LinkedIn Industry Trends | Ritzholtz | Full Story

• Two sides of an argument/book review about the value of unpaid internships in the modern workforce
• Compelling infographics on voice recognition applications, inspired by the launch of the iPhone 4S
• Scott Adams (Dilbert) on creativity, and the stifling thereof
• A press release for an academic article on learning while sleeping
• We’ve posted several entries about publishers moving content online, but here are some folks who are moving in the opposite direction
• On confidence
• The End of the Future
• “Creative Class” around the globe
• There is no evidence supporting auditory and visual learning…(some psychologists say…)
• The back story on Lorem Ipsum
• Tumblr on the up and up

Check out this beautiful little video from Chipotle, illustrating their position in support of sustainable farming. With Willie Nelson covering Coldplay’s “Scientist,” this animated short by Johnny Kelly shows us one farmer’s rapid expansion, crisis of conscience, and return to simpler times. Though it’s already spreading like wildfire on the web, Chipotle plans on showing it in movie theaters this fall. Enjoy.

I’m  a sucker for one-take TV spots. In a time when anything – any I mean anything – is possible with CGI, spots like this are refreshing. Careful choreography, plenty of rehearsal, and a sweet Status Quo track make it all worthwhile. Enjoy the summer while it lasts.

Beautiful video about the barrage of commercial messages we contend with every day. In the words of the video’s creators…

Award-winning Typo-Animation that gives you a clear impression of the enormous amount of visual stimuli that plague us every day. Due to the immense scale of the visual bombardment, the commercial effectiveness has become utterly dubious.

What I love about this video is that it doesn’t demonize or condemn advertising and branding – it simply questions its effectiveness. All of this visual “chatter” ensures that the viewer is unable to engage in a “conversation” with any one brand.

Giggles ensued as each woman talked about her “ideal” man. All this before Mustafa and Iain Tait teamed up to do a perfect storm of viral marketing. The 48-hour weekend campaign featured the sultry-voiced, smooth-muscled Mustafa’s filmed responses to a slew of people who posted comments or questions to the Old Spice spokesman online (notable responses are to celebrities Ellen DeGeneres, Rose McGowan, and political correspondent George Stephanopoulous). Clearly, Wieden+Kennedy hit a home run with their extended campaign, pulling off the social media marketing event of the year. The original commercial was nominated for a Grand Prix award and the latest installment of YouTube videos should stick with the internet community for a long time and in many manifestations.

More importantly, Wieden+Kennedy may have found the secret to actually selling body wash to men through catering to the eyes and ears of women. For most dudes, body wash is not an inherently cool thing to purchase nor is it top of mind in the store. Guys are known to lather up with any bar, chunk, or semblance of soap hanging out in the shower, leaving appalled women everywhere to search for, long for, and even lust after a character like the Old Spice man played to perfection by the brawny Mustafa. While AXE commercials use bathroom humor and Playboy-style sex appeal to reach their target demographic, the sleepy Old Spice of your grandfather’s generation has wised up and reached out to the holder of the purse strings, the man, man’s woman. Only time will tell the result of Old Spice’s hot new man’s impact on overall sales, currently Red Zone body wash sales have dipped. But hey, it can take awhile to wake a septuagenarian up.

I know its been a few weeks since I’ve posted any commercials, but just in time for you last minute shoppers out there, why not consider a VCR? They’re now much easier to program! Apparently all you need to do is find a pay phone.

Everything old is new again.