The Spanish running of the bulls is a time-honored, if foolhardy, test of machismo and sobriety. Hemingway immortalized the tradition in his fiction—but he wrote lots of bad books, so what does that prove? Now, ML Rogers makes the unlikely link between pastries and bull running in an international effort for Vivartia’s 7 Days Single Croissants. The spot targets teen boys—apparently a key demographic for baked goods—and shows one of them gulping down a chocolate-filled croissant. He’s apparently so infused with vitality and courage (and butterfat) that he stares down the charging bulls and sends them scampering off in retreat. The press release gleefully (perhaps dubiously) adds that the production near Pamplona “was sufficiently realistic to require the hospitalization of one gored extra, with a 10-inch gash.” As Ernest might have put it: “The gash. It bleeds. I am an idiot.”

—Posted by David Gianatasio