Happy Mother's Day!

Mother’s Day is just around the corner! Here is the latest commercial promoting the show Teen Mom. The tagline for the commercial is: “Think like a teen, act like a mom”. Director Jonathan Gurvit uses a teddy bear as a metaphor to encourage mothers to act responsibly for their kids, despite their natural urges of (well) acting their age. The bear is seen as an emblem of innocence that looks after the kids to protect them from the contemptible instincts of their mothers. This commercial certainly has a drop of optimism and is definitely touching.

Check it out!

Teddy from Jonathan Gurvit on Vimeo.

Marvel Spoofs VW's Little Vader With Little Thor

In promotion of the new superhero film, Marvel is capitalizing on the huge popularity of the Volkswagen ad that stole this year's Super Bowl. In the spot, Little Thor seems to have difficulty asserting his Norse God powers around the house just like Little Vader from months ago. Instead of a Passat car remote to get the job done, Little Thor has a cool trick of his own. Thor hits theaters May 6 to kick of a slew of last resort superhero movies. At least it has Nathalie Portman.

Jessie J. in Wonderland

The new and most anticipated music video Nobody’s Perfect of the English singer sensation Jessie J. finally arrived. The music video revolves around a modernistic Alice in Wonderland theme and shows the singers donning a variety of outfits. The singer/songwriter shared on her Twitter account “It’s my fave video I’ve done so far!”.

Jessie J. was recently profiled in Interview magazine’s latest issue, where she opened about her career struggles and how these helped her become the artist she is today.

Her debut album Who You Are is now available on iTunes!

What do you think of the video?

Controversial Manwich Ads - Are We Too Sensitive?

Very recently, the agency Leo Burnett in Toronto learned that you're not allowed to mock effeminate men. The ads in question belong to Manwich and consist of men talking about typically female subjects that ends in them being slapped in the face. They were taken off YouTube because of complaints that the message was homophobic. A petition on Change.org argued: "Violence against gender non-conforming men and women is a serious problem in our country and should not be used for lazy jokes in advertising. Every year thousands of men and women are victims of hate crimes because of their perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. This commercial series glorifies those crimes."

So are the ads just harmless slapstick humor or do they truly glorify hate crimes?

Beastie Boys Debut Trailer for Their Star-Studded Short Film

To promote the much anticipated release of their eight album, the group has released a trailer for their short film which will serve as a sequel to "Fight For Your Right." Aptly titled "Fight for Your Right Revisited", the full film will be released with the album and wil star an impressive roster of Will Ferrell, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, Jack Black, John C. Reilly, Ted Danson, Elijah Wood, Jason Schwartzman, Chloe Sevigny, Stanley Tucci, Will Arnet, Stanley Tucci and Susan Sarandon, and many more. It was produced by Beastie member Adam "MCA" Yauch's independent film house Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Verizon Wireless

Check out this Verizon Wireless new commercial! A simple idea implemented exceptionally into a short 32seconds long commercial. The master minds behind this exceptional ad come from the New York agency McCann. These people clearly captured Verizon’s goal to reach out to new entrepreneurs and their small businesses by using kids to play adult businesspeople. Yes Verizon! We believe your services and hardware can make a real difference to a small business; especially after seeing this young girl building an empire from her initial lemonade stand.

Snacks Triumph Over Cars In First Quarter Creative Rankings

Ace Metrix, which tabulates popularity rankings for advertisements, released the first quarter results of 2011. In it, the rebounding auto industry didn't make the impact they would have hoped. Not a single car commercial appears on the top 10 (the Chrysler Super Bowl ad comes closest). However, Snicker's Peanut Butter Squared candy took the top spot along with three other Mars commercials, showing that sweets are making an impact with viewers.

Did Timothy Hutton Kill Groupon's Momentum?

Apparently, that critically-panned Superbowl ad starring the actor may have hurt Groupon's profits. Their revenues, which have been sky-rocketing as of late, dropped thirty-percent (from $88.9 million in January to $61.7 million in February). February was the month the ads happened to air. Groupon has went on the pull the ads and end their partnership with the agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

So was an ad that mocked the Tibetan enough to turn off customers? Or is it just stiff competition from Living Social?

Adidas Launches Its Largest Ad Campaign Ever

Nike may be the current king of sports advertising, but a couple days ago Adidas has come to challenge that title with a big budget marketing campaign of its own. Montreal agency Sid Lee created the "All In" campaign which touts stars from David Beckham to Katy Perry. They, along with a mess of other sport and music stars, appear in a flashy-edited, adrenaline-pumping spot that just screams "Just Do It" rather than Adidas.

Watch the minute long spot here:

Most expensive commercials to date:

Number one ate 6.4 million dollars is the Rube Golberg Honda Accord commercial. One of the most seamless Rube Golberg machines I have every seen. It took a team of eight working none stop for seven months to make their idea come to life.

Coming in at number two is PepsiCo spending 5.4 million dollars on their commercial, created by BBDO New York. The commercial is about an invading army that comes to a village abducting all the Pepsi, then a Football team stops them and save all the captured Pepsi.

Guinness’ Tipping Point Commercial, comes in at number three spending 4.65 million dollars. The commercial is a giant Rube Golberg Machine.

Ferrari’s 60th anniversary led to the fourth most expensive commercial about all their open wheel racers, seamlessly racing around many of the world largest cities, costing them 4.15 million dollars.

The M&M's 'Hostages' Spot Reigns As The Top Oscars Ad

If this year's Oscars didn't put you to sleep, you probably saw the commercial that won Nielsen's "Top 10 Recalled Ads of the Academy Awards." Apparently, the M&M's spot has the strongest brand association of every ad that aired on Sunday. Other contenders included that Best Buy/Justin Bieber ad (which placed 4th) and Celine Dion singing happy birthday (at 6th).



You can see the top ten here.

50 Ads Starring Oscar Winners

It's been commonly viewed that actors that do commercials are either washed up or itching for a paycheck. However, a majority of successful Oscar winners have done ads to prove this generalization wrong. Want to know which ones? Thankfully, Adfreak.com has compiled fifty ads starring these accomplished thespians ranging from John Wayne to Jeff Bridges.

Here's a recent ad starring Adrien Brody (who should definitely turn this into a movie role):

Check out the rest of the ads here.

Marketing The Oscars

This Sunday, February 27th, the 83rd annual Academy Awards will air. However what most people don't know is the amount of incredible marketing that goes into the campaigns for the nominated films. Movie studios spend millions of dollars on attempting to make their film win and this year, they're taking it to the streets. A recent NYTimes.com video explains that this year, the executives are spending money on billboards on highly populated highways hoping that Oscar voters will notice and therefore vote for that particular film. The video goes on to explain that by targeting the zip codes of where the voters live, they can better gage where to advertise and since Los Angeles' highways are always filled with traffic the billboards will give something to drivers and more importantly voters, something to look at.

Check it out:

The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 27th at 8pm est. on ABC. For more information and a list of nominees please check out www.oscars.org.

Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel

Kevin Costner, Oscar winner may be joining the cast of the new superman blockbuster: Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel. Deadline, Neflix News, E and many other sources have all confirmed a “heightened interest” in Costner from Snyder and his producing partners at Warner Bros and Legendary Pictures, though the report doesn’t specify or speculate as to his role in the upcoming superhero reboot. Let us hope it’s not a bust.

Now 56 years old Costner isn’t likely to don an all black leotard and cape to play the suspected villain, General Zod. Costner is rumored to be playing the role of Jonathan “Pa” Kent a more suiting role, father that adopted Clark Kent so know as Superman and raise the young superman, whom live in the town of Smallville, Kansas.

The only officially confirmed member of the cast as of now is British actor Henry Cavill as the titular Kryptonian hero. The search has been reportedly on for a Lois Lane, as well as Zod and his two superhuman accomplices, Ursa and Non.

Look for the Supermovie in a couple of years and let hope that it is not a flop.

With the Super Bowl Over A Week Ago, Which Brands Were Triumphant?

According to the annual YouGov Polimetrix BrandIndex study of the Super Bowl, Snickers and Doritos have come up with the biggest gains in positive buzz. The poll measures the brand buzz gained in the days following the game's commercials.

For a full breakdown, click here.

X-Men: First Class

On February 10th long-awaited trailer for X-Men: First Class finally arrived, and while it featured the young new versions of some familiar characters, such as Magneto and Mystique, it also introduces a gambit of new mutants too.

Last week, and the world finally got the chance to take a look at some footage from Matthew Vaughn's mutant prequel, X-Men: First Class. Set in the early 1960s, which charts the paths and choices of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr also know as Magneto from friends to arch-rivals.

The younger versions of the new X-Men will feature new faces such as Jennifer Lawrence playing Raven Darholem or better know as Mystique, James McAvoy is playing the young Professor Charles Xavier and Michael Fassbender playing the evil Erik Lehnsherr or Magneto. With this star studded cast this movie is sure to be a blockbuster hit.

53rd Annual Grammy Awards Recap

Lady Gaga arrived in an egg, Cee-Lo and Gwyneth Paltrow sang and danced with muppets and 'Best New Artist' went to Esperanza Spalding, a jazz singer who's debut album only sold 31,000 copies. Needless to say, this years Grammy Awards took fans, record executives and artists themselves by surprise.

Take a look at the full list of winners below:

Album of the Year: The Suburbs, Arcade Fire

Record of the Year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum
Rap Album: Recovery, Eminem
New Artist: Esperanza Spalding
Song of the Year: “Need You Now,” Lady Antebellum

POP:
Pop Vocal Album: Lady Gaga, The Fame Monster
Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Train, “Hey, Soul Sister (Live)”
Traditional Pop Vocal Album: Michael Bublé, Crazy Love
Female Pop Vocal Performance: Lady Gaga, “Bad Romance,” The Fame Monster
Male Pop Vocal Performance: Bruno Mars, “Just The Way You Are,” Doo-Wops & Hooligans
Pop Collaboration With Vocals: “Imagine,” Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1, Jeff Beck & Oumou Sangare, The Imagine Project
Pop Instrumental Performance: “Nessun Dorma,” Jeff Beck, Emotion & Commotion
Pop Instrumental Album: Take Your Pick, Larry Carlton & Tak Matsumoto

R&B:
Female R&B Vocal Performance: Fantasia, “Bittersweet,” Back to Me
Male R&B Vocal Performance: Usher, “There Goes My Baby,” Raymond V Raymond
R&B Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals: Sade, “Soldier of Love,” Soldier of Love
Traditional R&B Vocal Performance: John Legend & The Roots, “Hang On In There,” Wake Up!
R&B Song: John Legend & The Roots, “Shine,” Wake Up!
R&B Album: Wake Up!, John Legend & The Roots
Contemporary R&B Album: Raymond V Raymond, Usher

RAP:
Rap Song: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind,” The Blueprint 3
Rap/Sung Collaboration: Jay-Z & Alicia Keys, “Empire State of Mind,” The Blueprint 3
Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: Jay-Z & Swizz Beatz, “On to the Next One,” The Blueprint 3
Rap Solo Performance: Eminem, “Not Afraid,” Recovery
Urban/Alternative Performance: “F*** You,” Cee Lo Green

DANCE:
Dance Recording: “Only Girl (in the World),” Rihanna

Electronic/Dance Album: La Roux, La Roux

A quick little update!

Hi everyone!

Sorry we've been MIA for a little bit, the office has been hard at work producing Parade Magazine's 'What People Earn' issue. We have found some great careers to highlight in this upcoming issue that we think you'll enjoy. Keep a look out for it!

Ben Affleck’s Next Directing Endeavor

Entertainment Weekly has confirmed that Ben Affleck is currently in talks to direct the Warner Bros. political thriller Argo. Argo, is based that appeared in an article in Wired magazine. George Clooney and his producing partner Grant Heslov, are the ones pushing for the project at the studio. The story centers on a unbelievable but very real CIA rescue operation during the occupation of the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, when six U.S. diplomats were held hostage by Iranian militants. The CIA hatched a scheme involving disguises and a fake Hollywood film crew on a location-scouting mission to help get the captives out of the country.

Argo would be the first directing assignment for Affleck since The Town. When heist picture set in Boston opened to critical praise, Affleck’s name started popping up seemingly every, from a long absence. He seemed to be attached to one high-profile film after another, but his reps continued to shoot down the rumors. If his current discussions with Clooney and Warner Bros. pan out, it would mark the first time Affleck and Clooney have worked together, although Affleck’s good friend Matt Damon and his brother, Casey, were both in Clooney’s Oceans 11 films.