As BrandFreak describes, the campaign is already making an impact. I’m glad… it’s good to see a campaign that uses bukkake as a comedic vehicle find success.

And for those of you who are unfamiliar w/Kenny Powers (first of all, punch yourself), I’ve posted some of his greatest hits at the bottom of this post. The new season premieres September 26th!

As I stated before, I was hoping Wieden and Kennedy (the brainchilds behind these Old Spice commercials) would try not to overexpose Isaiah Mustafa and desensitize us to the campaign. So what do they do? They let Isaiah hold a video conversation with THE ENTIRE INTERNET.

But somehow… it worked. As quickly as it began, it ended and I actually found myself wanting more. Brilliantly written, it would have been quite a scene to be in the war room as the busy copywriters and creative team blitzed and poured over every relevant post, comment or tweet, then quickly rushed Isaiah onset to majestically translate every single response.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like talks to regular joes, his real-life daughter (Re: Haley), flirts with Demi Moore (Re: @mrskutcher), joshes with Twitter, and even dogs on rival ad agency Crispin Porter and Bogusky’s Subservient Chicken campaign. Which, when all is said and done, could prove to be the inferior viral marketing campaign based on the latest numbers and opinions. Enjoy.

A sad day for Cleveland. A great day for Comic Sans.

I love the NBA.

You’ve got eccentric, maniacal owners; players with mountains of ego that resemble business institutions more than human beings; and the most powerful, borderline malevolent commish in all of professional sports. So it gives me great joy to see the circus around one of the most anticipated free agent decisions in sports history.

In the end LeBron chooses Miami and “sacrifices” money to join Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh. The announcement creates a tidal wave of events, most notably mass suicide in Cleveland and an epic Comic Sans-driven rant by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert. Grow up, Dan.

Clevelandites indict James on charges of treason, greed, and being a big fat asshole. This despite the fact that his “self-serving” ESPN special entirely benefited the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

My favorite color on the whole situation came from ESPN’s Chad Ford on Twitter : I’ve never seen so many people so angry that a selfish, backstabbing, ego-maniacal loser just willingly left town.

My take? Let the man be. Is there any good way for a popular high-profile athlete to leave their hometown team? LeBron just made one of the most important decisions he’ll ever make in his life, and he’s condemned for following his heart. Would you stay in the same job if it didn’t feel right? Don’t hold another human being (despite being a superstar athlete) to different standards than you would hold yourself.

Oh, and Lebron: Screw you for not going to the Dallas Mavericks.

I vote for the ideals of the Fun Theory and Fast Lane to be implemented into every public works organization in the country. Everyone’s insurance premiums might go up a tad, but it’ll absolutely be worth it.

In one of the dumbest self-promos I’ve seen in awhile, Kaffeine Communications compares the buoyancy properties of salt to its own brand strategy. What?

la comunidad gamely tries to bring back some of the old MTV weirdness in these World Cup themed spots. Fun, but it isn’t enough to make me forget how far MTV has fallen.

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Though I use Firefox at work, I’m a Chrome guy at home. Earlier this week there was an Adobe Flash bug that prevented sound in my Chrome browser, so I went back to IE for awhile. Literally, I stopped surfing altogether simply because the experience was too damn slow and irritating. Chrome is for real people, and this speed test does a great job of showing Chrome’s greatest strength.

It’s official. Let it be known. I’m talking to you, “woman who pays with a check at the grocery store”. And you too, “man who will only drive a mid- to late-model Buick, Oldsmobile, or Crown Victoria”. And don’t think I forgot you either, “man who owns the entire run of Perry Mason on VHS”.

Of course if you’re actually on IE6, you probably can’t read this.

If you’re really keeping count, you could probably say that the real Super Bowl winner was the actor in the ads below. How many commercial actors can lay claim to starring spots in not one, but two Super Bowl spots… in the same Super Bowl? As average as the ads are, that’s still pretty impressive. So kudos to you, Paul Giamatti look-alike.

Not as universally powerful on first listen as their other efforts, but slightly deeper songcraft makes it grow with each successive listen. Well, deep for Swedish New Wave anyways.

#11: Florence and The Machine – Lungs

Florence Welch’s soul-inspired indie rock is dominating the UK. After a few hit singles, there were huge expectations for the album. It meets them and then some.

#10: The Decemberists – Hazards of Love

A great album to take with you on a road trip due to its seamless transitions and rock narrative. More incredibly, it’s not the only rock opera album on my list.

#9: White Lies – To Lose My Life

A dark album that still manages to pack a good “party music” punch. These Englandites create music that manages to be both old school and new school, comparing favorably to bands like Joy Division and Interpol.

#8: Islands – Vapours

Vapours marks the return of one of the band’s founders, Jamie Thompson. With his arrival, the band ditches the rich orchestral accompaniments of their last album (the excellent, excellent Arm’s Way) with drum machines, sequencing, and programming. Infinitely listenable.

#7: Dan Auerbach – Keep It Hid

Nitty-gritty blues rock from the Black Keys’ front man.

#6: Miike Snow – Miike Snow

Miike Snow is not a person, but a band with members that are behind some of the biggest pop hits of this decade (“Toxic” by Britney Spears anyone?). Here, they’ve shown they can pack quite an indie/club punch. Described by The Guardian as “a-ha meets Animal Collective.”

#5: The Protomen – Act II The Father of Death

A rock opera concept album very loosely based on the Mega Man videogame by a band that never shows their real faces or breaks character, followed by a semi-insane legion of fans that analyze every bit of lyrical canon the group releases. If that’s not fascinating enough, their music ranges from spaghetti western, to hardcore blitz rock, to Journey-inspired 80′s music. Whew.

#4: Freelance Whales – Weathervanes

Mesmerizing, soothing dreamy pop at the road where Sufjan Stevens meets Postal Service (with a bit of Ra Ra Riot). Plus, there’s plenty of banjo and glockenspiel. Would probably be higher if I didn’t just get into it the last few weeks.

#3: Passion Pit – Manners

I really can’t add anything that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. Except for this: Effervescent pop.

#2: Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros – Up From Below

An absolutely addictive album front to back. Fittingly described by the Rolling Stones as “the Mamas and the Papas meets Arcade Fire.”

#1: Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – It’s Blitz

As much as diehard Yeah Yeah Yeah fans would hate to admit, this album is a defining moment for the band and will be damn near impossible to follow up. Every song is a single, and every single song rocks my fucking shorts off.

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