-If sending zombies out on to the streets of NYC doesn’t help squash the AMC-Dish Network beef, we don’t know what will. Bless you, Thinkmodo (above). link

-Pete Figel and Alicia Dotter, who have collectively spent time at \Media Arts Lab and Team One, have joined Santa Monica-based RPA as creative directors. link

-McCann’s latest entry in its “Truth” series discusses Latin American street food. link

-Adidas is now pushing its “minimalist” adipure shoes. link

-Executive producers Ben Morris and Ron Cicero have launched a Santa Monica production studio called Clutch. link

-There have been a reported 10 million Olympic tweets sent during the games thus far. link

-Well, the U.S. Navy certainly isn’t holding back with the logo for its new, UFO-looking drone. link

-A music ecommerce platform named Limited Run lets the click fraud accusations fly on Facebook. link

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

While we’re on the Seattle tip, over a month ago, a local resident and “improv performer” named Joshua Paul Downs played the part of guinea pig in a digital/physical scavenger hunt for Ingersoll Rand lock brand Schlage that was based in his hometown. Indianapolis shop Y&L was behind the campaign, which involved locking Downs in a 174 sq. ft. house located in downtown Seattle’s Westlake Center Plaza and throwing away the key in a sense.

What ensued was a week-long effort in late June in which Seattle-ites (?) were asked to participate in the scavenger hunt to find the “Schlage Key” and reach Downs. What was the upside of capturing the Schlage so to speak and unlocking the door to our protagonist’s humble abode? Well, he had $5,000 ready for the first person who did. A web hub and Downs’s tweets provided clues to participants, who were then sent to “strong” locations spanning 10 miles in the area that included everything from a Home Depot display to a Starbucks. It’s like the Willy Wonka/Saw mashup we’ve never dreamed of, but we can’t hate too much on a good scavenger hunt. Let the video above basically explain things. Peep credits after the jump.

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If I am to understand my current book Uprising correctly, StrawberryFrog co-founder Scott Goodson would refer to this as an example of “Movement Marketing.” Unfortunately, I’m not very far in my book and have terrible reading comprehension. So, if you’re seeing this, Scott, and think I have it all wrong, please let me know in the comment section.

Back in the 70s, Seattle’s Rainier beer was apparently a well-known local brew that denizens of the “City That Always Rains” adored. In fact, Rainier actually invented the whole “frogs croaking words to sell beer” thing long Budweiser made the concept into a national phenomenon. Atop Rainer’s brewery was a magnificent letter “R” which, upon the brewery’s demise, was removed and kept safe by Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), home to the world’s largest collection of worthless Seattle Supersonics memorabilia (maybe).

In recent time, Pabst Brewery has purchased and resurrected Rainier, motivating MOHAI to tap the wild ‘n’ crazy scamps at Seattle’s Wexley School for Girls for a campaign to “Restore the R.” On the campaign’s website, activists and beer drinkers can partake in any number of 258 challenges which, upon completion, will cause the brand’s beloved icon to have a full restoration with Pabst picking up the bill.

As Wexley partner and CD Cal McAllister says,  “It’s a sign of the media times that this whole campaign is being undertaken without any paid-for media. We’re using the Northwest’s favorite beer to start a social movement that showcases Rainier’s ties to Seattle, drives awareness of the collaboration between MOHAI and Rainier, and encourages community engagement in the restoration of the iconic ‘R’.”’

So, if you think you can “crush a Rainier can with only your mind,” “take a bath in Rainier” or “drink your favorite meal in smoothie form,” upload evidence of your feats of strength here .

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Because we totally have a TARDIS. All Mediabistro employees get one. This is why articles sometimes seemingly change after they were posted with no trace of any editing. Consider your mind freaked.

Anyway, a new Tumblr titled “THIS IS MY FIRST BLOG POST” bills itself as “a carefully curated collection of today’s top bloggers and their first blog posts.” Though it’s only been around for a little over a week, it takes the busywork out of finding some of our favorite blogs’ humble beginnings. Hey, Adverblog has been around since 2003, and its first post was about Nike winning advertising of the year. And look, it’s Steve Hall‘s Ad Rants, which began in 2002 with a post talking about the “good” advertising has brought to the world of the Internet. Little did Steve know that one day he would be forced to talk about QR codes. Ugh, QR codes. Think about this: We live in a world where SnapTags are actually an improvement on something else.

Among posts from Ian Schafer and Nick Parish we find our humble blog, which has a post from July 2007 written by our own editor emeritus SuperSpy titled “Because Your Girlfriend Bores You Shitless.” SuperSpy has a way with words, doesn’t she? In reality, this entry should come with a steroids-era type asterisk, as SuperSpy was blogging away on WordPress long before AgencySpy migrated over to Mediabistro. The more you know.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Football fans, IT’S ALMOST TIME!

The past few months have been hard. Sure, we were excited when the MLB season kicked off, but we’ve reached the mid-season lull where it’s become too difficult to feign interest anymore. And yes, the Olympics are finally here, but let’s be real for a second: SWIMMING? REALLY? THIS IS THE BEST WE CAN DO?!?

If you’re anything like me, football withdrawal has led you to make some stupid decisions. Last Saturday, I rolled out of bed, went to Best Buy and dropped $60 on a copy of NCAA Football ’13 just to fake myself into thinking that football season is kinda sorta happening almost. But, it’s just not the same, and David&Goliath knows that. To kick off NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football broadcast season, the agency has created three new spots starring a blue-suited man who, as Kiran notes, looks like former Chargers QB Dan Fouts (but with a better mustache). Yeah, I guess you can say he’s another Ron Burgundy/Old Spice guy archetype, but my excitement is outweighing my criticism here. Plus, he’s pretty funny.

Yes, Dan Fouts guy, I DO like blitzes, blocks and even penalties, so long as the penalties are against whoever is playing the Packers. Speaking of which, I’ll see you on Thursday, Sept. 13 for Packers/Bears at Lambeau. Thank God Thursday Night Football is starting early this year, especially if you’re one of the lucky ones with NFL Network. See credits and one more spot for Fantasy players after the jump. Oh, and stay away from Calvin Johnson in your draft this year, as the Madden Cover Curse shows no mercy.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

After working with various companies on a project basis for its advertising efforts, home/personal audio brand Denon decided to hold a review and has now found its first creative agency of record in BBDO New York. Call it kismet or just a little ass-kissing (hey, couldn’t hurt), but Denon apparently has a major presence in the BBDO NY offices according to a statement from agency president/CEO John Osborn, who says, “Denon is awesome.  We have more Denon equipment in our newly renovated space than anything else, so maybe it was fate.  The stage is set to take this brand up a notch to an 11!”

How will BBDO realize its Spinal Tap reference? Well, first order of business for the winning agency (others who participated in the Denon review were not disclosed) is an integrated marketing communications program to support the global launch of a new lifestyle-oriented lineup of Denon headphones. Advertising is expected to break this summer.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

-Kim Borman and Doug Chapman, president and ECD of KSV Boston, respectively, have taken sole ownership of the agency and renamed it Avenue Brand.

-Gillette’s been busy with the Olympics tie-ins as it unveiled an interesting retail activation in Germany (above).

-GSD&M has promoted senior strategist Elizabeth Thompson to UX strategy director.

-As far as Madison Ave digital players go, WPP is tops according to paidContent estimates. link

-The Pitch alum/Vegas-based SK+G promoted Nadia Khan and Sarah McLean to account director.

-Former AOL/Advertising.com exec Tom Iler joined Vibrant Media as CTO.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In case you didn’t hear the news, after reportedly a month or so of discussion, it’s now official that Korean holding company Cheil has acquired Durham, NC stalwart McKinney, which of course we all recently remember from the premiere episode of AMC’s The Pitch. As a result of the Cheil deal, McKinney’s four years of independence comes to an end (the agency was previously owned by Havas). But despite having a parent company yet again, McKinney’s name, leadership (including CEO Brad Brinegar) and its NC headquarters remains intact.

So why sell now? In a statement, Brinegar says, “After four years of charting our own course and producing unprecedented results for our clients, we couldn’t pass up this golden opportunity to be better, bigger, faster. Cheil’s enthusiasm for McKinney’s independent spirit and the opportunity to help write the future of the global network sealed the deal. Though we’re from different parts of the world, we share the language of success — ‘tuhon,’ the relentless drive to achieve extraordinary results despite all obstacles.”

McKinney will now join the Cheil Americas unit, which of course also includes The Barbarian Group and is led by CEO Buz Sawyer. According to The New York Times, the Cheil-McKinney deal is estimated at $50 million. Read the trade’s full report here.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Rob Rasmussen has decided to leave his position as Chief Creative Officer of Tribal DDB US to move back to the West Coast with his family, and we wish him all the best in his next endeavor. While we are sad to see Rob leave, we are also excited to announce that we have elevated Kinney Edwards to the role of Executive Creative Director in New York. For the better part of six years, Kinney has led or directly contributed to some of the office’s best work, and we are thrilled he will continue to contribute to the culture and creative product of Tribal DDB. Additionally, a second Executive Creative Director will be announced in the near future.”

Kinney Edwards has been with Tribal DDB for five years and most recently served as group creative director at the agency.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

-That didn’t take long. Former DDB LA co-CCO Erik Moe has found a new gig, joining the roster of West Coast production company Kaboom.

-Despite Joel Ewanick‘s departure, it appears that General Motors remains committed to Commonwealth. link

-The Mother nods continue today as the London office is reaching out to the local community during the Olympics with not only a musical Facebook app starring an “ordinary man” named Nigel, but an Instagram feed to find emerging local photogs and a Tumblr photo studio (image for the last one above).

-Is Apple vs. Samsung “the patent trial of the century?” link

-W+K picked up the Finlandia vodka biz. link

-Director Ryan Gibb joined Toronto’s Holiday films for commercial film representation.

-NBC gets a UK journalist and one of its harshest Olympics coverage critics booted from Twitter. link

-The logo for southeastern Pennsylvania health insurer Independence Red Cross got a makeover courtesy of Siegel+Gale, which also created an ad campaign called “Changing the Game” for the brand that debuted during the Olympics. link

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Hahn-Griffiths had spent two-a-half years in all at Mullen, initially joining as EVP, director of bland planning before eventually moving up to the CSO post. While at Mullen, he helped the agency win creative accounts for the likes of  JetBlue and Zappos among other achievements. During his career, the exec has held many gigs on the strategy/planning side, including an eight-year stint at Doner. We’ll let you know if and when we find out where he’s headed to next.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Barely two weeks after captivating the internet with his “Applefied” take on ads that features some of our most well-known brands, RPA intern Bryan Evans shares his thoughts on coming up with the idea and the experience of winning over the web audience for a few days. Take it away, sir.

A few weeks into my internship at RPA I found myself driving through the heart of West L.A. I was with a group of my fellow creative interns, returning to the office from lunch at one of our favorite local eateries. As we talked, I was struck by an image on one of the many towering billboards: a gigantic ad for Apple’s latest version of the iPad laid out in all its minimalist, glistening white glory.

“How do they get away with that?” I asked, rejoining the conversation. “It’s literally a picture of an iPad with a hand touching it, white background, that’s it. They sell millions of these things.”

A week or two passed. I had just wrapped helping with a Honda Pilot print piece as well as a Honda corporate print and digital project. I was in between assignments, passing the time reading ad blogs, when my thoughts unexpectedly returned to that iPad billboard. And I wondered:

What if all advertising looked like Apple’s?

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Last Friday in Boston, P&G sent a rather large-scale good luck message to some of the Team USA athletes who also happen to be pitchmen for the company’s Gillette brand, namely swimmer Ryan Lochte and sprinter Tyson Gay. Boston Harbor was the venue for a light and water show that included 60-foot holograms, screens of water vapor, the music of M83 and was the result of a collaboration between Proximity, BBDO, Ketchum and Klip Kollective.  Not sure if it’s just us, but this ambitious efforts reminds somewhat of last year’s experiential Carmelo Anthony Air Jordan launch in New York…or maybe it’s just us. Anyhow, the effort helped kick off an Olympics-themed campaign called ” Get Started,” which features a spot that also includes fellow Gillette pitchman Roger Federer.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Yesterday, Diet Coke turned 30. Pretty impressive for a brand that primarily rots teeth and creates lifelong addicts—er, fans. To celebrate this momentous occasion, W+K Portland and the soft drink brand will be throwing 30-second birthday parties for their enthusiastic drinkers. A party posse armed with disco balls and limbo sticks (depending on the 30-second theme), will actually visit a few lucky people who tweet @DietCokeUS until August 1 (clip from the first shindig above). In addition to the festivities, these fans get a year’s worth of Diet Coke.

Though their soda doesn’t exactly benefit the world, this week the brand’s generosity is definitely spreading happiness.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In a statement, Hershfield  gushes about both his past and present employers, saying, “Mother is an incredible agency with incredible people, but this simply was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I’m so impressed with everything SS+K believes in and wants to accomplish, and in a strange way, I feel all roads just sort of led me right here.”

During his career, the now-SS+K CCO/partner spent time on the account side at Chiat\Day before moving over to the creative department and working at the likes W+K and Ogilvy. As for SS+K, the agency’s client roster includes GM, JCPenney, Pfizer and Kraft.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.