Every year young girls lug boxes of biscuits around suburban neighbourhoods, knocking on doors and smiling sweetly as they try to raise some much-needed money by feeding what could be seen as a longterm national addiction. This year Assignment enlisted the help of Yukfoo for the fundraising campaign and, with the voice talent of three Guides and netball star Maria Tuta’ia, as well as a dose of Yukfoo’s typically impressive animation, it’s hoping the charm offensive will help boost the number of Griffin’s biccies being dunked around the country (if you want to avoid the grey sludge at the bottom of your cup, you’ll be pleased to know that mechanical engineers in the UK have devised a mathematical formula to ensure the perfect technique).

Hats off to some great gets in tellyland recently. John Campbell kicked it off on Thursday 1 March with a brilliant interview with Kim Dotcom. The interview garnered world wide attention, and was picked up by international networks Rtl Germany, NBC America, and Reuters. Then on Sunday both David Tamihere and David Bain broke their silence for the first time in a night of must-see TV. Both did time… but did they do the crime?

Online revenue figures show no signs of abating at the moment, and one of the newer players in the local ad network scene, PostClick, is aiming to get a bigger slice of the pie by launching a new multi-unit online video product called Play, which national sales manager Ben Osborne says simplifies the fragmented online video industry and makes it easy for agencies to buy pre-roll ad space. 

‘Just do it’, ‘The best a man can get’, ‘Show us your crack’ … They’re all slogans that have in some way captured our attention, seared themselves into our consciousness and given us a powerful catchphrase to remember a brand by. And this year marks the 40th anniversary of another successful catchphrase, L’Oréal’s ‘Because I’m Worth it’, which was thought up by a 23-year-old copywriter in New York in 1971 “when a new spirit of feminism was in full swing”. We’ve got a hamper containing an assortment of L’Oréal Paris skincare for both men and women, hair care products and cosmetics worth more than $420 to give away to one lucky StopPresser, so add your favourite slogan of all time to the comment wall and the best effort gets the goods. 

Know someone in your office with Hobbit feet, someone who’s a bit pasty after the cloudiest summer on record, or some hot babe and/or hunk who simply deserves a little extra pampering? Well, nominate your Flossie of the Week by emailing [email protected] or putting a comment on the comment wall telling us why they (or, if you’re greedy, you) deserve it and we’ll give a lucky someone a $100 Flossie voucher and a bottle of French Champagne every week. Entries close Friday morning. 

“Ideas worth spreading” is the TED mantra, and, after searching the globe for ads it deemed worthy of spreading, the judges have chosen a L’Oréal Paris spot featuring disabled American athlete, actress, and fashion model Aimee Mullins as the most spreadable. 

Dwarves the world over are dusting off their greens as St Patrick’s Day fast approaches. March 17 sees many things turn a touch green, and most people find enough Irish in them to justify celebrating with 13 million pints or so of Guinness. This year Jameson Irish Whiskey is adding to the party atmosphere by releasing a limited edition bottle of its finest. Designed by Paul Daly, we have one to give away, which you could win by impressing us with your finest hyperbole about the whiskey’s bouquet, nose, body and fruity yet subtle notes.

NZ Book Month is back with the same plan it’s had for the last seven years: to promote books, reading and literacy amongst all Kiwis, young and old. To do this the organisers are repeating last year’s Books Change Lives campaign, and distributing more than four million $5 vouchers, aimed at putting a book in the hands of every single New Zealander. This simple idea got extraordinary results last year, when New Zealand was the only country in the developed world where book sales rose rather than fell.

Creative types in adland who drink too much V will be overjoyed to learn that registrations are now open for the tenth V48HOURS Furious Filmmaking competition. And, in what could be seen as rather serendipitous timing, the event’s founder and self-confessed filmhead Ant Timpson was this week chosen as the Creative Entrepreneur of 2012 by the Arts Regional Trust.

As the magazine sector’s revenue from sales keeps shrinking, publishers are increasingly looking to make up the shortfall by moving their brands into meat-space (and greasing up the paymasters with creative advertising solutions). And, following on from ACP’s successful 30 Days of Fashion and Beauty last year, it has just launched the next iteration of the scheme with 30 Days of Health and Wellbeing, “a cross-platform editorial and advertising initiative designed to promote health awareness and physical and emotional wellbeing”.

Visit Ruapehu launched its first-ever TVC campaign last weekend. It’s aiming to drive interest in the region’s two new cycle trails, which form part of the Government’s national cycleway network, Prime Minister John Key’s baby from the 2009 Job Summit.

A galaxy of marcomms stars—as well as a few comets and plenty of space dust—graced the Langham last Friday night to see DraftFCB clean up at the RSVP Awards and, ah, no-one clean up at Nexus. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures of people hugging their colleagues, posing awkwardly on stage as they get photographed and shaking Oliver Driver’s hand. 

Six of the best Kiwi marcomms brains have been chosen to choose the world’s best campaigns at the 2012 Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, with SparkPHD’s chief executive Louise Bond on the Media jury, M&C Saatchi’s executive creative director Dave King on the Direct jury, Y&R executive creative director Josh Moore on the Cyber jury, DraftFCB’s creative director Tony Clewett on the Radio jury, Mango Communications’ managing director Claudia Macdonald on the PR jury and Colenso BBDO’s creative chairman Nick Worthington the jury president of the Promo & Activation jury.  

The Super Bowl may be the most expensive and viewed commercial break, but these ads from Hyundai and filmmaker Wes Anderson, that aired during the Academy Awards ceremony, are in another class altogether. Cleverly targeting film buffs, the ads spoof popular movies and Knight Rider, as well as Anderson’s own inimitable style. The director brings his quirky aesthetic, seen in films such as The Royal Tenenbaums and Fantastic Mr. Fox, to both commercials along with his whimsical style and retro set design. 

January was largely dominated by car ads with Jeep, Kia, Toyota, Volkswagen, Peugeot, Mazda, Holden, Nissan, Skoda and Ford all sharing screen time. There were the inevitable ‘Back to school’, Waitangi Day, and Valentine’s Day offerings.. no real surprises there… although artist Dick Frizzell popping up as an ambassador for the 2012 New Zealand Olympic Team, now that’s a surprise. 

Working Style is experiencing a lot of success with its savvy new advertising campaign ‘They’re Wearing Our Gear Here’. Its latest print ad came third in the January/February round of prestigious Glossies, beating some of the country’s top agencies. You would expect a campaign like this to come from a top creative advertising, but Working Style is bucking the trend with this one. Warning: the following material could make agencies very, very afraid.