Ah, a Super Bowl breather and the Foot Locker/NBA-focused funny continues in this new spot from BBDO New York, which focuses on mohawk/fierce beard-sporting James Harden, the ex-Oklahoma City Thunder sixth-man-turned-Houston Rockets starter. See kids, this is what happens when you don’t have the flow to flaunt fresh kicks on a consistent basis: You hang out with Kim Kardashian’s ex. Ugh, we can smell the Drakkar Noir from here. Credits after the jump.

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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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It’s always refreshing to see a TV spot that breaks the mold of how a certain type of product can be marketed. Not that I’m saying Pereira O’Dell and prodco Biscuit Filmworks’ newest campaign for Scrabble is revolutionary, but I think if we ever hear the phrase “board game ad,” most of us have an pretty set idea of what it looks like, no matter what game is being advertised.

Well, it looks like two things happened here. First, Pereira & O’Dell creatives decided to think quite far outside of the box and presented this concept to Mattel. Then, probably quite surprisingly, Mattel decided to approve a hell of a budget. Now, we have a campaign that take us away from the smiling family sitting around their dining room table and into the world of Scrabble tiles. And, if you ask them, there’s nothing quite like being “Blank.”

Because I’m a bit of a sad bastard mess this Friday afternoon, this “Lonely Q” spot struck a nerve with me. Let’s just say, I’ve never before sympathized with the letter Q for any reason. But, things seem to work out for him, and maybe all it takes to get back on your feet is the ability to sit down, meditate over a friendly game of Scrabble, and remember how to be yourself. But, then again, I’m probably reading into this a little too much.

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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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Seeking to push its pay-per-view adult channel Amour in mainstream media, Manitoba Telecom Services enlisted the help of Dare Vancouver, which in turn came up with a campaign that adds an unlikely twist to the most cliched porn scenarios. Biscuit Filmworks director Tim Godsall, who’s helmed everything from DirectTV’s “Opulence” spot to the Cars.com “Neck” Super Bowl XLVI entry, takes the reins behind the camera for this series of clips that has all the production value and bad acting of your average adult film minus the X-rated content. Looks like mission accomplished. Check out two more and credits after the jump.

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For the all screenshots I’d seen of a scantily-clad Adriana Lima holding a checkered racing flag, I didn’t have very high expectations for Kia’s Super Bowl spot. But, I was wrong, and David&Goliath definitely delivered on this :90 vacation to a fantasy world driven by the Optima.

What happens when a man is accidentally given access to the sweetest of sweet dreams? He enters a world of super models, Mötley Crüe, giant sandwiches, fire, rhinoceros rodeos, MMA fighting (featuring a cameo from Chuck Lidell) and, of course, fast cars. But, even a perfect world can’t stand in the way of this hero and his significant other. With his Optima, he breaks into his lady’s dream, “rescuing” her from a white horse-riding hunk who looks dull compared to our protagonist. It’s the kind of “manly” everyman story that beer brands somehow continue to fail at telling with each new ad campaign.

Going into the Super Bowl, the majority of hype is undoubtedly surrounding VW’s sequel to last year’s “The Force” and Honda’s homage to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. After the big game, we hope to see Kia and D&G receive due credit for producing a commercial better than those from their more talked-about competitors. Credits after the jump.

Update: For a play-by-play on how this spot came to life, see D&G copywriter Justin Bajan’s blog post on Adpulp.

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If you watched football yesterday (which, considering all of the close games that were decided by a final drive, you probably should have), you undoubtedly saw the above Verizon spot for the new Motorola RAZR. “Wait, ‘new’ Motorola RAZR?” you might have asked yourself with a mouth full of beer and nachos. “Wasn’t that the phone I gave to that teenage scenester in exchange for a cigarette when the iPhone debuted like four years ago?”

Yes, Motorola’s latest product is turning back the clock a few years. If you can remember the days when the original Motorola RAZR debuted in early 2004, you’ll recall it was a mighty simpler time for cellphones. “Back in those days,” you’ll fondly tell your children, “a phone’s merit was decided by its slim portability, not the quality of escort service it could find you at last call.” Hell, even ask AgencySpy editor Kiran Aditham, and he’ll probably relate the fond memories he had with his Motorola RAZR, before the bespectacled turtlenecked modern-day Edison at Apple HQ created a product that immediately rendered Kiran and his mobile device of choice uncool.

But, as Motorola made known last month, the company is debuting a new, sleek phone that they’re calling the RAZR in homage to the company’s successful old model, one capable of running the new Android “Ice Cream Sandwich” OS debuting at the beginning of next year. As the new “Android king” is debuting for Verizon, the wireless providers’ AOR Mcgarrybowen was charged with making the above ad, which we’re being told is a “teaser” to a launch spot that will be unveiled this Wednesday on prime-time TV. So, dear readers, what say you? Is a phone chopping everything in its path in half going to garner the necessary buzz to challenge the iPhone? Will it at least get current Android users to switch phones? Credits after the jump.

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“The Handlebar Moustache” is Heineken’s and W+K NY’s sequel to “The Snakeskin Jacket,” and like its predecessor, it takes a look a when certain bold fashion statements are appropriate. Of course, the handlebar moustache has become a hipster facial-hair fixture over the past few years, and Heineken has definitely been appealing to young 20-something urbanites since W+K Amsterdam’s “The Entrance” was released at the beginning of the year. Hell, they were even the official beer sponsor of Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago this past weekend, and plenty of Heineken Lite cups were devoured by indie rock snobs who indifferently listened to the offensive hate-rapping of OFWGKTA.

But, as has been the case with all of Heineken’s spots from 2011, we get memorable characters, a playful sense of humor and eye-popping cinematography. While “Snakeskin Jacket” was mostly about where not to wear your odd fashion of choice, “Handlebar Moustache” is about how awesome you could look entering into an early 1900s bare knuckle boxing match (and how a victory could snag you the dream girl). With Pabst Blue Ribbon on the brink of “selling out,” this brand has the foresight to target a market looking for an iconic beer of choice to rally behind, choosing to emphasize style over blue-collar credibility. Thus far, W+K is delivering in a big way. Credits after the jump.

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Apparently, everyone in this town really reveres the Audi A7. And, what better time to do some cleaning than spring, right guys? LOL, get it? (Wink wink, nudge, nudge.)

“Spring Cleaning” is one of two new spots for Audi from Venables Bell & Partners. Along with “Car Carrier,” which advertises the Audi Q5, these new television ads paint the luxury car company as “Luxury Progressed,” and both do so in a sort of pretentious fashion. Sure, seeing an Audi cruising around your town has definitely become a much more common site as the company continues to take market share away from competitors like Mercedes-Benz and BMW. But, do the two spots really make you want to buy and Audi? Or, do they make you kind of hate Audi drivers that much more? Credits and “Car Carrier” follow after the jump.

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David&Goliath nixes the Yo Gabba Gabba gang and Heavy soundtrack in favor of a CGI-addled extravaganza starring everyone from Poseidon and aliens to tribal warriors with its 2011 Super Bowl entry for Kia and its Optima line.

Really though, is there any chance in hell the agency/brand can triumph over last year’s spot? We think not, though at least a cameo from the animated crew could suffice.  Oh well. You can be the judge and the wait for the USA Ad Meter on Monday to see how it fared.

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