We’ve covered past john st. efforts, original campaigns that are usually quirky and honest without forcing the issue. The Toront-based agency’s newest fare, “Earth Hour Cheerspiration,” comes on the heels of a WPP takeover. And even though it’s too early to thumb the corporate acquisition for a change in creativity, ”Cheerspiration,” as you can see in the above video, lacks the off-beat humor we’ve come to expect from john st.

The spot is meant to promote Earth Hour for WWF Canada, when those interested will conserve energy by shutting off all lights for one hour on the night of March 23 (for reference, check out this previous Earth Hour work from TVF and Hot Chip). Associating the unwavering pep of five loud cheerleaders with an important cause seems misguided at best, especially since it’s not easy to understand their hollering and, well, they’re cheerleaders. They’re stereotypically dumb–not saying that’s true–and only likable to jocks and teenage girls who thought Bring It On was a great movie. Not sure what the connection is to Earth Hour–maybe there is no connection? But if that’s the case, then why?

Dare I say it…even couchgating was more entertaining, and that’s been my gold standard of witless advertising. Here’s to hoping for better work next time, john st. Two more “Cheerspiration” spots and credits after the jump.

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Grammys. Oscars. MTV Music Video Awards. Cassies. Some award shows are more popular than others, but at the end of the day, they are all irrelevant except to those who win. Instead of asking nominees to cover up their curves, as was protocol at this year’s Grammys, the best approach is to let it all hang out with some good old fashioned self-deprecation.

Here are three clever promos created by Toronto agency john st., which introduced us to “Buyral” not too long ago, for the 2013 Cassie Awards, which apparently have been billed by the parties involved as the Canadian Effies. If nobody else cares about your commercials, at least you can add a trivial trophy to the banner of the agency website only clients will know about. I’ll leave you to the other two spots and the credits after the jump before the imaginary orchestra cuts me off.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.