It’s that magical time of year when unless your brand is tangential related to Christmas, your ads don’t even have to sell anything.

Take, for example, the above spot for StubHub by Duncan/Channon, which finds the online ticket retailer’s “Ticket Oak” mascot screaming about a Christmas tree. You see, it doesn’t have to sell anything, and those kinds of spots are always a ton of fun to work on for agencies.

Is it a reference to 90s grunge stars, Screaming Trees? Is there compelling evidence that use of the “Ticket Oak” at any opportunity increases StubHub’s revenue? Is there market research that tells us people find talking tress weird, but in a funny way? We don’t know, and we don’t need to know. It’s Christmas, and this is about branding, not moving the needle. Credits after the jump.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

To be perfectly honest, I had no idea that Fox Sports covers college football throughout the season. However, a quick bit of research (Wikipedia) informed be that Fox actually has attained TV broadcasting rights for the Pac-10 last year. And, it would appear Fox’s marketing team has decided to make Gus Johnson the network’s star commentator for the NCAA season.

Now, I’m a little familiar with Gus, but I’ve never thought of him as a particularly excitable broadcaster. But, apparently Johnson is in the process of culminating this persona in two new spots from Fox Marketing and Biscuit Filmworks. The first, “Bomb Squad” (above), features Gus literally blowing up and possibly maiming a group of innocent passersby.

The second spot, “The Gus Effect,” aims to convince young males that watching a game commented on by Gus Johnson is a totally awesome experience, bro. Not only to you get cage dancers, you get new addition to the Fox team Erin Andrews staring at you while you cheer your team on. She doesn’t look a bit sad that ABC/ESPN decided not to renew her contract, does she? Credits after the jump.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.