Talking Rabbits Make Me Want to Eat Candy-Coated Chewy Fruit Candy

I'm not such a fan of weird for weirdness' sake in advertising. Most of the time the weirdness serves little or no function and only comes across as a desperate attempt to be, ugh, edgy.

The Burger King ads featuring The King are a perfect example. They are creepy and seem like they were generated in response to a concepting meeting that started like this: "All right team, we've decided to differentiate ourselves from McDonald's by becoming -- are you ready for this? -- THE hip, random, ironic burger place. Genius, right? Okay. You have two hours to come up with something good or you're fired."

However, the new ads from Skittles are an exception. My favorite example is the "Singing Rabbit" ad. I don't know why this ad makes me giggle when other, similar ads only make me want to change the channel and my career, but it does.

Putting the "Are You High?" in High Fashion

I saw a banner ad on VanityFair.com showing a perky career woman wearing a kicky scarf. Very Mary Tyler Moore, and I'm always a sucker for anything VMTM.

It took me a moment to realize that it was a -- gasp! -- Wal-Mart advertisement. Apparently, Wal-Mart has taken a leaf from Target's book and is trying to bring fashion to the masses with original designs from Mark Eisen. The tagline is very understated: "George M.E. has arrived."

I don't know how long it's been since a Wal-Mart CXO has actually been in one of their stores, but I'm not sure they're on the right track.

Here's a tagline that might play better with their core demographic: "Wal-Mart: the cheap one-stop shop for all your tacky jewlery, video game, and firearm needs. We also sell tightey-whiteys and light bulbs."

Caaktalls and Dreams

As a recovering Tom Cruise fan, I find this spoof by Scott Rankin funny AND bittersweet. This is about as seriously as I can take Maverick anymore, and yet part of me still longs for the days when we all actally believed Tom was the epitome of cool as well as the Handsomest Man Alive.

Don't pretend you didn't. This was the '80's, the Time Before Irony.

Thanks to AdRANTs for bringing Caaktall to my attention and allowing me one more opportunity to wish I was Elizabeth Shue.

Also, I'd like to point out that Mr. Rankin's editing/timing is absolutely flawless, besting even that of the fine creators of Brokeback to the Future.

And in Related News...

According to Boston.com, John Kerry wants to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and abortions.

Maybe when he makes another run for the presidency in 2008, instead of rubber Lance Armstrong Bracelets, he and his campaigners can wear brightly colored NuvaRings.

It's just a thought.

NuvaRing Channels the Late, Great Theodor Geisel

Apparently the NuvaRing once-a-month contraceptive device was invented to stop women of low intelligence from procreating.

We can deduce this from the fact that the commercial employs juvenile, nonsensical, sing-song rhymes intended to hypnotize unsuspecting simple-minded women and cause them to burst into the office of their local lady-parts doctor chanting "Every week or every day? Not now, no way."

Then again, if their target audience is women who can't be bothered to spend 30 seconds taking a pill every day, maybe NuvaRing is on to something.

My only question is: do they come in pink?