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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BBDO New York and Foot Locker know that Clippers forward/dunker Blake Griffin is a commercial machine – Subway, Kia, Jordan Brand to rattle off a few quickly. So for their latest joint venture, “The Endorser,” the creatives decided to physically hook up Griffin to a machine called The Endorser as if he were programmed to place products. For some Lob City support, Clippers point guard/whiner Chris Paul steps in as a foil to turn off the machine and show us the difference between Real Blake and Robot Blake.

The spot is another smart and self-aware sports bit that takes advantage of an athlete’s public persona through subversion. Griffin is usually stone-faced or arrogantly posturing on the court after huge dunks, but he’s built up a quiet niche as a funnyman on television. Just see this Grantland piece from March that discusses why Blake’s comedy is more complex than you might think. The only issue with Blake is overexposure, like, when his sponsorship brands debut separate commercials within the same week. His Jordan “Blake and Drain” spot, which alludes to MJ and Spike Lee ads from twenty years ago, is even better than the Footlocker commercial. And for that reason, “The Endorser” might get lost in the ever-expanding Blake Griffin commercial merry-go-round. Credits after the jump.

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On the football field, Peyton Manning runs the Denver Broncos with a robotic efficiency fitting of a man with a giant, shiny forehead. His younger brother Eli roams the sidelines for the New York Giants with the mopey glare of a six-year-old who wants to pick his nose but can’t because cameras are watching. Usually, the funniest thing about the Manning brothers is that they’re so unfunny. They’re stiff and white. But every once in a while – don’t forget the acclaimed “Football Cops” – they unleash some comedy genius for a football-related commercial.

The newest addition to the Manning oeuvre is a fake R&B music video created by Grey for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. #footballonyourphone. Remember that hashtag. It’s going viral, because a company that deals with an incredibly popular sport got two huge stars to subvert their normal personalities and completely buy-in to a goofy campaign that could’ve been an abandoned Lonely Island digital short. In the first 12 hours or so after it hit Youtube, the clip reared in 100k views.

Everything about the spot is smart, right down to the tiny Archie Manning cameo and the best/worst hair design you’ll see this year until American Hustle, starring Bradley Cooper’s curled terribleness, hits theaters. Peyton may be known as the more gregarious of the two brothers, but Eli is a vastly underrated comedian in his commercials. He ends up stealing this show with some odd riffs on milk, blouses, and Alexander Graham Bell. Pay attention, brands: This is how you go viral.

If you live in either Chicago or Boston, you may have watched (or wanted to watch) the Stanley Cup Finals, in which case you realized that you don’t have access to NBC Sports. After some McGyver-ing and hooking you iPad to your TV, you got thousands about thousands of commercials advertising that NBC Sports would be broadcasting every game of England’s prestigious Barclays Premier League. After digesting this fact, you immediately stopped caring because 1.) You’re an American who likes ‘merican sports and 2.) Again, you don’t have access to NBC Sports.

But who better to make you, an American without access to NBC, care about this development than Jason Sudeikis, a former Saturday Night Live cast member who has appeared basically fucking everywhere in the last month? First, dude quits SNL. Then, he starts going on a press tour for his terrible-looking new movie, Meet The Millers, where he stars opposite Jennifer Aniston, who plays a middle-aged stripper. Then, he joined ESPN to count down the top 50 “This Is SportsCenter” ads last week. Then, he made cameo appearance in Drinking Buddies, a new film playing on Apple TV before it hits theaters at the end of the month and stars Sudeikis’ real-life fiance, Olivia Wilde. Then, Kiran shows me this and asks me to write about it, compelling me to start complaining about how Jason Sudeikis is fucking everywhere these days. Then, wouldn’t you know it, he releases a viral video YESTERDAY where he leads a parody version of Mumford & Sons, with Ed Helms, Jason Bateman and Will Forte starring as his bearded indie-folk backing band.

Seriously, it’s absolutely impossible to get rid of this guy. Watch him play a dumb American coach who doesn’t get soccer above in a new campaign from the Brooklyn Brothers (who you may remember from those kick-ass John Krasinski/Alec Baldwin New Era spots), and then don’t talk to me about Jason Sudeikis until you’ve developed some sort of Sudeikis repellant.

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Discovery’s annual Shark Week extravaganza not only confirms that viewers go crazy for underwater creatures that can rip them into a thousand pieces, but that brands will use just about any tangential connection to a popular theme to try and wring out that extra dollar. Take the fat, colorful Tide billboard above the Lincoln Tunnel that I came across yesterday: “We get the blood out, too.” That’s one way to do it.

Volkswagen and Deutsch are going all in as well, bringing cars and sharks a lot closer than they’ve ever been before, a true sharknado of brand association if there ever was one. The VW campaign is loaded on social media, mainly focusing on sharable videos through Instagram and Vine. VW created a Beetle convertible that will be used as an underwater cage hooked up to cameras for the remainder of the week, hoping to conquer a chunk of the digital space floating around with these exclusive videos. Credits after the jump.

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Steak ‘n Shakes still exist apparently (ed. This was our college late-night sanctuary), and Minneapolis-based Carmichael Lynch, which took over for KBS+ on the diner chain’s biz in late March, is here for a brand new campaign “Hunger Wisely.” What “Hunger Wisely” means is a bit vague, but, you know, kung-fu masters are wise and hungry people eat food, so why not?

While these ads, which were directed by Harold Einstein of Station Films, are a little nonsensical, they do bring up some important topics. For example, Steak ‘n Shake seems to be pretty cheap. The “shake” in Steak ‘n Shake stands for “milkshake,” as opposed to dancing while eating steak. Finally, Steak ‘n Shake offers hotdogs, one of the few fast food places (other than like Sonic or something) that does so maybe. In other words, you take away that weird kung-fu master stuff, and you’re left with a pretty effective brand awareness campaign. (Checks Google Maps). Too bad I’ll never go to one as there aren’t any in Chicago. Watch a one-minute long video of more kung-fu stuff, and another I embedded of some guy getting his head kicked off, after the jump.

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I was just a kid when Charley Steiner yelled “Follow me! Follow me to freedom!” at the end of the “Y2K” This is Sportscenter ad. ESPN was a much simpler network then, before screaming heads led by Messers Bayless and A. Smith really damaged the reputation of everyone’s go-to sports network. Back then, the anchors of Sportscenter, like Steiner, were the stars, and the audience got to see anchor personalities shine through during these 30-second spots. Sometimes the spots featured professional athletes; sometimes they didn’t. But the spots were almost always funny and ripe with self-deprecation.

More than a decade later, Steiner is gone from the network. ESPN has chosen to count down the 50 greatest “This is Sportscenter” commercials from the past 18 years on August 1, with irrelevant host/SNL member Jason Sudeikis. As always, W+K New York ran point on this project with “the worldwide leader in sports.” I’m not sure why the network has chosen to unroll the countdown now, but we’re told that there will be bonus footage and interviews with the actors, athletes, and producers who helped shape the commercials. So for one last day, we can all follow Charley Steiner to freedom.

You can watch a few of the top spots after the jump, including a great bit featuring the entire Manning family from a few years ago.

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When zombies invade, some amass canned foods and hide in their cellars. Others create the ultimate zombie slaying machine and blast through the rubble to save mankind. For the latter breed, Hyundai and its agency partner-in-crime Innocean have invented the ultimate piece of fantasy fodder: “The Walking Dead Chop Shop.” Through the Chop Shop app, enthusiasts can use three different Hyundai cars as their base, then add vehicular accessories like a “horde plow” or two varieties of razor wire.

Host Veronica Belmont introduces the app and interviews people about their ideal car in “Conversations About a Zombie Survival Machine.” People (okay, men) seem to be filled with enthusiasm when they consider the question: Cattle Gun or Flamethrower?

In-app, they don’t have to make a choice, and aspiring zombie fighters can create as many machines as they want. One winning design will be transformed into the real thing. This does nothing for me, but judging by the 14,000 entries and level of appreciation in the videos, The Walking Dead fans will give this campaign legs.

Credits after the jump

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As mentioned, IFC is marketing the new season of original series Comedy Bang Bang as “the ultimate comedy fantasy.” In the video spot, hosts Reggie Watts and Scott Aukerman bounce along in a psychedelic van that runs on autopilot, produces a stewardess proffering pillows, and plays the radio (“Come Back,” by The J Geils Band). Watts and Aukerman exchange lines in their usual cheerful deadpan until their chariot announces the start of the new season.

The accompanying poster features Watts riding a centaur that has Aukerman’s head, and a background similar to a poster you probably bought from the book fair in fifth grade.

Though not especially enticing, the idea is cute and fans of Comedy Bang Bang will continue watching regardless. For newbies, the trailer for Season 1 gives better evidence of a show worth checking out.

Poster after the jump

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From Arnold Worldwide comes “Runnovation Anthem,” a spot for New Balance that depicts people running in different environments interspersed with cuts of what appear to be acts of science. There’s also a very loud musical number, which one would suppose is the titular anthem, despite not being very anthemic. The song is so utterly terrifying, in fact, that it’s easy to imagine all of these people running away from a masked pursuer who chases them while playing this song full-blast on a JVC Kaboom Box held above his or her head.

With an introduction to the idea of “Runnovation” (running + innovation for those playing at home) out of the way, the campaign will unfold into three different storylines across media platforms, with the first focusing on a grassroots fitness group called “November Project.” If you’re interested in watching some suburban white dudes run around outside and yell “fuck yeah” for a while, watch this video:

Did you enjoy watching those people vomit? Yeah, you probably did, you sicko. Credits after the jump.
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