As everyone knows by now, RadioShack is calling itself "The Shack" in a new campaign from Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners that was panned before a single ad aired. You know you're in trouble when The Christian Science Monitor wonders if the nickname "The Outhouse" was taken. (I thought Christians were supposed to be forgiving!) The campaign arrives today, taking cues from Crispin Porter + Boguksy and Microsoft by basically throwing everything at the wall in an effort to be wacky and/or hip and hoping something sticks. The Shack (that feels so wrong to type) lets fly with a dozen spots that play like second-rate Monty Python animations. There is something unintentionally funny about the spot above, because it sure didn't take a truckload of Einsteins to come up with this campaign. A "Netogether" event places 17-foot laptops in New York's Times Square and San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza. These mammoth PCs present prime opportunities for porn hacks, but that would just grab headlines and encourage The Shack to plan more stunts, so let's hope nobody tries.

—Posted by David Gianatasio

Over on BrandFreak:
Hey, RadioShack, maybe it's time to bring back Howie and Teri