-The Effies announced its calls for entries and launched the Effie Effectiveness Index and new categories (LGBT, Recession Marketing, Insurance and Energy/Nutrition Products and Services). link

-Scion, now equipped with AR game. link

-Adidas renews sponsorship commitment to MLS. link

-Boelter + Lincoln Marketing Communications (B+L) added Stasha Korthour as account executive and Elizabeth Taft as project manager.

-Footwear company Keen signed Portland-based North as its AOR. link

-Facebook debuts “Universities” page. link

More: “Friday Odds and Ends”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

H/t to our IM tipster.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This campaign from BBDO Toronto entitled,”A Date with Stayfree,” gives women a chance to go on a “virtual date” with three of the most perfect and sexiest stud muffins they could find, who want nothing more than for her to be happy–no matter what time of the month it is.

Their strategy is driven from the question of how you get women to consider trying something new when they’re not actively looking to change? When it comes to the Feminine-Hygiene category, give her everything she wants…in a man.

BBDO is giving themselves a big pat on the back for creating what they call the first of its kind campaign for the Fem-Hy category. Dudes promoting maxi pads? Definitely a first. Will it be a last?
You can view the rest of the campaign and all of the credits after the jump.

More: Clemenger BBDO Brings Slo-Mo Drama to Beer Ad

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We continue our agency op-ed contributions with this piece from Josh Rogers, creative director for Imagination, the Americas. Rogers previously held stints as a strategist and writer at McCann and Berlin Cameron. Here, Rogers discusses the topic of fear, which he believes has gripped client and agencies during the recession, limiting risk-taking and, in turn, creative output. He thinks the industry needs to embrace a no fear mantra as we recover from the economic downturn.

In the early ’90s at my high school in Central Virginia, the only way to be sure someone was badass was to check the rear cab glass in his F-150 with at least six inches of lift to fit 34″-plus off-road knobbies. If you saw a “No Fear” sticker, maybe in front of the gun rack, probably next to OBX and Oakley decals, you knew, well, he had no fear, and thus wasn’t a man to be trifled with.

(Read on after the jump…)

More: “OpEd: Is General Market Advertising Dead? Try Contextually Relevant Ads Instead”

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Denver-based Anthony’s Pizza & Pasta is taking a baseball bat swing against the national, mass-market—dubbed “fast food”—pizza brands.

The campaign pokes fun at some of the mega brands’ (here’s looking at you, Domino’s) advertising claims with headlines like, “We never had to change our recipe. Because it never sucked,” and “If their ingredients are better, why isn’t their pizza better?,” as well as, “Pizzeria pizza. Not fast food pizza.”

These ads will run as billboards in Denver on highways and downtown locations, and also as bus tails and sides on Denver and regional transit systems. Media buying is handled by Explore Communications, Denver.

If you’re in the Denver area, you can check out and order yourself some of Anthony’s Pizza by visiting their website and let us know if it makes the cut.

Creative credits:

Creative director: Tim Abare
Art Director: Jeremy Pruitt
Copywriter: Sarah Sibley.

More: Pizza Delivery Can Be Hell in New Zealand

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

This week, TAXI New York launched their campaign for a new renegade 4G mobile Internet brand called Rover. The campaign is being focused on an idea called “Evology” which is basically a fancy word for the combination of technology and evolution. Everything begins on their website where you’re greeted by Rover’s sexy, a little sexually charged hologram Evologist who pretty much breaks down the idea of Evology. It kind of reminds you of Star Wars. “Help me Obi Wan Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

You can also view videos like the one above from the website along with others that are composed of emoticon babies and cat anchor men.

“We wanted to put a stake in the ground for Rover with the launch campaign,” said Seth Cummings, EVP, Rover, in a statement. “We were looking for an idea that could not only connect with our 18-24 audience, but also position Rover as a unique brand and a total departure from what’s available in the category. TAXI delivered and we’re excited to see the impact of the campaign in market.”

We’re not sure if they needed to go so over the top with emoticon babies and cat anchors. Quiznos is doing enough with cats right now. Rover looks like a product that will basically sell itself as long as it has no defects and requires duct tape.

More: Venables Adds Clearwire to Roster

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Creative directors Paul Hirsch and Josh Denberg, who most recently served as ECDs at McCann San Francisco and also had stints as CDs at Goodby, have launched a new San Francisco-based shop dubbed Division of Labor. The smiley pair say DoL is “a creative and strategic brand studio that writes, directs and produces content across all media platforms.”

The agency’s initial clients include Microsoft, Dendreon and the LA Marathon. Along with the creative duo, EP Julie Costanzo, who produced Sofia Coppola‘s The Virgin Suicides as well as campaigns for HP, Puma and Hitachi, joins Division of Labor as well as former Roaring Tiger Films executive Kim Prigge, who will serve as business manager.

More: “T.A.G. SF Takes on New Identity”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

LA-based 72andSunny added two more creative directors to its roster, namely Bekah Sirrine and David Charles. Charles joins 72andSunny from AKQA, where he worked on Nike, Sprite, Gap, Xbox and the McDonald’s global digital account.

Sirrine is a CP+B alum who also spent seven years at W+K New York, working with clients including Nike, ESPN, P&G, Gap, School of Visual Arts during her career.

More: “‘Mac vs. PC’ Co-Creator Joins 72andSunny”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Mullen’s ECD Mark Wenneker continues his hiring spree as the agency has now brought on Kevin Grady, the former director of design at Crispin, to lead Superfine, Mullen’s newly-branded design group.

At CP+B, Grady served as head of design and was a key creative on Gap and the Truth’s “Singing Cowboy” campaign. At Superfine, which tips hat to Mullen’s original name–Superfine Productions–Grady will take on the role of SVP, director of design.

More: “Brian Tierney to CD Post at Mullen”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

-Alex Bogusky QR code posters make the rounds. link

-Disney, Warner Bros. sue to stop advertising on pirate sites. link

-Facebook ignores seniors in marketing. link

-KSL Media hired Wunderman/Ammarati alum Steven Kaufman as EVP, integrated media.

-eBay is rolling out its largest ad campaign to date to promote Fashion Outlet site. link

More: Monday Morning Stir

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In today’s Mad Men recap, TVNewser co-editor Kevin Allocca congratulates the AMC show on its Emmy win and walks us through every moment of awkward boy-on-boy sexual tension in season four, episode six. [Dramatic pause] You’re welcome.

More: “Mad Men, Season Four, Episode Five: Awkwardness Abounds”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Oh boy, this Battle of the Ad Bands entry from Resource Interactive sure is clever. I mean, white people rapping about Facebook? What a totally original concept.

Alas, it’s that time of the year when advertising’s best and brightest dust off their old six-strings/laptop turntables in a sorry attempt to fulfill their long-abandoned rock star dreams. Luckily for them, they have the tools (and, apparently, the time) to produce expensive looking music videos that most actual musicians cannot afford.

The unanimous favorite, McCann Erickson’s More F**ing Cowbell (lolz), is attempting to become the first ever three-peat champion this year with their epic hair-metal stage show. It might be safe to count out “Dr. Cheesebarn” and their gut-wrenching Facebook rap already.

The finals happen live Tuesday, Sept. 9 the Highline Ballroom in Chelsea, Manhattan. Interested agencies and performers can register their acts and submit music to Advertising Week.

More: “The Winner of Advertising Week’s Battle of the Bands”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Former SS+K partner, chief creative officer Marty Cooke has joined Omnicom’s RAPP as U.S. CCO. Cooke spent ten years at SS+K and also held CD posts at M&C Saatchi and DDB during his career.

Cooke, who will work closely with RAPP’s global CCO Ian Haworth as well as U.S. regional creative heads, Rachael Heapps, Nick Platt and Skip Dampier, joins a shop that most recently won accounts including Humana, COTY fragrances and Viagra.

More: “No Longer The Same Old Rapp”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

After three decades, Carmichael Lynch and Harley Davidson have ended their relationship.

In a statement, CL CEO Mike Lescarbeau says. “Following a successful transition of work, our plan is to redeploy the team working on the Harley-Davidson account. We have a number of new brands that we competed for and won this summer that will require our very best people and their very best efforts.”

According to Tribble, an official at Harley allegedly said that Carmichael Lynch lacks the digital, Social and Search capabilities that are needed for a modern advertising campaign. After checking out our archives, we see the rumor that Harley was looking for a new ad agency developed two years ago.

(Update: Fixed, commentariat.)

More: “Carmichael Lynch Throttled by Possible HD Review?”

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Maybe you hate your job. Maybe you hate your job and you’re overwhelmed because half your team took off this week to take advantage Labor Day. Maybe you hate your job, half your team is out, you need work done but your creative department just got a new toy, and you screwed up your fantasy draft. That’s not too bad of a Monday. Things could be a lot worse. You could work for Eshe or Muckmouth.

Eshe streetwear recently came out with four new posters that are blanking the streets of Auckland, New Zealand, and are now available on t-shirts and skateboards. The Auckland-based agency, Muckmouth, is behind promotion of the “Religion is Garbage” cabbage-patch-esque campaign.

Presumably desperate for PR (even if that comes by way of threats to their office), Muckmouth developed extremely controversial copy to accompany the equally controversial images. To give you a taste, next to “Hole E Christ” is the line “Jesus bounced back from the dead like zombie.”

We almost feel bad noting the creatives behind the project, but since “Eshe and Muckmouth share a love of free-thinking, controversy and pushing boundaries,” here ya go:

Creatives: Nobjockey, Tatsie, Strange G, Dabset
Illustrator: Kennedy Poynter

Check out the other images and copy after the jump.

H/t Ads of the World

More: “Pizza Delivery Can Be Hell in New Zealand”

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