The last time we saw Wicked Lasers, the makers of high-end and ridiculous lighting and laser-pointing devices, they were making an iPad explode with a flashlight. This time, they took their antics under the sea, and attached a S3 Krypton green laser to a lemon shark. For science, or something.

Last weekend, a group of black-clad people carrying pre-printed signs poured out of a black bus outside the Sydney Apple store. They chanted “wake up!” and shook their signs which bore the same slogan. Most assumed it was some kind of guerrilla marketing campaign, with Samsung being a likely candidate. However, the Korean electronics maker has denied any involvement.

There are two shocking facets about the image above. First off, there’s a woman walking around New York’s Bryant Park in a helmet completely covered in iPads. She’s part of a viral marketing campaign to promote the new Cosmo for Guys iPad app. The second — and most shocking — aspect of this story is that Cosmo for Guys is a real thing.

Setting aside how Cosmo content translated for men appears to come off as creepy and misogynist  (that’s a story for another day, possibly another site), it’s a pretty clever campaign. The iPad helmet displays video from the opposite side, and feeds an outside view into glasses worn by the model. Brave fellows who walk up and touch one of the four fully-functional iPads trigger the Cosmo for Guys app. Get it? It’s the app that let’s you get inside a woman’s head! Not creepy at all!

Well, this seems entirely unnecessary: Action star Steven Seagal and controversial sherriff Joe Arpaio recently raided the property of a suspected cockfighter using a full SWAT team, a bomb-detecting robot, and a bevy of armored vehicles, including one that witnesses referred to as a full-fledged tank.

As it turns out, the suspect was unarmed, though the chickens were presumably dangerous: According to KPHO, 115 birds were euthanized on the spot, and thousands of dollars of damage were done to suspected cockfight organizer Jesus Llovera‘s property, including damage caused by the tank knocking over his walls.

Llovera’s attorney accuses Seagal and company of performing the raid as a publicity stunt for Seagal’s TV series, “Lawman,” and estimates that the heavily armed raid cost taxpayers “tens of thousands of dollars.” The sherriff’s office defends it, though: “‘We’re going to err on the side of caution. We’re going to make sure that we have the appropriate amount of force in case we do run into anything like that,’ said Sgt. Jesse Spurgin.” Sounds legit.

(KPHO via MeFi)

Way up there with shouting “fire!” in a theater is what two Dell marketing employees decided to do: take an office hostage to promote the release of a new product. From a local report:

A person dressed as a biker in all black with a black mask was on the sales floor of Building 1carrying two metallic objects and telling people to “go to the lobby,” according to Round Rock Police.

Of course, the two forward-thinking marketing geniuses behind the stunt didn’t tell anyone about their plan. Someone, rightly panicked, called the cops and one thing lead to another. The two men behind the stunt were arrested, and, thankfully, none of the 400 employees were hurt in th confusion.

But what caused this blunder? A revolutionary innovation that demands the attention of America?

The spokesman would not say what the new product was but a source inside dell says it was for the new Dell Streak tablet which can interface with Harley-Davidson Motorcycles.

Police say it’s a miracle none of the 400 people in the building were hurt.

All that for a weird, fringe tie-in? That’s like sinking the Lucitania to demonstrate the water resistant staining on the shuffleboard court. Smarten up, marketers.

(KXAN via MSNBC via TechDirt)

Target‘s name is something of a self-fulfilling prophecy these days. Just to make sure that everyone has beef with them, the retailer has levied a snide, mocking blow at, of all people, moms who take the time to make charming homemade costumes for their kids instead of buying a cheap licensed knock off at some big box store.

Chilean add agency DDB prepared and utilized this dastardly box to seriously freak out apartment dwellers in Santiago, all in the name of ADT, the home security firm. To quote their video:

To prove residents that anyone could break into their homes unexpectedly.

What could possibly go wrong?

Add another item to the list of things that George Lucas will do to beat one last round of cash out of his “once beloved accidental masterpiece.”

In a move that we’re much more familiar coming out of big studios who wouldn’t know artistic motivation if it kicked them in the pants, Lucas will be re-releasing all six Star Wars movies to theaters in 3-D, beginning in 2012 with Episode I: The Phantom Menace.   According to The Hollywood Reporter, he was inspired by Avatar.  (Not The Last Airbender.)

20th Century Fox must be pinching themselves.

Usually the only wall that you could accuse Zynga, the makers of Farmville, of mucking up is a Facebook wall, a decidedly virtual piece of architecture. But the San Francisco City Attorney’s office has accused Zynga of committing “documented acts of sidewalk vandalism” by gluing fake $25,000 bills to sidewalks all over the city.

The dollar bills, in case you hadn’t guessed it by now, direct the finder to the Mafia Wars website.

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