What is it about perfume ads featuring Hollywood A-listers? There really is nothing to touch them for pompous, pretentious bollocks. As soon as they sign the megastar, everyone seems to lose their minds and think it's a great idea to have the star spout some  grandiloquent nonsense.

The latest example is Johnny Depp for Dior.

Johnny pretends to play guitar, then drives into the desert to spend an afternoon digging holes. But that's just a symbol. He's actually searching for his MOJO.

"I've gotta get out of here. Which way? I don't know. What am I looking for? Something I can't see." It's no surprise he can't spot his Mojo, he hasn't even noticed that someone's put a wolf on top of his car. Perhaps he can't see it because he's got so much eyeliner in his eyes.

It's a brilliantly ludicrous performance by Johnny Depp but, ridiculous though this ad is, it doesn't come close to touching the classic of the genre – Brad Pitt for Chanel. 

"It's not a journey. Every journey ends but we go on…. Plans disappear, dreams take over…But wherever I go, there you are. My luck, my fate my fortune. Chanel number 5. Inevitable."

Brad and Johnny both seem to be lost in lives without purpose. Why are they so sad? Where is the buffalo going? Why does the world turn? What does it all mean? Buy some of our perfume and you too can feel lost.

You may have seen the discussion yesterday about Burger King's 'McWhopper' idea. It was either a smart idea or a PR stunt by a struggling brand piggy-backing a good cause, depending on your POV. One of our people put together an appropriately cheeky return in the spirit of BK's serve. Scott Dungate writes:

Yesterday we saw Burger King offer a truce to rival burger giant MacDonald's. On Peace Day, 21 September, the two companies would put their differences aside, and in a pop-up store in Atlanta, they would make ‘The McWhopper’, a hybrid burger, using the best bits of the Whopper and the Big Mac. 

Rather than approaching McDonald's directly, they ran an ad (above) to publicise this idea. And launched a website.

You have to admire the cheekiness of Burger King in this proposition. It definitely put McDonald’s in an awkward position. It’s hard to work with your arch-enemy and run with their idea, but hard also to turn your back on world peace. 

As news and social media picked up on the McWhopper proposal, people waited for a response from McDonald's. And it was… (arguably) underwhelming, dull and a pretty killjoy response from the CEO. Social media suggested that those watching were disappointed at McDonald's response too (no-one likes a buzz-kill) leaving Burger King the clear victor by non-contest.

But what if McDonald's had raised the stakes? Flexed their global muscles for global peace?  What if they spat the challenge back at Burger King, and asked them to SUPER-SIZE The McWhopper offer, and take it beyond one pop-up store in Atlanta, and roll it out globally, in every city where they wage ‘burger war’? Think of all the McWhoppers sold and the money raised for Peace One Day. Makes sense for two big  global brands to act globally, if you’re riding on the coat-tails of global peace.  

PS: Just for fun, here’s a freebie (totally unendorsed by either McDonald's or BK):