Beware of the Wrath

As you may already know, Detroit Tiger's pitcher Justin Verlander is the cover boy for this year's 2K Sport's MLB 2K12 video game. In the latest promo for the game, JV teams up with a few of his MLB friends to learn how to correctly throw a circle change in this year's game. JV, David Price (Tampa Bay Rays), C.J. Wilson (Los Angles Angels) and Jay Bruce (Cincinnati Reds) turn to none other than SI Swimsuit cover girl Kate Upton to give them a quick tutorial on the circle change.



I just hope the player's informed their wives or girlfriends about the plot of this commercial ahead of time, so that they didn't incur any wrath from their significant other after the commercial aired. 

Verlander vs. Verlander

If you didn't know already Detroit Tiger's pitcher, Justin Verlander has had a busy offseason. First he picked up two postseason honors, the 2011 American League Cy Young Award and the 2011 American League Most Valuable Player. He then followed that up with a guest appearance on Conan, where he let the world know all about his pre-game ritual before every start. Here's a hint,

"Three crunchy taco supremes, no tomato. Cheesy gordita crunch. And a Mexican pizza, no tomato."

In addition to that, Verlander also announce that he was named the cover boy for 2K Sport's MLB 2K12 video game. Since then the official game trailer has been released to the delight of fans. This was then followed up by the first TV commercial promoting the release of the game, starring none other than himself, Justin Verlander. If you don't believe me, take a look for yourself.

The Return of Jackie Moon

If you missed it this week, Jackie Moon himself, returned to the court on Wednesday in New Orleans to do what he does best. Yes, that's right, Will Ferrell himself, showed up at Wednesday night's New Orleans Hornets-Chicago Bulls game to provide some comical relief to the fans of News Orleans. What did he do, you ask, well take a look for yourself.

9/11 Tribute - "Never forgotten. Forever grateful."

While most of the content that I post on this blog is intended to be humorous and light hearted, I felt that I had to make an exception with today's post.  As you know Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. While New York City commemorated the anniversary with the dedication of the 9/11 Memorial, other cities throughout the country held similar memorials that also remembered those who lost their lives as a result of the events on 9/11, as well as those in the eventual War on Terror.   

On this important anniversary, a couple of companies took to the airwaves to run their own 9/11 tribute commercials. State Farm and Budweiser were two of the companies that aired these 9/11 tribute commercials during NFL games on Sunday.

State Farm brought in Spike Lee, who filmed nearly 150 schoolchildren, ages 8-11, from the New York City area, showing them visiting four firehouses and thanking firefighters with their own version of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys' song "Empire State of Mind." The spot is full of loving New York imagery, closing on the new 9/11 memorial and the words "Never forgotten. Forever grateful." This State Farm spot is embedded below.



Budweiser reprised—with a twist—one of its most well-received Super Bowl ads of all time: the spot from February 2002 in which the Budweiser Clydesdales visit New York and kneel before Ground Zero. The new version shows One World Trade Center under construction in the background. This reprised Budweiser spot is embedded below. 

Back From the Future

Back to the Future fans, this post is for you. Many B2F fans have always wondered since the release of Back to the Future II, when Nike would perfect the technology that would allow for the production of power-lacing shoes, just like the ones that Michael J. Fox wore in the movie. Well I have some good news and some bad news. Unfortunately, Nike has not yet perfected the technology behind power-lacing shoes. We will have to wait til 2015 for a pair of those. But they have been able to replicate the shoes that Fox wore in Back to the Future II. Nike is currently auctioning off 1,500 pairs of the Nike MAG self-lacing shoe—the same shoe worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future II—on eBay to support the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's research.
    
Nike went all out in their effort to promote this amazing opportunity to own a piece of movie history. They even got Christopher Lloyd to reprise his role as Doc Brown for their advertising efforts. To help promote this once in a lifetime event, Nike and its ad agency Wieden + Kennedy produced a spot, slightly over two minutes, that stars Kevin Durant, Bill Hader, Christopher Lloyd, Tinker Hatfield and Donald Fullilove. As you can already guess, Lloyd even utters his trademark phrase, "Great Scott," in this comical spot. Kevin Durant tries his best, but underwhelms in his role as a customer who recites Biff's trademark catch phrases. I guess Thomas F. Wilson was unavailable. This spot is embedded below.



As you can see, this amazing opportunity is being called Back 4 the Future. Nike has even created a website, by the same name, that allows fans to not only explore the shoe in more detail, but also provides links to both the eBay store and the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. To bid on the 2011 Nike MAG shoes, go to nikemag.ebay.com. Please remember that all net proceeds from the auction sales of these shoes will go directly to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. If you would love to own a pair of these shoes, but find that the current bids are out of your price range, please head on over to the Michael J. Fox Foundation's website and donate whatever you can. Hopefully the more money we can set aside toward Parkinson's research will allow for a cure to be found that much sooner.

In addition to the comical spot featuring Christopher Lloyd and Bill Hader, Nike also produced a short clip that highlights this limited edition shoe. To top this, a short video featuring Michael J. Fox, was also produced. In this short video, Fox introduces the shoes and provides details on the auction and how you can score yourself a pair. Fox even appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman recently, to help promote the shoes and the ongoing auction. All of these videos can be view after the jump. Enjoy!

Let the Hunt Begin

Wieden + Kennedy is at it again. This time its for the new Dodge Journey.

 
In an effort to help promote the new Dodge Journey, W+K created a modern day scavenger hunt. Teaming up with YouTube help spread the message of this contest, Dodge and W+K have hidden three Journey crossovers across America. Each of the Journey crossovers are located in a different region of the country, one in the West, another in the Midwest and the final one in the East. If you are lucky enough to be able to find one of these crossovers, then you will win it.

Dodge and W+K are utilizing YouTube to not only introduce the contest and explain the rules, but also to allow people to view additional videos including a 24/7 live camera feed of the hidden vehicles, all of which will reveal additional clues. Additional TV spots will break on September 10th, 16th and 23rd. Each of these commercials will reveal details on where each of the vehicles is headed and where it can be found. There will be clues in nearly every frame of each commercial about the vehicles' ultimate destination.

The commercials introducing the Dodge Journey scavenger hunt contest and the rules of the contest can be viewed after the jump.

Watch Out Below!!!

Here's a scenario for you: You have a magic festival coming up soon and you are looking to promote it in a way that no one has ever done before. So what do you do? If you ask Lg2, an ad agency in Quebec City, they will tell you that there is no better way than to play a trick on the audience. That is exactly what they did for the Quebec City Magic Festival.

In an effort to help promote the Quebec City Magic Festival, Lg2 utilized a billboard in downtown Quebec City. Unlike your traditional billboard, this billboard had a little surprise that came along with it. So what is the surprise, you ask? Lg2 installed a giant magician hat on top of the billboard, that had live pigeons flying out of it. Just like a real magic trick! Unfortunately, just like any other magic trick, the secret behind this trick will never be revealed, or at least from the client. The client made it a point to include the following message in their promotional video below, "Like any good magic festival, we never reveal our secrets."