“The number was not conceived out of some desire to cater to the so-bad-it’s-good tastes of the Western YouTube generation, but in fact was meant to please Soviet audiences, who were capable of placing this routine, this man, and this song into a familiar context.”. (Justin E.H. Smith)

Trololololololololololo. This should be the new Rick Roll.

Above: Eduard Khil* singing I’m so glad because I’m finally back home (1976).

*Referred as: Edward, Eduard, Hill, Hil, Khil, Gil

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A bit of degreaser: The Virgins.

Listen: Rich Girls. Sounds like: the Rolling Stones in “Emotional Rescue”.

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Centraal Beheer “is an insurance company sited in The Netherlands, famous for its campaign of TV commercials. These are short humoristic spots, generally without dialogue, in which something goes horrendously wrong.”. See, for example, Zweefvliegers (Glider).

Above: Acupunctuur (Acupuncture, 2006). From YouTube.

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Jozin z Bazin (Jozin from the bog, by Ivan Mládek for Czech Television, 1978).
The ultimate ringtone for your cell phone. From YouTube.

The Mirror. An advertising for people with eating disorders.

From Ads of the World. Music: Seaglopur by Sigur Rós.

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“Yume No Chikara.

Roughly translated, The Power Of Dreams.
You see, in Japanese you don’t say have a dream. You say see a dream.
Because what’s the point on having dreams if you’re not going to make some happen?”.
(From Dreams, Nick Gordon for Honda, 2005)

Impossible Dream (Ivan Zacharias for Honda, 2005).
Music: The Impossible Dream by Andy Williams (1968).

By Wieden+Kennedy.

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“The idea is simple, the result is stunning.”
“Starting in November of 2001, I have been taking a picture of myself every day and I haven’t stopped yet.”
(Ahree Lee)
Me, by Ahree Lee. Music by Nathan Melsted.

“The question is, what is a Mahna Mahna?”
“The question is, who cares?”

The Mahna Mahna song (Piero Umiliani, 1968).

Performed by Mahna Mahna and the Snowths, (The Ed Sullivan Show, 1969). From Google Video.

See also:

song history on Wikipedia,
lyrics on poppyfields.net,
audio (mp3) on latke.net,
video (mpeg) on mahnahmahna.net.

If you want the truth then we better start lying
If you want to feel then we better start touching
If you want air then we better start breathing
If you want to die then we better start living

I guess you’re proud to be different

Tom Vek: If You Want. (from We Have Sound, 2005)

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