Men with comb overs look hapless. Little boys with comb overs look creepy. To see the difference, please watch the latest Jell-O television spot, appropriately titled “Comb Over.”

In the forty-five-second ad built by CP+B, a balding father whose depressing life resembles a deflated balloon schools his son on the importance of the little things, like a cup of Jell-O pudding. In turn, we see some surreal daydream where the son, still about six years old, goes through a day in the father’s life, only now he has a giant cone head and a comb over. If you ever wanted to know what the male offspring of Lord Voldemort and Francis Dolarhyde (Manhunter version, not Red Dragon) would look like, here you go. Is that not the definition of creepy, a little boy who somehow resembles two fictional psychopaths all because of a comb over? Still, the commercial’s surrealist twist manages to make it stand out in an otherwise standard concept. It’s almost sweet, if not for the whole hapless/depressing/pitying reaction that comes along with comb overs.

Credits after the jump.

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A bit of quick people news to start the morning off as CP+B has welcomed three new creative directors to its Boulder hub, namely Sesh Moodley, Matthew Elhardt and Avital Pinchevsky. Moodley arrives from AKQA, where he spent nearly a year as creative director in the agency’s San Francisco office working on its Anheuser-Busch biz. Prior to AKQA, Moodley has had a variety of global stints, spending several years as a senior creative at the Sydney offices of both Leo Burnett and Lowe and as a CD at Naked Communications.

Elhardt, a 20-year industry vet, has freelanced as a variety of agencies ranging from TBWA\MAL to W+K but has also served as a CD proper at TBWA\Chiat\Day itself as well as Carmichael Lynch and 180LA. Finally, Pinchevsky arrives from DDB South Africa, where she spent the last 18 months or so as creative director on McDonald’s. During her career, she’s also served as an ACD at BBDO New York and as a copywriter at Y&R Tel Aviv.

The new hires will all work across accounts in their roles at CP+B.

We have received confirmation that Mark Taylor, who’s spent nearly four years at Crispin Porter + Bogusky and served as VP/executive creative director, has parted ways with the agency. During his third (!) stint at CP+B (he worked as an art director and ACD in past ones), Taylor led creative on a variety of efforts for various clients ranging from Applebee’s to Arby’s. Last year, he picked up a Grand Prix in the Promo & Activation category at Cannes for the AmEx “Small Business Saturday” effort.

From what we’re hearing on the Spy line, Taylor has left CP+B start up his own shop. Along with his multiple tours of duty at the MDC-owned, Boulder-based agency, the creative exec has also worked as an ECD and CD at GSD&M and Fallon, respectively.

And now, for something, er, lighter. These back-to-school posts almost make me wistful for the days when a new pencil case was the joy of my September. But as I have grown, so has the sophistication of academic shopping. To keep with the times, Best Buy is branding themselves America’s go-to “Techfitter” of the season.

To show that they’ll equip students with not only the best technology, but the right technology for their pursuits, CP+B and Best Buy found real students and surprised them with personalized Best Buys, “tech-fitted” to their academic interests in a pair of new Paul Hunter-directed spots. Greg, Aerospace Engineering Major, gets a semi truck parked in front of his house. It opens, and he’s presented with the planetary system, plus a launchable rocket (sadly not available at a Best Buy near you). Lidia, a Marine Biology major, gets an underwater tech experience complete with dolphins and jellyfish. Both personalized surprise scenarios are scattered with Windows 8 laptops and tablets.

Additional spots will air later this month, and my guess is the lucky students will not include an English or PoliSci major, because those experiences would involve sheafs of paper and alcohol. Let’s expect an aspiring architect and an ambitious pre-med; they provide ideal landscapes for Best Buy’s eager urban tech-fitter to make a difference. Credits after the jump.

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CP+B originally ran with the idea of a blow-up doll lunch decoy last year, suggesting that people could secure more time at Applebee’s by tricking their bosses. In 2013, the same old bag of tricks comes in the form of a longer ad – 102 seconds – showing various worker bees running out of the office to indulge in some Applebee’s. I’ve never been a fan of the fine dining cuisine at such establishments, but I’m told customers can enjoy hundreds of lunch combos starting at $6.99. If you can get a restaurant combo for that cheap, you may want to think twice.

The spot itself isn’t digging much into new ground. There is one interesting bit, when a black construction worker uses a white lunch decoy. I’m not sure what that is trying to say, if anything at all, but the man’s boss must not pay very good attention to his staff if the lunch decoy can be effective while using a different skin color than the man who is jolting to Applebee’s (Ed. update: CP+B clarifies that it did use the likeness that most resembles of its construction worker as part of the campaign. Go here). Maybe the man’s boss is using his own lunch decoy, at which point the men would run into each other at an Applebee’s and ruin the trick for everyone. Credits after the jump.

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We’ve been hearing about this since Tuesday actually, and yes, it appears that the Old Navy split has already taken its toll on Boulder-based, MDC-owned CP+B, which just sent us this statement:

“This has been a great year for CP+B in many ways. However, as is often the case in our industry when a significant piece of business is lost, we must reevaluate our structure and make certain adjustments. Today that means eliminating 21 positions (less than 3%) of our staff. As we all know, saying goodbye to colleagues and friends is probably the most difficult part of this business and we take it very seriously. Hopefully we will welcome some of them back again. And in the meantime, we are confident that the steps we are taking today will allow us to both meet and exceed the needs of our clients and of our employees. Which is the key to the long term success and growth of CP+B.”

CP+B’s relationship with Old Navy dates back nearly five years, when the agency beat out TBWA\Chiat\Day for the brand’s ad biz. Earlier this week, Gap Inc. spokesperson Edie Kissko issued this statement regarding CP+B and Old Navy, the latter of which we’re hearing has gone through six CMOs and four presidents since the former took over its account:  “After a positive working relationship of five years, Old Navy will no longer be working with Crispin, Porter + Bogusky. Old Navy has been and will continue to work with a roster of advertising agencies and does not have an agency of record.”

You know, we kind of slept on this, but we did inquire a week ago with Gap, parent brand of Old Navy, which gave us the curt, bullshit, “We have no comment on your inquiry.” Yeah, that took five email threads, in which CP+B rightfully deferred to client, to get that sort of clarity on matters. Anyhow, while the meandering ensues with this, we will say this pre-July 4 that there is some positive news to report, mainly that Crispin Porter+Bogusky has promoted three-year vet Kristen Fox to department head/director of social media.

During her time at CP+B, Fox has worked on notable clients including Grey Poupon, Jell-O, etc. and now will be tasked with overseeing social AOR efforts across all of CP+B’s offices.

It’s been a few months since we’ve heard the name Tim Wettstein, who last we recall spent approximately a year as senior partner/group creative director on Scana, Jiffy Lube and Xbox among others at JWT Atlanta. Well, the senior creative didn’t have to travel too far to take on a new gig as Wettstein (pictured) has now assumed a CD role at CP+B Miami, which appears to be ramping up its creative staff currently led by ECD, Bob Winter.

Joining Wettstein as a creative director at CP+B Miami is Kostas Karanikolas, who spent the last year as digital CD at BBDO New York, where worked on Gillette among other accounts. Along with the new CDs, MDC-owned CP+B has added associate creative directors Rick Abbott and Matt Orser, formerly of RP& and RPA, respectively, in its South Florida office, as well as art director Eli Perez de Gracia, and copywriter, Elena Romeu.

As National Pride month winds down for the LGBT community, Grey Poupon and CP+B have teamed for a small piece of content in support of gay rights. A Facebook image posted yesterday afternoon depicts two men in separate cars holding hands through open windows, a heartwarming riff on a famous 1981 ad for the mustard-maker. Earlier this year, CP+B used the famous spot as a backdrop for a “Lost Footage” reveal during the Academy Awards. In the original commercial, two mayonnaise whiteys pull up side-by-side in Rolls Royces. One man happens to be eating some mustard-garnished food in the backseat, while the other politely asks for some Grey Poupon. Instead of sharing, the first man drives off devilishly. Perhaps, thirty two years later, he had a change of heart.

Even though Domino’s recently redesigned their logo, that doesn’t mean all of the company’s old materials have to go to waste. The newest content from the pizzamaker and AOR CP+B showcases products built from recycled Domino’s materials like staff shirts, pizza boxes, and anything that incorporated the old logo. You can check out some of the “upcycled” gear on Pinterest – the above picture is just one example of the innovative user creations: an in-progress light fixture made of company signane and pizza boxes.

This project from CP+B is the latest in a consistent line of inventive campaigns that have helped build up some brand equity for Domino’s. We’ve covered a few of the efforts here – a consumer contest for the “Ultimate Delivery Vehicle,” a digital suggestion box called “Think Oven“, etc. All of the content has been very social and very original, allowing for customers to constantly engage with the pizza chain. Basically, Papa John ain’t got nothing on that.