After getting some hurtful comments for pointing out similarities between that State Farm-sponsored OK Go video and the Honda "Cog" ad (yes, I know, they both ripped off Rube Goldberg), I’m loathe to cover similar ground. But hey, somebody has to, right? Mullen’s new campaign for online retailer Zappos, breaking this Monday, featuring puppets mouthing the words of actual customer-service calls from Zappos employees—doesn’t it seem a bit familiar? Yes, I’m thinking of Amoeba’s mid-2000s ads for movie ticket site Fandango. Recall, if you will, that those ads also showed puppets (in this case, crude ones fabricated from brown paper bags) synched with the voices of consumers explaining why they liked the service. (The campaign eventually evolved to spoof Bollywood musicals.) Now that I’ve spoiled the party, let it rip, commenters! Just don’t be crank yankers about it.
—Posted by Todd Wasserman