A box of Bojangles' fried chicken saves the day at a Christmas party, but not in the way that you may think. This holiday-themed ad, "Starlight," is free of dialogue, with only the lyrics of the Sufjan Stevens song, "Put the Lights on the Tree" heard throughout.  When one man returns home with two boxes of Bojangles' chicken, ready to trim the family Christmas tree, he's forced to think quickly on his feet when the glass star atop the tree is broken. Dad gets out his box cutter and flashlight and cuts the Bojangles' star out of one box. The end result is a MacGyver-made tree-top star projector that doesn't look half bad. "Starlight" marks the first holiday-themed ad from Bojangles in recent years. See it here, created by BooneOakley. The media buy was handled in-house.

For all those disappointed last week when a man wasn't eaten alive by an anaconda as noted in Discovery Channel's "Eaten Alive," check out this 1-800-CONTACTS ad that DOES simulate a man eaten alive by an anaconda. The agency behind the ad, Pereira & O'Dell, noted that the spot was originally supposed to debut in January, but launched during "Eaten Alive," because how often does a coincidence like this take place? An animal control man looks inside a snake's mouth and complains that he's out of options. The camera pans to see a man inside the snake, waiting to be rescued. Animal control guy isn't worried about the man inside the snake; rather, he's worried about going on vacation without extra contact lenses. "This better make me famous," says the man eaten alive. "Never run out of contacts" closes the ad, seen here.

Skippy peanut butter launched its first ad campaign in more than five years with a TV spot that illustrates how peanuts are selected for jars of the beloved brand. "Fun Factory" shows a woman working a conveyor belt at a peanut factory. She cracks open nutshells one at a time and listens to the personality of each nut. The fun, friendly, happy nuts become peanut butter, while the sarcastic, boring nuts are filtered through a separate system and wind up the star of boring office parties. The ad features voiceovers from announcer Bill Kurtis and actress Estelle Harris with her real-life husband, Sy Harris. See it here, created by BBDO Minneapolis. The spot was directed by Robert Boocheck and produced by Click3X.

Agencies have to up the ante each year when it comes to creating a holiday card that stands out from the crowd. McKinney crafted a charitable website that riffs off the popular Airbnb home rental service. No one can technically stay at Gingerbreadbnb, but each rental property sounds delicious. Visitors can rent a modern gingerbread home, rustic cabin or cozy camper for prices ranging from $5to $20 a night. Proceeds go to Robin Hood, a New York-based poverty-fighting organization. Every $100 raised provides a homeless family with shelter for a night. I would definitely splurge on the modern home with chocolate-dipped art, taffy furniture and access to scenic jellybean-running paths. The Yelp-like reviews for each property are also funny.

Las Vegas launched a pair of "What happens here, stays here" ads called "Transformation," shot from a man and woman's perspectives as they encounter one other in their different Vegas personas. Because that is what you do in Vegas. Be yourself and 10 other people. The fun begins poolside with a girl checking out a cute guy. In the following frames, the woman's looks change significantly; you would hardly recognize her. The spot ends with her at an Imagine Dragons concert, sitting down next to a cute guy... the one from the pool. See it here. The next ad shows the same scenario, except the guy changes his look. "Be yourself or anyone else..." closes the ad, seen here. Imagine Dragons is from Las Vegas and offered up their latest song, "I Bet My Life," and themselves, for use in the ads. R&R Partners created the campaign.

Here's an interesting case study from Geometry Global's Romania office that helped raise awareness for the need for blood donations in the European country with the most critical need for blood donors. The agency teamed up with Observator, a prime-time news program on Antena 1, one of Romania's television channels. To illustrate "life without red," the week-long campaign removed the red component from television screen's RGC colors for a three-minute news segment on the topic. The campaign included a Facebook element where users were encouraged to remove the color red from their profile pictures. The newscaster had to explain to viewers that nothing was wrong with their television before reporting the public service story. The campaign led to an increase in blood donations, 33,000 Romanians removed the red from their Facebook profile picture, and the government pledged to increase the 2015 budget for blood donations by 300%. See it here.

"Lockdown" depicts a new normal in school safety in an ad for Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. The ad begins with a typical day in school for one classroom, until an emergency message is broadcast school-wide, informing teachers that the school is in lockdown. The teacher tells students to go to their safe place (under their desks) while she closes the classroom door and covers the door window. Teacher and students crouch in silence; it's hard to watch the frightened faces of children as they wait out the lockdown. As the class waits, a collage of newscasts play, describing a handful of recent school shootings. Fortunately, the lockdown was only a drill and the kids get back to class. The 90-second video was released together with a report documenting the almost -100 school shootings that have occurred since Newtown. See the video here, created by Grey Toronto and directed by Phil Brown of Untitled Films.

Random iPad App of the week: There's an iPad app that allows users to send handwritten holiday cards to friends and family. Felt is a free app where users can select a holiday card, upload pictures from their iPhone or iPad and handwrite each card and envelope using their finger or a stylus. Addresses are automatically saved into each user's Felt address book. Once the cards are complete, Felt prints, stamps and sends them. Felt Storyframes come in accordion-style formats with perforated edges between the photos, so you can stand them up on the mantle, or detach the photos and display them separately. Felt Storyframes start at $3, including postage. Add $1 for each additional photo included. Created by Humanaut, the free app can be downloaded here.