...when it's good, it's good. But when it's bad, well...not so great, according to the NYT.

Some examples:

A Chevrolet billboard that used real pennies lasted only 30 minutes as people picked it clean.

In London, Right Guard sent a team of people onto subway trains with tiny video screens in the armpits of their shirts.

Either way, we're still talking about it...so maybe the point is getting across anyway?

The designs for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing have been revealed, called "Fuwa" (below). It's being reported in the WSJ that even the mascots' designer doesn't want to take responsibility if these don't go down in history as iconic Olympic mascots.

Not that the Fuwa have been the only controversial mascots; since its inception at the Munich games in 1972, the Olympic mascot has always been a source of debate (more mascots below after the jump). The article goes on to state how the Fuwa may be the result of "Too Many Chefs" syndrome and a bureaucratic backlog, a challenge in trying to create an iconic image representing 1.3 billion people and their history - the five Fuwa were pared down from over 1,000 sketches submitted by the artist.

Not sure what I think about them...any thoughts?

Continue reading to see some other mascots from past Olympics...

The first Olympic mascot - Waldi (Munich 1972)

Cobi (Barcelona 1992)

Izzy (Atlanta 1996)

Syd, Ollie, and Millie (Sydney 2000)

Athena and Phevos (Athens 2004)

This Thursday (June 26), Visa will be launching a $2m ad campaign focused around a downloadable Facebook application for small businesses to join a Visa-centric network. The network's focus is to provide "tools and tips on attracting new customers, trimming costs and other ways to make more money" for small business owners, and will also allow member companies to contact each other and network further amongst themselves. Additional content and services will be provided by Google (including maps, calendars, word processing, and expense report and business card templates), the Wall Street Journal, and Entrepreneur magazine.

This seems to pose an interesting question on how big box companies can monetize the popularity of Facebook; an effort that has so far been widely unsuccessful. And this is the first application (that I can think of, anyway) that is specifically targeting the small business owners subset of Facebook users - and with a pool of 80,000 small businesses who have Facebook profiles, the potential for reaching a wide audience is quite large.

So I suppose only time will tell how users will accept a Facebook application not solely for "fun" (i.e. one that won't plaster your profile with Bumper Stickers or pester your friends with "Zombie" invitations), and how advertising will eventually manifest onto Facebook.

Source (CNN)

In honor of his trip to Berlin today, Obama's design team has created a campaign poster for the event that hearkens to that famous period in German design. This observation was pointed out in greater detail on the blog Meaningful Distraction.

Take a look at the comparison between Obama's elegant design and the current McCain poster. Yeeeeeeek.

After the news leaked over the weekend, Walmart confirmed that it will roll out a new de-hyphenated logo.

While most companies flog their make-overs, Walmart's overly restrained release seems intended to tamp down any speculation that the company is struggling to find a new sweet spot, as competitors get increasingly efficient and Target's model continues to pick up steam.

Here's the parse.

Walmart: Walmart U.S. Refreshes Stores' Logo

Translation: We're not changing our logo. We're refreshing it.

Walmart: For the past two years, a customer focused transformation has been taking place in Walmart's U.S. business.

Translation: We've pushed the price-as-the-only-differentiator model as far as it can go.

Read more

The Cannes International Advertising Festival has announced its Grand Prix winners, and interactive and viral campaigns have, for the first time, presented as a force to be reckoned with. Japanese retailer Uniqlo and an infectiously viral (and sort of weird) video of a Gorilla playing drums for Cadbury both won Grand Prix awards, among others. Check out the run down on Wired.