Details are hazy on this one thus far, but sources in the know tell us that Gareth Goodall, who’s spent less than a year as head of planning at Saatchi & Saatchi New York, is indeed leaving the agency. As of now, no word yet on where he’s headed to or when is last day is at Saatchi, but Goodall joined the agency last fall after spending seven years at Fallon London. He last served as joint managing director/chief strategy officer at the latter agency. During his career, the exec also spent several years as a planner at Ogilvy & Mather. We’ll let you know if and when we hear more.

Update: Well, we’ve received confirmation that Goodall is in fact joining Anomaly as chief strategy officer. No official start date as of yet, but from what we’ve been told, it’s “not too long now.” As for the status of Aisea Laungaue and Ian Daly, who were promoted to heads of planning at Anomaly NY in February, we’ve been told that Laungaue has since left the agency, but Daly remains and will likely report to Goodall.

As part of their Skol Design line, the international beer brand and F/Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi invited renowned furniture designer Pedro Useche to create an armchair out of Skol bottles. Useche said, “Turning an armchair into a desirable object is not only about showing aesthetic attributes but most of all, making people feel comfortable when they sit on it.” The Skol bottles can spin, creating a massage sensation for each lucky occupant.

The video that accompanies Skol Design is in entirely in Portuguese, but if the lines were in English I can guess they would include gems like, “Here’s your house, in which you store the things you love…until your monstrous girlfriend arrives!” Said flower-loving, mirror-toting creature proceeds to completely rearrange the man cave. But! Justice is restored by Skol Designs, whose bottle lamps and clocks give the GF the chic feel she wants while still satisfying man’s need for beer.

Apparently the villainous girlfriend trope does well with South American audiences, as sister agency Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi have had success with this before. I’ll admit the Skol chair is cute, but I’d much rather see a couple making sweet love on the rolling bottles than a wide-eyed girlfriend horror story.

Credits after the jump

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How do you make an ad about waiting? The worst approach might be to show paused scenes while the dulcet notes of a piano play in the background. Sure, the hi-res shots of robots falling, halted car chases in progress, and rock concerts are good-looking, but if I saw this ad a second or a third time on TV, I would hit mute and go get some ice cream.

The new spot for New Zealand Telecom via Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand and GoodOil director Michael Spiccia ends with a close-up on a car chase hero. He blinks, and the tagline appears: “Waiting is over.” Instead of this indulgent imagery, I’d much rather see a humorous piece on how impatient we’ve become in the Internet Age, or a puppet-filled drama in a doctor’s office. “Waiting is Over” looks like something that would play (and could work) on the New Zealand equivalent of Best Buy’s panoramic screens, but watching it online or on TV, I just feel twitchy. The waiting better be over.

Additional TV, radio, digital and outdoor executions will be rolling out over the coming weeks. Check out the credits after the jump

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A few months ago, we covered the announcement for the 3rd annual Saatchi & Saatchi Music Video Challenge. Well, the time has jumped by – maybe you noticed, maybe you didn’t – but we’re back to report the 12 finalists and one People’s Choice winner. The contest asked interested directors to create an original music video for OK Go’s new single, “I’m Not Through.” You can check out the finalist entries here. On June 20, the winner will be announced as part of the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors’ Showcase.

As you’d expect with an OK Go contest, there is an abundance of quirk and artistic shenanigans. The parties involved say the finalists come from all corners of the globe, but really, they just come from western countries, mostly the US and UK. One finalist is from the Bahamas. It’s now that we’re reminded that globes don’t have corners. Not to show favoritism to my personal preferences when it comes to abundances of quirk and artistic shenanigans, I’ve randomly selected two finalist videos (one below the jump) for your viewing pleasure on this dreary Friday afternoon. Enjoy.

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TEDx Sydney 2013 was probably full of great ideas, speakers, and presentations, but it’s a two-and-a-half-minute video about babies and food that wound up stealing the show. “The First Taste,” created by Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney and Heckler, shows young children reacting to their first experiences with unusual foods like anchovies, gherkin, and Vegemite. Set to orchestral music and shot in slow-motion, the video somehow takes a subject that could’ve easily dipped into boring humor and turns it into a strange and compelling combination of food, art, and social science. Props to the first kid for not freaking out more when shoving an anchovy in his mouth.

Creative director Matt Gilmour, who also directed the clip, credited the visceral, pure culinary responses of his two-year-old daughter for inspiration. I couldn’t agree more about the honest ways kids respond to sensory overload. It not only cinched the greatness of the video but also reminded me of when I was six and spat out a terrible jellybean (possibly fart flavored) at the supermarket. A random woman chided me and told on me to my mom. I couldn’t help it, the bean tasted that bad. I imagine the incident was crude from the woman’s perspective, but with some slow-motion and beautiful music, it could’ve been poetic. Credits after the jump.

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Well, who knows where our relationship with Saatchi & Saatchi X fell apart as we went from being an industry mate to a Siberian exile in a matter of months. Whatever, rather than going all Blue Valentine on you, we’re just going first instinct on this one. According to multiple sources, Saatchi’s shopper marketing agency division is losing its Chicago SVP of business development/managing director Kevin Shelhamer, who we hear is leaving X for a gig at Ogilvy. When we inquired, we were met with the usual “he’s in a meeting” and the comms side, as mentioned, has been giving us the unusually cold shoulder thus far. Ogilvy has yet to respond to the matter as well.

Shelhamer has had two stints at Saatchi & Saatchi X, first joining 10 years ago to serve as SVP, client development and in his next turn, he assumed the role three years ago as SVP/MD of its Chicago branch.

We’ve been told by sources familiar with the matter that “changes are happening this week” at Saatchi & Saatchi NY, which in turn means the agency has had to let go of some staff. As noted, it’s not network-wide, but sources in the know let us know that it’s “less than one-percent” of the Saatchi network as a whole and this has specifically affected the agency’s New York crew (which accounts for approximately 400 of the staff count from what we’ve been told). As per usual, we’ve been told that this move is part of “business and the needs of…clients” thus begets for a need of “some changes.” We’re hearing from tipster that 15-20 staffers across departments were affected. We’ll keep you posted if and when we hear more.

They’ve already charmed us with symmetrical treadmill dancing and Google collaborations, so it’s no surprise that rock band OK Go is getting creative and innovative for their newest music video. Well actually, it’s you who will get creative, since the band partnered with Saatchi & Saatchi, Talenthouse, and BUG for a contest aimed at new directors searching for exposure.

The latest Saatchi & Saatchi Music Video Challenge, which has involved collaborations with the likes of Moby in the past, lasts until early-May, so auteurs have a few months to get adequately funky and artistic with OK Go’s new single “I’m Not Through.” The rockers won’t be making their own video this time, since they’re still in the studio finishing their next album. Outsourcing for cheap labor, Nike would be proud. We joke; OK Go gets the benefit of the doubt for their quirky videos that have been going viral for years, unlike now, where anything remotely creative/funny/newsworthy/embarrassing gets chewed up and spit out within a few days.

It’s a safe bet that whatever video they choose as a winner will be plenty imaginative. It just won’t recall Rube Goldberg, because they did that already.

Three guys walk into a bar with The Hangover‘s Ken Jeong. That’s all you need, because Jeong will take care of the rest with his ridiculous facial expressions. No punchlines necessary. Give him a pig and a cabana, and he’ll deliver the goods. Even though Miller Lite makes terrible beer, their new campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi, which also features Roots/Late Night with Jimmy Fallon drummer Questlove and UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell, provides a blueprint for integrating celebrities into advertisements. It’s easy and boring to let John Krasinski do voice-over work for a Coke commercial, but with a little thought and some strong writing, you can get Ken Jeong into a cowboy costume.

Liddell may be irrelevant to the public at this point in his career, but Jeong and Questlove are recognizable and likable. Most guys would love to have either celebrity in their crew, even if it meant using the word “crew” and having to drink Miller Lite. And in some twisted way, that will probably sell more Miller Lite. But now that celebs want to hang out with regular guys, can we get James Harden to trade his friend D for Ken Jeong, setting up possibly the greatest commercial of all time? Now, that would be Miller Time.

“Questlove” and credits after the jump.

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Well, we wouldn’t say she followed him necessarily, but the timing is rather interesting. Less than two months after Saatchi & Saatchi X EVP Charlie Anderson parted ways with said agency and joined up with Project: Worldwide, Julie Quick has followed suit as joined the latter agency as VP, shopper marketing. Quick, who most recently served as head of North American planning & insights at Saatchi X, rejoined the agency’s Dallas hub in 2011 after a brief stint as SVP, client services at fellow TX operation, Symphony IRI.

During Quick’s first stint at Saatchi X, which lasted just over six years, she served as VP, account planning. We’re awaiting word from the X camp on whether there are immediate plans to replace.