The Week on AdFreak: May 25-June 1, 2012 DirecTV's weird baby, JCPenney's two dads, honest magazine covers, and one great Twitter apology

The 10 most-read AdFreak stories from the past week:
1. Best Corporate Apology Ever Posted to Twitter?
2. The Most Honest Women's Magazine Cover Ever
3. JCPenney Hits Back at Anti-Gay Critics with Two Dads in
    Father's Day Ad
4. The Awesome Chalkboard Musings of a Jersey City Gym
5. Man Headbutts Wife in Horrible Ad for Social-Event Website
6. More Tasteless Ads That Never Ran: The 2012 Chip Shop Awards
7. DirecTV Introduces Advertising's Weirdest-Looking Baby Yet
8. Snickers Makes It Easier to Unhook a Woman's Bra
9. Another Ad-Agency Music Video That Will Make You Squirm
10. Pringles Ad Accused of Ripping Off 'One Tiny Hand' Tumblr

(RED) Dries the Tears in Latest Ad from Hill Holliday Striking spot reveals ambitious goal for combating AIDS

The (RED)RUSH to Zero campaign begins today—a 10-day initiative to raise funding and awareness to help deliver an AIDS Free Generation by 2015, a critical milestone in the fight against AIDS. The campaign will consist of a series of in-person and digital events and experiences involving brands, celebrities, gamers, music fans and consumers around the world—and is launching with the striking ad below, from Hill Holliday, imagining a reversal of grief as AIDS is defeated. A specific goal now is the virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV—part of the eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS by the target date of 2015.

Carnival Cruise Lines Makes a Splash With Clever Out-of-Home Ads Slide into this fire-escape execution

Carnival Cruise Lines is no fish out of water when it comes to advertising on land. Check out the clever out-of-home work it's been doing lately, courtesy of ad agency Arnold. The fire-escape ad, in particular, is eye-catching. (Shame the water slide isn't operational—it could snake down into a water-filled dumpster.) Two more executions after the jump—one with parrots atop a billboard, the other a taxi-top that uses GPS to tell people how far they are from port. Via Ads of the World.

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Britain Reveals the Most-Hated Ad in the Country's History KFC spot from 2005 drew bucketful of complaints

A British KFC ad from 2005 in which call-center drones sing with their mouths full, which we covered way back in the wayback, got more complaints than any other ad campaign in U.K. history, according to my bros at the Advertising Standards Authority. The offending ad received 1,671 complaints in all. It also escaped an ASA ban somehow, which is weird, because one or two complaints have been enough to kill ads in the U.K. before. What's even weirder is that the KFC spot got more complaints than an ad where a blind soccer player kicked a cat across a field. C'mon, guys. Priorities.

Giant Vending Machine Dispenses Bikes and Kayaks for Tourism British Columbia Larger-than-life San Francisco installation

I can't help but think that Tourism British Columbia is showing off a little bit with the giant 14-foot tall, 10-foot wide bike-and-kayak-dispensing vending machine it built in San Francisco. The point, I'm assuming, is to spread the word that you can have fun in British Columbia without a car. San Francisco might seem like an odd place to start promoting this, but they probably had to pick a city polite enough not to immediately destroy the installation. I've seen what happens to newspaper boxes where I live. Bicycle vending machines wouldn't stand a chance.

Beer Brand Concocts Crazy Hiding Places for That Last Bottle Andes returns with another bro-friendly stunt

¿Dónde está la cerveza? Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi's past work for Andes beer was special because it broke through the fourth wall in big ways, extending its over-the-top wacky ideas—matter transporters and robo-pals—into Argentina's bar scene. Though still amusing, the agency's more recent "Andes Camouflager" effort seems smaller and more restrained, the "Lite" equivalent of earlier executions. The premise involves hiding your last, precious bottle of Andes in "things that no man would ever think to touch." Visitors to Andes' Facebook page in February could choose their own camouflage. Examples include a squash, a carton of rice milk, a bowl of broccoli and a moldy loaf of bread. Personally, I'd just hide my Andes inside an old Schlitz carton. No one would touch that with a 10-foot pole. Heck, a moldy loaf's more tempting. Via Adverblog.

JCPenney Hits Back at Anti-Gay Critics with Two Dads in Father's Day Ad Hey, One Million Moms, you mad bro?

Earlier this month, the anti-gay group One Million Moms (which has substantially less than 1 million members) called for a boycott of JCPenney after it featured some lesbians in its catalog. The retailer didn't apologize and isn't backing down. In fact, it's almost trolling the anti-gay groups with jubilant, un-corporate-like defiance in a Father's Day ad featuring not one but two dads. The two men pictured are real-life dads Todd Koch and Cooper Smith, seen with their kids, Claire and Mason. In case you might mistake the scene for being a loving dad and a very involved uncle, the copy makes it real clear: "What makes Dad so cool? He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver—all rolled into one. Or two." Given the timeliness of the gay-marriage issue, it's not surprising to see brands take a stand, but when a classic American brand like JCPenney steps up, it's pretty clear where America is headed. Via Think Progess by way of Gawker.

Snickers Makes It Easier to Unhook a Woman's Bra The hidden benefits of not being hungry

Eating a Snickers bar not only keeps you from being Joe Pesci—it also improves your fine motor skills, which are so essential to removing a woman's bra safely and effectively. As they say: Snickers really satisfies! Just, you know, brush your teeth first. From BBDO in Moscow, via Ads of the World.

The Awesome Chalkboard Musings of a Jersey City Gym Joe D'Allegro's copywriting will stop you in your tracks

The humble sidewalk chalkboard—it's not the most heralded of advertising media. But Synergy Fitness Club in Jersey City, N.J., has elevated its chalkboard musings to an art form. For several years now, Joe D'Allegro—a freelance writer and comedy-show producer, who works part time at the gym—has been writing witty, topical and flat-out hilarious musings on the board for the amusement and edification of passersby, and secured some pretty good press for the business in the process. Check out a bunch of the messages after the jump—and the whole gallery on Flickr. (D'Allegro has not yet used the hoary 24 Hour Fitness line about an alien invasion: "Whey they come, they'll eat the fat ones first." But he probably wouldn't be opposed.) There's also, for the Tumblr-ly inclined, a site called The Oracle of Synergy, updated with all the latest ads. Via Laughing Squid. UPDATE: D'Allegro emails us to say, "I am now a part-time junior copywriter at Warehouse Agency, a freelance writer, and produce comedy shows on the side. I will try to put in something about aliens eating the fat ones first. I've never had an alien-themed board, so it'll be fun."

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British Gardening Magazine Unveils Scratch-and-Sniff Issue Aroma of innovation or desperation?

It's no secret that the magazine business stinks these days. Cue British glossy Gardners' World, which just published a scratch-and-sniff issue, the latest example of print media grasping for ways to capture readers' attention. Along with a lavender-scented cover, the new Gardners' World boasts an insert card with three additional aromas: tomato leaf, violet and a "mystery scent" for readers to figure out. It's compost, right? I bet it's compost. Cheeky old sods! Anyway, major kudos to Gardeners' World—its plan profoundly reeks! Um, of innovation. In related news, Adweek will publish an issue on Monday that smells exactly like a magazine. Every page! As for scratch-and-sniff porno mags, I'm not even gonna touch that.