• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, June 12, 2013

Milk-Bone dog biscuits launched its first national TV spot in 10 years with “Welcome Home.” A long workday can leave a person feeling tired and irritable, but a greeting by man’s best friend at the front door can makes things more bearable. Mom returns the favor by giving her pooch some love and a Milk-Bone treat. See it here, created by Arnoldnyc. (Let's just hope she doesn't French kiss it, which Neil Patrick Harris gleefully did on the Tony's, proving Broadway is going to the dogs.)

Kia launched a TV spot for its 2014 Cadenza model that compares the vehicle to that girl from high school you never noticed until you showed up at your reunion. Impossible to ignore or you won’t remember anything about the car until 10 years from now? The Cadenza rides through the streets of New York, driven by a woman wearing red lipstick, ready to turn heads with her skin tight black dress and sleek black car. Watch it here, created by David&Goliath. Trust, she just wants to show up the Bs from senior year.

Autism Speaks and the Ad Council launched a set of PSAs to help educate parents on the early signs of autism. The ads target African-American and Hispanic parents with the goal of lowering the age of an autism diagnosis. In the first ad, we see things through the eyes of an undiagnosed autistic baby. Try as his parents might, he never makes direct eye contact with them, tending to look up or to the right. The parents think it might be a phase or the child’s diet, not autism. See it here. Another ad shows a young boy who is obsessed with the wheels on his toy truck. The parents chalk this up to him being focused and acting like a boy but it could be more serious. Watch it here. Both ads drive viewers to www.autismspeaks.org/signs for additional early signs of autism. BBDO New York created the pro bono campaign.

First comes love, then an engagement ring after appetizers. Verizon launched a spot for its Fios Quantum high-speed Internet service that shows how fast a first date in New York City moves. A couple meets, and before they’ve discussed their jobs, the pair is engaged, married, pregnant, holding a baby, pregnant again and quieting rowdy children. “New York moves fast. Get Internet that can keep up,” closes the ad, seen here, and created by Silver + Partners. Fast yes, but try getting service in the subway.

Since women love Pinterest, I’m sure they’ll love making a Pinterest board about their style of shaving “down there.” Yes, Schick launched the “Prune for June” contest where women can create a Pinterest board about their favorite summer must-haves, along with their favorite trim shape for a chance to win a $2,500 prize pack. The contest promotes the Schick Quattro TrimStyle razor and asks the ladies if they prefer the Heartbreaker, Bare-Muda Triangle, Landing Strip, Stargazer or The Flash style, because the NSA doesn’t already know enough about us. The top 10 boards for each trim style will be based on fan votes with Schick picking a grand prize winner in each trim style. JWT New York created the campaign. Judging from the options, no one ever heard of summer reading.

The Surfrider Foundation, an organization dedicated to keeping beaches and oceans clean, launched a print campaign that illustrates how much plastic is polluting our oceans. One ad shows a woman duck diving while surfing. Behind her are countless plastic bottles, not to mention a plastic bag that’s blocking her face. See it here. Remaining creative shows surfers performing a barrel and no handed barrel moves, where one side of the ocean is pristine and clear, while the other is laden with plastic bottles, bags and straws. See them here and here. Arnold Furnace created the campaign.

Okanagan Spring Brewery launched a 60-second brand spot encouraging its beer drinkers to stay young, active and not sweat the small stuff, like money, work, eating healthy, dating, exercising and maybes.  “Every passing moment, more layers. But we don’t let it bring us down,” says the voiceover. Fine, but watching a crazed man running with a lit torch strikes me less like living in the moment and more like a crazed villager chasing Frankenstein.  Watch it here, created by Open.

Diageo launched Alexander & James, the company’s first e-commerce site where consumers can purchase spirits, like Johnnie Walker Blue Label, Johnnie Walker Gold Label Reserve, Tanqueray No. TEN, Ciroc Ultra Premium Vodka and Ketel One Vodka online. The site also helps visitors pair food with spirits and offers editorial content that’s updated on a monthly basis. Currently, Alexander & James is only available to customers in the U.K. with plans to expand throughout Europe. Huge London created the site.

Random iPhone App of the week: MRMFrankfurt developed “Burn the Miles” for BalticMiles, rewarding frequent travelers for burning their flown miles as calories. The app rewards users who burn the number of flown miles as calories within a 24-hour period, enticing them with food, drink and spa treatments. I like this idea. Download the free app here.