2008: A Year in Review

SF Crime - List of all the homicides with a map of 2007 & 2008s homicides

11 Gadgets to Rock Your New Year's Eve

Associate Press Best Moments of 2008

Wired.com's 10 Best Galleries of 2008

Wired Science's 13 Most Popular Stories of 2008

The Seven Best Capers of 2008

6 New Web Technologies of 2008 You Need to Use Now

TIME's Best Inventions of 2008

50 Best Websites 2008

HuffPo's Top 10 YouTube Videos of 2008

Did You Know - 2008 Edition


Here's to Luck in the New Year


Top 5 Goals of 2008


A little more broad than just 2008, but his term ends so here's a wrap up
Letterman's Top 10 George Bush moments

United State of Pop 2008

Interesting mash up of the Top 25 pop hits of 2008.

A Mashup of the Top 25 Hits of 2008, according to Billboard.
Download the audio at djearworm.com
and don't forget to watch it in high quality..

Tracklist:

Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain - Low
Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
Alicia Keys - No One
Lil Wayne Featuring Static Major - Lollipop
Timbaland Featuring OneRepublic - Apologize
Jordin Sparks Duet With Chris Brown - No Air
Sara Bareilles - Love Song
Usher Featuring Young Jeezy - Love in This Club
Chris Brown - With You
Chris Brown - Forever
Ray J & Yung Berg - Sexy Can I
Rihanna - Take a Bow
Coldplay - Viva La Vida
Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl
T.I. - Whatever You Like
Rihanna - Disturbia
Rihanna - Don't Stop the Music
Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
Chris Brown Featuring T-Pain - Kiss Kiss
Ne-Yo - Closer
Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
Mariah Carey - Touch My Body
Madonna Featuring Justin Timberlake - 4 Minutes
Pink - So What
Finger Eleven - Paralyzer

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li Trailer

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li is an upcoming film and the second live-action film based on the Street Fighter series of video games. It follows the quest of Street Fighter character Chun-Li, who will be portrayed by Smallville star Kristin Kreuk. The film is based on the personal history of Chun Li and her journey for justice. The film co-stars Neal McDonough as M. Bison, Chris Klein as Charlie, Michael Clarke Duncan as Balrog, and Black Eyed Peas singer Taboo as Vega. Rick Yune was originally cast as Gen but has been replaced by Robin Shou, who portrayed Liu Kang in the Mortal Kombat films. The film is scheduled for release in February 27, 2009.

Marshawn Lynch aka Beast Mode

After hearing a rap song called "Marshawn Lynch" made by a bunch of Bay Area rappers I tried to find the song on YouTube. In my travels to find this song I found some other great videos of former Cal running back Marshawn Lynch. If you don't know who he is, he is a native of Oakland and is a big follower of the "hyphy movement." The videos proved to be pretty hilarious in my opinion so they are definitely worthy of a post here. BEAST MODE!

"Marshawn Lynch" Rap Song


Marshawn Lynch Playtime


The Mayne Event


2007 Draft


Marshawn tries to ghost ride the injury cart


Related:
Music Monday on Wednesday: E-40

1 Year in 40 Seconds

Pretty cool video that's been spreading around in the last few days. Here's the video info:

Images snapped at the same spot through one year. Showing the seasons change. For more information on how the video was made visit my web site. The audio is actual recordings from the same spot. The images are from 2008.

JibJab - 2008 Year in Review

Definitely wasn't as impressed with JibJab's video this year when compared to the videos of years past. You can see the 2007 video HERE.

It must be December - snow is falling, children are writing letters to Santa and we're dragging 2008 through the mud in our all-singing, all-dancing, all-out year-in-review. Baby New Year '08 takes you on a tour of all of the good, bad, and worse the past year had to offer, all at breakneck speed. We're giving society a primo wedgie - everyone watch, point and laugh!

MMA Live & More UFC 92 Stuff

Another episode of ESPN.com's MMA Live was posted today. Also, UFC President, Dana White, has continued his tradition of keeping a video blog in the days leading up to a UFC fight card. I actually really enjoy Dana White's video blog because you get to see a lot of the backstage stuff of him running the UFC and hanging out with various fighters in a much different atmosphere than the Octagon.

ESPN's MMA Live Episode 33: UFC 92 Preview

ESPN's MMA Live previews Saturday night's UFC 92 featuring Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Frank Mir, and Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson.

Dana's UFC Video Blog - 12/22/2008


Dana's UFC Video Blog - 12/23/2008

Merry Christmas

Hope Santa brought you everything you wanted. Enjoy one of my favorite Christmas songs featured the pioneers of rap, Run-DMC.

Rich Bankers - Credit Crunch Christmas

I guess this could be a music video, but doesn't it just make you pissed at the rich bankers. Thanks for screwing the kids out of their "Nintendo toys under the tree." You bastards.

Happy Holidays from Culture Catalyst

Happy Non-Denominational Holidays to everyone. Your New Year's resolution should be to post this URL everywhere and spread CultureCatalyst to the far reaches of the internet....Ready? GO!

The tape has been passed around for years, the singer is unknown. From the web here is a description "If you need a good laugh, and I mean 'can't breathe, stomach hurts' belly laugh, listen to the worst rendition of Oh Holy Night ever. Warning, put all drinks down and take a few deep breaths first so you don't suffocate from laughter. It starts out as sounding like a merely poor rendition of the song, but just wait."

Today is Festivus

If you didn't know, today is the day we celebrate Festivus. Still confused? The video below will explain it all.

You can buy your Festivus poles here.

HAPPY FESTIVUS EVERYONE!

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Happy Christmas from AKQA

Not sure why they decided to title it "Happy Christmas" instead of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays." Happy Christmas just kind of bothers me. Anyway, good job by AKQA on this one. Making a Christmas message that is the top viral video for a week straight is a pretty impressive.

Reporter Owned by Sled

Another snow related FAIL to get us all in the holiday spirit. When observing people going very fast on sleds, it's usually best to not stand directly in their path. Gotta love that he finished the lead out before collapsing into the snow.

A Twisted Sister Christmas

Saw this little gem on Mevio Today hosted by Adam Curry. No Christmas is complete without Dee Snider breaking into your house belting out Christmas carols. Happy Holidays kids, the years of therapy are my treat.

Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful


Twisted Sister - Oh Come All Ye Faithful (animated version)

"Santa Claus' open letter to the ad industry" by Jim Nichols

Our blogging guru, Jim Nichols, over at OldestLiving had an article up on iMedia.

You can find the article HERE

Glengarry Glen Ross - Christmas

Thanks to Brianna for this. To go along with the coolest monologue ever in a movie, here is Alec Baldwin on SNL giving a similar speech to Santa's elves.


Related:
Glengarry Glen Ross Monologue

Earth's News Feed

Thanks to the staff over at CollegeHumor, we finally can see what Earth's Facebook news feed would look like.

I would suggest clicking on the pictures to make them more clear.

Cheers to You Chris Schwarze

This post is dedicated to celebrate the life of Chris Schwarze from Digital Two-Footed Tackles, despite his recent outrageous and unsubstantiated claims towards me.

Chris is a very talented and accomplished man. He even has 2 Wikipedia pages: HERE & HERE. Chris is a natural leader and was even captain of the California Victory, a professional soccer team. You can see their record HERE (it was 4-17). Chris is also a very famous actor and stars in many commercials all around the world.

One of Chris' many commercials


Footage of Chris playing soccer

12/20/08 President-elect Obama's Weekly Address

I think it's pretty cool Barack Obama has embraced online video the way he has. Check out this week's address about the team of men and women who will head up the nation's major scientific departments.

FAIL Update - Part 2

Coconut Breaking FAIL


Pull-Up Bar FAIL


Pizza Delivery FAIL


VCR FAIL

FAIL Update - Part 1

For whatever reason the update of hilarious FAIL videos got put on hold. Here's an update of what we've missed.

Distance FAIL

This gets better each time

Ski FAIL


Rock and Roll FAIL

Bohemian Rhapsody can be dangerous, probably fake but funny

All Aboard the FAIL Train

Family Guy - I Dream of Jesus

I guarantee if you watch this episode you will get a specific song stuck in your head.

Family Guy - Season 7 - Episode 2
"I Dream of Jesus" - 21:52
Peter makes a new best friend.

Huge Underwater Explosion

Check out this huge underwater explosion. I'd be interested to know the size and type of explosive because that was a serious amount of energy that was released. I bet he wished the camera was set up a little farther back.

MMA Live Episode 32 & UFC 92

Big MMA related post today. There's been lots of videos going up the last few days so figured I'd aggregate them all in one post.

ESPN's MMA Live Episode 32
MMA Live recaps 'TUF 8' finale, begins its comprehensive preview of UFC 92 and discusses Bobby Lashley's MMA future.

UFC 92 Video Interview with Rashad Evans


UFC 92 Video Interview with Forrest Griffin


ESPN.com UFC 92 Video Interview with Wanderlei Silva

ESPN.com UFC 92 Video Interview with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Frank Mir UFC 92 Interview


Antonio Nogueira UFC 92 Interview


Frank Mir - Preparing to fight

Glengarry Glen Ross Monologue

One of the better monologues I've seen in a movie. Alec Baldwin's character, Blake, "motivates" the other salesmen in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross.

"The leads are weak"
"...you're WEAK!"

(Warning: Language)

Zenvo ST1 - Danish Supercar

Wow this car is simply amazing. Great looking and the most ridiculously fast thing ever. I want one.

Danish boutique automaker Zenvo Automotive had exactly one goal in mind when it designed the ST1 hyper-exotic: build "a real supercar with excessive power."

By any measure, it succeeded. The startup's first car purportedly produces a mind-boggling 1,104 horsepower, easily besting the Bugatti Veyron but falling just shy of the Shelby Supercars Ultimate Aero. But anything the ST1 lacks in horsepower against the Aero, it more than makes up for in sheer audacity.

Simply put, the Zenvo ST1 redefines excessive.

Everything about the car is blatantly, wonderfully over the top, from its turbocharged and supercharged 7.0-liter V-8 to the acres of carbon fiber that cover its race-spec chassis. Options include ceramic brakes (a wise investment), carbon-fiber wheels and a four-point roll cage.

Top speed is limited to 233 mph, which isn't enough to earn the ST1 a spot in the top five fastest cars but will let you cover the length of Denmark in just under an hour. Besides, it isn't top speed that makes super exotics so much fun, it's acceleration, something the ST1 has in abundance. The car reportedly will hit 62 mph in three seconds flat and get you to 124 mph in under nine.

Zenvo started work on the ST1 four years ago and says it will go into production next year. That seems about as likely as Chrysler surviving past Christmas, but the 15 people rich enough to get one won't mind waiting around.

UPDATE: Because someone asked, the ST1 produces 1,400 Newton meters of torque, which works out to about 1,032 ft-lbs, or what non-gearheads might call a heaping boatload.

Photos by Zenvo Automotive, which for some reason didn't release any pics of the engine. [Wired]

Flight of the Conchords Season 2 Premiere

The Season 2 premier of Flight of the Conchords showed up online a month early.

The long-awaited second season of the show, which revolves around the offbeat comedic brilliance of New Zealand meta-pop nerds Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, premieres Wednesday on Will Ferrell and Adam McKay's online comedy clearinghouse Funny or Die.

Described by Wired magazine as "like a Kiwi version of Tenacious D," the show follows the oddball musical duo as they slog through lame gigs, lamer day jobs and ludicrous band meetings.

The half-hour Season 2 opener kicks off with one of those comic meetings of the minds, in which Bret and Jemaine dump clueless manager Murray (played by Rhys Darby).

In classic Conchords form, the management meltdown leads to a musical number that kicks off the long-awaited second season's story arc. [Wired]

Related:
Bret? Present. Jermaine? Present. Murray? Present.

I Love You, Man Trailer

Saw this trailer on TV last night and on first look it definitely seems like it has potential. You get Paul Rudd and Jason Segel in a movie together and you have comedy gold (ie Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall). I Love You, Man is about a guy who is getting married and since he's always been a "girlfriend guy" he doesn't have a guy friend to be his best man. Anyway, here's the trailer, see what you think.

The Toy You Have to Have This Winter

So this is pretty much the coolest toy ever invented. Wham-O (the awesome toy maker who brought you Hula Hoop, Frisbee, Superball & Slide N Slide) has come out with the newest much have toy this winter, the SnowBall Blaster. Pretty much you put this on your wrist and can shoot snowballs up to 80 feet. You can purchase it at THESE LOCATIONS. Not sure what the deal is with Hammacher Schlemmer taking credit like they made the product (it's definitely Wham-O) and spreading it that shoots 50 feet because it says on the packaging it can shoot 80 feet. It was even featured on Pharrell's (from N.E.R.D.) blog.

Wham-O SnowBall Blaster Commercial


SnowBall Blaster on David Letterman



Related Links:
SnowBall Blaster Site
Geek Alerts
Gadget Venue
CrunchGear
Laughing Squid
SlipperyBrick
GearFuse
Switched

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is an upcoming superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Wolverine, due for release on May 1, 2009. The film is directed by Gavin Hood and stars Hugh Jackman as the title character. It is a prequel to the X-Men film trilogy, focusing on the mutant Wolverine and his time with Team X, before Wolverine's skeleton was bonded with the indestructible metal adamantium. The film was mostly shot in Australia and New Zealand.

Iraqi Journalist Throws Shoe at Bush

Zaidi's attack was launched with the words "this is a farewell kiss, you dog"

It's that cultural significance that has added real sting to the assault by an Iraqi journalist against US President George W Bush at a Baghdad news conference.

In Arab culture it's considered rude even to display the sole of one's shoe to a fellow human being.

Certainly, crossing one's legs ankle-on-knee style should never be done in a public place for fear of offending the person next to you.

The sensitivity is related to the fact shoes are considered ritually unclean in the Muslim faith.

In addition to ritual ablutions before prayer, Muslims must take off their shoes to pray, and wearing shoes inside a mosque is forbidden.

Shoes should either be left at the door of the mosque, or carried (preferably in the left hand with the soles pressed together).

But beyond the Islamic significance, the dirty and degrading implication of the sole of a shoe crosses all religious boundaries in the Middle East. [BBC News]

The incident begs the question, "Honestly, who throws a shoe?"


It also sparked some imitators online:
Original


Mortal Kombat


Volleyball


Saddam's Head


A Pie

ESPN's MMA Live - Episode 31

The latest episode of ESPN's MMA Live features Miguel Torres, a recap of UFC Fight for the Troops and a preview of Adrenaline MMA 2...


Related Links:
ESPN's MMA Live Episode 30: WEC 37 and UFC Fight for the Troops
MMA Live & Some Guy Getting Body Slammed

Need Motivation? Here You Go

40 inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes

TRANSCRIPT:
Shame on you. This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you're going to let it be the worst. And I guarantee a week won't go by in your life you won't regret walking out, letting them get the best of you. Well, I'm not going home. We've come too far! And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not THIS day. The line must be drawn HERE. This far, no further! I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You're going to work harder than you ever worked before. But that's fine, we'll just get tougher with it! If a person grits his teeth and shows real determination, failure is not an option. That's how winning is done! Believe me when I say we can break this army here, and win just one for the Gipper. But I say to you what every warrior has known since the beginning of time: you've got to get mad. I mean plum mad dog mean. If you would be free men, then you must fight to fulfill that promise! Let us cut out their living guts one inch at a time, and they will know what we can do! Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions! You're like a big bear, man! This is YOUR time! Seize the day, never surrender, victory or death... that's the Chicago Way! Who's with me? Clap! Clap! Don't let Tink die! Clap! Alright! Let's fly! And gentlemen in England now abed shall know my name is the Lord when I tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our Independence Day!

You Suck at Photoshop

I don't know how I didn't find out about this web series earlier. The "You Suck at Photoshop" web series featured on MyDamnChannel is:

...a series of online Photoshop tutorials with adult-themed humor designed by Matt Bledsoe and Troy Hitch of the Big Fat Institute for Advanced Interactive Design and hosted at My Damn Channel. The show started as a one-off parody of instructional videos and became popular almost overnight; since its debut in December 2007, the first episode alone has received over 1.5 million views on YouTube, over 600,000 on My Damn Channel channel, and garnered national attention in Time Magazine [Wikipedia]

Volume 1: Distory, Warp, & Layer Effects


Volume 2: Covering Your Mistakes


Volume 3: Clone Stamp and Manual Cloning


Volume 4: Paths and Masks

See All The Episodes Here

Fox's Secret Millionaire Comes to San Francisco

Fox's newest reality show "Secret Millionaire" featured San Francisco in the most recent episode. The "millionaire" was online advertising entrepreneur Gurbaksh Chahal who went undercover and lived in the Tenderloin for a week.

Here's a little more about the show:

Like the British version, the Fox show will feature wealthy benefactors each week that will go undercover in the most deprived neighborhoods of the United States. For approximately ten days, the millionaires will mingle within the community and live on a very low-cost budget, for few this being the very first time. At the end of the show, the millionaires reveal their identities and proceed to give a minimum of $100,000 (which can be divided among the recipients). [Wikipedia]

And some more about Gurbaksh Chahal:

Gurbaksh Chahal is one of the youngest and one of the most successful internet entrepreneurs of recent history.Chahal has created companies worth over $340 million by the age of 25. On December of 1998, at the age of 16, he dropped out of Accel Middle College to start his first venture ClickAgents. ClickAgents was one of the first performance-based advertising networks in the industry. Two years later, on November 1st 2000, ValueClick announced it agreed to buy ClickAgents in a $40 million all-stock merger. Chahal had a three year non-compete with ValueClick. He was 18 years old at the time. On January 12, 2004 he founded BlueLithium. BlueLithium was an ad network focused on data, optimization, analytics and a pioneer of behavioral targeting. He has been recognized as an innovator in the online advertising space by Business 2.0 as well as a sought-after speaker, featured at conferences including Red Herring, JP Morgan, Bear Stearns and Ad:Tech. Under his leadership, BlueLithium was named one of the top 100 private companies in America three years in a row by AlwaysOn.On September 4th 2007, Yahoo! announced that it has agreed to buy BlueLithium for $300 million in cash. He remains CEO of the company through the transition period [iMedia].

Related Links:
SFGate - Advice from young millionaire Gurbaksh Chahal
Personal Site
"G" on Fox Business Channel
His SF Penthouse

Terminator Salvation Trailer

Terminator Salvation is the 4th film in the Terminator series and is set to be released in May 2009. Check out the synopsis and the trailer.

Set in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor (Christian Bale), the man fated to be the leader of the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators, and the future he was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they find out a terrible secret that may lead to the possible annihilation of mankind [ComingSoon]

What Men Are Really Thinking

These are some pretty funny ads from some short lived show called "The X Show." I'd like to say this ad is completely inaccurate but who am I hockey beer nachos kidding?

Step Brothers Sleepwalking Scene

If you haven't seen Step Brothers starring Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly I would highly suggest you go out and rent or download or Netflix or watch it in some fashion.

Brennan Huff (Will Ferrell) is a sporadically unemployed thirty-nine-year-old loser guy who lives with his divorcee mother, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen). Dale Doback (John C.Reilly) is a terminally unemployed forty-year-old who lives with his widower father, Robert (Richard Jenkins). When Robert and Nancy get married and move in together, Brennan and Dale are forced to live with each other as step brothers. They immediately don't like each other.

Other than their music video made to promote their entertainment company, Prestige Worldwide, the sleepwalking scenes are definitely some of the funniest parts. Check them out below.

When Animals Attack: Big Cats

No idea how this post came together. Anyway, here's a few videos of some crazy big cats on the attack.

LION

So this video kind of bothers me because the guy doing the shooting is a lame hunter. I mean do you really need to kill a lion and if you do, go take one on in the jungle and at least give him a chance to do you before you do him. As you can see in the video, it appears this guy is at a fenced in area where the lion is trapped. Wow what a great hunter you are. With that said, wow, he came about an inch away from having a few large holes in his chest.

LEOPARD

When trying to release a pissed off cat into the wild, you should probably not poke him with a stick. Also, when releasing said cat you should really make sure the windows are rolled up.

TIGER

So this video is by far the coolest. I mean it definitely sucks for the guy on the front of the elephant but you have to be amazed at how quickly that tiger closed the distance in the tall weeds and how it jumped on top of an elephant like it was nothing. Here's the story:

For those who came in late, a large adult tigress, suspected to be the mother of the two cubs rescued from Tamuli Pathar village(adjoining Kaziranga) on May 16, severely mauled the mahout of an Assam forest department elephant, which was carrying rangers trying to dart her on the morning of May 19.

The 25-year-old mahout, Satya Pegu, who was badly lacerated, lost three fingers on his left hand, is in a hospital in Dibrugarh. Doctors are worried about the onset of gangrene and may have to amputate his left palm. The Wildlife Trust of India and its partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare have offered to cover his medical expenses.

The footage showed that Pegu saw the tigress leaping and threw the metal ankush at it to defend himself. “The tigress saw the ankush coming, dodged it in mid-leap and took a swipe at Pegu without actually landing on the elephant, which had stepped back,” Menon said.

“It all happened in a few seconds and before we knew what both Bodo and the guard had fallen down,” Dr Choudhary narrated. What now happened was even more amazing. As the tigress landed on the ground Joymala quickly pinned her down with her left fore foot and tried to control it with its trunk. The tigress struggled under this weight for at least half a minute roaring, as other people in the vicinity shouted and fired shots in the air. In this commotion another attempt was made to dart it, but even this shot was off the mark. The tigress finally struggled loose and ran away. [WTI]

Nerves of Steel

Not only does this photographer almost get crushed by the out of control rally car but he doesn't even stop to thank his lucky stars before whipping out his camera and getting some good shots of the wreck.

Nerves of Steel - Watch more Free Videos

Wii Accidents Montage

Video games are dangerous. Once we starting allowing people to stand up and flail their body around you knew there would be consequences. At least Wii controllers come with a no-slip rubber grip now so you really have to try to throw the controller into your brand new LCD TV.

Nintendo Wii forces you to get involved with the game by using motion sensors and moving around like crazy. Unfortunately, all this flailing isn't good for some people who accidentally throw their controllers at the TV and hit people in the face. This compilation shows the best of the best when it comes to Wii accidents. [Heavy]

More funny videos from the "Heavy Music" channel at Heavy.com

Freestyle Street Soccer

At first I figured this was another fake video playing itself off as UGC but I think it may actually be genuine. Anyway here's the video description:

In London, the nations most badass underground soccer players roam the streets looking for gnarly goals to score in. Don't listen to the police, soccerballing is not a crime. [via ThingsIFindFunny]

See more funny videos and TBT Videos at Today's Big Thing.

Whopper Virgins Cause Controversy

Crispin Porter + Bogusky's much-anticipated "documentary" about the "Whopper virgins" debuted last night. It was pretty much as expected. Stacy Peralta has really made two commercials—let's face it, they're just commercials. One is the taste test. This has the native people brought to a semi-civilized location—i.e., somewhere within 15 minutes of fast-food restaurants—for your run-of-the-mill taste test. The video flashes up some select results. I say select because I hope the sample size was larger than about 20. (Surprisingly, the Whopper won in a landside.) Part two is what probably gets at the root of the criticism leveled at Burger King for the project. Peralta and crew trek out to these far-flung locales with a BK grill to cook for the locals. In my initial appraisal of the concept, I found it icky. I still find it depressing. This is a documentary about the making of a commercial that uses "exotic" foreigners as props to sell more trans-fat-laden heart-attack pucks. Judging from what I've read on blogs, Facebook and Twitter, the reaction is pretty mixed—probably exactly what Crispin and BK wanted. See Adweek critic Barbara Lippert's review here. [AdFreak]

Seeking to build on the success of last year's "Whopper Freakout," the marketer tasked Crispin Porter & Bogusky with creating a "pure taste test" composed of "Whopper Virgins" who had never tasted one of the flagship sandwiches.

To accomplish that, Crispin trekked to Baan Khun Chang Kiean, Thailand; Kulusuk, Greenland; and Budesti, Romania. The work, from director Stacy Peralta and production company NonFiction, highlights reactions to the products.

The premise behind the push sparked a backlash among nutritionists, anthropologists and parents, with critics claiming Burger King is exploiting poverty-stricken regions for marketing. "I don't think indigenous people should be used in that way to amuse a bored public that wants a sensation at any price," a commenter wrote on New York City blog Gothamist. [AdAge]

Top 10 Incredible Animal Videos

Taken from Wired.com

Two weeks ago, we gathered 10 amazing animal videos together. In response, readers alerted us to more amazing animals we had missed, including a hedghog, dolphins, dogs, a lion and another hamster. Here are the best of the bunch.

10. Chickens Policing Rabbits


9. The Great Beagle Escape


8. Dolphins Playing With Bubble Rings
Several viewers wondered if this clip could be real, since the big bubbles do not seem to rise toward the top of the tank. Snopes verified that dolphins can make bubble rings by quickly whipping their heads around.


7. Gibbon Taunts Baby Tigers


6. Lion Reunion


5. Hedgehog Eating a Carrot


4. Hamster Eats Popcorn on a Piano


3. Gin the Dancing Dog


2. Transformer Owl


1. Super Smart Dog


Related Links:
Top 10 Amazing Biology Videos