by Nadia Nascimento and Grace Carter

When the new year arrived, we hit the ground running. We’ve been loving every action-packed moment of 2009 so far, so it only seems fitting that we kiss and tell.  Because everyone loves a good romance.

Our love affair began with excellent press that emerged from an inspiring memelabs campaign featuring Wells Fargo, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and Junior Achievement.

At the same time, our hearts beat faster as we launched the Cellular South “Your Network. Your Stories.” contest, which invited talented customers to showcase true-life stories about the quality, reliability and coverage of Cellular South’s nationwide wireless communications network. Cellular South then developed three compelling true-life stories into 30-second commercials that aired for the first time during the Super Bowl. We congratulate the talented winners of the Cellular South contest, who walked home with over $20,000 in prize money and a TV touchdown. Spike! Endzone dance!

By the last week in January, we had fallen in love again. This time, we hit the road with flip cams and animal crackers, and traveled from Vancouver to Washington DC, to attend the inauguration of US President-elect Barack Obama. We set up a place for people to share their inauguration stories from around the world, and were thrilled that so many participated. Visit here to hear the shared stories of people from as far afield as Mozambique, Korea and Thailand! Our experiences during our trip to DC will be featured in an upcoming post, so stay tuned.

You can’t ignore the power of love. Come early February, it was time for a  new tryst. Sadly, we can’t reveal the details….but if you are over 21 years old, know the pleasantries of love, the intricacies of relationships and enjoy the odd highball, we’ll give you some hints. Click here for a peep show.

As Valentine’s Day swift approaches we are preparing to launch two heart-felt contests. We love YOU the most of all, so you’ll be the first to know when they go live. Stay tuned!

And as a little pre-Valentine’s day video card, here are some lovely videos, from us to you. Happy love month!

by Chris Trottier

Tragically, Joaquin Phoenix has halted his acting career to pursue rap music.

But maybe he hasn’t. Could this be an elaborate hoax? Have we been Andy Kaufmanned?

Here are things to consider: Did you know Casey Affleck is filming a documentary on Joaquin’s new career? Joaquin’s first “offical” performance was on January 19 in Las Vegas. Is it strange that, during his debut, he fell off stage? Why has Joaquin grown that beard? The answer to all these questions could be: Mr. Phoenix intended to fail at rap so we’d all spread the viral word about his mockumentary effort.

We had our suspicions… and then Joaquin appeared on David Letterman.

Is this impeccably timed comedy? Andy Kaufmann, after all, believed silence was the mother of comedy. Or could it be that Joaquin Phoenix does fancy himself a rapper? Truth is, Casey Affleck’s new documentary effort is nothing short of viral genius — intentional or unintentional. Either way, he got us all talking.

The 2nd Annual Chip’s Not Dead Yet Memorial Mile will take place on June 20th, 2009. At last year’s event, thousands of people ran an uphill mile in one of several theme waves. They were decked out as rockstars, bridesmaids… even running in their underwear! Event founder Chip Wilson matched all the registration dollars in a large donation to the BC Children’s Hospital. This summer’s event should be even bigger and better!

This year, Chip’s Not Dead Yet is offering Vancouverites the chance to become part of the city’s history, by submitting an idea for your own theme wave. We are proud to be hosting the official event video contest!

Film and submit your idea, and you could win $1000, as well as a very satisfying 5 minutes of fame on event day–and help the BC Children’s Hospital at the same time.

As if this weren’t enough, the first 50 entrants to the contest will also receive a complimentary lululemon yoga mat, running hat, and foldin’ key cuff! Details on the site.

Are you still reading this? What are you waiting for? Get going!

Posted by Chris Trottier

In fact, I feel fantastic. Why?

Because I just watched this Nutrigrain ad. There’s a lot we can learn about the nature of going viral here. But first, watch and see what I’m talking about.

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Nutrigrain composed a happiness virus.  With one part college humor, and one part pay it forward, this viral is bound to make you laugh, think about multiple births, and crave a granola bar.  Now if that is not the recipe for viral, we don’t know what is.

We wanted to end everyone’s week on a high note and give you something to pass along as we anxiously await the next happiness meme.  Happy Friday memers!