Stephen King - "Mr. Mercedes"

These awesome promos were created by GRIFF for Stephen King's newest novel titled Mr. Mercedes, following the exploits of a psycopathic killer and three unlikely people racing to stop him from committing an unspeakable act of terror on innocent civilians in a town. The premise seems quite intriguing to say the least, so if you're interested in reading a thriller you can pick it up on Amazon.

In the frigid pre-dawn hours, in a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of desperate unemployed folks are lined up for a spot at a job fair. Without warning, a lone driver plows through the crowd in a stolen Mercedes, running over the innocent, backing up, and charging again. Eight people are killed; fifteen are wounded. The killer escapes.

In another part of town, months later, a retired cop named Bill Hodges is still haunted by the unsolved crime. When he gets a crazed letter from someone who self-identifies as the perk and threatens an even more diabolical attack, Hodges wakes up from his depressed and vacant retirement, hell-bent on preventing another tragedy.

Brady Hartsfield lives with his alcoholic mother in the house where he was born. He loved the feel of death under the wheels of the Mercedes, and he wants that rush again. Only Bill Hodges, with a couple of highly unlikely allies, can apprehend the killer before he strikes again. And they have no time to lose, because Brady’s next mission, if it succeeds, will kill or maim thousands.

Mr. Mercedes is a war between good and evil, from the master of suspense whose insight into the mind of this obsessed, insane killer is chilling and unforgettable.

Everyday Thai

We don't usually feature much in regards to food on AwesomeRobo, but Spoonful Productions' Everyday Thai was too good from a presentation standpoint to pass up. Created as a promo for an upcoming cook book, we're given a glance at the creation of some absolutely delicious Thai staples, ranging from Green Curry to delicious Tom Yan Kung. Following the title of the cookbook, we're offered one recipe for each day of the week, and it's presented in a way that I'd imagine Wes Anderson (Those impeccably framed, centered shots) would if he was in charge of food promos.

Arcade (NSFW)

An unrelenting barrage of tantalizing imagery awaits you in Arcade, which much to our surprise turned out to be an avant garde promo for an up and coming jewelry line by the same name. The company, called Kirsten Goss specializes in unorthodox jewelry and it seems like that applies to their marketing as well, which I really liked.

The retro feeling reel (Perhaps the abundance of monochromatic imagery) is a strangely unsettling display, which differentiated itself via it's insistence on not emphasizing the product every step of the way. Directed by Clive Will, it's a concentrated shot of eye candy waiting to be consumed.

Cartier's "Winter Tale"

Directed by Bibo Bergerson, Winter Tale was created following a trend of high end companies producing animated shorts to promote the coming of the holiday season, like the recently posted Bear and the Hare short we feature. Winter Tale has some reoccurring characters that represent the Cartier brand, including the retro styled bellhop and a panther, which was featured in last years visually stunning short, L'Odyssée de Cartier.

The Bear And The Hare

Animated by two Disney veterans Dominic Carola and Aaron Blaise in collaboration with British department store John Lewis, The Bear and the Hare is an ambitious £1 million (Damn) hand animated Christmas project directed by Yves Geleyn and Elliot Dear. If the bear animation looks somewhat familiar, no surprise there as Dominic and Aaron spent quite a bit of time studying them while working on Brother Bear.

The animators noted that they hadn't had a chance to work with each other, let alone on their traditional animation desks until now, seeing that the short wanted to preserve that classical hand animated look mixed with hand crafted backgrounds. What is it about animated animals that brings back such a strong pang of nostalgia in me? Hornet Inc. was nice enough to share the making of The Bear and the Hare, which you can check out right after the break.

Road To The Cup By Studio Mir

I love Korea for the fact that they have the rare distinction of being one of the countries with a true respect for E-Sports. During a trip I remember a surreal moment where I tuned in to one of their main channels (Arirang TV) to find myself watching a nationally broadcasted Starcraft tournament, with thousands of people in attendance. They take it seriously, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Road to the Cup is a pretty awesome promo for the League of Legends world championship that just transpired, featuring some of the best players imbued with the abilities of their preferred in game heroes. Created by Korean animation studio MIR along with Riot games, this is a pretty awesome promo of the nearly celeb-like status given to skilled players and teams in the region.

Ozymandias

While we don't usually post much in terms of TV content, this subtle, understated promo for the final chapter in the Breaking Bad saga was too good to pass up, narrating a passage from Percy Bysshe Shelley's famous short poem: Ozymandias. The theme of the passage, narrated by Bryan Cranston centers around the inevitable decline of all leaders, and the empires they once built, regardless of how mighty they once were.

I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: — Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert…Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed: And on the pedestal these words appear: 'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!' Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Roman - Aftermaths

Bullion Productions with Federico Urdaneta helped create an insanely bizarre promo for budding electronica artist 'Roman'. It was done as a series of 5 consecutive vignettes, told as Monday through Friday.

Apparently known for his 'decadent' lifestyle, Urdaneta said he wanted to show the end of a typical debauched night, i.e. the aftermath. Certainly an interesting approach to take when promoting a new artist, but I really dig it for it's uniquely bizarre, gritty appeal. Also for the mysterious nature of this new artist. Promo = Successful.

Ankama Studios 'Teotl' Looks Absolutely Stunning

This new promo for a French comic book with heavy Japanese influence was just recently released..And its not even an actual animated series. I already want to start a petition that this get made into an animated series because I think its already got what it takes to be a winner. From what I can make out, the series is basically a Power Rangers inspired series mixed with Gatchaman and a little sprinkle of Lupin. Unfortunately, the series probably won't be reaching English shores anytime soon.

Ankama has been releasing a ton of amazing stuff recently, all with beautiful artwork. Check out our previous post about Ankama's animated series based off their MMO, Wakfu!