as picking out a series of items with the sound effect they want. So, how long until a famous DJ makes an amazing compilation/outfit coming soon to an H&M store near you?

sweaty men, rejoice - the short suit is going mainstream

After spending their adult lives sweating through half of the year, men who are prone to overheating can breathe a sigh of relief. Apparently the short suit is beginning to catch on as an appropriate outfit option. Although they may look odd, your next subway ride to a job interview will be MUCH more comfortable. Just hope they don’t laugh you out of the room before you open your mouth.

paper towels for idiots

Two thumbs up for this fantastic instructional video, brought to you by Bounty and The Onion. Now we all know how to properly use paper towels. If Bounty is really smart, they will actually produce these paper towels.

Coke, bringing the world together one soft drink at a time

The Google of the soft drink world has come up with its latest invention: The Coke Bio Cooler. The cooler may be new, but the technology is ancient. Now everyone can have a cold drink on a hot day. Even those in areas without electricity. Probably not the first “need” on a list of many in a small Colombian town like this one, but it's probably a “nice to have.”

get pumped for the World Cup

The 2014 World Cup kicks off this Thursday. Whether you’re a die-hard or fair weather fan, you have to admit that futbol/soccer gets pretty exciting every 4 years. This new Beats By Dre ad (if you can call it that) gives us a look into the Game Before the Game. Well done.

the game changing technology that changes everything

"I love it... I don't understand it, but I love it." That's right, you may not understand what you are seeing, but you will love this game changing idea. Because it answers the age old question, what is marketing? Technology. Innovation. Creativity. Mashing sh!t together. Hopefully you now feel inspired to do something great today. You're welcome.

the new social king of gluten

Do you fancy yourself a top notch baker? Have you ever heard of King Arthur? Do you associate both to that delicious cinnamon roll you now wish you had in front of you? Well, soon you may. King Arthur Flour company is taking to the social internets, and the street to spread the word about how much better their flour is than all the other flour companies. They have hired bloggers, a food truck and will be instragraming itself in an effort to raise brand awareness among "young bakers." You could say that King Arthur is just looking to brush off the competition by spending some dough...

adidas' bloody world cup ad

There has been a lot of attention shifting to Brazil lately with the World Cup nearing opening day. Adidas is just trying to help out by apparently pissing off every animal rights activist in the world. The ad features bloody cow hearts in the hands of competitors like Lukas Podolski who is going to "give my heart in our bid to win the World Cup." A little on the nose, don't you think?

tastes like burning...

Imagine if you had a scotch brand, and people that tasted it said things like "tastes like a burning hospital" or "the definition of medicinal" or "taste like briny fish"... you'd probably not put that stuff in your ads right?

Well, Laphroaig did in their Opinions Welcome campaign, because they understand good Scotch is not for everyone. And, in some of those "negative" or "confussed" comments, there is some truth, because really, scotch is an acquired taste that only select people are awesome enough to appreciate.

Clever.

the internet in real-time (infographic)

You can do a bazillion things on the internet (we counted... really), and this live infographic shows you (in real-time) the bazillions of people doing just a fraction of those things like watching videos, posting on social media, uploading files, and so on. It's too hypnotizingly awesome not to check out.

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googles "street" value

Google street view sees everything... including brands' outdoor advertising. So every time someone checks out a street view somewhere where there's outdoor advertising, that brand is getting free exposure. Free incremental exposure that has a monetary value. Monetary value just hanging there, ready to be cashed in.

And that's exactly what JCDecaux did... in a round about way. They sent 53 of Belgium's largest advertisers a framed picture of their outdoor ads visible in a Google street view photo with a fake invoice for the incremental exposure they got from it.

The stunt was to draw some attention to their digital capabilities and ask these big advertisers for a meeting. Apparently it worked. Apparently it's brilliant.

your face as a donut

Turns out, baked goods can resemble people more than you would expect! A new creative photo series Donut Double pairs the delicious treats with people who closely resemble them. After checking the series out, a quick quiz on DonutDoubles.com tells you which donut matches your personality.

the best Mother’s Day present?

According the Electrolux, the best Mother’s Day present is avoiding airplane food. In a very unusual spin on Mother’s Day, Saatchi & Saatchi has developed a heartwarming video of a college-bound daughter receiving her mother’s home-cooked meal on a flight. While we appreciate the sentiment, really anything is better than a miniature bag of pretzels.

can an app curb texting and walking?

Although not as dangerous as texting while driving, texting while walking is surely not safe either. In an effort to make our crosswalks safer, AT&T has developed an app development competition in an effort to get pedestrians and drivers to put down the phones for the duration of their trips. The results should be interesting, and most likely frustrating for anyone addicted to their phone.

coke coerces college kids to converse

Coca-cola's been pretty steady on their brand promise since the days of hippies running around a field wanting to teach the world to sing: Happiness, sharing, diabetes, all that. So their recent stunt doesn't disappoint. To get freshmen talking to each other on their first day of college, they handed out bottles of Coke that could only be opened by another bottle. Cute. Guess you might as well get a jumpstart on that freshman 15 and toss in a little tooth decay…

intense paper sculpture

If paper dolls were, say, here…… and origami was, let's say…………………here, then Li Hongbo's paper sculptures would be about……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………here. Were these amazing pieces of art crafted in marble, they'd rank amongst the world's great art. The fact that they're made from thousands of pieces paper puts them in another universe altogether. Basically they make anything you ever made, or ever will make, no matter how beautiful or amazing, look like crap. Give up. He won. Check it out.

motivations for the chronically trite

Motivational posters have been around since the beginning, when cavemen drew the first "Hang in there, baby" with a cute saber-toothed tiger kitten hanging from a branch on the walls of their caves. Only briefly interrupted by the pot & peace posters from 1967 - 1972, they've recently experienced a truly loathsome uptick courtesy of Instagram filters and social sharing. Add to that the shallow seas of the hipster era, and we find ourselves drenched to the bone by the perfect storm of mawkish sentimentality and deep-not-deep cliche. Shudder along if you feel the spirit. Fortunately, for those who aren't blessed with the emotional IQ of a 14-year-old girl, Design You Trust is featuring a series of parody posters for the cynical amongst us. Consider it still drinking the Kool-Aid… but with a whiskey back.