Freak Week

When we learned in February that Padma Lakshmi was filming a commercial for Hardee's/Carl's Jr., it didn't seem likely that the Top Chef host would make as big a splash as Paris Hilton did with her infamous car-wash spot for the fast-fo.od company in 2005. But Lakshmi has actually put her own impressively suggestive mark on burger advertising with the new ad, in which she makes sweet-and-savory love to a Western-bacon deluxe on the front steps of a city apartment building. Paris Hilton, please pack your knives and go.We also opened a can of worms last week by posting the 10 Saturday Night Live ad parodies that have gotten the most views on Hulu. It was mostly recent stuff, like the iPhone and "Whopper Virgins" spoofs, along with a few semi-oldies, including the separated-at-birth "Bad Idea Jeans" and "Mom Jeans." Readers bristled, of course, at what was left out. The "Oops! I Crapped My Pants" contingent, in particular, came out in force, all but compelling a follow-up post, which included that spot as well as "Colon Blow" and the great Bass-o-Matic ad. Lesson learned: Don't mess with the SNL crowd.Speaking of Hulu, we also posted the Internet-TV service's most recent ad from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, part of the alien series that had earlier featured Alec Baldwin and Elisha Dushku. This latest spot stars Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, who, in addition to the usual hankering to turn human brains to mush, also seems to have a giant green worm living in his stomach. The setup is the same as the earlier ads, though MacFarlane adds some extra flavor by speaking in the voices of many of his shows' characters. Because he's an alien, and that's his gig.We also had the pleasure of Lindsay Lohan's company last week. In addition to revisiting her fake SNL ad for "Coin Slot Cream," we experienced (or rather, were bludgeoned into submission by) her new TV spot for Fornarina fashions. It features an ultra-skinny, almost unrecognizable Lohan stuck inside some kind of '80s commercial hell, uttering monosyllables as geometric shapes fly by and horrid house music plays. It was so bad, we almost thought it was Japanese.Finally, we saw a step forward for wild postings last week. Aside from the odd giant barf bag stapled to a Virgin Atlantic poster, wild postings tend to be a staid medium. It was nice to see New Zealand shake things up, then, with these take-a-stake ads promoting the vampire show True Blood (an HBO program here in the U.S. that's airing on Prime TV down there). The diagram was also a nice touch.BEST OF BRANDFREAKGet ready for the Parkay iPhone appLast week on BrandFreak, we discovered our favorite brand-related iPhone app so far: the Parkay talking-tub app! "We wanted to contemporize and connect with moms through new media," the pitch e-mail explained. "We created an iPhone app of the talking Parkay butter tub that talks back to you. Voice recognition commands the tub to say things like 'Parkaaaay' when you say 'butter'; 'moo' when you say 'Parkay'; you can set a word for it to giggle in response to; etc." A wonderful friend to have in your hour of need, it should be available for download in a few weeks.We saw a particularly nice Snickers "Snacklish" execution in the New York City subway that honors the venerable MTA advertiser Dr. Zizmor as "Doctor Feedzmore." And in semi-controversial news, we looked at the new advertising for the GlaxoSmithKline diet drug Alli starring Wynonna Judd. In the commercial, the country singer looks a lot less svelte than she does on the cover of her new album, leading some to wonder if the album image was manipulated. Judd has said, "I hope that I can inspire people to be better ... that they can see themselves in me and say, 'If she can do it, I can do it.'" But is her record company as committed to showing the real Wynonna?

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Freak Week

Tim Nudd

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Tim Nudd