Agency JWT Singapore/Manila recently teamed up with Unilever shampoo brand Cream Silk Hair for an undeniably creative (and undeniably creepy) promotion.

In order to prove how well Cream Silk products strengthen hair, the pair organized a string quartet concert in a Manila mall. All of the bows used in the concert — usually made with horse hair because of its durability — were instead strung with human hair that had been washed and conditioned with Cream Silk products.

The ad below shows South East Asian bow-maker Paul Goh crafting the bows out of human hair as an instrumental version of Coldplay’s “Viva la Vida” plays in the background. The spot culminates with a clip of the 40-song, 240-minute concert, all of which took place with zero hair breakage (pretty impressive). The video closes with the compelling line, “Not only can strong hair be seen, it can be heard.” Read more

Ever get onto the commuter train after a long day at the office and rest your head on the window glass, letting the hum of the window’s vibration lull you into a trance? Well next time you plan to snooze while leaning up against a subway window, you may be in for a surprise: rather than the familiar buzzing sound, you might hear a message being transmitted directly into your skull via the vibrations. Should this occur, we assure you you aren’t hearing ghosts or being secretly recruited to be the next 007; you are simply experiencing a new form of advertising brought to you by BBDO.

The ads, which are completely inaudible until your head touches the glass, work by using a process called bone conduction. What’s that? Well, we aren’t scientists, so the simplified explanation is this: you don’t only hear sound through your ears — sound waves also vibrate through your skull. It’s the same phenomenon that causes your voice to sound different inside your own head than it does to the rest of the world. Small transmitters attached to the windows send out high-frequency vibrations, which are picked up not by your ears, but by your very bones.

In other words, these ads effectively transmit their messages directly into your head. Read more

Here’s a great video to show your grandmother the next time she asks “What does a PR company do, anyway?”

Last night, Cleveland-based crisis management/media training firm Hennes-Paynter posted this short YouTube video featuring each of the three young women who spent more than a decade in captivity after being abducted by a neighbor in their Ohio suburb. Their dramatic rescue moved millions of Americans, and this clip marks the beginning of the next chapter in their very public saga.

Why did Hennes-Paynter decide to release the video at this point in time?

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Instinctively, something has always told us that any place offering unlimited shrimp and steak for around ten dollars must be too good to be true. Most unfortunately for national buffet chain Golden Corral, a disgruntled employee recently released a self-made video that proves — at least in one case — that such wariness might be warranted.

The video, made by Golden Corral cook Brandon Huber, exposes some gag-worthy food-storage methods employed by the Port Orange, Florida location. In an effort to avoid a poor health inspection rating, Huber says that employees were instructed to temporarily hide food outside the restaurant beside the dumpsters (oh, the irony).

Before releasing the video online, Huber reportedly attempted to address the issue with management, but his concerns allegedly fell upon deaf ears. After his story was passed over by local media outlets, Huber decided to try his case in the court of public opinion.

In response to the video, which has now been viewed on YouTube over 2 million times, Golden Corral posted the following in the comments section: Read more

If you were in New York City last weekend, you had an advanced July 4th celebration with a slew of Benjamin Franklins, thanks to Virgin Mobile. The mobile company let loose 100 Benjamins to drum up attention for its special deal — they’re offering $100 to anyone who switches carriers through July 7. Personally, we kind of forgot that this was a Virgin Mobile clip about 20 seconds in, but that could be because we’re drunk on Independence Day joy.

via @becktold

Virgin Mobile has been upping its game over the past few weeks, adding the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Ring to its offerings. However, the latter doesn’t have 4G, so meh on that.

Separately, but truly in the spirit of the day, the Statue of Liberty reopened today, months after it shut due to damage from Superstorm Sandy. There was a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning, and we’ve seen a lot of pics and hoopla popping up on Twitter. Nearby Ellis Island remains closed.

We pulled the snapshot at right from Tom Becktold, Business Wire’s SVP of marketing. Very cool.

Remember Superstorm Sandy? Though it’s been a long time since the devastating storm made headlines, it remains fresh in the minds of east coasters still recovering from the punishing winds, rain and surf unleashed upon them last fall.

In an effort to re-rally support for those still struggling to put their lives back together, Toyota released the below video last week, titled “Meals Per Hour.” For every time the video is viewed (up to 1 million views), Toyota has pledged to provide a meal to Sandy victims still struggling to feed their families. As of yesterday — one week after the video’s release — the short documentary-style film had already generated 892,000 views/meals. As of this writing, that number has jumped to 905, 695.

In the video, we see that for many in the Rockaways of New York, life has yet to return to normal. We are introduced to the Metro Food Distribution center, a local food bank struggling to provide enough food to those who need it. One volunteer says that even though workers are dedicated to providing assistance, part of the problem is that “there isn’t really a system set up…if you have a good system, the work takes care of itself.”

Enter Toyota, which has had a fair amount of practice creating efficient systems (cars don’t just manufacture themselves, you know). The Toyota Production System (TPS) is based on the idea that “the summation of many, many small, cheap improvements can have a big impact.” One Toyota representitive, who shares TPS with non-profits around the country, explains, “These basic principles of the Toyota Production System apply to any kind of process — it doesn’t have to be manufacturing.” Read more

In an effort to engage younger travelers (i.e. “millennials”), Marriott Hotels is undergoing a re-branding, and is launching a new multi-year global marketing campaign created by Grey NY.

The goal of the effort, called “Travel Brilliantly,” is  to amplify the brand’s dedication to leading the future of travel. In a release, the company states that it aims to appeal to “the next generation of travelers, who seamlessly blend work and play in a mobile and global world.”

At the heart of the campaign is the idea that a hotel is not actually bound by its four walls. Instead, the focus is on celebrating how the global travel experience is a mind-opening, inspiring life event that cannot be measured in miles or contained within brick and mortar. “This is not a hotel,” the advertising states, “It’s an idea that travel should be brilliant… It’s not only about where you’re staying. It’s about where you’re going.”

Compelling though this romantic and existential view of travel may be, the company is backing up its message with tangible changes, including re-designed lobbies and public spaces to better accomodate “the next generation of travelers who blend work and play, demand style and substance, and require technology.” The hotel chain is also introducing new concepts designed for the new mobile worker including Workspring at Marriott, Red Coat Direct and Workspace on Demand. Read more

Of all the ways in which an artist can garner attention for a new song, stirring up controversy seems to be a method with which rapper Lil Wayne is quite familiar.

His song “Georgia…Bush” stirred the political pot back in 2006 by heavily criticizing the Bush administration’s actions both overseas and in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. More recently, Wayne lost his PepsiCo endorsement after the lyrics of his remixed song “Karate Chop” considered insensitive towards civil rights icon Emmett till.

Now, the rapper is taking heat for what many feel is an anti-American and anti-patriotic display: treading on the American flag — well, technically, dancing on it.

Earlier this week, behind-the-scenes footage from the video shoot for Weezy’s new single “God Bless Amerika” was leaked to the public, and features the rapper performing in front of Old Glory. At one point the flag falls to the ground and he dances across it. Though his attitude in the below clip appears to be more casual than blatantly disrespectful or malicious, according to the U.S. Flag Code, the flag isn’t even supposed to touch the ground, let alone be trampled on, and so the music video is being lambasted even before it’s released.

But it got us to watch the clip, didn’t it?

By now you’ve likely seen the musical, pseudo-philosophical, and now-viral three-minute video announcing Samsung‘s new partnership with Jay-Z, which first aired during the 2013 NBA Finals Game 5. The deal, which cost Samsung $5 million, allows the first million Galaxy and Note mobile device-users who download the corresponding app to access the rapper’s latest album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, for free, three days before the record drops on July 4.

At first glance, the $5 million price tag may seem like a major marketing risk, especially considering that promotions like this don’t usually generate a major sales increase due to the fact that most cell phone users are locked into two-year contracts. Factor in the unthinkable possibility that not every Samsung user is also necessarily an avid Jay-Z fan, and one might wonder whether the tech company could possibly see a decent return on its investment.

But if we instead assume that the goal of this collaboration is media attention and visibility for the brand, rather than a spike in sales, the idea suddenly appears like a match made in marketing heaven. Read more

There’s a subtle art to PSAs, those heavy handed, publicly funded campaigns designed to remind us taxpayers to stand away from the platform edge, resist donating money to panhandlers, and avoid the dangers of tobacco (thank you, C-3PO).

But before last week, we’d never heard of a government’s PR team working to convince the rest of the world that local prostitutes are healthy, happy, and proud of their chosen line of work.

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