Since the economy is crumbling all around us and every agency seems to be laying people off left and right - but work is still being produced, so clearly freelancers will be hired everywhere where people were just laid off - we thought we'd take it upon ourselves to help out... in a very AdLandish way.

The Official AdLand Advertising Tutorial: Part Seven - how to work with Freelancers Professors: Åsk Wäppling a.k.a Dabitch, Jane Goldman, Jordan Stratford, Brent Hahn, Leslie Burns-Dell'Acqua, John Backman, Alec Long, Maxim van Wijk, Brandon Barr and Grant Sanders (in no particular order) after a long thread on adlist where we all shared horror stories.

Yes, the day we all wait anxiously for each year is here. It's the official Talk Like a Pirate Day. So in honor of this fun, we decided to pull together some pirate-themed or influenced ads from our archives (leaving out many of the spots for the Disney movies, of course). So grab your pirate name and a flagon of rum and sit back and enjoy!

FedEx - Pirate / Counseling (2005) 0:30 (USA)

In 1956 Escher attempted to create a picture where there was a continuos frame linking the large image and the next smaller image in a spiral. He created a spiralling grid and used that as the basis for the unusual lithograph 'Prentententoonstelling', the print room. It depicts a young man viewing a print on a wall of a gallery, but as he follows the image of the print he finds a repeated smaller image of himself standing in the same gallery. The centre of the image is an unfinished blank space, where Escher signed and mono-graphed the piece.

This "droste effect" (named after the Chocolate brand that featured a recursive image on it packaging way back in 1904) was the inspiration for OneInThree's music video for the Wild Beasts. The Leiden University & the University of California at Berkeley initiated a joint project to decode the math of the drawing and attempted to develop a more satisfactory way of filling the 'hole' in Eschers drawing. As a result of their research they developed a formula which could complete the drawing. Josh Sommers translated this formula to into MathMap a program that allows one to distort images on a pixel by pixel basis based on instruction specified in a simple programming language. (more inside folks)

The impromptu rendering farm pictured above

Looking at this - I can imagine how stuffy the brief must have read: "A £6 million government advertising campaign launched by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The campaign aims to encourage young people to study foreign languages to open up future opportunities in their people’s professional and personal lives." Oh snore!

However when Farm Advertising got their hands on it and rang up th1ng for a little directing help, magic was made.

"Reach 11-14 years olds? Be hip? Sure, we can do that." Just feature real street dancers, footballers, indie stars and add a dash of creativity from young talent to the mix! Of course there's also a website: http://www.trylifeinanotherlanguage.com/

Three of the commercials were by new directors at th1ng, including ‘Dancer’ by Dan Lumb, Disiz by Angry Natives and Neon City by Anne Xiao. Daniel Cohen directed ‘Football’ and ‘Shadows.’

Dominic Buttimore, th1ng’s executive producer said: “The commercials were directed by th1ng’s new breed of directors who have shown promising talent and very impressive capability. The whole series has been very well received and the feedback is very encouraging”.

This is a sneak peek on the 2008 D&AD annual as designed by Neville Brody. See what he's done there? See the pencil shapes? So undeniably Brody, so perfectly D&AD themed. Don't you just want to lick it? Ok, fine, so tht's just me but the best design & advertising in the world will be immortalised with the publication of the D&AD Annual 2008 on the 18th of September. This book is themed ‘Digital vs Anti Digital’ and for the first time this year, all of the work will be published online, as well as in the iconic book.

D&AD President Simon Waterfall said, “The theme of 'Digital vs Anti Digital' represents the evolution of the digital industry. Clients and creatives are moving away from ‘Can we do this technically?’ to ‘Should we do this for the brand?’. Digital design today is more joined up, more integrated and more about brand behavior than bits and bytes - what a great time to be a part of this industry."

I don't know about you but I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on this book and run my fingers across the pencil-polygon pattern. And then lick it.

Converse is celebrating being a century old with a new ad campaign, and music to boot. The first video can be seen here: Converse - My Drive-Thru featuring Santogold, Julian Casablancas & N.E.R.D. and there are print ads featuring other artists, including MGMT, Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Atlas Sound, YACHT, Kid Sister, Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, Frank Carter of Gallows; Does It Offend You, Yeah?, and Sophie of Care Bears on Fire.

The idea of matching musicians not from the same genre together is explained by Geoff Cottrill, Chief Marketing Officer of Converse. “Converse has been embraced by an amazingly diverse group of musicians and artists over the years. As we celebrate the brand’s first century, we thought it would be fun to bring together Pharrell, Santogold, and Julian, to create new music together that bridges the styles they are known for. The results are everything we hoped for and we’re excited to add ‘My Drive Thru’ into the mix of music that fans will listen to this summer. We are also providing a platform for a number of emerging artists from around the world. The music industry is changing and this partnership is about the music and sharing it with fans for free.”

Inside there's an interview with Marie Hyon & Marco Spier who shot the converse commercials and “My Drive Thru” music video.

Smucker's is merging with Folgers.

How many microseconds will it take you to figure out what we think the new brand name should be?

180 Amsterdam launches “Set Your Fingers Free” for HTC, one of the fastest-growing companies in the mobile device market. The integrated campaign is headlined by a :60 second TV commercial, initially for the US market, which illustrates the new experiences people have at their finger tips today. This TV spot will be underpinned by rich media banners, in the same visual style, which go live on May 12.

“It is about the experiences and the freedom these devices give us,” said Adam Chasnow, creative director at 180 Amsterdam. “It goes way beyond wireless data speeds and the specific technologies. It’s about how smart devices, like the HTC Touch, fit into the lives we are already leading.”

Exercising her talent for quirky storytelling, FilmCore’s Tiffany Burchard has edited a new campaign for Bloom and Charlotte, North Carolina agency BooneOakley that positions the upscale market as having the answer to any problem a consumer might have—no matter how weird.

Burchard collaborated with Director Rick Lemoine and a team of agency creatives who share her off-kilter sense of humor. Each of the dozen 15-second spots features the same set up: a man or woman pushes a shopping cart through the market (without somehow seeming to walk) while describing some peculiar life calamity.

For those cyclists in the ad biz that have dreamed about riding in the French Alps with the FireFlies (www.thefirefliesride.com), but could not manage to get away, here's your chance to be part of a great cause. This year, a group is heading along the California Coast. Planned by veteran FireFlies Jake Scott and Bryan Farhy, the event will take place June 8-14, riding the 550 miles from San Francisco to LA.

As with its annual event in France, the 2008 FireFlies West ride is in aid of Leuka, providing continued support for the research and treatment unit for leukaemia at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.

If you are interested in riding the whole way - or even joining them for a stage - please contact bryan@restlessfilms.tv. Those who cannot make the ride are encouraged to join the group for the welcoming party at the Kings Head Tavern in Santa Monica, as the FireFlies arrive on Saturday, June 14.

This year's ride from Evian to Cannes will take place June 10-18, culminating with the arrival of the FireFlies at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.

Since Mothers day (USA) is rapidly approaching we thought we'd ask advertisings foremost expert on Mothers, Mother New York, a few questions about their dear moms.
All little children and by extension, creative grownups stem from somewhere, right? Yes that's right, all come from mom.

Krystle Loyland: "Breakfast in bed when I was 7 years old. I made the bowl of cereal first, then prepared the rest. She woke up to a soggy bowl of Total, juice, milk and a can of fruit with the can opener sitting next to it."

Durk Barnhill : "5 hour scrabble marathon."

Andrew Deitchman: "I made her a super-computer made entirely from noodles and popsicle sticks."

Christine Santora: "Extra controller for the wii so she could box my dad in wii sports"

Ben Hughes: "My dad told me that women loved getting jewelry, so I made my mom some out of tinfoil when I was about seven. The whole deal -- rings, bracelets, even a tiara. She was good enough to wear it all out to dinner one night; strangely, she didn't have it on when she came home."

Rob DeFlorio: "Cash. No card, just cash
"

Bobby Hershfield: My Mom is a writer and I bought her a vintage typewriter. I put a white sheet of paper in it and typed, “Dear Mom, thanks for getting pregnant and having me.”

DB: aaaaw....so sweet.

With 100 days to go until the Beijing Olympics, Amnesty International today launched the first in a series of four hard-hitting animated films highlighting human rights abuses linked to the Chinese authorities' hosting of the Games, in particular the risks of peacefully protesting in China.

Amnesty is campaigning for Ye Guozhu, imprisoned and reportedly tortured with electro-shock batons after he protested at forced evictions in Beijing. Ye Guozhu's home and family restaurant had been bulldozed to make way for Olympics construction.

"Amnesty is not against the Games but we want people to know what else is happening in China - including the silencing of critics and peaceful protesters - and to join our campaign for urgent human rights reform," said Tim Hancock, UK campaigns director. "People who speak out about human rights in China are being persecuted and locked up ahead of the Olympics. Torture is commonplace. Right now we're demanding the release of Ye Guozhu, who was arrested and tortured just for protesting when his home was bulldozed to make way for Olympics venues. The Chinese authorities promised when bidding for the Olympics that hosting the Games would improve human rights. Rather than honour these promises, the government has cracked down on dissent more rigorously than before."

World Famous has produced three new spots for the Washington State Department of Health and Seattle agency WongDoody that use humor towarn teens about the dangers of smoking. It is the second straight year that the editorial and design studio has produced ads for Washington’s acclaimed “No Stank You” campaign.

The spots appeal to teens with a raw filmmaking style, gross-out humor and an unflinching anti-smoking message that have become trademarks of “No Stank You”. World Famous was brought into the project during pre-production. “The agency had eight or ten scripts and asked us which ones we would be most interested in producing,” recalled World Famous creative director Alan Nay. “We picked five and the client shaved it down to the three we ended up producing.”

LG Electronics (LG) announced the launch of their newest LCD TV, the LG60 – also known as ‘Scarlet’ – following a three-month teaser campaign promoting a new TV series. A Hollywood-style approach was used for the a product launch by creating the character of Scarlet. Leading up to the official reveal on April 28, a teaser campaign ran globally promoting the idea that ‘Scarlet: a hit new TV series’ was a secret project from director/producer David Nutter and starring an up and coming actress, Natassia Malthe.

Sadly, the pieces for post launch weren't proofed very well or had a fundamental lack of understanding of the correct use of apostrophes and the possessive tense. "The Hot New Series of TV's". Um, TV's what? Tsk, Tsk. Unfortunately, this line shows up in nearly every piece of print, poster, digital, etc. in this global campaign. Oops.

Lowe Roche Toronto created a campaign for Laughing Cow cheese which plays off the benefit of laughing. Print, banners and a website all circle around the fact that laughing is good for you.

The Rich Media interactive banner (turn on your sound for the full-effect):

laughingisgoodforyou.ca features the Symphony of Laugher where, as the title suggests, you can can create your own laughter composition.

To celebrate and pay tribute to the iconic Superstar, adidas Originals (with the help of 180LA) produced a pair of giant, SUV-size exact replicas, down to the fire-hose shoe laces. Housed in separate studios, they invited friends and artists at Surface2Air (NYC) and Upper Playground (San Francisco) to celebrate their own originality by customizing these huge sneakers – the right shoe for the East Coast and the left shoe for the West Coast.

For three days, the artists’ collectives (Surface2Air featuring Gordon Hull, Daniel Jackson and Alexia Stamatiou and Upper Playground featuring Sam Flores) went to work. Upon completion, the shoes were put on a flat bed truck and the two parties set off to meet in Venice Beach, CA. The showdown on the boardwalk drew L.A.’s finest “originals.”

Sometime later today, after a month of unprecedented buzz, 80,000 feet of film, 460 million liters of foam, a crew of 150 and three years of growing expectations thanks to the Bravia campaign, Fallon London, director Simon Ratigan and Sony will unveil the finished Foam City commercial for its digital imaging products -- the Handycam, Cyber-shot and alpha.

On March 9th, I was told that I "was going to see some amazing things."

Later today, if all goes as planned, so will you.

Have they created yet another experience like no other?

What music did they use?

Is it, dare I say, foamtastic?

Be sure to check back here later today to find out.

Sony - Foam City (Quicktime) now here
UPDATE: The Sony UK Foam City Microsite is now live.

UPDATE 2: The musical score was custom-composed for this commercial by Warren Ellis, a fellow that some of you might recognize from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Grinderman and Dirty Three. They handed him the spot and asked him to see what happens.

It's not often that we get questions regarding ursine sexual organs here at AdLand,* but one of our site's good pals was watching his large screen HDTV (show-off) when a Lowe's commercial came on featuring a ornery grizzly bear. The minute-long commercial was about 32 seconds in when he noticed "something dangling and wiggling 'down there'" on the bear.

Of course, AdLand had to investigate, and what did we find? Was it indeed a wee bear penis? Was it simply a matted clump of bear hair? Is Mrs. Bear even grumpier than Mr. Bear? Judge for yourself.

Superadgrunts, see the full commercial here, and then, thanks to our patented AdLand Bear Penis Detector Zoom 3000, see a close-up of the scene in question here.

*I know! I know! Hard to believe!

Finnegans Irish Amber backlit sign seen at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport.

Management at a North Dakota television network affiliate are at a loss to explain how and why a commercial for a local car dealership featuring three seconds of male genitalia was broadcast during the ten o'clock news Monday night.

Full article with pix.