Natural to crave a Whopper
A new spot for Burger King weaves together footage of adorable toddlers, eager to get a taste of what their parents are having.
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The jeans are all that matter
NYC-based Olga Basha jeans follows up its ‘mystery label’ spot from earlier this year with a new 2 minute film that is, well, not for someone who is squeamish.
‘Indian civil servant’, explained by Wikipedia
To quote:
Indian civil servants, often referred to as “Babus”, collectively widely perceived as the self-serving collective known as the “babudom” at all levels of government and government-linked organisations, marked by the very low Government effectiveness index by the self-preserving hierarchies of tax-payers-paid government servants with the colonial exploitative mentality of lording over the tax-payers the babus are paid to serve. Though the good people in the system exist (even their goodness is questionable if they do not self-preservingly blow the whistle despite knowing the corruption), yet the Babus blatantly violate the conflict of interest by enabling, collaborating and complying with the corrupt politician dynasties and groups and breed the corruption and cronyism to maximising the corrupt spoils for themselves by the deliberate introducing illegal bribe-inducing procedural delays hindering the effective governance and public service delivery. They thrive beyond the elected term of corrupt political collaborators though the culture of self-preserving and risk aversion. They are ought to uphold, but have the ill repute of being the reverse of the good citizen, who violate the professional ethics lacking the voice of conscience, through their deliberate proactive hindrance to the customer service to the citizens they bring down the national productivity slowing down the development of nation.[1] [2][3] [4]
Indian civil servants, could be employed by the national, state or local government, PSU or elected officials at any level, they are easily recognised by the same attitude of entitlement, propensity for corruption and impunity with arrogance when questioned or held accountable.
Anything for Cheetos
Wednesday’s Thing is the star of a new spot for the snack brand, in partnership with Netflix.
More power… just in case
Ford is launching its new Ranger Hybrid across Europe with a campaign that pitches its power, alongside some delightful absurdity.
Holy Crocodile
After moving to Denmark, I never expected to be on set in the middle of Copenhagen Zoo, surrounded by kangaroos, with an actor saying, ‘So you want me to steal the Kangaroo?’. But there’s a first time for everything.
That’s from one of the creative minds behind the promotional film for this year’s Down Under Film Festival in Copenhagen, and it sure packs in a ton of fanciful ideas that many Europeans have, or so we’re told, about what someone from Australia might look or speak like.
PS: There’s also this ‘public service announcement’ put out by the festival organisers on social media:
Crocs optional. Kangaroos not required.
Ice cream tragedies
Ice cream brand CVT employs high drama to point out the downside of drippy ice cream.
Spot 1: Lake House
Spot 2: Lottery Ticket
Ben Stiller makes a bubbly move
The actor has launched his own brand of soda with a spot in which he pitches the soda alongside wacky interjections by Justin Theroux.
PS: As one might expect, the humour extends elsewhere across the promotion. This is the fine print laid out for for anyone considering signing up for email updates, on the product website:
Recipients acknowledge that, despite stylistic choices in copywriting, no actual carbonation, bubbles, or sparkling matter can be transferred via the medium of email. Should bubbles appear in your inbox, you are advised to shut down your computer immediately and seek spiritual counsel.
Coyote ugly, explained
That is, as explained by the inimitable Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County, Florida, at a recent news conference.
Willem Dafoe is delightfully expressive about Laphroaig
The single malt whisky brand has kicked off its collaboration with the actor, with a whimsical 3 minute film that doubles as a showcase of Dafoe’s dramatic flair.
Sausage roll-inspired design
A bean bag and a clutch—inspired by the iconic sausage roll of UK bakery chain Greggs.
Arguing over pets leads couple to seek divorce
To quote from a report out of India:
The couple bonded over their shared love for pets before marriage. The husband, a resident of Bhopal, already had a pet dog, a rabbit, and a fish tank, while the wife, originally from Uttar Pradesh, brought her cat along after their wedding.
Initially, the couple lived together without much trouble, but soon clashes between the animals sparked disputes between the couple.
According to the wife, her husband’s dog “continuously barks at her cat, leaving it scared and stressed, sometimes even refusing to eat.” The husband, however, alleged that his wife’s cat “often sits near the fish tank and stares at the fish” and has “turned violent towards the dog multiple times.”
As arguments over their pets escalated, the couple decided to seek divorce. The case has now reached the family court.
‘A whole new Disney’
Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach’s roast is brilliant and savage.
Link to video (NSFW)
2025 Ig Nobels
A few of the winner citations:
Peace Prize
“for showing that drinking alcohol sometimes improves a person’s ability to speak in a foreign language.”
Nutrition Prize
“for studying the extent to which a certain kind of lizard chooses to eat certain kinds of pizza.”
Psychology Prize
“for investigating what happens when you tell narcissists—or anyone else—that they are intelligent.”
Engineering Design Prize
“for analyzing, from an engineering design perspective, how foul-smelling shoes affect the good experience of using a shoe-rack.”
One award that deserves particular mention:
Literature Prize
“for persistently recording and analyzing the rate of growth of one of his fingernails over a period of 35 years.”
So why would this have garnered a ‘literature’ prize? As explained in the Ars Technica coverage:
If you're surprised to see a study on fingernail growth rates under the Literature category, it will all make sense once you read the flowery prose stylings of Dr. Bean [the winner]. He really did keep detailed records of how fast his fingernails grew for 35 years, claiming in his final report that “the nail provides a slowly moving keratin kymograph that measures age on the inexorable abscissa of time.” He sprinkles his observations with ponderous references to medieval astrology, James Boswell, and Moby Dick, with a dash of curmudgeonly asides bemoaning the sterile modern medical teaching methods that permeate “the teeming mass of hope and pain, technical virtuosity, and depersonalization called a ‘health center.’”
Dog poo-filled gold pendant
Dubbed ‘The Poo(ch) Pendant’ it’s an offering from European dog food brand Butternut Box which announced it with this message:
We’ve turned perfect poos into pendants worth £9,500 (yes, really) to show the world that good gut health is worth its weight in gold.
What’s more, the pendants will be handcrafted by a specialist jeweller, with poo from each recipient’s own dog.
Visa for where you don’t want to be
Financial services giant Visa has a new spot that is narrated by Ryan Reynolds and which adds a twist to its tagline.
PS: It seems that Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort was one of the bidders for the Fyre Festival brand. To quote from the tongue-in-cheek press release by LimeWire, announcing the acquisition:
LimeWire secured the Fyre Festival brand after a competitive bidding process that included creative agency Maximum Effort, co-founded by Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds commented, “Congrats to LimeWire for their winning bid for Fyre Fest. I look forward to attending their first event but will be bringing my own palette of water.”
RIP Robert Redford
There’ll be those who remember him for offbeat movies like ‘The Candidate’ or ‘Downhill Racer.’ There will be those who’ll remember him as a great romantic leading man in movies like ‘The Way We Were.’ There will be those who will consider him a great force in the emergence of independent filmmaking. There will be those that will remember ‘Ordinary People’ as an impressive directorial debut. The one thing he has always been is difficult to anticipate. I think he enjoys, in a perverse way, not doing what you expect him to do.
That was the late Sydney Pollack speculating about Redford’s legacy with Variety magazine in 2002.
And here’s a cinematic moment that was unexpected—from Havana (1990), a little-remembered movie, and the last of Redford’s seven collaborations with Pollack as the director. To quote a commenter on Rotten Tomatoes, “Robert Redford looks a bit weathered in this one, but less weathered when he takes on 2 American foxes half his age in a menage a trois”.
Non-stop distress
Chery Australia finds a rather unusual way to promote the driving range of its Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid.