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Here are two of my favorite commercials this year. I think more clients need to be bold and brave with their advertising. Take a risk and push a concept instead of letting consensus and focus groups rule your ideation.

Kudos to Mark Fitzloff, Susan Hoffman, Danielle Flagg, Tyler Whisnand, Julia Oh, Rudy Adler and Jeff Selis of Wieden + Kennedy for being one of the few teams at an ad agency willing to eschew safety for chance and make something brand-defining.

Cary Fukunaga, who directed Sin Nombre, filmed these two ads. Both of them take an eerie collection of Americana moments enshrouded mostly in shadow and silhouette, and put them against sparse music and two well-read Walt Whitman poems.

Enjoy!

Levi’s – “America”

Levi’s – “Pioneers!”

The Los Angeles Times just published an article entitled, “Fur flies on Mr. Fox,” which details some of the experiences and process of the filming of Wes Anderson’s The Adventures of Mr. Fox. The film appears to be a hipster’s answer to The Nightmare Before Christmas, and reminds me quite a lot of The Wind in the Willows, so much so that one has to wonder if the BBC series from yesteryear wasn’t as much an inspiration as Roald Dahl’s original story.

All of that said, one of the points of controversy was how the film was shot. The film was created using stop-motion photography, a technique where you move objects in front of the camera incrementally, and take still photos of each position, thus creating stop-action movement. The process takes ages, especially once you introduce animated characters, lip sync, and secondary animation in the form of swaying branches or passing cars.

Shot on a stage in London, Wes Anderson (who penned the adaptation after several weeks at Roald Dahl’s estate, researching what made the author “tick”) spent much of the production time nowhere near the set, but from his apartment in Paris instead. His opinion was that he would set the tone, and let the animators do their thing. Whenever there was a sequence finished, the animators would submit them as digital movies, and Anderson would fire back detailed emails with his notes, even filming his own digital movies where he would act out a certain gesture to explain what he was going for.

As a director of stop-motion myself, I can tell you that this is an understandable process. While I don’t agree with an entirely absentee director, it is a bit like watching grass grow to sit on set as the animators work on a given sequence.

Read the article for more insight on the Email Auteur himself.

Step 1: Fill a chamber with hydrogen gas

Step 2: Ionize that gas until it becomes plasma

Step 3: Heat that plasma up to one million degrees fahrenheit

Step 4: Use a powerful magnet to direct that plasma out of the engine

Step 5: Get from Earth to Mars in 39 days

Yes friends, this is real! There is a company (Ad Astra Rocket Company) developing a rocket which will be able to reach Mars in less than 40 days of travel time. By this math, astronauts might be able to reach the end of our solar system, to the Keiper belt beyond the planet formally known as Pluto, in under one year. The trick is to run the engine on hydrogen, which is a common material in the universe, making refueling possible en route. This enables the viability of deep space missions, making it possible and very probable with in the next couple of decades.

The rocket uses plasma and magnetism to create immense amounts of thrust; plasma is what happens when you charge up a gas and break apart its atoms.

And while there are only nine planets to choose from at present, scientists have discovered hundreds if not thousands of Earth-like planets sitting at the edges of our solar system, just out of sun’s gravitational pull. Once we learn how to move planets into the sun’s orbit, we may have a dozen or more Earth-like planets to choose from for first time home buyers.

The FHA is going to make a killing!

<rant>

For those liberals and conservatives who think the best way to feel at peace with your views is to criticize the faults of the opposing party, could you try to start thinking for yourselves instead of following the talking points of your party? Perhaps you might have some positive, constructive ideas for the future of your nation. Anything’s possible. Name calling and finger pointing create a stagnant and apathetic society.

Allow me a cliché: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

If I hear one more democrat villify Karl Rove or Rush Limbaugh, or one more conservative ridicule President Obama or Keith Olbermann, I’m going to lose it completely. Really, what’s the point?

Last point, it seems like these health care bills floating around DC are something like the bible: the believers swear by it even if they haven’t even read it. I think this country agrees on reform, and insuring all of our citizens, but we are not Denmark or Sweden, we are America. Each of our states are equal to or larger than those countries, and our economy is much different in complexion.

If the plan is to socialize medicine in America and reform health care, I fear it will require a complete reformation of Washington DC first. Sad but true.

</rant>

Favre celebrates a 30-23 victory over his former team. Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

When Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy decided not to bring Brett Favre back to the team after hold outs and draft picks were exercised, you could almost sense the inevitable match up between these two entities. Favre wanted to be traded to the Vikings two seasons ago, which Thompson and McCarthy vehemently opposed. In fact, upper management made sure that if Favre intended to keep playing football, they would make it a painful transition for him. And after a mediocre season with the New York Jets, one may have thought that the Packers had won the battle.

But every battle is just a part of a bigger war, right? And here we are, just two short seasons since that decision to make Aaron Rodgers the franchise, with Brett Favre donning the purple, playing against his alma mater in the very dome he despised his entire career. For the first time, Packers fans were forced to make a choice. Do they honor the contributions Favre made to the Packers organization, literally lifting them up from the Don Majkowski era depression into Superbowl contenders and eventual victors? Or do the Packers fans eschew idolatry for visions of a future with a new, young talent?

The line was drawn, and the fans sided with Aaron Rodgers and the Packers team. Did you really think it would be any other way? I, myself, wondered who I would be rooting for… for a few seconds anyway. Once the ball was kicked off to Blackmon and the game under way, I was giddy with the prospect of the young Rodgers, who admitted his role as an understudy to Favre when he was the backup was icy at best, dethroning a veteran I had come to know, love and respect as a fan over my entire adult life.

And what a show it was. The game was 14-14 before you could blink, and it seemed both of these offenses were going to light up the Metrodome like the days when it was Cunningham to Moss vs. Favre to Freeman with Desmond Howard blazing just about every special teams play. But it didn’t take long for the growing pains on both sides of the ball to emerge. For the Packers, it was turnovers, trivial penalties and a weak offensive line; for the Vikings it was a lack of a running game and timing issues between Favre and his new receivers. Let’s give it to both defenses, however. For Green Bay to hold AD to 55 yards rushing, and for Minnesota to cause turnovers and stop the Packers on several red zone drives says a lot for the future of both teams.

But all-in-all, this was a great game for fans, and for Packers fans, it was the first time to hear the announcers gushing all over Brett Favre during a Packer game, but not as a Packer. Did I find it annoying? Not at all. Because Favre, unlike any player I can remember, commands a certain respect from his teammates and opponents, every time he sets foot on the field. Even Joe Montana was a fair-weather player to San Francisco when he left to become a Chief.

In the end, the Packers lost too many opportunites to put points on the board, and this was especially true in the red zone. Going for it on 4th and goal rather than kicking the field goal was a gutsy call that should have been overruled by the assistant coaches; Jared Allen is far too much of an animal to roll the dice against them. Another scenario, with the Packers on their own 1 yard line, led to a (surprise) Jared Allen sack and fumble. Upon review, it was not a fumble at all… but a safety instead. The fact that accepting a safety was one of McCarthy’s smartest decisions in the game says it all.

You can go to proper sports sites to get a much more articulate breakdown of the game, but I’ll leave you with this: Aaron Rodgers is every bit as talented as Brett Favre. Yes, he threw an interception last night, but he also outthrew Favre by more than 100 yards, throwing for 384 to Favre’s 271 (keep your eyes on Jermichael Finley, Fantasy Football readers).

Also worth mentioning: this is the fourth week in a row that Rodgers has been sacked, hurried, hit and everything else a defense can do to him (he was sacked 8 times last night, making that a league leading 20 sacks so far this season. It’s hard to throw for almost 400 yards without pressure, but for a player to put up those numbers with Jared Allen and co. in his face literally on every other play, has to deserve some note. He is a sharp, accurate passer with enough talent to sate fans and critics alike, if only he can get more time to throw. Chad Clifton returns soon, the Packers’ premier Offensive Lineman, so we will see if they can get their act together.

On defense, Dom Capers, Green Bay’s new defensive coach, has an entirely new scheme in place, which misutilizes some of the inherent strengths to the players (namely Mr. Three Point Stance Aaron Kampman and Mr. Bump and Run Al Harris).

The fact that Rodgers walks in the shadow of who will easily become one of football’s greatest legends, a legend who Rodgers backed up for three years, may be a blessing in disguise. Thus far he has flown under the radar of most analysts and speculators, ruled out as a talented but second rate Favre (literally, if Rodgers does anything remotely Favre like, such as throw off his back foot, the comparisons come out like ants to a Twizzler).

But if the Green Bay Packers can get healthy on the offensive line, and learn this new and promising defensive scheme, the rematch between Rodgers’ Packers and Favre’s Vikings may not be so fortunate for the Minnesotans next time around.

Thanks, Caleb!

Thanks, Marco!

I don’t know if it matters whether this clip is real or not, but if it IS, well then that’s just bonus material!

In perhaps one of the more genius concepts for a Youtube phenomenon, The Gregory Brothers have come up with the idea of “Auto-Tuning” the news. T-Pain approves of this one, and so do I!

(#1 USE THE SUPER SOAKERS TO GET AL QUAEDA WET)

(#2 YOU’LL ALWAYS HAVE AN ANGRY GORILLA TO BE ANGRY WITH YOU)

(#3 A THAW IS POSSIBLE)

(#4 MAYFLOWERS MAY BRING LEAD POISONING)

(#5 GETTIN’ BLESSED BY JOE BIDEN FROM SPACE)

(#6 WAKING UP IS A STRANGE REASON TO DIE)

(#7 PEOPLE ON THE ROAD CAN TURN AN “LOL” INTO A GREAT BIG “OMG”)

(#8 I HAVE A MASSIVE DEBT & DEFICIT DRAGON CHART)

This one is for you, Kim; a succinct list of Danish inventions, in no particular order:

1. The LEGO
2. Danish Pastry
3. Femidom (female condom)
4. Hans Christian Anderson
5. Syno-pal (skid-resistant highway surface)
6. The Typewriter
7. Krarup cable (submarine loading cable)
8. Femi-X (female viagra)
9. The O-Ring
10. C++ Programming
11. Drum Motor (used to power conveyor belts)
12. Ussing Chamber (measures electrical currents through tissue)
13. Magnetic Wire Recorder (NOT magnetic tape, as used in casettes)
14. Dry Cell Battery (sort of, later: Duracell)
15. Fiber Trim (a diet pill)
16. The Corn Thresher
17. pH scale
18. Dogme 95 (avant-garde filmmaking movement)
19. Electromagnetic Coil (used in tattoo machines and doorbells)
20. Telegraphy (long-distance transmission of messages)
21. Triplane (airplane with three wings)
22. Aqua Wall (indoor waterfall)
23. DiaTest (saliva collection kit)
24. Hex (board game)

And here’s a fairly useless (and mostly incorrect) Youtube tribute to some of the “top” Danish Inventions…

So . . . Floyd Mayweather easily beat the smaller, slower Juan Manuel Márquez in a fairly clear victory from all sides of the ring. There was a knockdown in the second round, a nice counter left hook perfectly timed by Mayweather, and sending a dazed Márquez to the canvas. But beyond that, the most action we fight fans got to see was after the final bell had rung.

Enter Max Kellerman, HBO’s attempt at finding a younger, more quippish boxing expert/analyst to replace the increasingly verbally meandering Larry Merchant. Max does the post-fight interviews now, and tonight it seemed he had more than he could handle. It all started simply enough, with Kellerman asking standard questions about how Floyd felt he did etc., and Mayweather sending the standard shout-outs to everyone from God to Reebok.

But then two things happened that were ill-planned…

1. Max asks about the Mayweather not making weight, and how it was reported that Márquez received $600,000 for the two pounds over the limit Mayweather came in at ($300,000 per pound). Mayweather didn’t want to talk about it. Max did. Max pressed the issue. Mayweather said: “I’m not here to talk about money” (ironically just after he admitted to conducting his shout-out commercials to make his seven digits).

2. Max mentions the competition. We all know Manny Pacquiao is on the top of everybody’s mind. But apparently Max isn’t just a boxing expert. He’s a boxing expert with an ego problem. He thought it would be profound to make it known that he has someone else in mind for Mayweather. And that man is Shane Mosley. Oh, and Shane is standing in the ring, as part of Golden Boy Promotions. Oh oh oh, and Mosley really wants to call Mayweather out right there during the interview.

Whoops!

You see Max, not only did you lose control of the interview by not softening up Mayweather before going in for your “I’m so knowledgeable I’m going to throw you off your game” questions, you also failed (or maybe didn’t fail) to notice that Mosley was standing to your left when you asked about Mayweather ducking him.

Things quickly became heated when Mosley stepped to the mic and said “Floyd, we just want to get it on,” or something to that effect. Mayweather didn’t appreciate being disrespected during his interview, and some chatter flew back and forth, with (surprise) Bernard Hopkins joining in for good measure.

But this is where it gets annoying to the point of unacceptable. The whole time Mayweather and Mosley were verbally fighting, proud Mr. Max Kellerman refused to offer the mic to either party, opting instead to hold it close to his chest until he could do the talking himself. By the time Max finally got his words in, it was to change the subject to another challenger, Pacquiao. But by then Mayweather had had enough of Kellerman’s amateur shenanigans.

“Let me talk,” Mayweather said to Kellerman. “It’s my turn to talk. You talk too much.”

ZING!

What would proud Mr. Kellerman say to that, you wonder? Better yet, what would Larry Merchant do? I think Merchant would have said something like “Okay, Floyd, you’re the one they want to hear anyway,” and passed it off.

But not Kellerman. Oh, no no no. Max, instead, gets mad like a schoolgirl on a date who isn’t getting enough attention, and passes it off to Jim Lampley at ringside, thus ending the interview at its climax.

Way to go, Max.

A word to the ever so wise: The next time you have media gold on your lap, try not to be offended by the celebrity you are paid to interview. Instead, let the fans see the fireworks they paid to see but maybe didn’t get during the match itself.

And by all means, do not join Jim Lampley and Emmanuel Steward at ring side to defend your useless opinion of what happened in the ring. We all saw it, and we can all make our own judgments. What happened in the ring had nothing to do with Mayweather having a chip on his shoulder against the media, or having the audacity to not like you, Max. I know, it’s an outrage to think that he might not like you as an interviewer, since you are apparently one of the only ones who actually likes him because he’s a pure boxer.

It had to do with Mayweather thinking you were an amateurish interviewer who likes to hear himself speak, more than anybody else in the stadium (including Floyd).

And can we really disagree with the boxer we love to hate and hate to love? I sure can’t.

HBO, please reinstate Merchant as the boxing analyst/expert for championship PPV fights. He may be slower on the uptake, but he is entertaining in his own special way, and much more seasoned at pandering and prodding the most egotistical of boxers big and small.

Or, if nothing else, find someone else. Max has moments of insight, but for the most part he is a poser, the type of expert you hate to hear talk because he’s usually doing it to impress.