Because We Need More Camus in the Guns-a-Blazin' Genre.

Stella Artois reimagines Hollywood action flicks -- à la nouvelle vague:



"8 Kilomètres"






"Dial Hard"






"Vingt-Quatre Heures"






Effort's called Smooth Originals, premise follows thus:

Remember the days when men were strong and silent, women were chic and sophistiqué, and the action was as smooth as our 4% triple filtered beer? Formidable!

Godard, I'm sure, would blush prettily at the acknowledgment. Or at least Brigitte Bardot would.

Arm Yourself!

...with a slouchy handbag, you conviction-laden shopper, you.

The Constructivist style is one of my favourite marketing motifs. (I especially love what Stolichnaya has done with it.) It's bold, rooted in primary colours; it sought to be useful, the antithesis of gratuitous art.

But when you see the style, you know it instantly. It's as iconic as Cappiello's signature or Apple's product designs -- a fixture in our aesthetic history.

Whopper Freakout.

I realize how late I am to the ballpark, but I wanted it on record somewhere in the universe that I think Burger King's Whopper Freakout was clever and brave and just generally neato.

What, you mean you didn't know? Silly you. Get this:

• For 24 hours, BK told customers the Whopper was discontinued.
• For another 24 hours, BK slipped equivalent burgers from McD's or Wendy's into people's bags when they ordered Whoppers.

Both instances caused outrage, dramatic angst, and multiple instances of my favourite red-faced phrase, "I'd like to speak to your manager, please."

The "manager" is the King in full regalia, creepy plastic head and all. He comforts the moody, the hurt and the generally freaked-out with a Whopper on a tray.

And BK is validated -- on camera and all.

Read Robert Gorell's reasons why this is among the best TV and web campaigns EVAR (emphasis added by me).

At Least 20 Reasons to Go Into Advertising

Can you spot them all?

A self-referential tribute to the great production work Stardust has done for brands big and small in 2007. See it in infinitely better quality on Stardust.tv.