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Yep, it’s about time to wind down the work week, and while we do, let’s show you a rather lengthy infographic (full-size version after the jump) from an aptly titled, Seattle-based operation called Killer Infographics. We figured we’d give you the cliff notes version at the top of the page, but the full visual display details top 10 slogans, ad situations and a little bit of data analysis. Our only issue is that none of the top 10 ad campaigns dates past the ’80s. Were things really that bad for the last 20+ years?

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Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.

Credit Stephen Colbert for bringing the term “Super PAC”  to the public’s attention during this election season. If you aren’t a regular viewer of the Colbert Report, see the work paid for by the Super PAC known as Americans for a Better Tomorrow Tomorrow by watching this political ad for Herman Cain, a man who’s such a Washington outsider that “he’s not even running for president.”

Of course, in reality (aka not the South Carolina Primary), big name Super PACs like the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) are in the midst of gussying themselves up for this election. As the AFL-CIO’s main focus is on workers’ rights, its new “Work Connects Us All” campaign from SS+K seeks to reach out to those in a variety industries where AFL-CIO’s work may not be readily apparent. For the slick new site, SS+K partnered with production co. B-Reel to make the project come to life, who’s NYC Executive Producer Max Ahlborn speaks favorably of AFL-CIO’s mission.

He says in a statement, “In Sweden, where I am from, unions have traditionally played a very prominent role building the society from ground up and are currently facing a lot of the same issues as unions of the 2000’s do in the US. They all are in need of changing the public perception of them from being just against policy to being for an equal, just, modern and progressive society. By adding some positivity and forward-thinking, this website is a strong step forward.”

Visit WorkConnectsUsAll.org, compare it to AFL-CIO’s current site for a laugh, and view credits after the jump.

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From EVB and production company Eight VFX comes a new campaign launching “Absolut Miami,” a limited edition vodka inspired by “the city where the heat is on all night on the beach ’til the break of dawn” that follows the brand’s other previously launched location-based lines including Brooklyn.

As home to the world’s most annoying professional basketball team and, according to the parties involved, “glamour, cabanas, hot days, vice and endless nights,” Absolut’s use of Miami as its muse should come as no surprise to those who enjoy fruity-tasting vodka. In addition to an outdoor takeover of buses, billboards, and the like in the city of the liquor’s namesake, EVB and Eight VFX are adding an interactive supplement to the above music video for “From Dusk Till Dawn.”

Those looking to add speed, flair and energy to their virtual night in South Beach can do so at AbsolutMiamiNight.com or just watch the intro credits to Miami Vice here.

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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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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This was news to us, but Richmond, VA’s own The Martin Agency, which as you know has provided (and/or subjected) us with 10 million Geico ads as well as yodeling cats and Mentos shorts among other things over the years, has launched its new, winding web destination. It’s a nice compilation portfolio and agency info, but we have to say the tile format is a bit disorienting and it’s a rather long trip because the more you scroll down, the more content shows up. Guess that’s a testament to the agency’s body of work, accolades, etc. Take a stroll if you so choose.

It seems like only yesterday we were busy posting AICP Show promotional videos created by the students at the VCU Brandcenter. Alas, it’s already been a year since the school taught us surprising lessons about advertising history’s most famous artistic endeavors. Did you know that Leonardo da Vinci was the Richard Simmons of his time? What about the fact that the Eiffel Tower was actually constructed to represent a giant, metal dong? If these tales didn’t inspire us to “change the world” as advertisers, at least they doubled as awkward icebreakers at an industry networking event.

This time around, the AICP Show is once again calling that those clever scamps at the Brandcenter to continue the “All Art is Advertising” campaign, a nod to that fact that all award honorees get their independently produced commercials into the Museum of Modern Art’s Department of Film Collection. Above, we see how creativity has (or hasn’t) changed through history, from the Egyptians to the present day art director and copywriter duo. AICP also announced that the chairperson for the 21st installment of the awards show is Jackie Kelman Bisbee, founding partner and co-owner of  the venerable production company, Park Pictures.

Those interested in submitting their work can do so on AICP’s Show and Next Awards website from now through March 2. One more short, entry categories, and credits follow after the jump.

 

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Super Bowl: The only day in America where TV viewers actually want to watch commercials. This year’s NFL championship, pitting the New York Giants against the New England Patriots, is in a sense a “rematch” of the 2008 edition of the big game. Due to this unfortunate match-up (blame Billy Cundiff and Kyle Williams for their failures), it’s possible that TV ratings could actually be lower than last year’s game. This would clearly be a total bummer for advertisers who spent $3.5 million for a 30-second spot. But, on the bright side, maybe people will be talking more about the ads than the actual game at the water cooler the next day, right?

Of course, the veritable “water cooler” has evolved in the digital age. The folks at Venables Bell & Partners have decided to provide a handy infographic that maps the who, where and how of post-game advertising conversation. Out of the bevy of stats they’ve given us, a few stand out. For example, “Almost one in five (19%) Americans searched for ads before the game in 2011, about double (11%) who did in 2010. Of that group, 48% searched for ads on Facebook, putting the site just ahead of popular video sharing site YouTube, brand sites, and media sources as the lead destination to find ads.” In other words, Facebook is becoming a more popular video search engine than YouTube, a fact than is no doubt pissing off the powers that be at Google.

Also, “Americans are almost as likely to ‘like’ a brand on Facebook that advertises during the Super Bowl (20%) as they are to ‘like’ a team (29%), with 23% of young adults likely to ‘like’ a brand.” Not a bad way to measure social media ROI compared to TV ROI, is it? Well, at least it’s somewhat “believable.” Check out a full-size image after the jump.

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Like clockwork, just over a year after rolling out its “social design experience” called Corpsify, Brooklyn’s Big Spaceship has exhumed the beast, which this time now stalks the virtual world in HMTL 5 form. Yeah, yeah, before you yell at us about consecutive days of said agency’s coverage, our horror movie bias prevails when you launch a project called “Corpsify.”

Anyhow, the basic premise remains the same: three different “Corpsifiers” will create a digital portrait in sequence without knowing what the previous person came up with. It takes three to tango in this little game from Big Spaceship, and approved work will be featured in the Corpsify gallery. Have at it, digital doodlers.

In case actor/comedian/actual U.S. Marine Corps officer Rob Riggle isn’t clear in the above spot, Call of Duty: Elite is not a new game in the COD franchise. In fact, it’s a subscription-based service that offers players of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 exclusive, downloadable game content for a yearly fee of $49.99. Ad that to the average $59.99 retail price of new video games, and you have die-hard gamers paying over $100.00 for a single title. No bad, Activision.

In order to give Elite its own separate brand identity, 72andSunny tapped Riggle to act as the service’s spokesperson. Each month, Riggle will star in a new web video describing the latest content available to Elite members, undoubtedly making his country proud by putting his military training to use in the civilian world. Well, he definitely looks less out of place than Jonah Hill did in the COW:MW3 launch spots from November. But, we’d take Hill discussing explosions in profane detail over Riggle standing awkwardly on a virtual battlefield any day. Watch Riggle update Elite subscribers on the downloadable content for this month below.