Adidas' "Cantina"

So Adidas made a somewhat risky move recently.

They took the famous cantina scene from the even more famous Star Wars for their new Fifa ad. They didn’t remake it or parody it, but actually added to it with some recognizable popular figures of today.

That’s right. The cantina is the place to be when it comes to watching the Fifa games. David Beckham, Snoop Dogg, Canadian Jay Baruchel, Ciara, Franz Beckenbauer, Noel Gallagher, Ian Brown, and DJ Neil Armstrong (I’m sure I must be missing someone) all hang out there, along with the original Star Wars characters (yes, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and C-3PO are all present).

And at the end of this 2 minute spot? “Celebrate originality.” You can't deny it - watching Snoop Dogg use a light saber is pretty damn original.

I like it.

Hovis "Miss Chief 60s"

Think back to when you were growing up. Remember that kid who never followed the rules? A little bit of class clown mixed with a whole lot of troublemaker?

Well that girl stars in this ad for Hovis (created by MCBD), and you see her load a washing machine with much too much soap, race grocery carts, turn an innocent ballet class into a big wrestling match, beat the boys at soccer, and much more along to some very catchy music (“Ça Plane Pour Moi” by Plastic Bertrand).

“There comes a time when it’s good to be good” says the voiceover 40 years later as our main character’s toast pops out of the toaster. Hovis is made with 50% oats.

Huggies "I've got chic in my pants"

Sexy music and women with windblown hair are present in this ad accompanying a total babe… literally.

This JWT New York ad for Huggies (limited edition) denim patterned diapers is pretty hilarious. An adorable baby boy strolls down the street to a song composed particularly for this ad (or so I’m assuming, considering the lyrics include phrases like “My diaper is full… full of chic” and “When it’s a number 2, I look like number 1”). He shocks people with his great style, checks himself out in the mirror, and eventually climbs into his sweet ride.

Pedigree's "Heroes"

So I was just playing around on my computer with the TV on for background noise when the voice of one commercial caught my attention. I rewound my TiVo and saw it was an ad put out by Pedigree asking us to adopt a sheltered dog. With all of the euthanasia that's going on at the ASPCA in Newmarket, this ad hit my soft spot (background article here, and update article here).

The commercial, by TBWA\Chiat\Day, shows several wise dignified dogs sitting in their cages at the shelter while the voice states, "Shelter dogs aren't broken. They've simply experienced more life. If they were human we would call them wise. They would be the ones with tales to tell and stories to write - the ones dealt a bad hand who responded with courage. Do not pity a sheltered dog, adopt one."

I can't have a dog at my place, but now I wish I could. This is a gorgeous commercial.

Quizno's Online Ads

In my second semester of 3rd year (I just finished 4th) I took a course called Advertising and Sales Promotion Management. Our professor (who was great by the way) asked us to save any bizarre or controversial ads that we found for the last day of class when we would share them all with each other.

Well I was just cleaning out my Photobucket account and came across these big box ads for Quiznos that I shared that day (March 2009). I'm not sure who created these ads, but I believe it may have been Nitro as AdFreak posted that Nitro created that controversial TV spot with "Scott" (here), but if anyone knows the truth, please be sure to let me know! Anyway, I came across them on Vice Magazine's website, which is known to have some seriously controversial stuff (and my god, it's great).

These ads, seen below, compare Quizno's footlong subs to, how should I say this - a man's junk. They're most definitely hilarious... but I'm not quite sure they make me crave a sub! Then again, I'm not the target audience... obviously.

Dairy Farmers of Canada's "All you need is cheese"

So I saw this ad outside of the movie theatre on my way to see Kick-Ass and immediately asked my boyfriend to snap a shot with his iPhone ( I actually forgot mine, very unlike me). So what drew my attention to this bus stop poster?

It's different.

"All you need is cheese" is a campaign for the Dairy Farmers of Canada developed by Taxi Montreal. In this poster you see a little muscle man made of cheese lifting a cracker at least 10 times his size.

On it's own, this ad appears to be telling us that eating cheese makes you stronger, but if you compare it to the television commercials they've created, they seem to be saying that cheese makes food more interesting.

Either way, this TTC poster is an eyecatcher.

Windows 7's Happy Words

So these ads are a little old (about September I believe?), but they're absolutely adorable and I was thinking about them tonight. Windows 7 uses a sweet little girl, Kylie, to sell their product.

In the first ad with Kylie, she emailed some pictures, saying that she was only 4 - that's just how easy it is to use. The second one is my favorite, however. Kylie, despite her young age is able to make slideshows. Kylie copied and pasted the words that make her dad so happy (Windows 7 features copied from Gizmodo reviews), and put them into a slideshow with pictures of kittens and unicorns, things that make her happy.

She's so cute I could just eat her up.