Bored Game™

What a blast to the past...The folks at Dark Igloo set out to recreate the unforgettably campy mid 90's toy commercial style that dominated that era with Bored Game. A tribute to hazy bedrooms, overly enthusiastic flannel donning kids and some seriously gimmicky (yet effective) selling points. They nailed it on the head with their 90's in a blender concept.

A commercial for Bored Game™ - the greatest game never made and fifth place on 1994’s Hottest Holiday Toy List. Starring The Technodrome, Hot Shots Electronic Basketball, Boglins, a GoPro mounted to a slot car, Mall Madness, the TMNT Pizza Thrower, Power Glove, Toe Jam & Earl, Laser Tag, Don’t Wake Daddy and at least one thing you had growing up. Some assembly required.

Visual Bites - H-Man, Sting, Coven, Sunset

We run into plenty of awesome content that might be too short to warrant a full dedicate post, so we'll be using the 'Visual Bites' monicker to promote these bite sized visual treats from artists around the world. Animation loops, quick shorts and experimentation will be the main focus in this ongoing series.

H-Man is the opening for an upcoming live action series premiering on the artist centered channel 'Arte.' The series was created by Miyu Productions, channeling a vintage animation style that feels a little Monty Python in parts. More visual bites after the break.

"Add Power To Your Life" - A Visually Stunning Ad

Director Sebastian Strasser was handed a brief by British telecom company Vodafone to create an ad for their mobile network, and he absolutely killed it with this insanely cool ad. Tapping into the musical talents of Woodkid and a message of constantly evolving and improving via a pseudo-scifi premise, this is quite possibly one of the most visually stunning ads we've ever run into this year.

Really makes you wonder why so few companies go down the route of more creative, inspiring or epic directions in regards to TV advertising to at least make it palatable. I'd be happy watching this ad a dozen times a day any day over the neutered, annoying bulls**t that makes people regret ever subscribing to cable. At least make an attempt to move us, put some effort into not being grating and jingle happy. No wonder Old Spice's unorthodox marketing campaigns stand out like a sore thumb in the US (In the best way possible).

Tiger

Directed by Davide Bedoni, a promising Italian advert director/art director who has been working with some of the biggest Italian fashion brands (Gucci, Borsalini, Furla) as of late comes Tiger, which is a rather striking piece of eye candy. Ice cracking, tigers pacing, and a rather powerful sound treatment come together in this rather unorthodox, yet visually beautiful advertisement.

Limón Studios "Ibizious" Is Retrofuturistic Gold

Directed by Ernest Desumbila of the Barcelona based Limón Estudios, this ad for a finctional drink called 'Ibizious' is so ridiculously over the top, so fantastically crafted and beautifully stuck in the past that my mind hurt from the sheer awesome I experienced. If anything this sample piece should be a lightning rod for clients, indicating how well this studio can nail a certain style and all it's potential spinoffs within one video. Let's go through the 80's check list present in just this video: Copious amounts of sprites? Check. Chrome? Check. A fleet of vintage Testarossa Ferrari's traveling across a neon grid? Check. Stumbling zombies? Check. Retro synth music? Yep. This video has it all.

If you take the time to pause during the video, you'll notice that each shot is so well crafted that they could also double as images for print ads, no sweat. We've compiled a whole slew of these images for your reference, as it's a testament to what a good art director (Ivan Trivino) can accomplish for any project. Just the sheer energy in this video made my day that much more awesome, and I'm going off of 3 hours of sleep here. Check out a massive collection of amazing stills from Ibizious after the break! Kudos to Limón Estudios for absolutely killing it with this project, and I hope they stick around for a long time to come.

Bruce Lee Lives Again In Controversial "Game Change" Ad

As part of a Johnnie Walker campaign based out of Hong Kong, Joseph Kahn directed this very interesting ad for the Scotch Whisky company, which is bound to raise some intense controversy due to it's narrator: Bruce Lee, brought back from the dead in an ad which has been defended as a 'tribute' by the director. I personally don't buy it.

The biggest issue that lies here is featuring a deceased celebrity who famously shunned alcohol indirectly shilling expensive Blue Label whiskey. It's undeniable, despite the amazing artistry that went into recreating a facsimile of the martial artist's face. What I found most upsetting was the usage of one of his most famous speeches, excerpted and translated into Chinese from his famous 1971 interview on the Pierre Berton Show regarding his thoughts on water:



'Dragons never die because dragons draw power from water. Water, it's like instincts. Shapeless...Formless..Fluid..You Cannot grasp hold of it. But let it flow and it has the power to change the world. I believe in instincts. Everyone possesses this unlimited power, and it tells you to never follow the rules, but to make them.

 It isn't enough just to think, but to feel. This is what has helped me change everything, this is how legends are made! Follow your instincts, it's the most honest path. Don't just seek the path to success, but to exceptional success. Do you have the guts to follow your own gut? Do you have the courage to express who you are? Be water, my friend..Because someday you'll be more than a success, you'll be a game changer.'

Such an inspirational speech about purity in life indirectly remixed into a pitch for the 'Walk On' creed for well off scotch drinkers in China. What's your take on this ad? Personally I've always believed that the dead should be left in peace, especially in advertising. There's a certain tastelessness to using someone's likeness after their passing, especially knowing that they probably never would have accepted the role if they were still living, as well as the inevitable uncanny valley aspect.

Hands

Created for Honda's latest brand campaign, Hands is a truly fun little ad centered around visualizing the curious spirit that has allowed the company to turn into one of the biggest automotive and engineering companies in the world. From the Civic to their robotic Asimo project, you'll get to experience the birth of over 50 years of innovation in a playful interaction similar to someone playing with a toy. The vision was executed by London's Weiden+Kennedy creative agency, who absolutely knocked it out of the park in my opinion.

Talk Talk Model Britain - Even Models Needs A Break

This awesome ad by commercial director Danny Kleinman of Rattling Stick was created for TalkTalk, a British telecom company. The 3D stop motion ad features an entire miniature population of model village folks heading home to unwind with their families and loved ones. A fantastic, very literal interpretation of the slogan of the client, 'A brighter home for everyone.'

More Wreck It Ralph Viral Marketing - Sugar Rush Speedway

I'm loving the direction Disney is taking with their marketing for Wreck It Ralph, by creating ads for the different 'original' game worlds that Wreck It Ralph travels to in a quest to find himself. Last week we featured the VHS-tinged Fix It Felix ad, this week we're treated to the sweet Mario Kart clone realm of Sugar Rush, recreated in the style of mid 90's ads. I haven't been this excited for a videogame related movie since they tied the reveal of Super Mario Brothers 3 into The Wizard.

Advertisement or not, I want a pet Elephant

While this is quite obviously an advertisement for Samsung's new Phone/Tablet/Hybrid thing, it's still damn awesome. What amazes me is the precision of the Elephant's trunk, I truly had no idea. Hell, Peter the Elephant has more touchscreen precision than my Grandma, and she has opposable thumbs. Screw getting a puppy this Summer, I'm getting an Elephant.

Its The End Of The World : Advertising Edition

Ah, 2012..If there's one prevalent thing I've noticed recently about advertising this fine, its been the upsurge of post-apocalyptic/doomsday scenarios being played up with the whole Mayan Calendar debacle looming. Whether its saving the world to walking through the destruction in the most passe way possible, these three ads each present their own fun take on the topic. In order, we've got Shock Top Beer by Ryan McDougal, the pixelicious Tech Con opening by John Kwoka and Kapsule 2012 by Vincent Viriot & Lauren Fradet.

COOL DENIM ADVERTISING

Eye catching ad directed by the up and coming Arno Salters for Wrangler jeans (Remember those guys?). This trippy ad featuring people falling into different worlds makes me think of what would have come out if Michael Gondry and Chris Nolan had collaborated on an ad together. Enjoy!

A Year Of Sun With Mr. Persol

This excellent ad for sunglasses was created by Kevin Dart, the same artist behind the excellent short we featured in 2011, 'Looks That Can Kill.' This time however, he got the full commercial budget to execute a summery ad in his unique style, and it turned out nothing short of awesome.

McBess And Nissan Team Up

A cool ad collab between Matthieu Bessudo (AKA McBess) and Nissan to promote the unfortunately named Nissan 'Qashqai' vehicle. The ad features the Nissan bringing life to a mundane world via the colorful, stylized work of the highly celebrated urban artist. Enjoy.

The Bear By Canal+

This awesome commercial for CANAL+ (Europe's equivalent of HBO) features a very passionate bear rug director sharing his passion for cinema after his many years of admiring tons of movies from his convenient place on the living room floor. Kudos to the guys who came up with the concept, its one of the more original ads I've seen this year.

Go Beyond The Cover

Well damn..I really didn't see that coming. This reverse timelapse features Rick, aka Zombie Boy, an infamous tattoo aficionado removing his 'skin' as an ad for Dermablend..Pretty clever advertising, and it definitely has been getting a lot of buzz. Those makeup artists deserve some kind of damn award.

Müller: Wünderful Stuff

What on earth would inspire Kitt, Yogi Bear and a slew of other animated creatures to all team up in a yogurt ad? From what I could tell, the power of yogurt was used to transform a slew of a**holes into awesome animated creatures that bring happiness and color to an otherwise gray world. Wonderful stuff(lol).

Darty Solutions By Jack

This is one hell of an awesome ad, that will make you want to go to Darty.com...Don't...Its just a French convenience store. Instead, point your attentions to the amazing website of Jack, a mysterious, and fantastic French art director who consistently hits it out of the park..As is the case with this ad. Awesome.

Fedex Knows How To Win Us Over: Zombies

I haven't seen this ad air yet, but hell...This tells us one of two things: A) Fedex delivery drivers are the guys to stick close to during a zombie invasion B) We need more zombies in ads. +1 to Fedex for trying to reach out to a younger, geekier audience in a non retarded fashion.

Fox Retro By Punga

This sweet ad for the Italian 'Fox Retro' line, which features classic shows was created by Punga...A Buenos Aires based animation/branding studio. The pixel animation in this short 40 second ad is nothing short of f***ing amazing, and really creative in its approach to introducing all the shows in the lineup. Loved it.