Today is International Day of Peace. While Leo Burnett London is blowing up hate over Cambridge, Ogilvy Chicago and OgilvyEntertainment are asking Xbox Live viewers to relinquish their weapons. Using imagery that evokes the start of a first-person shooter game, Ogilvy has replaced the requisite machine gun with a white flag and request for peace. “In honor of International Peace Day, we’re asking you to put your weapons down.”

Likely a lot of players will go ahead with their Halo quest (“I just finished my work and got settled with my cheetos!”) and if you’re in the gaming-is-cathartic camp, you’d wonder how else these players are going to release their aggression. Maybe some kids will go for a jog in the park, but a few families will definitely get a tantrum at the dinner table. Ogilvy wins points for world peace, but not so much for suburban tranquility. At least they’re helping to spread the word. The video will be aired online and via social media channels and in England, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain, reaching nearly two million gamers.

Last time we brought up Deutsch LA’s talking cow, it was gossiping about middle school in the kitchen. Now, in the latest Fred Savage-directed spots, we’ve got one rapping to Flo Rida and another bringing the fam together with some good old fashioned poker. While the overly enthusiastic and anti-technology cow reminds me of an aunt who works in real estate and smells like potpourri, Flo Rida cow hits the nail on the head.

The latter ad features two girls singing a Cody Simpson (aka bland Bieber) song ridiculously titled “iYiYi.” Though the girls look back to include their cow friend, she’s just chilling, as cows are wont to do. She’s thinking, “Hmm, where’s the closest grass? Can I leave soon?” When it’s time for rapid-fire Flo Rida verses, she brings her best game. She’s not a normal cow but I appreciate that, between spitting rhymes, she maintains her nonplussed bovine behavior.

Fred Savage says his kids love these spots, and they do seem to align with the quick dialogue and humor of a Disney Channel show. But if the California milk people want to appeal to those who actually buy the milk, the less exaggerated cows will do the trick.

Today is Channel Thirteen’s 50th birthday! To commemorate the occasion, they’ve collaborated with CHI & Partners to organize a mobile celebration. Throughout the day, “The Knights,” a NY-based orchestra, is touring Manhattan on the top of a double-decker bus, stringing tunes for sidewalk strollers and fellow vehicles. The orchestra-bus combination reflects pretty perfectly on Channel Thirteen’s purpose—New York City coverage.  Instead of throwing a glamorous exclusive party, Channel Thirteen brings festivity to their community PBS-style. By which we mean it’s slightly nerdy but inevitably smile-inducing.

Check out the “The Knights” in action via livestream and find out more about the project on THIRTEEN’s site.

Remember when United Colors of Benetton released photos of world leaders making out? Barack Obama kissing Hu Jintao, Angela Merkel smooching Sarkozy. Now, building on their initial controversial success, the brand has launched a second ‘UnHATE’ campaign: This time, they want us to vote for the “Unemployee of the Year.”

The Benetton Group’s center for research on communications, FABRICA, has once again partnered with 72andsunny Amsterdam to highlight high numbers of unemployed youth in today’s world. It’s both a campaign and a contest. Jobless people ages 18 to 29 can be a part of the campaign by telling Benetton about their “non-work experience” and then submitting a project. On October 30, 100 of those people will be awarded €5,000 to fund their passion project.

“Benetton is a brand with a point of view: today we call attention to the legacy that previous generations have left this one, and we reflect on the difficulties that people under 30 experience when trying to enter the job market,” says Benetton Group’s worldwide communications director Gianluca Pastore.

It’s emotional, certainly. The Unemployee of the Year site is laden with young, beautiful people, their bright eyes brimming with potential. They’ve trained, they’ve applied for jobs, and presumably they’ve been denied again and again. Of course they should be given their dreams.

And, like distant relatives at Thanksgiving, some people will respond to this campaign with predictable skepticism: “Maybe these kids didn’t try hard enough,” they’ll say. “Did they do internships in college?”

What do you think: is Benetton just trawling for emotional material and coddling these (momentarily) lagging 20-somethings? Or are they providing a much-needed financial platform for struggling young leaders to make out-of-the-box contributions?

Credits after the jump.

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Americans love consumption and firepower; any campaign that focuses on those concepts is bound to get us going. So when Toyota combined the power of cars and rocket ships, we took notice. The automaker’s latest campaign, ‘The Tundra Endeavor” (we’re checking to if Saatchi LA’s involved), plays to our obsession with outer space and our appreciation for all things wheeled and rugged. On October 13, one Tundra truck will tow the “national icon” Endeavour from LAX to its new home at the California Science Center.

To track the phases of ‘The Tundra Endeavour,’ Toyota has built a destination site. It currently features a generous Twitter promo (tweet, and Toyota will donate $50.00 to the CA Science Center) and a video on their upcoming challenge. To ensure their truck was up to the task, Toyota experts hitched it up to 307,000 pounds of material. It’s a normal Tundra truck,  they assure us; it’s just like the one you’ll buy in the lot.

If you’re a truck aficionado, it appears you’ve got two things to get excited about: one, getting to drive alongside a spaceship on the highway as it makes its trek to the museum and two, eventually driving this extraordinarily powerful rig. Just please, use its capabilities, whether you tow a horse trailer or a yacht. If you’re riding solo in a vehicle that has the ability to tow an epic national emblem (and thus probably gets 4 miles to the gallon), expect to dodge a few tomatoes and “accidental” car keys, especially in California.

Update: We’re still confirming but it does appear to be Saatchi & Saatchi LA’s handiwork as a tipster kindly sent us this:

“Saatchi LA creative team Verner Soler (Senior Art Director) and Graham McCann (Senior Copywriter) came up the idea of the Tundra Endeavour. Erich Funke is the CD. Chris Adams and Margaret Keene are the ECDs.”

“For years I thought I hated children’s laughter. I had no idea, I was just hungry.” In VB&P’s first work for Healthy Choice since winning the business for the ConAgra brand back in May, one woman recounts her days with hardcore dieting gang the “No-Carb Queens.” They destroy chicken wings and break baguettes in the super market. In a second spot, a man laments his time with a juice fast cult. “Bruce likes solids too,” he reassures himself.

The “online manifesto” video in this series (below) collages together every piece of diet advice you’ve ever been given. Healthy Choice’s point? “Don’t diet. Live healthy.”

Thank you, VB&P, for not going the infomercial route and instead making fun of saccharine, overly dramatic diet ads. I still wish you’d excluded close-ups of (undoubtedly disgusting) microwave-melted parmesan, but can forgive those because of the solid concept and funny writing. Healthy Choice is still a kind of diet, but these videos make it seem like a cool sarcastic best friend food, not the annoying nagging one who invites herself over and drinks all your wine (that’s South Beach).

Credits after the jump.

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Last time we covered Asics’ ‘Stop at Never’ campaign, Vitro was running tests on the brand’s latest shoes. An athlete played tennis suspended upside down from a crane (proving Asics are form fitting), while a different shoe withstood the pressure of an industrial jackhammer. In the latest ads from the campaign, Vitro’s veered slightly from their initial track.

Don’t get me wrong, Asics is still completing fun, gravity-defying challenges. In these recent videos, though, it’s not always clear what aspect of the shoe we’re supposed to appreciate. In one, athletes create sidewalk art by running in neon paint. Though the spot successfully emphasizes a neighborhood athlete feel, we’re left wondering what actually sets this shoe apart. Lighter and faster? Isn’t that the message of every running sneak? Another video compares a volleyball player to a grasshopper and a tiger. The animal-athlete thing feels familiar.

This series does best when it’s bizarre. A soccer player dribbles his way through a bespoke “urban treadmill” and a block-breaking martial arts master succumbs to a squeaky shoe. While they don’t always get it right, Asics’ latest tests show that if an athletic brand opts to detour from the typical run faster, harder, be a superhuman strategy, they’re better off highlighting the character-filled and unexpected.

Credits after the jump.

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Thirty-eight years ago, famed daredevil Evel Knievel drove a rocketship across Snake River Canyon. His purpose (and brand message) was simple: “I do it because I’m Evel Knievel.” Patriotic cape flying, the man could never say no to a jump.

Though the average vehicle owner drives for different reasons (groceries need to be picked up, kids have to get to swim practice), Audi aims to inspire the daredevil in its owners. To promote their new performance model, the RS 5, the brand has staged a return to Snake River Canyon.

Accompanied by a team of Audi engineers, a cherry red RS 5 and its anonymous driver speed towards the ramp backed by accelerating drumbeats. He takes off, we see the Audi logo, the sky from the drivers seat…and the 3-minute spot cuts out.

It’s an attention-grabbing ad with its footage of “the last gladiator” and amped-up, color-rich recreation. But without evidence of a safe landing, we’re left to wonder: does Audi’s driver just die? Does the car emerge victorious? One commenter calls the spot “YouTube blueballs.” It’s not a pleasant experience. While a modern sportscar should inspire frivolous daredevil desire, its buyers (or their significant others) might also want some sense of safety.

And I don’t know if they’re legally obligated, but Audi undermines its Evel Knievel vibes with the pre-roll warning: “Always drive safely and respectfully.” Only Subaru drivers pay attention to the fine print, and only idiots need to be told their Audi isn’t really for canyon jumping. It’s just for looking cool and occasionally driving 100 mph on the highway.

Credits after the jump.

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Kobe Bryant’s getting back in his Smart Car, according to this behind-the-scenes footage of the latest ‘Big in the City’ campaign photoshoot. Last we heard, he was driving through alleys and flinging basketballs to save fine art. Now, he’s carrying an elephant on the roof of his mini-mobile?

The direction of the shoot is unclear at this point, but we know Kobe looks attractive in various sleek suits while the smart car tries its best to be just as sexy. In terms of Smart Car functionality, we learn that all 6’6”of the Black Mamba fits into it. Banish all inappropriate thoughts from your mind this instant.

The Big in the City campaign comes from BBDO Beijing, with Staud Studios heading photography. AgencySpy will keep you apprised as the work is released.

LG wants people to know that “life is better in 3D.” So, in collaboration with creative agency Perfect Fools, they created the LG 3D Studio. The studio’s first product is a 3D newsfeed, which transforms your Facebook feed into something like a cityscape. Each post is a building (fitting, when the 2D version is a wall). Bigger buildings contain more action (comments, likes), while the dinky ones are likely to be the musings of the unpopular.

The app can be viewed on a 2D screen, but is apparently most impressive when viewed with an LG 3D TV or foolish glasses.

It’s a fun concept, but I’m not sure it proves that life is better in 3D. Longtime Facebook users have likely acquired a routine strategy for sifting through posts. They already know whose voices will be interesting, or who they care about most. They know how to spot those people in their feed. The 3D newsfeed doesn’t make this process easier, and in fact it obscures information from the viewer until they hover their mouse over a specific building. For an idea like this to work, it needs to up engagement and streamline a dry, obstacle-laden landscape. Facebook’s familiar structure already works in its flat format; this version of life is happy in 2D.

Try it here, and tell me if you disagree.