-According to reports, Facebook will file for its IPO next week. link

-Meanwhile, FTC head Julie Brill isn’t mincing words when it comes to Facebook and Google’s privacy issues. link

-According to a Deutsche Bank analyst, we could be seeing more cuts within the MDC Partners network. link

-Walton Isaacson tapped former Genre publisher Bill Kapfer to lead its LGBT marketing effors. Kapfer will be based in WI’s NYC office.

-The Ad Club Denver’s 2011 “50″ winners have been revealed. link

-Sports bar/restaurant chain Buffalo Wild Wings tapped Fallon to serve as its new lead creative agency. link

-We missed this one, but Enfatico insists reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated. link

-Tennis pros take, um, center court in a new campaign for Wilson Racquet Sports from Wexley School for Girls (above). link

-Chicago ad firm Two by Four opened up a second office in Chattanooga, Tennessee. link

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Each week, we’re sent hundreds of pieces of advertisement-y work that falls into the fun-to-watch-video category. There’s not enough time in the day to think up copy for all of them so here’s a round-up of the best ad-related video we’ve seen in the last 7 days. You’re welcome.

7. Irritable Bowl Syndrome is a rant by comedian Bill Maher that someone turned into a video infographic thing.

6. Dating Rules From My Future Self is longer-form branded content that doesn’t suck at all.

5. There’s a badass Panda out there who will be serving up his own brand of post-Apocalyptic survival justice in a theater near you.

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From Vitro (the agency formerly known as SKINNY) comes the above TV spot launching the super-light ASICS GEL-Neo33.

As a runner, I can confirm that a move to lightweight shoes has a profound mental effect, similar to how drinking Gatorade can make you think that you’re somehow better at basketball. When your knees and shins hold up, you tend to push yourself past where you would go with heavier shoes, despite experiencing a similar level of fatigue.

Clearly, the joggers in this spot feel the same way, running deep into the late hours of night with their glowing balloons trailing behind them. After constructing a floating tribute to their lighter-than-air idol, the runners rock out to some soaring indie music. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with positioning yourself as the athletic footwear provider to the fashionably fit, is there? See more from the campaign here and view credits after the jump.

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-Op-Ed: 10 Reasons to Love Working in Advertising

-JWT Parts Ways with a Couple of ECDs

-CP+B Andrew Keller Confirms, Responds to Layoffs

-Project Managers Say the Darndest Things

-And Without Further Ado, Your 37th Annual One Show Judges

-Stop Me if You’ve Heard This GM News Before

-Dogs Bark the Star Wars ‘Imperial March’ in VW Super Bowl Teaser

 

 

Seeing as Mitt Romney‘s tax returns have got the media’s full attention this week, why not keep with the political theme and highlight a rather timely site that just sprouted up called Romney & Me. If you were ever wondering how your salary translates in the GOP candidate’s world, look no further than this web destination that will do all the calculating for you. For instance, you can learn how long it would take ol’ Mitt to earn your yearly wage, and how much you’d save were you to be taxed at his rate. It’s simple, snarky and just a little side-project from Tim McCormack (a VML ACD/writer), Danny Adrain (BBDO NY art director) and Kesal Patel (BBDO NY techie).

Well, it happened, everybody. The “Shit (this kind of person) Says” meme has found its way into an actual viral marketing campaign. Funny, because I always assumed the whole #Occupy hashtag thing would creep into the commercial real estate industry before this happened. A comforting thought: If this steadily growing meme wasn’t quite played out already, then maybe the commercialization of it will be the nail in the viral coffin. Of course, try telling that to the thousands of people around the country busy filming their own videos right now, titled anything from “Shit Dental Assistants Say” to “Shit Koalas Say.” (Admittedly, I did get a kick out of watching “Shit Chicagoans Say” this morning.)

“Shit Politicians Say” comes from LBi for Americans Elect 2012, an organization seeking to put a third, nonpartisan candidate on the presidential ballot in every state. To do this, Americans Elect is asking voters to cast their ballots for a nonpartisan nominee, using its website as a guide to politician’s and business professionals’ stances on controversial issues. Currently, Ron Paul leads all other candidates as the person with the “most tracked” delegate on the issues, which give his popularity with a niche group of Republican voters isn’t too surprising.

To determine if Americans Elect sounds like a reasonable (read: sane) organization, read this New York Times op-ed on the “radical center.” Credits after the jump.

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As we continue shouting TGIF this morning after what’s been a seemingly dragging week, we have this image for you that tells you all you need to know when it comes to perception in the four corners of the agency world. We’re not sure who’s behind this or how long it’s been floating around the web, but we love getting random, fun links like these. Take a gander below. Full-size image can be viewed here.

 

 

 

Nearly a month after “parting ways” with JCPenney, Saatchi & Saatchi NY has let go of some staffers. The agency wouldn’t say, though, if the cuts were directly related to the account loss, but just that they were made in order “to align costs with revenue.” Tipsters have been giving us numbers anywhere from 25-35, but the official word from the Lovemarks Company’s NYC branch is that five percent of its workforce was affected across creative, account and planning.

-Director/editor and Draftfcb alum Robert Stockwell joined Chicago’s Foundation Content.

-According to Jalopnik, the mysterious Ferris Bueller Super Bowl spot is for Honda. link

-Report: Advertisers will spend over $2 billion on mobile this year. link

-U.S. Cotton appointed Cleveland shop Marcus Thomas as AOR for its Swisspers line.

-The gang from Boulder-based TDA give us their Super Bowl submission for FirstBank (above).

-The ever-watchful Advertising Standards Authority has launched an investigation into the Snickers Twitter campaign starring a model and a footballer. link

 

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in with Dallas-based agency imc2, which is reporting back with some bad news today. An agency spokesperson confirms tips that cuts were made, saying, “We recently made the difficult decision to resign the work from one of our pharma clients.  As a result, we informed 20 people that their positions were being eliminated. The impact is related entirely to our decision to step away from this single client.”

The agency would not disclose which pharma client that it parted ways with exactly, but imc2 does have a functioning health & wellness division, so take your best guess. We’ve been told that the 20 cuts were made across the network, which includes NYC and Philly offices.