With all the Olympic-themed ads that have been running during the London Summer Games, some might see the "Apple Genius" ads that debuted the first weekend of the games as a breath of fresh air. They featured a youthful employee who's been let loose from an Apple store's genius bar — still wearing his blue t-shirt and, whether it be on a plane, above, a street corner, or an apartment building, heroically ready to solve consumers' computer problems in the name of touting the brand's Mac line.

More often than not (under the watchful eye of an intensely involved Steve Jobs), Apple ads have always been considered a cut above the ordinary if not positively in a league of their own. Apple has always found a way to advertise a product with a good dose of humanity and a touch of humor. Witness the lauded "I'm a Mac" series from several years ago that brilliantly personified the differences between a Mac and a PC, and the current Siri campaign for the iPhone that feature celebrities including Zooey Deschanel, Samuel L. Jackson, John Malkovich and Martin Scorsese having intensely personal conversations with their iPhones.Continue reading...

Apple's latest TV commercial pairing iPhone's Siri with a celeb stars John Malkovich, above. He's the third celeb to test Siri's voice recognition chops (and sense of humor) following Zooey Deschanel and Samuel L. Jackson. Malkovich is the first celeb, however, to get two spots: "Joke," above, and "Life," below. On a more serious note, the security of Siri's voice data is also raising concerns in some quarters.Continue reading...

Pantene today announced its newest celebrity hair model: Zooey Deschanel, who talks about her new campaign (which references her Fox TV series, New Girl) for the P&G-owned brand below.Continue reading...

Apple's all-knowing Siri declines to verbally mangle "Zooey" (it's pronounced "Zoe") in a co-branded (above, for AT&T) new campaign for the iPhone 4S personal assistant, who Ms. Deschanel calls on to cater to her quirky whims. The commercial follows the actress/singer's previous "Fabric of our lives" promo for cotton, and her makeup campaigns for Rimmel London.

AT&T's celeb spot is launching head-to-head with another quirky brunette's mobile pitch: the new campaign for T-Mobile featuring Canadian model Carly Foulkes, who ditches her good girl in pink guise for a Ducati-driving "No More Mr. Nice Girl" black leather-clad babe in its new campaign — check it out below — while Siri also lends a hand to another celeb in a second new spot, featuring actor Samuel L. Jackson.Continue reading...

The Single Life, a humorous web series about online dating, debuted last year with sponsorship by Dentyne. Apparently it was a success, as it's attracted the interest of “New Girl” and It Girl, actress and singer Zooey Deschanel, and her BFF’s Sophia Rossi, a producer, and Molly McAleer, a writer, to sign on as creative consultants.

The trio are co-founders of HelloGiggles.com, founded last year to be “the ultimate entertainment destination for smart, independent and creative females. Everything hosted on the site will be lady-friendly, so visitors need not worry about finding the standard Boys Club content that makes many entertainment sites unappealing to so many of us.” As gag-inducing as the phrase "lady-friendly" might be, think of it as code for "branded entertainment" for women in the 18-34 demographic.

As a result of the deal, The Single Life will be based at HelloGiggle and syndicated to Digital Broadcasting Group’s video ad network of 2,600 websites targeted toward the 18-34 demo. "As we head into season 2, we wanted to reinvigorate the show and give it some new life and we felt that getting the HelloGiggles staff's input into the actual program would give the webisodic series a new zip or vigor," said DBG Chief Creative Officer Joseph Gomes to the Hollywood Reporter, adding that Deschanel and company will be "creative voices to the program."Continue reading...

While Burger King is hanging out with Clive Owen, its rival burgermeister, McDonald's, is being egged by the likes of Ryan Gosling over its poultry practices.

The back story: When McDonald’s was informed that one of its egg suppliers was treating its chickens horrendously by shoving them into increasingly crowded spots to live upon the remains of now deceased chickens as well as cutting off their beaks so they couldn’t peck one another, the company immediately got out of the contract.

But protestors and activists want the fast-food giant to do a lot more than that. Celebrities including Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone, and Steve-O (of Jackass fame) have signed a letter to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner that asks Mickey D’s to release the birds from their impossibly small cages, according to ABC News.Continue reading...

Fox's new comedy New Girl is finding praise as "smart" in a sitcom field where those words are rarely used.

One thing New Girl appears to be light on, for now anyway, is product placement. But look a little more closely and there is a whole microcosm of selling going on, "smart" selling.Continue reading...

TD Bank acquires Chrysler Financial for $6.3 billion.

News Corp.'s bid for BSkyB cleared by EU.

Apple plans exposed by insider trading suit.

Bank of America and other Wall Street firms face increased scrutiny on executive pay.

Betty White voted entertainer of the year by AP.

Brett Favre retirement leaves muddles NFL legacy.

CBS is looking to renegotiate Katie Couric's contract.Continue reading...