This is the hilarious version of the Japanese Get A Mac campaign from Apple Co. You get to see the virus one and a Japanese version of John Hodgman and Justin Long. Enjoy!

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More than ever this year, Christmas will dominate Wal-Mart’s marketing campaign. Starting next week, the company will unveil the “Be Bright” series of television commercials featuring Christmas Trees and nativity scenes. Already in many Wal-Mart stores, special shopping areas have sprung up called “Holiday Shop” which have been renamed “Christmas Shop.”

Moreover, Wal-Mart plans on playing Christmas (not holiday) songs in all of its’ store in the United States. When it comes to employee greeters, the company says they are instructed to wish customers ‘well in words’ of their own choosing.

So what are other retailers doing about “Happy Holidays” versus “Merry Christmas” this year?

- Walmart: Christmas marketing campaign
- Walgreens: Promoting the ‘Christmas spirit’
- Kohls Corp: Promoting the ‘Christmas spirit’
- Best Buy Co: Happy Holidays

There’s a great article by Fierce Wireless’ Monthly Columnist Gerry Purdy. In this month’s column, Gerry offers his analyis of the mobile media market and speaks to his theory that “Mobile will be the largest media market for advertising of all time.” While that’s a rather profound comment in light of the billions of dollars spent in advertising for print, TV, radio and Internet, mobile is destined to be very important - likely the most important - media market of all time.

Read the Column

Advertising agency T3 recently put together an online game when assigned the duty of promoting Marriott hotel’s new designed rooms. According to Statesman, “games have a huge shelf life… a typical print ad lasts a couple of seconds. A game can last 10 minutes.”

“It’s all about engagement,” said Kirk Drummond, the director of the creative and innovation department at T3. “It’s not that the goal is to book a room at that moment. It’s creating more connections from our consumer to the brand.”

These new advertisements, called advergames, are a clear shift in marketing strategy. These addictive games are excellent at creating awareness and highlight a brand. These advergames are especially useful as a lucrative tool for the 18 - 34 year old demographic. Kids are no longer spending all of their time watching movies and television. Instead, they spend more of their time playing video and online games. Read

Microsoft will be advertising the XBOX360 and Gears of War on leading video sharing website YouTube this holiday season. The advert is very simple but with a simple click of the mouse you are taken to the Offical Gears of War website.

Ohio Art Co. is betting that replacing Etch A Sketch’s familar red rectangle case with Nickelodeon’s most popular cartoon characters such as Sponge Bob Squarepants and Dora the Explorer will help boost sales. The makeovers were displayed at the Ohio Art Company in Bryan, Ohio last week.

Other popular traditional toys have been given recent face lifts as well. Monopoly is out with a new version that replaces Atlantic City Boardwalk with Times Square. The moves have come after traditional toys have been quickly losing ground to electronics in recent years. “Our challenge is to continue to make Etch a Sketch exciting for the next generation of kids,” said Martin Killgallon, marketing director for Bryan-based Ohio Art. “One way to do that is with licensing.”