• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, December 19, 2007

Coca-Cola launched "Around The Table," part of its "Coke Side of Life" campaign. A voiceover describes how dining room tables are taken for granted: they're used for dust collecting, bill piling, but most importantly, gathering families together for dinner. The spot moves in a panoramic motion revealing different families at the dinner table. Watch the ad here. In addition, "Arctic Beach Party" returns for the holiday season. The popular ad stars a group of partying penguins that awaken a family of polar bears; the polar bear cub unintentionally slides down a hillside smack dab into the middle of the party, where a baby penguin hands him a bottle of Coca-Cola, signifying that the polar family should join the festivities. Watch the ad here. Wieden + Kennedy Portland created the ads and MediaVest handled the media buy.

Am I the only one that feels talked down to whenever I watch a Hyundai "Duh" TV spot? The company launched three holiday ads that do not put me in a festive mood and make me dash for the mute button whenever an ad airs. Choral renditions of "O' Tannenbaum," "Winter Wonderland" and "Shchedryk" are making me dislike "Winter Wonderland." And I don't want to dislike that song. Click here, here and here to see the ads, created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners San Francisco.

GameStop launched a series of holiday print ads in female-centric magazines encouraging women to embrace their significant others' love of video games by giving them a gift they'll actually enjoy. Ads are running in issues of Family Circle, O: The Oprah Magazine, Family Fun, Parents, Better Homes and Gardens, Redbook, Working Mother, People and Real Simple. Video game characters and weapons don bows alongside copy not normally found in women's pubs. "The family that slays trolls together, stays together," reads one ad. "Sure. He'll like getting a sweater. As long as there's a game wrapped in it," says another. Click here, here, here, here, here and here to see the ads. The Richards Group created the campaign and handled the media planning and buying.

IKEA Canada launched two TV spots persuading consumers to surprise loved ones with unexpected gifts from IKEA. In one ad, a man hands his girlfriend a present shaped like a tennis racket. She doesn't look happy. The unwrapped gift reveals a white chair, something unexpected and utterly loved by the ladylove. Watch the ad here. A daughter gives her father the requisite tie-shaped gift, only to have it morph into a lamp. Click here to watch. Zig created the campaign and MindShare handled the media buy.

The Missouri Lottery launched a holiday campaign that takes place on the Island of Messed-Up Gifts. Inhabitants of the island include a calculator watch, a frog-shaped soap dispenser, a cheesy coffee mug and paint-by-numbers cowboy. Since Missouri residents are buying "Scratchers" this holiday season, unwanted gifts are banished to the island. Click here and here to see the ads. There's even a video game version of the TV spots online, where users can throw characters from the ads onto the island using a catapult, slingshot or an ogre's arm. Adamson created the campaign and handled the media buy.

If you've ever wondered what the Mac and PC characters in Apple's long running "Get a Mac" campaign would look like animated, then Christmas has come early for you. The spot, running through December 23, features Mac, PC and Santa. As the dueling computers sing "Santa Claus is coming to town," Mac follows the words letter perfect, while PC improvises. "He knows when you've been bad or good, so buy a PC and not a Mac this holiday season or any other time, for goodness sake," sings PC. Even Santa gives him a dirty look, seen here. TBWA/Media Arts Lab created the campaign and OMD handled the media buy.

ElfYourself.com, the wildly popular game launched by OfficeMax last year, is back with a twist: additional dancing elves have been added to the mix, along with a new Web site called ScroogeYourself.com. Both sites are worth visiting, but good luck getting through the heavy traffic anytime soon. OfficeMax also resurrected nine of the 20 holiday-themed procrastination sites it created along with ElfYourself. If you have some time to kill, check out Reindeer Arm Wrestling, Greetings from the North Pole, Shake the Globe, Yes I'm Working, Don't Shoot Your Eye Out, Save the Snowman, Faux Charity Donation Generator and my personal favorite, North Pole Dancing. Toy New York and EVB created the sites.

'Tis the season to resurrect holiday Web sites of last year. Another case in point: Starbucks' ItsRedAgain.com. The interactive portion of its multimedia campaign allows users to start a cheer chain, find an ongoing local cheer chain and download a screensaver that illustrates a cheer chain traveling the world in real time. Wieden+Kennedy Portland created the site.

Best Buy Canada bowed a TV spot for all you procrastinators out there. A husband brings his daughter to a Best Buy at the last minute, looking for a gift that will leave his wife shouting from the rooftops. "We have that, right over here," says the employee. "Get the reaction you're looking for," concludes the ad, seen here. Radio ads walk a similar path. Click here and here to listen. Zig created the campaign and Media Experts handled the media buy.

Happy Holidays! Out to Launch will return with a fresh batch of campaigns on Jan. 2.