Fashion/beauty brand Dior has us seeing red aplenty in this new commercial/music video featuring its Lady Dior spokeswoman, Oscar winner Marion Cotillard.

What begins as a lament about "finding perfection in chaos" soon builds up into a rocking tune called "Eyes of Mars," which Cotillard collaborated on with Franz Ferdinand. The actress as always looks smashing whether traipsing through her red-filled surroundings and wistfully singing or confidently fronting a band (not actually Franz Ferdinand) and looking like one of Robert Palmer's backup performers.

She's got the pipes as her filmography will attest to and director Jonas Akerlund--the man who helmed Prodigy's infamous "Smack My Bitch Up" video--shows his softer side in this marketing push that we imagine is not a tribute to Chris de Burgh.

Via Stereogum

More: "Kings of Leon Parlays Ubiquity into Fashion Line"

If the Sesame Street spoof wasn't proof enough about how much Mad Men has infiltrated pop culture, take a gander at the above image of a new Barbie collection featuring characters from the show including Don and Betty Draper and Roger Sterling.

The New York Times reports that there will be 7,000 to 10,000 copies of each $75 doll, which together are part of Mattel's premium-price collector's series called Barbie Fashion Model Collection. While the Mad Men figures won't come with the usual accoutrements like cigarettes, ashtrays or martini glasses, it's still baffling how this grown-folks show has become so embraced by kid-focused brands.

While show creator Matthew Weiner tells NYT he's rejected many proposals for licensed Mad Men products because he doesn't "want the show to be exploited," he says about the Barbie collection, "Anybody who likes the show for its attention to detail will get that from the dolls." If you say so...

More: "Behind the Music, Mad Men Style"

Sony's finally giving us something from its "Make.Believe" campaign that needn't rely on the witticisms of Peyton Manning. Dubbed "The Rocket Project", the effort features 8 brainy students who are picked to form a collective mindmeld, take a crash course in rocket science and build a rocket in 30 days for launch. While the basic message is that the Vaio has more computing power than the first rocket to reach the moon (then why is mine currently collecting dust at the Geek Squad?), one can also say that it shines a positive light on the U.S. education system. According to the clip, the "Project" officially launches on April 12.

Via Metal Potential

More: "Sony Stares Down the Rabbit Hole"

Be in the right place at the right time today and you could win free airfare from JetBlue.

More: "Did You Know JetBlue's CEOs Serve Drinks on Flights?"

With the idea being simply to "visualize the warmth of natural gas," TBWA\Brussels and Lovo Films spent 4 days and 4 nights whipping up this cute, visually appealing spot that supplants CG for stop-motion. Directed by Olivier Babinet, the advert was made with the use of four cameras along with wool and other materials--something that's sure to please practical effects purists.

After the jump, check out the 3 1/2-minute making-of clip, which doesn't get too technical and includes a good amount of commiserating amongst the 40 crew members, but should nonetheless give you a little peek into how the spot was done.

More: "Cool: Digital Domain Alum's Audi Spec"

continued...

It's a good day for IPG, as MRM Worldwide and Mullen have landed the much-anticipated Century 21 account. MRM takes the lead agency role for the brand's national campaign work Update: and digital, but the bigger news may be that Mullen nabbed lead shop for PR and social media.

To do it, Mullen stamped out PR powerhouse Burson-Marsteller — the incumbent, reports PRNewser. Also in the final round were Shift Communications and Kel & Partners.

"I think winning Century 21 is validation of an approach we’ve been developing for some time now," said Edward Boches, chief creative and social media officer at Mullen. "Social media isn't about SEO or the new platforms, or even reputation management. It's about conversation strategy, content, creativity and, of course, analytics."

We've yet to confirm but word is incumbent McGarry Bowen didn't make the final round. The three finalists were MRM, Mullen and another shop we've yet to uncover.

Update: MRM is also lead digital agency.

Via Century21

More: "Mullen Creative Director Can't See the Glass for the Door"

-Here's a slew of creatives uses of typography in advertising. link

-The Google Apps Marketplace's motto: Integrate, Publish, Sell. link

-They won't stand for American Apparel ads, but the ASA cleared one for a Durex "pleasure gel." link

-Bummer: Marketing/advertising employment levels expected to change little in Q2 of this year. link

-StumbleUpon is overhauling its ad system. link

-"Cult" beverage maker Jones agrees to a fairly cheap takeover. link

More: "Tuesday Morning Stir"

-Mullen was inspired by Crank Yankers when creating this new Zappos ad. link

-A tribe in eastern India takes out an ad in Variety asking for James Cameron's help with their own Avatar-like plight. link

-The One Club announced the third quarter finalists for the 2010 One Show Interactive. link

-This contextual targeting flub will surely mend fences between Yankees and Red Sox fans. link

-Digital ad spending will outdo print in 2010. link

-New York-based firm appssavvy promoted Calvin Wong to COO. link

-The New York Times gives Gothamist a taste of its own medicine. link

-French fashion designer Thierry Mugler is attempting a comeback with a female-friendly website and the help of NYC agency Johannes Leonardo. link

-New York's Darling Agency launched a new campaign for Insight Communications. link

-Seth Godin will be a keynote speaker at the PMA conference in Chicago. link

More: "Monday Odds and Ends"

Your fine china and dining accessories are in good hands as you can see in this viral-intended clip which promotes BMW's 2010 S1000RR bike--apparently the most powerful liter bike in the world. The obligatory fake/real debate about this tablecloth-pulling stunt has already started raging on Viralmente's YouTube page. But considering the bike goes from 0-100 km/h in 2.9 seconds, one can argue that it can't all be smoke n' mirrors.

Via Adverblog and Culture Buzz

The agency known as Plaid will from here-on-out be known as Humongo, which according to UrbanDictionary means "Really really really huge!" The shop announced its acquisition by Norwalk, CT based SourceMarketing earlier today. That agency is owned by MDC Partners.

Just yesterday MDC announced it has purchased south Florida's TEAM Enterprises, an experiential firm that services Fortune 100 clients.

"We're pretty stoked," the agency announced on its blog — brandflakesforbreakfast. "We'll now have the resources to grow like never before. We'll have access to affiliate agencies that provide our clients what we can't. Imagine a small digital creative agency with the keys to the big guys. That's Humongo."

You know Plaid, err, Humongo, from their tours-de-America in a van. The annual trip was called PlaidNation but will from here on is called HumongoNation. This is their video about the changes.

Meet Humongo from Humongo on Vimeo.

More: "MDC Acquires South Florida Experiential Marketing Firm"

Lately we've been harping on shops for ripping off actual artists' work. Copying other things is an age-old aspect of advertising and I think one reason we get our undies in a bunch about it is if Kiran, Kaitlin or I "copy" things, we get fired. Advertisers get paid a lot of money, in some cases, for doing the same thing. There's more to it than that, but plagiarism is the ultimate sin for "journalists" and whether or not anyone cares to think of us as such, we still get fired for it. You get raises.

There are a number of reasons why copying other people's work is bad, but Mike Wolfsohn at High Wide & Handsome (aka "an uncommonly loyal marketing agency") disagrees with our habitual wringing out of copy-cat work. Why? Because in a very few cases it works and because advertising is not art, it is commerce. His words, not mine. A lot of reasons why he's wrong, after the jump.

continued...

Amid all the grumblings of possible layoffs and what not from New York to Atlanta, Schematic finally has some positive news to report as the WPP unit has tapped AKQA alum Jason Whiting to serve as managing director of its Big Apple office.

Whiting, who spent seven years at AKQA, was first based in the digital agency's San Fran base and was an account director on Xbox and Nike before eventually moving up to New York in 2008 to lead AKQA's East Coast operations in NY and D.C. Prior to his agency work, Whiting (whose departure from AKQA was imminent as of last November) was a strategy consultant for Tiger Woods' favorite sponsor Accenture and also was press secretary for two different members of Congress while in D.C.

More: "AKQA Adds Staff on Both Coasts"