Toys Do Talking In Kia's First Bowl Spot

For the first time, Kia, which has taken a more humorous approach to advertising than its corporate sibling, Hyundai Motor America (currently heading up-market), is going to run a spot during the Super Bowl -- for the 2010 version of its Sorento SUV.
The ad, reaching for young parents who probably aren't quite ready to give up the raiment of youth for a minivan, has backseat passengers fantasizing about a joy ride in which they have control of the vehicle. Except that in this case the passengers are the little character toys -- stuffed animals, robots and the like -- owned by a child who keeps them in the back seat for company.
Their adventure -- decidedly adult -- starts in a bowling alley, where they make bowling pins explode from the force of their bowling and moves on to jet-skiing, riding a mechanical bull in a bar, sitting in a jacuzzi with a beautiful blond, going to Vegas and dancing with other girls.
The ad is set to a James Brown-like soundtrack by a group called "The Heavy."
The toys that become life-sized in their fantasies are real toys marketed with tours, shows, Web programs, etc. They include a Sock Monkey, which is made by Fox River Mills, Inc.; a Muno from the Yo Gabba Gabba series and tour; Mr. X, Robot and a teddy bear.
Meanwhile, one automaker that isn't new to this arena is promoting its new crossover, the Honda Accord Crosstour. The TV spot, to air in the third quarter, is the fourth to tout the vehicle with creative that centers on animation with angular, slightly retro-looking drawings.
The ad, set to Kool & the Gang's hit "Funky Stuff," features a squirrel trying to fit an assortment of large items. He opts for the Crosstour rather than his tree.
Honda will run the ad in an MSN home-page takeover this weekend and in a Fox Sports home-page roadblock on Sunday. And it will have pole position on YouTube's masthead on Monday, per the automaker's long-time agency of record, Santa Monica, Calif.-based RPA.
Honda is running the ads during network prime, sports and cable programming, including the championship game of the Bowl Championship Series on ABC, Super Bowl XLIV on CBS and the 2010 Winter Olympics on NBC. Print includes the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, Men's Health, Time, Forbes and The Economist.
In-theater begins in February and outdoor will be featured in more than 20 key markets during the spring, per Honda.
The car is also making grassroots appearances at events like Ribfest Chicago 2010, Safeway National Capitol BBQ in Washington, D.C., and the 36th Annual Sun 'n' Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Fla.

Google Maps To Add “Google Store Views”

I received a tip from a New York retailer named Oh Nuts, that Google came to their store to take pictures for a new Google Maps product named “Google Store Views.” I was told that they took pictures of the inside of the store, every 6 feet, in all directions. They also took pictures of products.

Google Store Views will allow people to essentially walk into the store, off of Google Street Views. So imagine you are looking at this store, and then you can click on the door to enter it, all on Google Maps. Then when you enter the store, you can wall through it.

Here are pictures of Google capturing the pictures from within the store:

Google, Too, Will Launch an Online Apps Store

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google is preparing its online apps store, with the hopes of giving its Google Apps business some much need spike as well as to enable Google to strengthen its ties with business partners.  The new online store will  not only push Google’s  suite of business apps, but business software of  its partners as well
The said online apps store if indeed true will either complement Google’s current solutions marketplace or completely replace it. This marketplace currently serves as an online repository of various add-ons, tools and  support for Google Apps users. The new online apps store will strengthen Google’s tie-up with partners in delivering software/application solutions to users.
So, how does Google earn from selling its partners’ products? – By taking a slice off the sales  from customers who will be allowed to directly purchase the software from the online apps store. Google will also share some revenue to software developers. And to make this scheme appealing to consumers, Google is allowing them to quickly access their purchase apps by providing a menu at the top of their screens which will appear within Gmail or Google Docs.
While full details may still be rough at this time, it is clear that Google is not only competing against Microsoft’s Enterprise Solutions business but with other online apps store as well such as Apple and Salesforce AppExchange.

Google's Super Bowl Ad: Hell Freezes Over?

Google (NSDQ: GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt tipped Twitter followers to watch the third quarter of the Super Bowl carefully Sunday for a sign that hell’s frozen over. It seems the search company is making a move that Schmidt insisted it didn’t need and wouldn’t do: brand advertising. John Battelle’s source says the ad being aired is Parisian Love, embedded below. Cute online but will it fly during live football? I’ll be watching the meters for that response.

Colts and Saints Can’t Mess with Texas

The Saints and the Colts may be our super star teams this year, but neither team takes home the title of most searched for on Bing. In fact, the most popular team on Bing didn’t even make it to the Conference Championship game this year. But their hunky quarterback drew enough attention for his actions off the field to make this team super popular on Bing. Oh and they also cut the ribbon on the biggest stadium known to man. If you haven’t guessed already, the Dallas Cowboys racked up the most searches on Bing among NFL teams for the 2009-2010 season. But back to our super star teams.

Despite their 14-2 record and devout fans, the Colts ranked 15^th among most searched NFL teams while New Orleans came in 5^th  with Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and coach Sean Payton all garnering more searches than Peyton Manning, Joseph Addai and coach Jim Caldwell, respectively. Although not the most searched throughout the year, after the Indianapolis win against the Jets, all eyes were on Peyton and his team with searches for the Colts increasing by more than 350 percent whereas searches for the New Orleans Saints increased by slightly less at 257 percent. So who’s going to be most popular come game day? Let us know what you think.

You only have a few days to decide whether you lean toward New Orleans or Indianapolis, so spend some time on Bing and get to know the team with our player instant answers (try Peyton Manning or Drew Brees) and compare the teams with our head-to-head comparison courtesy of MSN and Fox Sports. Just search for ‘Super Bowl XLIV’ or ‘Super Bowl 2010’ for a quick look at everything you want to know about the big game including game time, and stats on the Saints and Colts so you’re well versed come game day.

We’ll be updating our Super Bowl answer to reflect quarterly updates and game status  – see the example below - so be sure to check back regularly. And for real-time commentary from Super Bowl watchers on Twitter, be sure to visit and follow the Super Bowl on Bing/Twitter.

We’re looking forward to kick off!

Super Bowl XLIV advertisers

Here are the brands that have bought ad time in the game for CBS' Sunday broadcast of the Super Bowl, how much time they bought and where it is in the game.

Advertiser	Description	Seconds	Quarter
Bud Light	Man builds a house out of beer cans.	30	1st
Bud Light	Astronomers act wisely as asteroid nears.	30	1st
Bud Light	Guys' voices take on a strange tone.	30	1st
Budweiser	Teamwork helps beer truck.	60	2nd
Bud Light	Castaways make lucky discovery.	45	2nd
Michelob Ultra	Ultra fits life of Lance Armstrong.	30	3rd
Select 55	World's lightest beer: 55 calories.	15	3rd
Anheuser-Busch	Clydesdale's friend.	60	4th
Audi A3 TDI	Audi diesel pleases green police.	60	4th
Boost Mobile	Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle parody.	30	1st
Bridgestone	Guys have an unexpected passenger: a killer whale.	30	1st
Bridgestone	In future world, fast cars, good tires coveted.	30	3rd
CareerBuilder	Consumer-created ad contest winner.	30	2nd
Cars.com	Car-buying makes confident guy nervous.	60	1st half
Coca-Cola	Coke perks up The Simpsons' mogul Mr. Burns after he hits hard times.	60	1st
Coca-Cola	Sleepwalker going through rough terrain gets cold Coke.	60	3rd
Dodge	Charger R/T performance, handling.	NA	NA
Denny's	Free breakfast on customers' birthdays.	15	4th
Denny's	Chickens overworked to supply eggs for free Grand Slam breakfast on Tuesday.	30	3rd
Denny's	Free Grand Slam breakfast day is good time to be American, but a bad time to be a chicken.	30	4th
Diamond Foods	Enjoying Emerald Nuts and Pop Secret popcorn treats.	30	4th
Dockers	Men marching in their underwear while singing I Wear No Pants.	30	2nd
Doritos	First winner of Crash the Super Bowl consumer-created ad contest.	30	1st
Doritos	Second winner of Crash the Super Bowl consumer-created ad contest.	30	1st
Doritos	Third winner of Crash the Super Bowl consumer-created ad contest.	30	1st
Dove Men+Care	A guy's journey from birth to manhood, including moments such as a first kiss, college graduation and marriage.	30	NA
Dr Pepper Cherry	Rock band Kiss and tribute band MiniKiss singing Calling Dr. Love.	30	2nd
Electronic Arts	Set to Ain't No Sunshine song, shows highlights of Dante's Inferno video game.	30	4th
E-Trade	Talking baby tries to explain to jealous girlfriend why he didn't call.	30	3rd
FLO TV	Sports commentator Jim Nantz gives the play-by-play when a guy goes shopping with his girlfriend and misses sports TV.	30	1st half
FLO TV	Famous TV moments are highlighted as remixed version of My Generation plays.	30	2nd
Focus on the Family	Football player Tim Tebow and his mother tell their story in an ad from an evangelical Christian group.	30	1st
GoDaddy.com	Indy-car driver Danica Patrick gets a massage.	30	1st
GoDaddy.com	Newscaster interview with Patrick gets hot.	30	4th
HomeAway	Spoofs Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo's roles in National Lampoon's Vacation	30	3rd
Honda Accord Crosstour	Animated squirrel shows how much can be stored in a Honda Crosstour.	30	4th
Hyundai's Sonata	Sonata is painted and compared with Mozart and Schubert sonatas.	30	1st
Hyundai	Extremely gray-haired NFL quarterback Brett Favre is MVP for the 2020 season, promotes Hyundai's 10-year warranty.	30	2nd
Intel	Engineer in a company lunchroom boasts about new Intel processor and upsets a robot.	30	Floater
KGB	Text answer service KGB offers faster, better answers than a regular search engine.	30	3rd
Kia's Sorento	A sock monkey and other characters have a dreamy, fun-filled joyride.	60	3rd
Mars' Snickers	Octogenarian actors Betty White and Abe Vigoda play in a casual football game.	30	1st
Monster Worldwide	A woodland beaver has exceptional musical talent with a fiddle.	30	1st
Motorola	No details yet, but teaser ads promote the power of "motoblur."	30	3rd
NFL	Lift off to the best fans on the planet.	60	3rd
Papa John's	Founder John Schnatter makes special pizza deliveries during a Pro Bowl game.	30	2nd
Skechers	Stars football great Joe Montana and features consumer testimonials about the Shape-Ups athletic shoe.	15, airs twice	NA
Taco Bell	Charles Barkley rhymes about a "Five Buck Box" that is filled with Taco Bell fare.	30	3rd
Teleflora	Don Rickles is the wisecracking voice of a flower bouquet.	30	2nd
TruTV	Groundhog Day-themed ad has Pittsburgh Steelers' Troy Polamalu turn into Punxsutawney Polamalu.	30	2nd
U.S. Census Bureau	Ed Begley Jr. is a movie director who arranges for 300 million Americans to be in a snapshot of America.	30	3rd
Universal Orlando	Offers a glimpse of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is scheduled to open at the theme park in Florida this spring.	30	1st half
Universal Pictures	Movie promotion.	NA	NA
Viacom's Paramount Pictures	Promotes new Shutter Island movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.	NA	2nd
Vizio	Superstar singer Beyonc makes her debut as Vizio's spokeswoman.	60	4th
Volkswagen	Folks play "Punch Dub," a modern twist on the "Punch Buggy" kids game.	30	3rd
Walt Disney Pictures	Promotes Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, starring Jake Gyllenhaal.	30	3rd
Walt Disney Pictures	Promotes Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp.	30	2nd