From Excitement to Efficiency
A new spot for the Renault hybrid Captur E-Tech offers a pulse-pounding snapshot of what car commercials have looked like over the decades, while putting the spotlight on some of its own iconic models.
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Plant Power, Reimagined
It’s a spot for sports nutrition brand VOOM’s range of plant-based energy bars. Hence, the fact that it stars British professional rock climber, Louis Parkinson, and has the look of a sports documentary, is quite understandable. But watch out: there’s a darkly funny twist that you won’t see coming.
Severed Head Pomade
That’s a new product from men’s hair care brand Reuzel in “collaboration” with canned water brand Liquid Death (the pomade has a drop of Liquid Death in it). It’s being promoted with a spot that is quite in line with what one has come to expect from Liquid Death commercials.
PS: By way of added context, Reuzel used to describe its name as “spelled with a Z, and pronounced with a middle finger”. And it continues to flaunt its offerings as “everything you need to look like a proper scumbag”.
Husband shares revenge porn on family’s advice
From a news report out of India:
The newlywed couple was yet to begin their married life when things took a wrong turn. The man on receiving his wife’s objectionable video on his wedding night, showed it to his mother and brother, and the duo advised him to circulate it on social media.
The man did the same on Wednesday inviting action against him and his kin. The police have registered a case against the man, his brother and mother and also the woman's ex, who has shared the woman’s video, said police.
Horses trigger rush hour chaos in London
Five military horses spooked by noise from a building site bolted during routine exercises on Wednesday near Buckingham Palace, threw off four riders and caused chaos as they galloped loose through central London streets and collided with vehicles during the busy morning rush hour.
Papa Johns launches a garlic butter candle
A limited batch of edible candles that melt into its signature garlic sauce dip.
Snake Bite Advisory
To quote from the summary of a news report out of Australia:
Health officials are warning people not to attempt to catch snakes after they have been bitten.
The caution comes after snake bite victims have brought the reptiles with them into the Emergency Department.
Doctors say calling for help, administering first aid and remaining calm is all patients need to do.
Baggage
If the coverage on numerous ad review websites is to be believed, this 3 minute short is at the behest of a luxury baggage firm out of India by the name of Hideous. As it happens, beyond a perfunctory but good-looking website, I couldn’t find anything online to support the existence of this firm. Still, the short is worth a watch i.e. if you don’t mind some very black humour.
PaintCam- Paintball-Firing Security System
As claimed on the Kickstarter website, it’s the “first security system with integrated real-time face recognition & game-changing paintball marking for preventive and reactive safety”.
Then there’s this on the product website:
PaintCam takes action, marking intruders with precision using paintballs or tear gas projectiles.
Unbannable Pleasure Items
A new outdoor campaign from sex toys retailer Lovehoney that is explained by the brand thus:
Our research found that 41% of adults are using everyday objects in place of sex toys - not only do you deserve better, but their use could be genuinely dangerous. As an homage to these items that are definitely Not A Sex Toy, Lovehoney has created a series of billboards featuring the objects to serve as a warning, and a reminder that the real thing just hits different.
We've dubbed the billboards as the "Unbannable Ads" - because advertising guidelines restrict what they consider to be 'explicit content', we have been forced to get creative with the items on display, just like everyone who has used one of the below items had to.
The brand also quoted its sexual health expert offering this advice:
Sex toys are made using body-safe silicone or other safe materials, and go through rigorous and extensive testing to ensure that they are safe to use on your bodies. Unsurprisingly, household objects have not gone through this process, so you’re better off just using your hands if you don’t have a sex toy, and for the love of God don’t put anything up your bum that doesn’t have a flared base!
Marmite Smugglers
A fun spot for Marmite that one reviewer described thus:
Adopting the style of an investigative-style documentary, the ad completely nails the look and feel of that type of program. There are the blurred faces, the muffled voices and all the shocking twists and turns you would expect. If you’re from the UK, think along the lines of Channel 4’s Dispatches show.
What makes that utterly brilliant is just how unserious the whole thing is, but the gritty, pseudo-serious tone just adds to the hilarity. The absurdity of Marmite being contraband is so silly that it’s genius.
And for those who may want to actually experience what it feels like, Marmite is inviting Brits travelling to New York to “smuggle” a jar across.
Tail Orchestra
Pedigree comes up with the idea of of an orchestra “conducted” by dogs’ tails, and creates a 10-track album.
Geese Advisory
From Texas: following an incident in the city of Allen that involved geese being stolen from a local park, which were subsequently rescued, Allen Parks and Recreation issued a list of dos and don’ts for visitors that included this notable piece of advice:
DON’T: Point at geese and insult their upbringing
Divorce by Mistake
As reported by The Guardian:
A couple were divorced by mistake after solicitors at a leading law firm made a computer error but a senior judge has said it cannot be overturned.
The couple, referred to as Mr and Mrs Williams by the high court, were married for 21 years until they separated in 2023.
Solicitors at the London firm Vardags, headed by Ayesha Vardag, the self-styled “diva of divorce”, used an online portal to mistakenly apply for a final order for the couple, who were still attempting to agree financial arrangements for their split.
So what was the “computer error”? To quote from the judgment:
The solicitors acting for the applicant, who had used the online divorce portal to apply for the final order, did so without the instruction or authority of their client, Mrs Williams. The solicitors have explained that the member of staff involved had intended to apply for a final order of divorce for another client, in a different divorce case, but inadvertently opened the electronic case file in ‘Williams v Williams’ and proceeded to apply for a final order in that case.
Going by the order, this led to a lot more confusion than the reports indicate. Consider, for instance, this notable submission by the husband’s counsel:
For a number of months, the Husband had not known whether he was married or not.
Reality Check @ Vilnius
From Lithuania: a contender for one of the strangest tourism ads ever. Go Vilnius —the agency tasked with promoting the capital city of Lithuania— has a history of quirky campaigns (see this and this) but its latest is on a whole new level altogether.
The Last Drop
To quote from a report:
Heinz says it has moved “at the speed of culture” to create its latest ad in just five days, in a bid to capture the energy and dynamism of social media.
‘The Last Drop’ was inspired by a video, shared on social media, of a mother licking spilt ketchup off her baby to avoid wasting it.
Super
From France: CANAL+ reaffirms its commitment to short films with a 3 minute short packed with action movie tropes and a punchline for the ages.
Fired ‘inactive’ election candidate turns out to be dead
As reported by Politico Europe:
The right-wing political party set up by U.K. Brexiteer Nigel Farage has apologized after publicly firing one of its election candidates for being “inactive” — when the candidate had in fact died.
Reform UK admitted it didn’t realize that Tommy Cawkwell, its election candidate in York Central, had perished when he was sacked for lack of activity.
“We can’t afford to have people doing nothing in an election year,” a party spokesperson had told local news outlet the York Press.
But Cawkwell had actually died two months before.
Believe it or not, the report quoted the Reform UK spokesperson Gawain Towler as saying that he was “mortified” at the error.
Burglary Dump
From Canada: a police media release about the arrest of a burglar yesterday began with this notable piece of information:
A Guelph woman has been arrested following a weekend break-in during which a large bowel movement was left in the victims’ toilet.
The media release carried no further mention of that “large bowel movement” or how that had any bearing on their reporting.