• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, May 15, 2013

Even partygoers at Carnivale get the blues when they pay too much for airfare. In Kayak.com’s European campaign, a man outfitted in an oversized sad, blue face sits meekly on a bench while costumed party people partake in festivities. The man is approached by an oversized happy face that demonstrates the benefits of using Kayak.com. Or finding a better vacation.  See it here, created by Barton F Graf 9000.

Delta is promoting its Touch₂O Technology for faucets with a musical TV spot starring Glenn Kotche, drummer for Wilco. “Instrumental Touch” was shot like a music video and follows Kotche as he recreates “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” using only Touch₂O faucets and water as he hits various kitchen and bathroom items. Kotche does a great job playing a “faucet drum kit” and using pots, toothbrushes, strainers and wine glasses to give the water different sounds. If Washington doesn't shape up, he may replace the water with heads.  See it here, created by Leo Burnett Chicago.

This campaign proves that people will pay to do anything, even eat dirt. Protoleaf, a Japanese gardening soil brand, wanted to showcase its soil's safety, given consumer concerns about nuclear radiation from Fukushima. Who would want to garden in radioactive soil? Three-headed beef teryiaki anyone? To prove their store bought soil was safe for gardening, Protleaf opened “The Soil Restaurant,” where a Michelin 3-star chef created a full course meal, costing $100, using Protoleaf Soil as the main ingredient. You can leave a toddler unattended for 30 seconds and they would eat dirt, too — for free! The menu consisted of potato starch and soil soup, salad with soil dressing, soil risotto, soil ice cream and soil mint tea. I love risotto, but not that much. Everything that’s liquid, looks like mud and probably tasted like it. On the plus side, folks can garden again. See the campaign here, created by TBWA\Hakuhodo.

ASICS launched a great 60-second campaign called “What’s Next?” in an effort to expand its target audience from just runners to athletes in training. Olympians Bryan Clay, Andy Potts and Lolo Jones, along with nine other elite athletes are shown intensely training indoors and outdoors, completing extreme tasks like jumping lunges while holding a weighted bar, running uphill while carrying a weighted bag and running with a weighted sled. Add passengers and in NYC it's called a pedicab. Watch it here, created by VITRO.

I could never picture myself wearing white jeans, unless I was on a diet, because I’d be afraid to eat, drink or touch anything for fear of getting dirty. But don’t let that stop you from checking out Old Navy’s white jeans sale. The supporting TV spot takes place in-air, with midflight entertainment provided by Boyz II Men. The group takes their classic song “I’ll make love to you” and changes it to “love white jeans on you.” Rather than be swayed by the group’s amazing vocals, the women are flattered by the compliments and interrupt the group to discuss fashion. See it here, created by CP+B.

Pennzoil launched an ode to your car with "It Doesn’t Matter What You Do In Your Car, It Only Matters What You Put in It.” Rather than encouraging car owners to use Penzoil to keep your car running well, it plays off an emotional side, highlighting memories made in cars. Whether it’s been used for first dates, road trips, dining areas, baby making and baby soothing, return the favor by lengthening the life of your car. Just be thankful they don't make babies on the subway. Watch it here, created by JWT and directed by Jackson+Karinja.

Shed some skin and buy an Infiniti at its “Limited Engagement Spring Event.” It probably would have been too obvious to use Weezer’s song “Undone,” right? The TV spot shows pedestrians, mannequins and pooches shedding layers of clothing, thanks to a lone thread that’s being pulled by an Infiniti. The farther the car drives, the fewer clothes remain. “Liberate yourself from winter,” closes the ad, seen here and created by TBWA/Chiat/Day LA.

In a thought-provoking TV spot, The Heart and Stroke Foundation asks, “What will your last 10 years look like?” Statistics suggest that the average Canadian will spend their final decade with sickness and disability; the foundation encourages Canadian to visit http://www.makehealthlast.ca for ideas and suggestion to make life changes. The ad itself is heartbreaking, showing a side-by-side comparison of a healthy, active man with what he would look like if he were sick and frail. Is he riding a bike or riding in a wheelchair? Is he fishing around in his bait kit or taking a large handful of pills from his pillbox? Is he beating Congressmen with a cane or driving over them in his Harley?  Watch it here, created by Lowe Roche.

Random iPhone App of the week: Happiness Brussels developed the Give Your Calories app for Action Against Hunger. The app allows you to submit a picture of the food you are eating, or scan the barcode to have the app automatically convert the calories into a dollar value that can be donated to help fight hunger. For example, $1 can be donated for items that contain fewer than 200 calories, $2 for items containing 200 to 300 calories, and a $5 donation for items that contain 300 to 400 calories. The world produces enough food to feed everyone in the world, but close to 1 billion people remain undernourished. The app is available for free in the App Store.