There's a bunch of genetic meddling going on in the new video game Resident Evil Revelations. It may stand to reason, then, that marketer Capcom would stage a wholly unnatural promotion for its release. The company has created "the world's only blood-filled swimming pool"—good gawd, let's hope it's the only one—and tossed in some realistic-looking entrails and body parts. Then what, you ask? For two days later this month, it will invite people to take a dip in the London pool and search for swag! While bobbing for licensed merchandise in viscous liquid might not be everyone's idea of a good time, Capcom has reason to believe that fans of its horror-adventure franchise will be up to the task. For the last installment, Resident Evil 6, the game developer opened a fake butchery selling human body parts in London's famous Smithfields meat market. For the upcoming stunt, 200 people will have the chance to slog through intestines, brains and torsos under the watchful eyes of zombie lifeguards in a 55,000-gallon pool. (That's the equivalent of 11,327 blood-drained people, for those keeping track.) Goggles and towels will be available for loan, but no word on barf bags.

Social media allows consumers to talk to brands, and brands to yell back loudly at consumers with massive meltdowns that will forever be preserved thanks to the glory of the print-screen button. Amy's Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro, a horrible restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., has just demonstrated a valuable lesson for every brand out there: Don't feed the trolls. Really, don't engage. Panties all in a bunch over the fact that Gordon Ramsay gave up on them, the owners took to Facebook to defend themselves. Yes, Ramsay declared that for the first time in the history of Kitchen Nightmares, he had met two owners he simply couldn't help. So, Amy and Sammy decided set the record straight by swearing, threatening to pursue legal action against Yelp and Reddit, claiming god is on their side, and generally freaking out in all caps—drawing more and more Internet ire with every expletive-filled rant. It's a glorious day for crazy on display. Click through to BuzzFeed for more exquisite details on what not to do.

Hyundai is getting a lot of coverage for putting Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" in an ad for its Assurance Connected Care in-car customer-service program, largely because the late reggae icon's music is so infrequently licensed for ads. The automaker is also sponsoring a remixed version (done by Bob's son Stephen Marley and DJ/producer Jason Bentley) of Marley's Legend album, which features the song, and a three-minute documentary about the remix project. Despite all the fuss, what strikes me most about the spot, from ad agency Innocean, is how bland it is. It's not bad per se, but the music takes a back seat, as it were, to an informative but uninspired voiceover ("What if your car could help schedule its own service? Call for help with your exact location if you ever ran into trouble out there?") and sight gags involving signs that read "No worries" and "It's all good." The only special element is the song, and it's basically background music, like a tune playing on the car's radio. Any upbeat track would have been equally effective. This is Bob Friggin' Marley! Lively up yourself! Why not seed something more, you know, high concept?

Intemperance comes in many flavors, and SLO Down Wines has pairings for all of them. The California winemaker has rolled out three irreverent ads (from Harvest Films director Baker Smith and Arcade Edit's Paul Martinez and Dean Miyahira) about how well its Sexual Chocolate wine goes with group sex, horse role playing and bong rips, respectively. There's some light parody of insufferable wine-chat ("It's the deep red of a … really red thing"), but they don't spend too much time dwelling on it, and I'm glad they committed to the weird direction these ads went in. Well, except for the part where I saw Brandon Allen in a thong. I may need a glass of wine to throw in my eyes after that. Credits below.

CREDITS
Client: SLO Down Wines
Campaign: Goes Great With 

Spots: "Threesomes," "Equestrianism," "Horticulture"

Production Company: Harvest Films
Director: Baker Smith
Executive Producer: Bonnie Goldfarb
Head of Production: Niko Whelan
Producer: Leslie Owen 

Editorial Company: Arcade Edit
Editors: Paul Martinez and Dean Miyahira
Managing Partner/EP: Damian Stevens
Executive Producer: Nicole Visram

Online: Airship Post 

Music: Critical Mass
Composer: H. Scott Salinas
Sound Design/Mix: Tobias Enhus

It's fairly well established that Abercrombie & Fitch doesn't want the wrong sort of people wearing its clothes. A couple of years back, it even offered (as part of a goofy PR stunt) to pay Jersey Shore star Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino to stop buying its apparel, saying his implicit endorsement "could cause significant damage to our image." Now, the clothier is getting heat for its supposedly exclusionary marketing policies once again—this time based on a 7-year-old quote from CEO Mike Jeffries. In the quote—dredged up in the wake of similar criticisms levied at A&F in a new book—Jeffries says, "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids." That incensed a guy named Greg Karber, who decided to try to piss Jeffries off by giving A&F clothes to the most uncool kids he could find—homeless people. Despite Karber's best intentions, his video of the stunt comes off as forced and, in a way, exploitative itself, as he's simply using the homeless as a tool to trash the brand. (The charity aspect is clearly incidental.) But the video, posted Monday, is quickly closing in on a million views, proving yet again that hating on Abercrombie is a pastime most people can get behind.

What could be better than an Auto-Tune leprechaun singing about his magically delicious cereal? Nothing! This 15-second Lucky Charms ad, which mixes current commercial footage, vintage images and goofy-great vocal manipulation, will air during high-profile TV shows this week like the Billboard Music Awards and the season finales of American Idol and The Voice. Its inspiration came from major doses of hallucinogenic drugs and/or a St. Patrick's Day promotion for the General Mills brand that included a mashup music video that went viral with nearly 1 million views. There were many hot-shot creative hands on deck here (see the credits below), but all you really need to know is that the result is super groovy. Watch the full video for a trippy walk down memory lane.

CREDITS
—Ad
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi
Production: Pat-Man Studios
Composer: Jeff Elmassian
—Video
YouTube's Machinima channel and Melodysheep, mashup maker

How often would your Facebook activity get you beaten, tortured or beheaded in the world's most repressive countries? A lot more often than you'd think. Amnesty International of New Zealand and agency Colenso BBDO of Auckland created an app called "Trial by Timeline" that analyzes your Facebook posts and lets you know how you might be brutalized in countries that persecute people based on everything from sexual orientation and religion to drinking and writing for the media. (I was beaten and tortured more than 270 times, but at least I wasn't beheaded or stoned to death.) It's a morbidly fascinating way to explore the liberties most of us take for granted. The app actually came out late last year but didn't get much attention until it was featured recently by The Inspiration Room and a few other sites.

Michael Ian Black is not the most interesting man in the world, but he might be the most interesting beer endorser. Last Friday, the comedian, who has 2 million Twitter followers, posted a tweet to a Dos Equis app—which seemed somewhat out of character for him. And indeed, when called on it, he freely admitted that he's been paid for the tweet. Black took a fair amount of heat for being a shill, but responded to the haters frankly, and often humorously. He also got support from some fans, including model Chrissy Tiegen. The best part? He got his revenge on the haters in the best way possible—for Dos Equis, at least. "Because the blowback on it has been so unexpectedly harsh, I'm going to tweet it again for free," he wrote, and then did just that. See below for some highlights from the saga. Via Business Insider.

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 10, 2013

@planetoffinks No, they wrote it and paid me thousands of dollars to run it.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@planetoffinks I dunno. I just like money.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@planetoffinks Hopefully the salaries they didn't get went towards paying me.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

Enjoy your Dos Equis, my friend. RT @interpolantics1: @michaelianblack @dosequis wish you had died on 9/11, fucking douche.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis It's a terrific beer drink from Canada!

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis I literally have NO idea.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@chrissyteigen No shit. I'm certainly happy to do it. BTW, is there anything you need promoted?

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

Yes @dosequis payed me to tweet. But because the blowback on it has been so unexpectedly harsh, I'm going to tweet it again for free.

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6

— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

The only really surprisingly thing about Dollar Shave Club CEO Michael Dubin's appearance in an American Express ad is that it didn't happen sooner. It's been more than a year since Dubin charmed impecunious razor purchasers everywhere with his amusing starring role in his company's debut ad. He's a born pitchman—for whoever he'd like to endorse. The AmEx spot frankly is a little bland, but it proves that while the man may know his dollars, he has trouble with his cents. Via Co.Create.

Just a few weeks after making the most awkward transmission-repair ad ever, Rhett & Link are back with another goofy local commercial—this one for the Ryan Lee Chiropractic Center in Los Angeles. It stars the eponymous practitioner, who twists, turns and otherwise contorts the bodies of his patients until their skeletons emit rather sickening crunching sounds. It only gets worse as the ad goes on. The tagline is "Gentle. Comfortable. Professional"—although if that's true, it's not totally clear what's going on at 0:41.

Looking forward to the series finale of The Office tonight? Here's something else to look forward to. The real Dunder Mifflin ad below—for the defictionalized paper brand whose products you can actually buy at Quill.com—will air in five Dunder Mifflin "branch" markets (Scranton, Pa., Akron, Ohio, and Utica, Albany and Syracuse, N.Y.) as well as Chicago (the home market of Lincolnshire-based Quill) during tonight's telecast. Just as the NBC show winds down, Dunder Mifflin paper is ramping up its advertising. (It's already among the best-selling brands in the office-supply category.) Its slogan, "Limitless paper in a paperless world," is what drives this spot, which is all about a guy who can turn anything he touches into Dunder Mifflin paper. Of course, he immediately uses his power to prank his co-workers the same way Jim pranks Dwight. The Midas touch is a well-worn theme in advertising, and they're not really challenging any conventions. But let's face it. This is as good as paper advertising gets.

Microsoft takes a break from perfecting its blue screen of death to ape Google's ad style—abundant white space, bouncing Chrome ball, Beethoven's Fifth on the soundtrack—in this anti-Google video that was reportedly intended for internal use but was conveniently leaked to the universe just in time for Google's big I/O developers conference. Tagged with the same "Don't get Scroogled" line that Microsoft uses whenever it needles the only digital company more reviled than itself, the spot warns, "With Google Chrome, everything everywhere is tracked. To target you with ads. To monetize your personal info. … Google watches everything you do and uses it to make a profit off of you. Chrome has you commercialized." Cool. Google can trash my privacy and pick my pocket as long as there's some value added. ("Commercialized" is a good thing, right? I can always Google it and find out. See—value added!) What's Microsoft done for anyone lately? Since they took away the Windows start button, I just stare at a blank PC screen and write all my stories on a Mac. Though Google did give the world Glassholes, so I guess they're just as bad.

The original Google Chrome spot:

Stand-up comedian, actor, songwriter and noted YouTube personality Toby "Tobuscus" Turner made this fourth-wall-shattering musical ad for Hot Pockets in which he is bullied by an unseen voiceover into singing about the new Cuban Style and Spicy Beef Nacho flavors. God help us all, Spicy Beef Nacho? I can already hear my toilet crying. Anyway, the concept might not thrill you, but the execution is top notch, mostly due to Turner's facial expressions. Now I want to see him in some sort of comedy duel with Jim Gaffigan, who once compared Hot Pockets to filling a Pop Tart with nasty meat. Making this ad is like slapping Gaffigan in the face with a dueling glove.

David Beckham is retiring from professional soccer, but he'll never stop making commercials. One of the world's most prolific pitchmen, the former England captain has sold everything to underwear and soda to hamburgers and, yes, athletic gear—building, with posh wife Victoria, the Beckham brand into a global juggernaut. (David alone is believed to make more than $40 million a year in endorsement money.) At the link below, check out the 10 most-viral commercials Becks has ever done, as compiled by Unruly Media. And like Michael Jordan before him, expect to see plenty more Beckham ads for years to come.

Video Gallery: David Beckham's 10 Most-Viral Commercials

There are now even more "Dumb Ways to Die"—and smart ways to live—as McCann Australia has made a video game out of its beloved, superviral train-safety ad from last year. "Starring all the characters from the viral hit Dumb Ways to Die for Metro Trains Melbourne, the game allows players to flick piranhas away from a character's private parts and defend another from a snake attack among other ways to avoid being dumb," the agency says. "Players can also pledge to 'not do dumb stuff around trains' at the click of a button." The game, developed by McCann in collaboration with local developer Barrel Of Donkeys, has been the No. 1 free app in Australia for a week, and is charting in 79 other countries. John Mescall, executive creative director of McCann Australia, said: "With the main Dumb Ways to Die video now close to 46 million views, we wanted to give young people another platform on which to enjoy the characters and, more importantly, to continue to remind them that being dumb around trains can and should be avoided."

What a week it's been. As Friday draws to a close, I see your defecating man in the exercise video and your threesome-inducing Sexual Chocolate wine, and I raise you one talking butt crack in this British advert for something called Polycell. It's some sort of spray product that promises "No more unsightly cracks" in your walls. Unfortunately, there's one major unsightly crack in the commercial. And it talks. David Ogilvy would be proud. Agency: 18 Feet & Rising. Full list of perpetrators below.

CREDITS
Client: Polycell
Agency: 18 Feet & Rising
Creative Director: Stephen de Wolf
Creatives: Alex Delaney & Oli O'Neill
Agency Producer: Emily Hodgson Julia Methold
Account Director: Adrienne Little
Strategic Business Lead Rob Ward
Director: Simon Willows
Production Company: Blink
Production Company Producer: Tiernan Hanby
Executive Production Company Producer: James Bretton
Editor: Mark Aarons
Post Production Company: The Electric Theatre Company
Post Production Company Producer: Helen Sutermeister
VFX Supervisor: Andrew Stewart
Colourist: Steffan Perry @ Framestore
Sound Engineer: Tony @ Wave Studios

The best performance by a cat in a TV commercial this week goes to the fluffy mess in this new British spot for eyewear maker Specsavers. Not that the veterinarian here would know—he's not clear on what a cat is anymore. Specsavers, of course, has a long and proud history of offbeat commercials. The best mistaken-animal-identity spot, though, remains the brilliant raccoon commercial from Sears Optical.

To hype its inaugural Comedy Week, which begins Sunday night at 8 p.m. ET, YouTube turned to an ad agency known for generating its share of laughs: Goodby, Silverstein & Partners. The San Francisco shop—which has done comical spots for Budweiser, "Got milk?", Sonic, Corona Light and many others—whipped up a load of ads (many of them :15s) that have been airing in recent weeks starring the Comedy Week's actors and comedians. Check out a whole bunch of those spots below. (At the bottom is a longer promo with Arnold Schwartzenegger, which YouTube produced in-house, but we have to include because it's awkwardly hilarious.)

Goodby also designed a special YouTube masthead that will run all day Sunday to promote that night's kickoff. It shows a bathroom wall inside a comedy club. You can scroll around, click different doodles and find Easter eggs like Venn diagrams for classic jokes, a mounted moose head that sadly recalls "the bad man in the forest" and a phone number—(888) 303-3771—you can call for a good time (if you're not having one already).

The first two-hour live stream starts Sunday at 8 p.m. ET. New shows will air each night this week at 8 p.m. ET through Saturday. Guests will include Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Seth Rogen, Comedy Central's Tim and Eric, Conan O'Brien, Rainn Wilson, Ricky Gervais and Sarah Silverman, and YouTube stars The Gregory Brothers, Rhett & Link and Ryan Higa.

Schwartzenegger spot produced in-house by YouTube:

I love it when brands finally catch on to jokes the rest of us were making in fourth grade. This time it's Charmin, which treated fans at the Charlotte Motor Speedway's Sprint All-Star Race to an underwear-shaped billboard that said "Stop Skidmarks." That phrase also applies to cars, you see. Given the kinds of ostentatious crap we often see with billboard design, this idea was refreshingly concise and to the point, if a tad juvenile. And it's certainly less offensive than the "Back Got Back" commercial. Photo via @trippmickle.

Today, everyone does everything. You have actor-writer-rappers (Donald Glover, Jamie Foxx), dancers turned actors (Jennifer Lopez, Channing Tatum), pro athletes attempting to rap (Shaq, Allen Iverson), and so on. So, when Rafael A. Perez, a San Diego realtor, decided to produce a rap video to "express the state of real estate" there, who was going to stop him? Yes, the housing market in the U.S. collapsed a few years ago, but R.A.P. (Rafael A. Perez's emcee moniker) is here to tell you that it's BACK! Along with the American dream! At least in San Diego! The YouTube video, titled "Welcome to the 619," is a hopeful and amusing bid to get people excited about the area again. It's filled with bad lip-syncing, a barely conscious Perez, zooms of Google images, MLK Jr. quotes, and of course American flags. I don't know about you, but I think it's about to get real crowded in the 619.