The Week on AdFreak

It was an anxious week. Arnold Schwarzenegger got self-terminated, the CDC started talking about zombies, Hot Wheels got ready to plunge to its death at the Indy 500—all against the backdrop of the impending apocalypse. If it was indeed our last week on Earth, we mostly wasted it. Below, scenes from the carnage. Arnold's Japanese Ads Arnold Schwarzenegger's moral bankruptcy dates back a long way, as evidenced by the stunning number of commercials he did for cold hard cash in Japan. Here are 30 for your viewing pleasure. Hopefully he had fewer kids than that out of wedlock. 30 Crazy Japanese Ads Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger Zombies Kill the CDC With all the talk about the world ending, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention got into the act with a blog post about preparing for the zombie apocalypse. Unfortunately, the ensuing traffic crashed the site. Way to inspire confidence, CDC! Please check other sites in the event of an actual mass health crisis. CDC's Blog Post About Zombies Proves Apocalyptic to Website Hot Wheels Goes Big The Mattel toy-car brand is building a giant replica of an orange Hot Wheels ramp at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and will send a life-size version of a Hot Wheels car careening down it at the Indy 500 next Sunday. The car will then shoot down a straightaway and attempt a new world-record jump by a four-wheel vehicle. Hot damn. Next year: a giant loop-de-loop? Giant Hot Wheels Ramp at Indy 500 Looks Scary as Hell Ad of the Day: Hot Wheels Micro Burgers The cutest food of the week. Awww. Micro Burgers Perfect for a Light Lunch Gumball Machine Women [jwplayer cgvyIlwD-1kT9Z8rj] The oddest commercial of the week—a spec dating-site ad from Belgium featuring a giant gumball machine that dispenses women in big bubble containers. They don't grow on trees, either. You Won't Find a Good Woman in a Giant Gumball Machine Captain Morgan Grows Up The rum brand cleaned up nicely in this first spot from new agency Anomaly. It was directed by Tom Hooper, who just won an Oscar for The King's Speech. An Oscar winner doing Captain Morgan ads—who got drunk and suggested that? Captain Morgan Becomes Slightly Less of a Meathead The Mother of All Infographics Feel like reliving all of advertising's big milestones since the 1830s? Sure you do. Check out this mammoth piece of history from Aquent and The Barbarian Group. 200 Years of the Advertising Business in One Handy Infographic Axe's Relationship Status Axe came up with a Facebook app for young men that generates a fake relationship-status update to make it appear as though the user is involved with hundreds of women. Clever—and inoffensive, since the users surely have few female friends who'd get upset about it. Axe Embellishes Your Relationship Status on Facebook NYC's Skeletons Signs The Barbarian Group added a macabre touch to New York City's speed-warning signs last week. Drivers who obey the law see the regular sign; those who speed see a creepy skeleton. Nice digital work—and impressive, considering they had just 2KB of RAM to work with. How Barbarian Group Hijacked NYC's Speed Signs With Skeletons Publicis Pissalyzer [jwplayer ePD2nlCy-1kT9Z8rj] Publicis Milan invented something called the "Pissalyzer," an in-urinal drunk-driving ad for beer brand McFarland. Invisible at first, the ad appears if you pee longer than about 25 seconds (the average, supposedly, if you've drunk one pint of beer) and says you should take a cab home. It's as unscientific as it gets—but nothing to piss on. Publicis 'Pissalyzer' Warns You When You've Had Enough

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The Week on AdFreak

Arnold's old Japanese ads, zombies at the CDC, Hot Wheels goes big and more

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd