Snickers Gets All Confused For Halloween

You're stood on a darkened street on Halloween night. Clouds drift past the moon and noises echo from the shadows. Then, out of the mist, a strange figure lumbers towards you. It gets closer and closer, you are about to run away screaming. That's when you realise it's a comically giant head on tiny legs.

Meet the Horseless Headsman, he's still a freaky over-sized noggin toddling about on skinny legs, but he's hardly horrifying. Indeed, Snickers' new spokes-ghoul can't even scare a gang of young trick-or-treaters, not when he's too top-heavy to walk in a straight line.

The Horseless Headsman just can't pull off scary, not until he's had a Snickers. He can't think straight with a rumbling stomach...if he even has one. Luckily, one of the unimpressed youngsters shares a Snickers bar with him.

He suddenly unmuddles himself, becoming the Headless Horseman, a diabolical pumpkin-toting demon that scares the heck out of the kids and takes off into the night on his spectral steed.

The ad, by BBDO, demands more of a chortle than a blood-curdling scream of terror. But it's a chocolate ad about Halloween. Kids should be left craving sweets, rather than hiding behind the sofa cowering in fear. The ad has garnered over 1,000 views with the night of ghosts and ghouls still weeks away, giving you plenty of time to stock up on Snickers for the trick-or-treaters.

As confused as the horseless headsman is, Snickers could be in even more of a kerfuffle. After all, they launched this ad over a month before Halloween.

Banned Ad Warns "Don't Dew This At Home"

There are some things that shouldn't need a warning, it's obvious how dangerous they are. You don't see teddy bears with warning labels that say "do not attempt to cuddle a real grizzly", but even with plenty of disclaimers, the stunt in this ad has been deemed too dangerous for the UK.

Shot to look like an extreme sports video, this ad for Mountain Dew has been banned by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) because it could inspire copycats.

The ad begins with a snowboarder rattling down the escalator into a New York subway station, just as a train is leaving the platform. The adrenaline junkie catches a rope thrown to him from the train and is towed behind the speeding locomotive, jumping onto the tracks.

There's a few seconds of tricks, jumps and triumphant whooping as sparks fly off the rails, but then it all goes wrong. Punching the air in celebration, the rail-riding daredevil faceplants the gravel, the camera gets smashed and the tagline "don't dew this at home."

These wise words seem to have passed by the extreme sports fans who were supposedly watching the clip, whilst sipping a cool Mountain Dew. Perhaps it was their celebratory dogpile that convinced the censors to pull the plug on the clip.

Although the ad, by BBDO, has been circulating the web since 2009, the ASA have only just received complaints about it. Ruling that he ad could inspire youngsters to attempt similar stunts themselves, the ASA have ruled that the ad can not continue to appear in its current form.

There may not be many people running to copy the stunt, but with copies of the clip garnering nearly 12,000 views online, it doesn't look as though the ASA or Mountain Dew will be able to put the brakes on this runaway clip.

Of course, we strongly advise against mucking around on railway lines, but we do recommend that you watch this ad.

Sports Stars Invite You To Share Fatherly Advice In Gillette Ad

They may be used to hearing cheering crowds chant their names in packed stadiums, but these sportsmen are taking the time to thank the man whose support they value the most. Their dads.

Tennis supremo Roger Federer is joined by sprinter Tyson Gay and swimmer Ryan Lochte in this Gillette campaign that celebrates the unwavering support of their fathers.

Following up on P&G's Best Job, which showcases the hard work put in by the mothers of sporting kids, Here's to Dad features the athletes preparing to compete. As they walk on to the court, track and poolside, they remember the help they got from "the man who made me the man I am today".

The ad encourages viewers to click through to Gillette's Facebook page and share the best advice their dads gave them. Twitter users can also share their favourite words of wisdom using the hashtag  #HeresToDad.

Put together by BBDO New York, the TV ad is set to run internationally and is already enjoying popularity online, garnering over 70,000 views in just over a week. With the celebration of male bonding flooding Twitter and Facebook, the ad has over 1,000 shares to its name.

The ad's feel-good celebration of fatherly advice is as satisfying as a pat on the back from your old man. 

Cars As Controllers, Playing Pong In Ad For Smart Cars

Electric cars are all about saving the planet, which is a very serious business. But who said that you can't have fun with them too?

Smart, famous for city-friendly small cars, is releasing an electric version. The Smart ForTwo Electric Drive just loves to play.

To dispel the myth that electric cars are too slow to be any fun, Smart has let two of their miniature motors out to play.  And not like you'd expect.

Driving in computer games is nothing new, but driving to play a computer game is. At a motor show in Frankfurt, German drivers were invited to put the Smart ForTwo Electric Drive to the test, using it to control a game of Pong.

Drivers tested the vehicle's acceleration and handling by using it to control their paddle in the classic, virtual ping-pong game. 

Orchestrated by BBDO, the stunt has become an online hit, earning nearly 83,000 views in 10 days. The fun combination of cars and computer games has lead to the video being shared nearly 5,000 times. 

We're not sure who came up with this stunt, but it really was 'Smart' idea.

People Meet Healthier Versions Of Themselves In New Bupa Ad

Imagine meeting a healthier version of yourself. How different would they look?

Sure, the hairline will probably be the same, but they probably would be a lot trimmer, have a lot more energy and their skin complexion would not have a reddish hue to it. Not sure about you, but I am hating mine already.

However, Bupa do not share my reservations. In fact, in their latest ad campaign for the Australian branch of the health insurance company, we see smiles and warm embraces all round as healthy and presumably unhealthy greet each other with all the tenderness of a long lost relative.

Clemenger BBDO is the ad agency behind the campaign, which at first looks more like an episode of Oprah or a commercial for Friends Reunited.

However, all soon becomes clear. For me this is a superbly well-executed concept to make the viewer really think about their health. 

On that note, I'm off to eat an apple. My healthier self loves fruit. 

Snickers Ad: There Is An Angry Joe Pesci In All Of Us (Just In Case You Were Wondering Where He Has Been All These Years)

There is a raging Joe Pesci in all of us. Yep, as unsettling as it sounds, deep down inside us all there is an angry, small Italian actor with leathery skin, bad hair and an even worse attitude bursting to get out.

It at least explains where the Goodfellas star has been all these years.

And, according to this new ad from Snickers, he only resurfaces when we are hungry. 

The commercial has been created by BBDO and certainly 'amuuuuzed' us (get it?), but part of me was hoping for a little bit more from the Goodfellas star.

Anyway, nice to see him back. And to celebrate, here is his finest moment.