5 Things You Might Have Missed

Friday! Friday! Friday! It’s finally the end of the week – which means it must be time for our weekly list of five things you might have missed.

1.) Tongue Scraper Scrapes Up Big Bucks: The oddest yet most inspiring startup backing we’ve ever heard of went down this week when Orabrush got a juicy $25 million dollar investment from True Ventures. The company obviously knew that the tongue scraper made by this small Utah company was worth it. Orabrush made a splash last year when its social media and YouTube campaign were rated one of the best by Advertising Age. Orabrush’s Cinderella story tops the list for being proof positive that a good idea when mixed with great viral videos eventually pays off.

2.) When History Meets Today: Every so often, we like to applaud acts of creativity and awesomeness. Photographer Irina Werning’s Back to the Future seemed to fit the bill nicely. Werning’s obsession with old pictures became a full-scale project which uses photos from the past with the same models in the same setup in 2010. It’s a cool idea and one we’re sure Madison Avenue is ripping off at this very moment.

3.) Your iPhone Doodles in Times Square: Prius took ambient advertising to another level this week when the company took over a Times Square billboard and let iPhone holders who happened to be in the right place at the right time draw the background for its massive billboard. It’s more groovy interaction we’ve come to love and expect from Prius.

4.) Condoms with a Soundtrack: Durex condoms created a playlist generator just for lovers on its Last.fm ad. The result? A sexy, silly and smart use of Internet ad space.

5.) Fantasy Baseball Goes Live: Spring is almost here – but Major League Baseball is already swinging big time branding and promotional partnerships. This season, MLB has partnered with CBSSports.com to bring live baseball audio and video to the very pretend Fantasy Baseball product. MLB is hoping for NFL-type growth with Fantasy Baseball and multi-media and social media engagement is a step in the right direction.