At least when marketers take out ads during the Super Bowl, they always know what they're going to get: A game stretching over about four hours and including one long halftime show. But in its best-four-out-of-seven format, baseball's World Series can be more problematic for brand sponsors because they never really know whether they've got two weeks — or just one — to make their impressions.

That's why, while the San Francisco Giants' four-game sweep of the Detroit Tigers was sweet for San Francisco, it proved problematic for at least two advertising efforts tied directly to the World Series — and, seemingly, to the probability that the Series would last for at least five games.

Take Taco Bell. Thanks to a stolen base by Angel Pagan of the Giants during Game 2 of the Series, Taco Bell is planning a US-wide promotion tomorrow with MLB (assuming Hurricane Sandy doesn't blow it off-course) in which anyone in America can swing by for free Doritos Locos Tacos between 2 and 6 p.m. local time.

Pagan kicked off the fulfillment end of the "Steal a Base, Steal a Taco" promotion with his swipe, stating that he "couldn't be happier my stolen base won free tacos for America.'Continue reading...

San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson (whose awesome beard deserves its own agent) is the first professional athlete in history to host a virtual event…not coincidentally the day after baseball season ended.

The Giants may have failed to make the playoffs, but Wilson's just signed onto a new pitching gig, one that harnesses the power of that epic beard. 

Wilson is helping ON24 host its VUE2011 conference at its corporate HQ in San Francisco, drawing attention with a tagline: “fear the beard, not the technology.” It's meant to tout the ease, economy and effectiveness of virtual participation via iPhone and PC rather than physical attendance.

“I’m hosting the VUE because I know what it takes to win, in both sports and business. Just like in baseball, business success requires confidence and communication. You also need the right equipment. Virtual events are the communications platform for high-performance companies. In the VUE, you’ll learn all about how to easily take your events—and your content—virtually anywhere,” said Wilson in a release.Continue reading...

Add Vogue editor Anna Wintour to the list of celebrities supporting the Human Rights Campaign's "New Yorkers for Marriage Equality" initiative to allow same-sex marriage in New York state. Others throwing their support (and personal brands) behind the HRC effort include Sean Avery, Barbara Bush, Larry King, Julianne Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, and others you can watch here.

As for the other pro-LGBT "cause celeb," the San Francisco Giants this week, following a fan's lobbying, committed to become the first professional sports team to tape a PSA for the "It Gets Better Campaign" anti-gay bullying campaign.

Who is Keenan Cahill, and what is he doing with San Francisco Giants Cody Ross and Brian Wilson?

If you're not familiar with the Brian Wilson's beard campaign (maybe it wasn’t “epic” enough for you?), he has teamed up with YouTube video sensation Keenan Cahill and teammate Ross in a video performance of the song Dynamite by Taio Cruz that's trending on YouTube.Continue reading...

Levi's annual Fourth of July campaign, Go Forth, this year focused on the theme of work and on the residents of the recession-battered community of Braddock, PA. Check out its latest campaign above and after the jump, including a spot for Levi's Workshops, inviting the public to "roll up your sleeves, get your hands dirty, and get down to work" at workshops located across the U.S. An ongoing component of the campaign: Levi's Pioneer Sessions, featuring a cross-section of contemporary performers' odes to the musical pioneers who influenced them. Continue reading...