Nothing beats indulging in various ethnic cuisines while on vacation but what to do when a craving arises and you're stateside? A branding campaign for Noodles & Company curbs worldly cravings with outdoor, newspaper, radio and online elements supporting the company's "Your World Kitchen" initiative.

Rusty, the 100-year-old water tower that resides on the roof of Carmichael Lynch in Minneapolis, received an artistic upgrade that draws pedestrian attention skyward. The agency partnered with the Minneapolis College of Art and Design to create a loop of mapping projections -- like raccoons and the woman from Hall & Oates' "Maneater" -- running throughout April from sunset until midnight.

When I think of impulse buys, I think of the candy section at the grocery store and the trial-sized beauty supplies that consume the checkout line at Sephora. But a car, as an impulse buy, is something I'm not buying. While this ad for Volkswagen Canada is clever -- not to mention challenging for the production team -- I'd position the car as affordable without labeling it as an impulse buy.

We've all heard the term "playing with your food" -- but what about playing with your condiments? And this is no April Fools' Day joke. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Felix Ketchup, Helsinki-based agency hasan & partners commissioned British pop artist Nathan Wyburn for an experiential and digital campaign that involved people, portraits and an endless supply of ketchup.

A New Zealand campaign launched in December continues to encourage the practice of adopting shelter dogs. The New Zealand arm of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), teamed up with animal trainer Mark Vette from Animals on Q, MINI New Zealand and its agency, Draftfcb New Zealand to teach three shelter dogs how to drive a car. Monty, Porter and Ginny were taught how to brake, shift gears, turn the steering wheel and accelerate in a modified MINI Countryman Coopers.

The University of Colorado Hospital and its agency, Cactus, launched a print series three years ago, with frameable art prints, mailed to a large audience of doctors, that highlighted the hospital's advancements in various departments. This year, again armed with a small budget, Cactus sent a direct-mail piece to doctors nationwide, describing this year's print: a high-end, limited-edition letterpress poster of the Hippocratic Oath (health-care workers' oath of professional conduct), hand-cranked on a 1961 vintage Vandercook proof press. Since this art print was a limited edition, doctors had to act fast and reserve their copy online.

This isn't your parents' version of slot-car racing. Audi Canada set out to reinvent the test drive by creating a miniature outdoor installation where passersby could test drive a custom-made 1:32 scale Audi A4 quattro using an iPad as a controller.

Jam3 and Fathom Film Group launched a realistic, interactive online journey called The Defector: Escape from North Korea, which gives a haunting first-person glimpse of what it's like for someone trying to escape North Korea.

Ever ask a friend or co-worker to write you a coveted LinkedIn recommendation, to boost your online business profile? It's up there with pulling teeth. A&W Restaurants saw an opportunity in this space and created a LinkedIn profile for its mascot, Rooty The Great Root Bear. Anyone who connects with Rooty will receive the ultimate LinkedIn gift: a free, personalized (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) recommendation.

Breaking news: The world didn't come to an end in 2012. Then I watched this year's Super Bowl ads and became convinced that creativity is holed up somewhere in an underground shelter, waiting out doomsday.