It’s only 15 seconds long, but the brevity of this Lucky Charms spot only seems to intensify the “Whoa, what the hell just happened?” effect.

The commercial, which mixes footage from both current and vintage ads for the “magically delicious” cereal, is an explosion of colors, shapes and sparkles, all set to the tune of the classic jingle, which has been auto-tuned almost beyond the point of recognition.

The ad aired during big TV shows this week like the season finales of American Idol and The Voice. So in the event that people were watching those programs high off their gourds, we’re confident this spot either inspired them to eat nothing but pots of gold and rainbows throughout the duration of their trips, or sent them spiraling into a really, really bad place inhabited by T-Pain-sounding leprechauns.

At some point, back-peddling is no longer a viable damage control option. We’d say that point comes somewhere between screaming obscenities in all caps at critics via Facebook, and hurling vague threats while claiming to be a superhero backed by God himself.

Yeah, that happened.

After Gordon Ramsay of reality show “Kitchen Nightmares” declared Arizona restaurant Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro so horrible that even he couldn’t help the owners rescue their establishment, those owners, Amy and Sammy, took to social media to bite back at critics. Here are a few of the most…um…interesting Facebook posts (if you’re offended by the F word, you should probably stop reading):

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Solomon McCown, a Boston-based national public relations firm, announced the opening of its new office in New York City. Solomon McCown has a track record of working with clients in Boston, New York and Washington, D.C., so the new office is a natural progression that will enable the firm to be closer to existing and prospective clients, as well as established real estate, financial services and healthcare companies, key growth areas for the agency. The firm has grown in the last two years, and has already hired 6 new employees in 2013. The new office will be led by Jonathan Pappas, a seasoned agency veteran who brings a compelling mix of agency, corporate, and real estate experience to New York City. (Release)

Ketchum has announced four new hires, three in Atlanta and one in New York: 

• Phil Swire joins as senior vice president, digital strategy & technology, New York. Phil Swire leads Ketchum’s development function in the U.S. and oversees technology strategy across the Ketchum network. A digital strategist, Swire joins Ketchum from PricewaterhouseCoopers where he was a leader in that firm’s digital strategy practice.
  
• Matt Browher is the new senior vice president, digital strategy, Atlanta. Browher has extensive experience in strategy development, team management and interactive marketing, having recently worked at Digitas and as the digital practice lead for FleishmanHillard in Atlanta.
• Amy Andrieux, the new vice president, multimedia content & strategy, New York, was formerly editorial director at MTV World. Andrieux oversees the Ketchum Digital video group, helps lead content strategy for the U.S., and helps to evolve Ketchum Digital’s multimedia capabilities. Andrieux brings a wealth of multimedia, video and content development experience to Ketchum from her experience developing and leading editorial strategy for MTV World online portals. 
• Kristen Massaro, Vice President, Digital Strategy, New York, supports a number of key accounts, including Michelin and Gillette, and lends support to other markets in the Ketchum network, with emphasis on the Southern U.S region. Massaro, who has deep expertise in social media engagement, was previously with with Emanate, a public relations sister agency to Ketchum, where she led the digital and social strategy specialty since 2011. (Release)

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As fans of “The Office” prepare to say a fond farewell to their beloved Scranton-dwelling characters on tonight’s series finale, the real-life Dunder Mifflin paper company, launched in 2011 via a licensing deal between Quill.com and NBC Universal, is preparing to ramp up business with a well-placed ad.

The spot, created by PR agency Olson and crowdsourcing platform Tongal, will run tonight in five Dunder Mifflin “branch” markets (Scranton, Utica, Akron, Albany, Syracuse).

While back in 2011 some thought that the concept of reverse product placement in the form of an entire company was sure to be a failure, the real-world Dunder Mifflin has grown into a multi-million dollar brand that is now among the best-selling brands in the office-supply category. We guess having sales geniuses like Dwight in your corner can make all the difference, especially when he delivers nuggets of marketing gold like, “To me, success is simply the opposite of failure.” Indeed.

Princess Merida, the young Scottish girl who broke tradition and took a decidedly feminist stand against being married off to the winner of an archery competition in Disney’s “Brave” (by using her kick-ass marksmanship skills to win her own hand) has officially been inducted into the sacred sisterhood of the Disney Princesses, taking her place alongside the likes of Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel.

But before Merida could join the ranks of her more mature counterparts, she had to undergo quite a makeover. First, her dress — a functional frock, suitable for her outdoor adventures, was replaced by a much brighter, frillier, more low-cut number, reminding young girls that looks trump comfort. And because there’s nothing feminine or damsel-like about packing heat, her beloved bow and arrows were apparently confiscated.

Equally disturbing were the changes that were made to her previously young-girl-like figure: her waist had clearly been cinched and her bust noticeably increased, she was given flirtatious lashes and rosier cheeks, and her adventurous, slightly defiant-looking smile gave way to a sultry smirk. After critics lambasted the made-over Merida for over-sexualizing what was supposed to be a young girl to whom real young girls could relate, Disney quietly pulled the image from their website and replaced it with the Pixar original.

We’re not surprised the backlash was so intense, because while we agree that the over-sexualization was a major problem, we think it went beyond that. Read more

We told you last week about Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries only wanting his brand’s clothing worn by “cool kids” — i.e. no one that falls outside the stereotypical “All American” standards of beauty, including girls over a size 10. “A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong,” Jeffries once said in an interview. “Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

To make matters worse, it seems that less-than-cool kids aren’t the only people who don’t “belong” in A&F clothing — when garments are damaged and/or cannot be sold, rather than donating the clothes to people who need them, the company reportedly burns them. Why? Because homeless people aren’t the sort of brand representation A&F wants. So basically, Abercrombie has sent this branding message into the universe: “Six-pack abs and chiseled jaw required. Soul optional”.

In response, Greg Karber decided to give Abercrombie a brand makeover. After sifting through the “douchebag section” of his local Goodwill thrift shop for donated A&F clothing, Karber headed to LA’s Skid Row to hand out the clothes to the homeless, who, after displaying initial reluctance to accept the clothing (which Karber attributes to a fear of looking like “narcissistic date rapists”), eventually accepted the A&F clothes, completing phase one of Karber’s mission.

However, in the video below, Karber says that he can’t “clothe the homeless or transform a brand” all by his lonesome, and urges viewers to get involved. A grassroots re-branding campaign to teach a company to grow a soul? Like we said before: we sense a Glee episode coming on…

DuPont welcomes Tiffany M. Atwell as its newly appointed director of International Government Affairs. With over 15 years working on issues relating to international trade policies, Atwell has built quite a career in Washington. Previously, she was the senior director for Strategic Programs in Government Affairs and Policy for Abbott. She managed a team whose goal was to develop public-private partnerships with key governments and NGOs to drive outreach strategies in emerging markets like Russia, India and Brazil. She served as the International Trade Policy advisor to Senator Chuck Grassley, former Finance Committee chairman. Atwell managed trade related issues regarding China including: textiles, tariffs, currency exchange policies, customs and trade preference programs. Previously, she served as a congressional liaison for the undersecretary for Legislative Affairs for the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration assisting members of Congress in resolution of trade-related issues for their constituents. (Release)

BBH named a new CEO for North America, Patrick Lafferty, who joins the agency after spending two-and-a-half years at McCann and the last 18 months as its North American COO. Lafferty replaces Greg Andersen, who was one of those affected by BBH’s major “restructuring” last fall. Lafferty, who will officially assume his CEO title at BBH this summer and based out of its New York office, who was a former platoon leader/company commander in the U.S. Army, will be tasked with running both BBH New York. (AgencySpy)

Brainshark, Inc. announced the appointment of Larry DiLoreto as senior vice president of sales and chief revenue officer. In this role, DiLoreto is responsible for directing and managing Brainshark’s worldwide sales and revenue strategies. A seasoned sales and technology executive with a track record of global success, DiLoreto adds to the depth of Brainshark’s management team – helping the company extend its market leadership and momentum. Prior to Brainshark, DiLoreto served as executive vice president and chief revenue officer at SmartBear Software, where he led the company to achieve record revenues, developed its go-to-market channel strategy and directed its international expansion. (Release) Read more

Clearly, the promoters of the soon-to-be-revived cult classic “Arrested Development” did not “make a huge mistake” when they organized yesterday’s NYC giveaway of “Bluth’s Bananas”, a frozen treat featured on the show.

Diehard fans waited as long as 30 minutes in lines that stretched nearly two blocks for a chance to get their own chocolate-dipped frozen bananas from the authentic-looking replica of the Bluth family’s stand.

“I am such a major fan,” 21-year-old Sharah Stanley told the New York Daily News as she waited in line. “When I found out it was going to be here, I raced up. I hope the line doesn’t take too long because I’m on my lunch break.”

Stanley is not alone in waiting on bated breath for new episodes of her beloved show. Arrested Development, which originally ran from 2003 to 2006, will be reborn with a new season scheduled to be released by Netflix on May 26.

Coke has long associated its brand with happiness — even dedicating entire websites to the philosophical meaning of the word, and calling the contents of a can of cola “140 happy calories.”

Now, the company is taking advantage of a happy coincidence — the fact that part of its logo happens to look like the Danish flag — to welcome people to Denmark, recently voted the “happiest country in the world” by the United Nations.

In honor of the Danish tradition of greeting arriving visitors by waving flags, Coke’s local agency, McCann Copenhagen, created an interactive airport ad that dispenses flags. Coke says it’s purpose is to “let Coca-Cola and Denmark spread happiness together.” The below video of a case study shows people’s reactions to the machine.

Little kids and elderly people jubilantly waving flags as loved ones rush to greet them, all made possible by Coke. We’d categorize this as a highly creative branding win.

Well, we’re happy to report that our ears are working just fine today. How do we know? Because we couldn’t make it through a few seconds of the below ad without scrambling for the “mute” button.

The clever spot, created by Draftfcb Toronto for the Union Hearing Aid Centre, actually appears to be a vision test, displaying letters in ever-shrinking fonts. When viewers reach the end of the commercial, they are informed that if they can read the final tiny line of print, then their “eyesight is fine”, but that (surprise!) they may want to invest in a hearing test at Union, as a “really annoying, really loud high-frequency sound” has been playing throughout the ad; those with good hearing would have likely found the sound too intolerable to make it through to the end.

Like we said — clever. We just wouldn’t recommend playing it at full volume at work…or a dog park.