• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, September 14, 2005

Heineken's latest campaign screams GOOOOOOOAL. Jim Beam, meet TV. TV, say hello to Jim Beam. iTunes is off its ROKR. Let's launch!

Motorola's campaign for ROKR - the first mobile phone featuring iTunes - brings together past and present musicians including Little Richard, The Bravery,Iggy Pop, and Beethoven, in a screen first. Let's not forget Madonna. How much did she get for her appearance? Was it $8 million for 10 hours of work or $10 million for eight hours of work? Either way, I'm doing something wrong. The month-long "Phone Booth" campaign was created by BBDO New York. The ad will appear on MTV, VH1, MTV2 and Comedy Central and during the premieres of "The Apprentice," "The Simpsons," and "Lost."

StrawberryFrog (add this to the funky agency name list) has created its first work for Heineken, and the work is of global proportions. The campaign launched yesterday and will run in 154 countries over a nine-month period. Heineken will be sponsoring the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Champions League, which begins today, with broadcast and print ads to be seen by more than 3 billion soccer fans. In a three-minute commercial entitled, "One Big Game," viewers watch a soccer ball ricochet off a goalpost and out of the stadium, bouncing in a variety of settings - a rural wedding, a rooftop pool at a posh hotel, and a TV studio. In each case, passersby chase after the ball, following it into the next setting. The tagline "Welcome to Champions Planet" concludes the ad, which airs in 5-, 10-, 30-, 60- and 90-second and three-minute spots throughout the course of the games.

Jim Beam launched its first-ever national television campaign last week, aptly named "Change." The 30-second spot targets men 25- to 34-years-old. "Change" depicts a barrel of Jim Beam bourbon being rolled through a rack house after its aging process has been completed. As the barrel is rolled, the workers and the environment change subtly to depict different eras in the brand's history. A voiceover says: "Whoever said change is good, knows squat about making bourbon. For 210 years, we've stayed true to the Beam family recipe. Here's to stubbornness." The campaign is airing on Comedy Central, Discovery and Spike. BBDO Chicago created the campaign.

Kia is "Spreading the Word" that automotive technology has advanced so that every car buyer is entitled to the best there is to offer. A series of commercials feature an impassioned Kia spokesman who unexpectedly shows up at random public settings to tell consumers that "a beautiful, well-built car is no longer a privilege, it's the entitlement of our age." In the TV spots, the spokesman pops up at a kid's soccer game, outside a crowded nightclub, in front of a busy downtown office building and at a triathlon for 40+ year-old athletes, to spread the word. The campaign kicked off with print ads in USA Today and The Wall Street Journal, and even includes a microsite. In addition, Kia will be running online ads on auto shopping and research sites and deploying a rich media e-mail blast to its entire database that includes people who've requested product info. davidandgoliath (dng) created the campaign.

Archrival has built what it's touting as the world's largest ant farm for TipTop Apartments. I'm itching as I write about this. Tip Top Loft Apartments is a downtown Omaha, Nebraska, apartment community located in a historical Model T Ford warehouse. The ant farm, measuring eight feet wide by seven feet tall, houses more than 11,000 ants contained in 224 modules filled with a special clear gel developed by NASA to see how ants would tunnel in micro-gravity. OK, I'm intrigued now. The ant farm is only one of many creative features designed for the TipTop community. Other quirky features include chalkboard doors, artificial turf balconies, original art, a Polaroid gallery of residents, a rooftop sun deck and projection screen, and each resident's choice of accent colors to customize his or her own space.

The San Diego Union-Tribune launched its sdmarketplace campaign in an effort to drive ad volume using the message, "FREE classified ads." Hey, who doesn't like free stuff? Sdmarketplace has combined print classifieds in the Union-Tribune and online classifieds on SignOnSanDiego.com to reach more potential buyers in San Diego. The campaign consists of TV, radio, print, online, and buzz-marketing. One 30-second spot features Padres closer Trevor Hoffman; there are also two 15-second spots, "Scuba" and "Truck." All spots promote the message, "Sell it FREE. Sell it now." Radio spots called "Disappearances" report on items disappearing quickly in San Diego after being placed on sdmarketplace. Creative launched August 29 and runs until the first week of November. NYCA created the campaign.

Here's some work Crispin Porter + Bogusky created before their recent major account wins of Volkswagen and Sprite. The agency developed a series of spots for Giro helmets featuring the tagline "Worn by the greatest riders in the world." "Famous" provides a glimpse into how the helmets make everyone feel like a professional athlete.  Viewers see a young man racing on a bike along a country road to the cheers of enthusiastic fans. The teen is treated like a celebrity as he cruises over chalk markings proclaiming "Michael!" and is taped by a camera crew on his way into town. The ad concludes as he rides home, where his older brother takes the Giro helmet and rides away.

Discovery Health Channel is taking families on a road trip toward better health. Total Family Health consists of three components: an interactive mobile tour, quarterly TV specials, and a strong online presence at DiscoveryHealth.com. Beginning August 5, a 53-foot "big rig" hit the road for eight weeks, stopping at festivals throughout the United States, to share positive health information through activity kiosks and taped Discovery Health Channel segments. In addition,Discovery Health Channel premiered FIT FAMILY last night,a one-hour FitTV special providing viewers an inside look at the Pitts, a family that undergoes a total lifestyle, fitness and nutrition overhaul. Trainers have taken on the challenge of reversing the Pitts' bad habits, but only have six weeks to do so.

This week's Web site launches make me wanna dance and skateboard.

MakeMeDance.com is the interactive component for the Cingular iTunes ROKR. Created by Atmosphere BBDO, the site allows users to purchase a ROKR phone and watch the TV spots created by BBDO New York and BBDO Atlanta. The site has pictures of several people (ranging from the young to the old) and animals (including the Cingular bear). Visitors choose a character and then drag a song to the ROKR phone and watch their character in full dance mode (I had the Cingular Bear dancing to Kiss' "Rock 'n' Roll All Night").

Active Mailorder, a source for the latest skateboards, skate shoes and clothing from all of the top skate brands, has launched a "pro" section of its website integrating Vimation's interactive video solution with e-commerce.When visiting this section, users can view an online video of an "Active" pro skater in action and then buy the pro's equipment or apparel with a click.