I was just talking yesterday about how cool I thought the new Mentos Gum billboards were in Toronto. I drove by one in the image of a cup of coffee yesterday on Front Street and wished that I would have pulled over to snap a pic. As luck would have it, today there is a full story on the campaign in Marketing Magazine. Be sure to watch the video.

I did a bit of PR on an Oregon Lottery campaign last year through Borders Perrin Norrander, Portland and Reginald Pike. You can view that campaign on my YouTube page. This new campaign, by Laika's Aaron Sorenson, is making the rounds on all the trade sites & I think it's amazing. Great work BPN.

Here's an interesting site. Not only is it based on the theory that every ad campaign has been done before, but that they've all been done before by one man. That man is Ben Dunn. Scooped from AdFreak. For the record, I don't think it's all Ben Dunn before.

Dirty dancing disco bunnies get it on in this new video directed by PLEIX. Producton company is Chased By Cowboys.

The Directors Bureau has launched a great new website. I love how it looks like a blog and it is so easy to navigate. One thing though, they really should have updated the director's bios. Check out how out of date the lovely Sofia Coppola's is. Yeesh.

I joined Facebook last week. I was holding out on doing it and now that I have an account I have to admit that I have a Facebook addiction. I'm sure it's a temporary fascination and that the novelty will wear off soon, right? If you have a Facebook account, you can view my profile here.

Okay, both of the postings for today, Audi (below) and Mercedes Benz, were scooped from yesterday's Shots Cut & Paste and I think they are both amazing. This gorgeous Mercedes spot is beautifully directed by Psyop via CLM BBDO. I also have always loved the song they used - It's a Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse. Director Robert Logevall (Anonymous Content) used the same song years ago in a Jack Daniels commercial.

Not only is this spot amazing, I love the design of the page it's posted on. It's a viral / HD-TV spot for the launch of Audi TT in Australia. Concept and Art Direction by Matt Pyke, programming by Karsten Schmidt. Commissioned by The One Centre.

I just got this winners email from the Dubai Lynx awards. The TV/Cinema Grand Prix winning spots for the Melody Channel are hilarious. Watch Private Lesson here and Hulk here. I prefer Hulk, the burger, the boobs, too funny.

This is the first time that Boards magazine has given the ad industry a chance to vote in the First Boards Awards for up-and-coming talent. Voting closes on April 5. Click here for more info.

Okay, this is by no means the funniest commercial I have ever seen, but it does make me giggle every time I see it on TV.

Stash magazine is hosting a Best of Stash 2006 screening this Thursday night at the Resistor Gallery on College Street. The line up includes 26 clips that Stash believes made a difference in 2006. Stash also has a great blog Feed. Check it out.

The showcase original series Big City Feelings premiered this week. In the first episode, Derek Whittaker, a giant lizard, is busy doing his taxes when his wife, Tiffany, announces she is heading out with a work colleague who happens to be a giant, horny ape. It was created and directed by Christopher Hutsul (who is signed to Reginald Pike for commercial representation). Watch the first episode here. Get more Hutsul here.

A miracle comes out of this squirrel's ass in this new spot for Vigorsol chewing gum. Directed by Stink's Ben Dawkins for BBH London. Scooped from this week's shots Cut & Paste. Such a big "miracle" for such a cute little squirrel.

Biscuit's Tim Godsall has directed these four spots for new chocolate-dipped Altoids -- and they are as bizarre as the concept of an Altoid covered in chocolate (so wrong & right all at once). Agency is Leo Burnett, Chicago; editorial by Matthew Wood, The Whitehouse, Chicago; f/x by Animal Logic, Australia. Australian Double Back is my favourite.

After a 26 year relationship Swiss Chalet, a Canadian rotiserie chicken restaurant chain, has decided to part ways with its agency ACLC who has launched WhyDidTheChickenCrossTheRoad.ca. There was an earlier version of this site where you could play a game to get the chicken safely across the road, think Frogger with feathers, but the most fun part was seeing what happened when the chicken got killed - feathers flying, shooting stars, etc. But ACLC decided that it would be more respectful to Swiss Chalet if they didn't allow people to actually kill the chicken. So, they killed the game portion of the site (too bad). On a side note, my favourite hangover cure is a Swiss Chalet quarter chicken dinner (white meat) with fries.

The 2007 winners of the BTAA are now posted online. Among the winners are Sony Bravia "Paint ", Carlsberg "Old Lions " and (one of my favs) PG Tips "The Return ". Mother won BACC award for Most Successful Advertising Agency of the Year. Scooped from Adland .

Beamo has revamped and relaunched bestadsontv.com .  The site now includes a Best Interactive & Online section and Your Space . 

I was hooked on Battle of the Planets as a child so I love this new MSTRKRFT video directed by Mike White. Scooped from Boards.

I love the aesthetic and the message behind this new spot from DDB Canada, which attempts to discourage youth from joining street gangs, but I'm not sure how effective it will be on their target audience. The website it drives traffic to is stayout.ca and on it is a list of jail terms for criminal acts. I know that when I am speeding on the 401, the list of speeding fines does not deter me from going over the speed limit. Nice creative none the less.

Here's some more wackiness from Reginald Pike's The Perlorian Brothers. These two spots, simply titled Cheryl and Richard, are for Orbit's new plaque fighting gum. Agency is AMV BBDO, London and they were produced via Rokkit, London. Want more Perlorian? Check out their website here.

In conjunction with the inaugural Boards Creative Workshop, which took place in Toronto yesterday, Boards has put together a reel of top ten emerging talents. You can watch the reel here. The next creative worshop will take place in San Francisco on May 3. Complete details are here and I bet the weather will be much better than it was yesterday in Toronto (snow storm & freezing rain).

Lowe Roche Toronto has launched bugsrock.ca to promote a bug exhibit at the Toronto Zoo. On the site are two films directed by Reginald Pike's Christopher Hutsul. Both star the Zoo's new spokesbug Jeb the Madagascar Cockroach. The first is the tale of Jeb's journey from Madagascar to Toronto, the second is a music video by Jeb's band Bugs Rock. The song is titled Hiss at You.

Coca-Cola Japan Co has redesigned its cans and bottles as part of its “The Coke Side of Life” marketing campaign. The beverage maker said Monday that the new look can will hit the Japanese market on Jan 29 before its introduction to the world market in March. The new design makes the can look a bit slimmer, no? The pic to the left almost looks like a before & after for a diet pill. Scooped from Freddy at adgoodness.