I have to admit that I found the first three episodes of Big Love Season Four pretty boring until the last five minutes in episode three. Now I'm hooked again. I'm also a fan of the new opening title sequence, which you can see here (sorry about the ad the comes up first but it's the only link to it I could find). NYC collective Legs shot a similar sequence, but with naked people, for their website last year. I highly suggest you check that out too (little nudity for a Friday). Enjoy.

I knew the flash mod was over when Oprah did it - and she did it so bad (shame on you Oprah). But this one for Dr. Pepper at the NYSE is really really painful. Please stop the flash mob. It's done. Found on Creative Review's blog, where there is more info, if you care to read on.

I'm not sure if this ad for Clean and Pretty Dry Cleaners would encourage me to dry clean more, but it sure is pretty. Agency is Leo Burnett, Frankfurt. Scooped from Freddy at advertising/design goodness.

Here's an amazing video, with some really good advise, created by Rethink to promote the first year of their Rethink Scholarship at Langara College. Learn more about the scholarship here. I like it so much I watched it three times back-to-back (no lie - I'm a terrible liar).

This 40 second trailer for the BBC's coverage of the Winter Olympics is a little ominous - and I like it. It's created by Studio AKA’s Marc Craste. Scooped from Motionographer.

Here's the extended director's cut of "Gauntlet" - a film created by directing duo DarkFibre for Armadillo Scooterwear. Very pretty and chill to ease you in to Monday morning & the clowns throwing cream pies is a nice touch. Not enough pie throwing in advertising, but I'm pretty sure we've almost reached the clown quota (this Walmart clown threw me for a loop). Kisses to Stephen at Stink for sending my way.

The latest from john st., Toronto for Maple Leaf is Republic of Bacon, dedicated to bacon and the people who love it - and who doesn't love bacon?! The campaign consists of three broadcast spots, Proposal, Sorry and Spa, and the microsite republicofbacon.com. The campaign announces Maple Leaf Bacon's new re-closable packaging (brilliant) as well as the community for bacon lovers at republicofbacon.com. Like any country, Republic of Bacon has many attractions: A casino where you can win bacon for a decade. A Red Light District where you can watch edgier videos. Restaurants where you can find select bacon recipes, a Public Service Announcements section where a Bacon Safety Sergeant provides bacon safety tips and where you can find the national anthem of the Republic of Bacon. A community that features bacon bloggers from around the net and so much more. and of course the Republic has its own YouTube Channel.  Full Credits. I'll end this post with the Republic's mantra:

Welcome to the nation where all our citizens are free to love bacon freely. To a land where people and bacon co-exist without rule. Without judgment. Or shame. A place where bacon is held on the highest of pedestals, and the second highest pedestal as well. Welcome to the Republic of Bacon. We hope you're not vegetarian.

Salty, the adorable character created by DDB Toronto for Knorr Sidekicks (with less salt) is back in two super cute yet sad spots (poor Salty can't get a break). Watch Salty try to get a date and try to find a new home. Gosh he's cute. The spots are directed by Sons and Daughters' David Hicks (who is also the man in the diner) with VFX by AXYZ. Full credits. Watch the original Salty spot here.

One of the nice new features on the newly designed Computerlove site is the "Popular this Week" post, which is where I stumbled across these beautiful images of Animals in the Womb (and no, that pink baby elephant is not the logo of the Republican party). The stills are from the National Geographic documentary Extraordinary Animals in the Womb. More info on Cpluv.

Not feeling Diesel's new Stupid campaign. I think it's...um...stupid.

Avant-garde filmmaker Yang Fudong has created a beautiful film for Prada's Spring/Summer collection. "First Spring" is a nostalgic tribute to Shanghai of the 20s and 30s - a time when the city was a centre of film production - and takes its inspiration from a Chinese proverb: "The whole year’s work depends on a good start in Spring." It's is on the home page of the Prada website or you can watch here on YouTube. Very pretty. Love the harnesses and mesh umbrellas. Found via @DazedMagazine.

I love this spot for McDonald's Big Mac that has been airing for a few months in Canada. It's a bit of a departure for the brand, visually beautiful, and I like that. Kudos to Cossette. Music is amazing too - created by Eggplant who was kind enough to forward a link to the spot (better late than never Adam & thank you Ann Marie).
On a personal note, I was very proud that up to a year ago I had never tried a Big Mac - not even a nibble. I'm not a big fan of bread, I know it's weird, and that extra piece they put in there really turns me off. But on one morning, when I went to pick up my second favourite hang over cure, a quarter pounder with cheese (favourite is Swiss Chalet quarter chicken with fries), they accidentally gave me a Big Mac instead. I tried it. I like it. But I haven't had one since. I blame that on not enough hung over mornings (good thing).

The latest from Venables Bell and Partners is this four-spot camapign for The Meth Project. There are a lot of anti-drug campaigns out there, but I don't think I've ever seen a campaign as visually stimulating as this or with such high production value. It feels weird to write about how beautiful an anti-meth campaign is, but these spots are gritty and beautiful. The four spots, Ben, Jessica, Kevin and Tracy, are directed by Wally Pfister (Independent Media Inc.) with editorial by Paul Martinez at Arcade Edit and post by Airship. Full credits are here.

In these slightly demented idents for Cartoon Network, origami paper character suffer some grizzly deaths. Created by Injaus Design. Found via the BromaxBDA Newsletter.

Hongkiat.com has posted some amazing eye candy - a wonderful collection of paper art and paper sculptures by a variety of different artists. Scooped from Stimulant.

Some nice animation from Elastic for Honda. As most often with car commercials, it's shame about the required product (car) shots. Agency is RPA.

Continuing on with the male genitalia theme (see post below), here's a funny new campaign from Axe. The name says it all.

I laughed my head off last night when I saw this spot promoting Rogers Adult on Demand Service. I don't think I've ever seen such a strong reference to male masterbation in a TV commercial.

I love The xx and I wish I were in London to see the 3D interpretation of their debut album at The Vinyl Factory. The project, headed up by Partizan - The Dark Room's Saam Farahmand, is being unveiled sometime this week - if it already hasn't been.
From an interview with Shots, Farahmand said, "I have been trying to interpret songs and albums into physical spaces that swallow people up. When I love a band or an album, I want to swim in it, be completely immersed in it."
The project, titled "xx: A Sculpture of the Album", utilizes film, light, and sound via three specially created audio- visual units (each unit representing one member of the band). The units are mixed with exclusively filmed footage and sound from the album to create a musical and visual 3D experience that is unique to each visitor to the audio visual show.
More info is on the Shots site. I can't wait to see a video of the project & will post it as soon as I see it. In the meantime, watch their Basic Space video (love the weeping guitar).

Back in December (2009 seems so long ago), I announced the launch of the Dogbook iPhone app. I'm pleased to report that the free app (download here) now has over 70,000 users and has been on the New and Noteworthy list on iTunes for the past two weeks. Congrats to Dogbook creatators Geoffrey Roche (also the CCO of Lowe Roche, Toronto), Alexandre Roche (son to Geoffrey) and Five Mobile.

Features of the app include photo uploads, list other Dogbook users who are near you (could so be used as a dating tool) and locates nearby dog parks no matter where you are in the world. Lost a dog? You can use the application’s “Arf Alert” to send a message to all Dogbook users within a 15-kilometre radius with a photo and your contact information. Found a dog? Call the happy owner right from your phone. A video showcasing the features of the app is here.

I'm Canadian, I live in Toronto and as much as I hate snow, we just have a little dusting of it now, it sure is pretty. Bucharest-based graphic designer Andrei D. Robu, lead designer and partner at Acme, has created this beautiful Graphic Design Study of the Snowflake. Scooped from swissmiss.

Osocio, for those of you who don't know, is a site that features the very best in social advertising and non-profit campaigns. This week they are doing something a little different, they have posted what they believe are the ten best campaigns of 2009. And you get good karma for checking it out ;)

Über Content director Jason Kohn is traveling across America shooting real people and their stories for Draft FCB New York’s campaign for the 2010 U.S. Census. All of the films are posted on the 2010 Census website (and more are being shot to be posted at a later date).
I've posted a few of my favs on glossy - like Chris the taxidermist (I know it's morbid, but something about taxidermy fascinates me), green-roof-gardeners Breanne & Dave, the great story of the Grand Ronde Tribe, the 72-year-old Lithuanian Restaurant and the Snow's Texas BBQ, a spot which tells people that filling out the ten question census will take you less time than waiting in line to order at this popular Texan BBQ.

More info on the campaign is posted here along with full credits.

I just stumbled across the Vintage Ad Browser on Facebook (thanks Miss G). Not really a place to go for creativity but more for social studies, like the image here - who knew the way to a man's heart was through a pack of cigarettes?! A great time waster if you are looking for one.

The Communication Arts Advertising Annual is now out.
From CommArts: "The past year was a difficult one for advertising. Despite the challenging climate, we were pleased to still see some creative risk-taking in the entries submitted."
Check out the work here.

Here's a very funny spot from Specsavers to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Funny and pretty all at once. Love the music too. Well done.

The latest from TBWA Toronto and Holiday Films director Adam Massey is this four spot campaign for MADD aimed to help keep idiots off the road by encouraging people to call 911 (from a hands-free device of course). The four spots are Lenny, Rob, Hal and Ryan - love the "fighting copper with copper" line in the latter. Full credits and more campaign info is here.

Boards has done a nice retrospective on what they believe are the top ten spots from the last ten years. Happy to see Ecko "Still Free" included in their list (didn't see it on other lists). It was the first spot to ask the question "is it real or not". I saw Dave Droga speak about the campaign and I believe (99% sure) he said that CNN reported that it was real not once, but twice and that Air Force One actually went to check their planes to see if any were tagged. Fantastic.

I wish I would have seen this before the holidays, as it feels a bit dated now. Check out this music video promoting the new season of Big Love.

jajajajajaja - super cute gnocchi for Knorr via Altheim, Buenos Aires. Check out the three spots on Ads of the World - here, here, and here.

Speaking of cute and Knorr, I hear there are more "Salty" spots coming out via DDB Toronto and Sons and Daughters director David Hicks. I'll be sure to post them as soon as I get my hands on them.

Very nice execution for the Copenhagen Zoo via Packsaddlled Y&R. Scooped from Fubiz.

I have yet to see the Sherlock Holmes film, but am eager to as I'm a big fan of Robert Downey Jr. and Guy Ritchie. I'm also looking forward to seeing it to see if Madonna sucked all the creativity out of poor Mr. Ritchie (I'm hoping she didn't). I was checking out Computerlove today & saw that they have the end credit sequence posted, created by Prologue Films. Very Nice.

Don't have a resolution? Monica Velarde has created this handy resolution generator to give you some suggestions and there are some really good ones too, including "not make any resolutions" (cheeky). Found via Notcot. One of my resolutions, and I have many, is to work less and live more. Hope I can keep it.