As the opening moments states, viewer discretion is advised with this lengthy promo from RPA and Tool, who for the fourth year in a row are teaming up to hype the Newport Beach Film Festival. If you haven’t seen Corbin’s Bernsen‘s epic, award-winning (ok, not really) The Dentist saga or better yet The Marathon Man, consider this clip called “Mandible” the Cliff’s Notes version.

Again, this is not for the squeamish (though as a horror fan it’s not all that shocking; as a guy who’s got a dentist appointment next week, that’s another story), but in a statement regarding “Mandible,” RPA creative director Scott McDonald says, “We wanted to demonstrate the power of film by taking audiences to a heightened state of emotion and then pulling them back to reality, reminding them that they’re watching particles of light on a screen.” Perhaps what we’re seeing is how RPA felt during the recent Honda review, but who knows, they came out of it pretty OK and so will you. The Newport Beach Film Festival begins April 25 and runs through May 2. Enjoy the show, kids. Credits after the jump.

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-Bi-coastal production company Tool has promoted four-year vet Dustin Callif, who founded said shop’s digital division back in 2009, to managing partner, digital.

-For those in their mid-30s like yours truly and older, perhaps you remember the “Pardon Me” Grey Poupon spots, which was  subsequently parodied ad nauseum. Now, CP+B has resurrected the ad and continues the story in a new spot called “The Chase” (not to be confused with another “The Chase” from back in the day).

-NY/Chicago/Dallas/L.A. editorial shop Red Car has welcomed editors Keith Kristinat and David Rosenblatt to its Chi-town roster.

-On the same note, post-production boutique Wild(child) has added editor Sven Herrmann to its roster. link

-Nashville/D.C.-based shop iostudio has been named AOR for Whisper Creek Tennessee Sipping Cream, the flagship product offered by SPEAKeasy Spirits. From what we’ve been told, the agreement with iostudio marks the brand’s first formal agency relationship that developed after iostudio completed an individual promotional project for the brand.

-Looks like the Office Depot/OfficeMax acquisition rumors were true. link

Turn up those hearing aids…Toronto agency john st. has brought back its Granny-themed National Sweater Day campaign for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). Ruth, Florence, Audrey, and a few other lovely ladies from Granny Call Centre 82.0 are back to convince Canadians to wear sweaters and lower the heater on Feb. 7 in an effort to save energy. You should check out the campaign’s site to meet all the grannies and read background info for the cause. You also have the option of nominating your own grandmother if she’s into ugly sweaters and environmental awareness.

The aforementioned john st. which recently amused us with its “Buyral” spoof, tapped into the secret of advertising for this one: Either cute babies or charming grandparents equals success. The only thing missing from the videos is a cutaway to cute babies in ugly sweaters. That would’ve been the equivalent of back-to-back Bingo’s in the nursing home. But the National Sweater Day campaign is still a smart revival for a good cause. Betty White better watch her back. Credits after the jump.

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If you’ve ever needed a medically motivated excuse for blacklisting your Facebook friends, Help Remedies and agency Tool are here with a web app that will tell you which of your contacts is afflicted with illness this flu season. Let the public shaming commence!

The Facebook app, fittingly named “Help My Friend Gave me the Flu,” marks interactive director/clothing designer James Cooper‘s first project for Tool, who lured Cooper away from JWT in October. Of the app Cooper says, “Most Facebook ideas are all about gaining friends and keeping in touch  - Help My Friend Gave me the Flu – is the opposite. It works out who you should avoid!” In other words, should you come down with the flu, you will lose Facebook friends at a similar rate in which you lose vacation days. But, this is what you get for telling people you’re sick in order to cultivate sympathy “Likes,” I guess.

Regarding his debut for Tool, Cooper tells us, “‘I really like simple ideas that are based on a truth. I think when people get sick the first thing they do is look to blame someone, then they dick around on Facebook. So, we were thinking, combine the two. Also, I quite like the idea of a site that is supposed to be all about making new friends and reaching out to people actually telling you who you should avoid. Or maybe that’s just me.”

For more information on the app, visit Tool’s website or access the app on Facebook here. Credits after the jump.

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Back in May, TBWA\Toronto and bi-coastal prodco, Tool, joined forces to create an interactive music experience dubbed “Wine Orchestra” for one of our old fave mid-shelf brands, Yellow Tail. The collaborative, which ran through the end of September, allowed visitors to the “Orchestra” site to tinker weak and tweak looped recordings of others users who whipped up rhythms and melodies using wine glasses and of course, Yellow Tail bottles. Of course, it wasn’t all just about spotlighting bedroom musician wankery for sake of selling more wine, as Yellow Tail donated $1 to the Unison Benevolent Fund for every video recorded and shared.

Well, after nearly six months and over 400 submissions received, the project has finally come to fruition as the parties involved introduce us to the “Wine Orchestra players” via a video that was cut and produced by composer, Kutiman. The artist himself is no stranger to such types of projects having already mixed various unrelated YouTube clips to create the epic clip, “ThruYou.” As for the collage of kitchen-sink musicians above, Kutiman’s effort, which sounds somewhat like a Four Tet track, has us clamoring for a YouTube mixing battle between him and Gotye, who spliced together his own “orchestra” a few months ago. Credits after the jump.

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During the now-tired manly man spokesperson ad trend that’s been beaten to death over the last few years, I’ve always had a soft spot for Keystone’s trucker hat-wearing mascot, Keith Stone. I guess it’s because Keith was actually a somewhat recognizable archetype, whereas his fellow manly spokesmen look nothing like the consumer they’re attempting to appeal to. The difference is that you can actually picture a dude who looks likes Keith walking into your local convenience store, grabbing a case of Keystone, and handing a series of crumpled bills and loose change from his pocket to the cashier before jumping in his rusted pickup.

There’s a degree of honesty to Keith that, when backed up by some insight, can work very well. Such is the case with the above spot, one in a trio from Saatchi and Saatchi NY and Tool director JJ Adler. What “true” guy wouldn’t agree with Keith and admit that yes, emoticons are an incredibly maddening way for other dudes to express themselves? Whenever I get a text message or IM from a friend that contains an emoticon, it’s nearly impossible not to let out a sigh of resignation. Add to that some great copy, and Keith Stone not only becomes a symbol of manliness–he becomes a symbol of integrity, dammit!

I wish I could say the same for the other two spots, both of which exchange this keen insight for the trite “guys will be guys” subjects that have existed as long as the idea of manliness has. Real men drink beer instead of eat salad? Keith, you can do better than that. If I wanted to know that men like bacon, I would ask the Dr. Pepper 10 guy. One more spot about fist-bumping along with credits follows after the jump.

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After just setting Burger King staffers’ hearts aflutter, David Beckham continues his advertising tear with a far more active spot from Cheil USA for the Samsung Galaxy Note. Directed by Tool’s Jason Zada, the commendable clip features Becks reinterpreting Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” the best way he knows how. Of course, we imagine there was some decent amount of editing involved, but it’s nice to see that the soccer star still has it in him.

The Samsung spot also marks Lars Bastholm‘s first work as CCO at Cheil USA, which he of course joined towards the end of last year. As for Beckham, one would think that being a player for the L.A. Galaxy would have something to with his appearance in a Samsung Galaxy spot, but the athlete and brand are both in fact heavily involved in the London Olympics, with Beckham serving as an ambassador and Samsung serving as sponsor for the 2012 festivities. So, you see, it all makes sense now. Credits after the jump.

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From the Martin Agency and Tool director Geordie Stephens comes a new TV spot for Comcast inspired by the Everly Brothers’ much beloved 1958 hit, “All I Have to Do is Dream.” In “Stream, Stream, Stream,” TV-addicted men and women hum the chorus for “All I Have to Do is Dream,” replacing the word “dream” for “stream” to emphasize Comcast’s new Streampix service (see what they did there?). It’s a nice video depiction of this 2009 article from The Onion.

Outside of the Martin Agency’s work, those looking for a slightly more “original” musical ode to Comcast can bump the new viral hip-hop track “Ridin Around and Fixin It,” a lyrical tribute to the day-to-day duties of a Comcast cable repair person. And, if you prefer something a bit more down-tempo and sensual, there’s always the slow jam “I Can Fix Your Cable” for those late-night candle-lit grind sessions. Music video below and credits after the jump.

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