The bar for long-form advertising on YouTube has been raised by the ambitious projects several major brands over the last few years. Guinness, Chipotle, Johnnie Walker and Chanel No 5 have all commissioned the development of creative projects that seemingly conflate the disparate worlds of advertising and entertainment. And recently, when Honda released a series of teasers for its upcoming campaign, it seemed as though the online community would be treated to another online advert posing as a short story. But, what we got was something quite different.

Consumer New Zealand is calling for door-to-door salesman to be locked out in a new campaign released earlier this week. The consumer watchdog’s chief executive Sue Chetwin says the organisation often gets complaints about the “hard-sell and exploitative sales tactics” the doorknockers use. To counter against this problem, the organisation is distributing free “Do not knock” stickers to protect consumers from unwanted intrusion.

There will be plenty from the marketing community gearing up for the Melbourne Cup today and, with a couple of Kiwi options, the TAB is aiming to get the locals to lay down a few more bets this year. But founder and chief executive of NZ Tax Refunds NZ Cilla Hegarty has managed to combine marketing and horses in a very different manner: racing a branded thoroughbred/”fast-moving advertising billboard” called Gottagetmywoohoo.

Every year, multiple sclerosis awareness week sees hundreds of bucket-shakers hitting the streets to raise funds for those who suffer from this debilitating disease. But this year, MS Auckland wanted to raise more money and more awareness than ever before. So indie agency Hunch came up with a way of illustrating the disease’s effects—and raising some cash—by shacking up with Hell Pizza and sending out a few deliveries to unsuspecting recipients.

Some believe there’s no bigger sucker than a marketer who thinks they’re missing out on a trend. And Toronto agency John St has managed to illustrate that by gently skewering its own industry and the lemming-like traits of those who inhabit it with a series of very funny clips about catvertising, making things go viral and exFEARiential marketing. And its latest effort, Reactvertising, continues that trend. John St creative Jacob Greer answers a few queries about the success of its comical self-promotional strategy.

As we wrote last week, there are a few Kiwi brands experimenting with the captivating loops of Vine. And, to announce the arrival of its new online boutique, Lacoste asked social media savant Zach King, who gained fame through the digital trickery displayed in his online videos, to help out.

Despite announcing record profits at last week’s AGM, Sky does not appear content to rest on its laurels. The broadcaster recently unveiled Neon, its subscription video on demand (SVOD) offering, and from today it will be screening a new channel called The Zone. Designed to fill the sci-fi void in Sky’s programming, the new channel will screen horror, fantasy, science-fiction, cult and superhero shows via Sky and SkyGo.

Once again, a number of facial follicles are being left to run rampant this month to raise funds for men’s health as part of Movember celebrations. And this year, in an effort to drive sign-ups among ‘mo bros’ and ‘mo sistas’, BBDO Toronto created a moustachioued male stereotype called Bruce to show that, despite the often hideous appearance of those who take part, they really are heroes.

A theme park in Sweden has created the most terrifying outdoor poster of all time, just in time for Halloween.

Given they create butter, ice cream and steak, cows are quite possibly the most delicious of all the beasts. But they’re bad for the environment, and some believe they’re bad for our bodies. So Oatly’s chief executive Toni Petersson decided to embrace the power of music in advertising with a unique performance about oat milk.

Facebook has said it needs to sell 50-100 million Oculus Rift headsets to make it meaningful. But Dos Equis is getting in early and offering fans a dose of virtual reality.

This Sunday the All Blacks will take on the United States in a widely hyped exhibition match in Chicago. While the United States certainly can’t be described as a rugby playing nation, all 61,500 seats at the Soldier Field have been sold out. Such is the star power of the All Blacks that they are capable of filling a stadium in a country where rugby ranks below badminton, ten-pin bowling and pro wrestling in terms of popularity. And given the seeming supernatural ability of those who don the increasingly tight black shirts to make people interested in things that they don’t necessarily care about, it comes as little surprise that Kiwi brands have shown such a willingness to attach their labels to rugby players. StopPress looks at how rugby players are helping brands get noticed.