Steve Carell - The Early Years

Steve Carell is a local boy from up here in the Boston area.  Here's Carell's casting session / tryout video for the movie Anchorman in which he stars as the moronic news anchor Brick Tamland.  It's a typical casting tape in which a talent scout and sometimes a producer stand offscreen feeding the auditioning actor lines.  The actor must perform the lines, holding the 'hot dog' and give it his/her own spin.  Here's Carell's most excellent performance.

Conan, Killer Web Campaign

Conan's ongoing campaign for his new show on TBS has been clever, resourceful and extensive.  Some real gems can be found online.  Here are just two examples of some of his hilarious hijinx.

Show Zero gives you a high speed taste of what his first show will be all about.

Here's an example of Conan talking about his new favorite sandwich recipe.  Dumb, but done in classic Conan style.  Note it's all sponsored by Pepsi with strategically placed Pepsi cans in all the scenes.  A clever move for all involved - can you say win win?

Sarah Palin PAC ad

Here's a pretty darned good ad that is perhaps be one of the first salvos in the presidential wars to come.  It's a web-only ad, but it's nicely edited... with lots of great images of happy republicans and not too many images of Palin.... although we do hear her speaking throughout the 60 second piece.  One funny thing that distracted me a wee bit in the beginning of the commercial was a woman who looks a lot like Palin except she was not wearing glasses.

Sneaker Ad Wars? Adidas Fires back at Lebron Nike Ad

Is a sneaker war brewing?  In response to the Lebron What should I do ad (see blog four down or CLICK HERE), Adidas has this goofy albeit amusing response featuring Dwight Howard, Derrick Rose and an over the top Ken Jeong.  Going after the youth sports audience and Lebron haters, Adidas seems to have truly hit its mark with this kooky ad. 

Not a Joke! Social Media Sobriety Test

I had to watch this commercial several times to realize it is a real product.  Still not sure, but here you go... knock yourself out.  The product is called 'The Social Media Sobriety Test' and it keeps you off FB, etc, when you are so far out of it that you might be an embarrassment to yourself.  Perhaps we'll next see a product to help you control yourself when you are out of your mind with anger.  Not sure that the commercial is much to write home about, but the underlying idea is quite interesting.