Spotify has also made music social. They’ve integrated into Facebook using the Open Graph,  so you can see what your friends are playing. You can recommend songs on Facebook and watch listening trends develop in real time. If you think you’ve got good taste, you can share playlists with your friends. Of course, the app also tells all your Facebook friends that you’re listening to Spice Up Your Life. Here’s hoping social music doesn’t stamp out guilty pleasures.

Make ads, not war. Greenpeace attacked Volkswagen’s opposition to cutting CO2 emissions with this Star Wars-inspired ad. Kids dressed as the cast assemble with lightsabers in front of a VW car, to the dramatic tones of the Star Wars theme. VW is the Death Star, attempting to destroy Earth with a laser beam. You can’t help but laugh.

Greenpeace is an expert at brand-jacking, adopting a brand as a platform for criticism. By choosing Star Wars they tap into the series’ powerful theme of good vs evil. They make the campaign exciting – you can Join the Rebellion as a Jedi on the campaign’s page. At the same time, children dressed up as Yoda and Darth Vader is absurdly funny. Volkswagen would look like killjoys if they tried to clamp down on the ad, imagine how ‘defamation by Vader’ would sound in a courtroom. Humour’s a defence as well as viral element.

The tree has 172 branches, from which dangle 1200 Lego baubles. It took 2 months and 600,000 bricks to build, though only 10 days to assemble in the station. The dedicated builders worked from 10pm to 4am to avoid the daytime rush. We’re officially impressed.

Bright Bricks designed and built the tree and children from local primary schools built the baubles. The company works exclusively with Lego bricks, creating custom designs as marketing tools. They’ve done a tiger cub for Stella McCartney and a 6ft high toothbrush for Phillips. Lego fanatics can even commission pieces like wedding portraits. Bright Bricks also employs Duncan Titimarsh, one of only 13 people worldwide to possess the title of LEGO Certified Professional. We’re officially jealous.

The tree works as spectacle, but it’s also a successful marketing move. In the buildup to Christmas, time-pressed commuters start to worry about what to buy the children in their lives. Seeing the tree reminds them of the looming gift deadline and offers a solution at the same time – buy Lego in St Pancras! It’s also good for Lego’s brand message. As the Marketing Director David Buxbaum said, “The Lego brand is all about play and creativity and Christmas is the time for celebration and fun. This magnificent Christmas tree is a shining example of these values.”

Bright Bricks will gain exposure from the project too. The QR codes on the baubles link to its website, and the company ran a Facebook page to keep fans updated on the building process with regular pictures. Bright Bricks’ site suggests it’s keen to attract more marketing commissions. At the very least, the high-visibility tree will encourage marketers to think about using Lego in their next campaign.

St Pancras’ retailers will also benefit from the installation. Various treasure hunts will run until the tree’s deconstruction on the 2^nd of January. Children are invited to hunt for the various Lego baubles hidden around the station to win Harry Potter Lego prizes. Children have to write down the bauble locations on a postcard, which they can get inside the station’s stores. In another competition spectators guess how many bricks there are in the tree to win a family trip to the Legoland resort. Of course, they have to go into the St Pancras Hamley’s toy store to submit their guesses.

Marketing considerations aside, the tree is just a great piece of design. We wonder how they engineered the 3-tonne structure – do the branches hold themselves up? And if you want a breathtaking piece in time for Christmas, brief the Exchange.

‘The early bird catches the worm’ is brought to life in this rather aggressive design. Recommended for the lazy teenager in your life. Buy it here.

Snow White crops up quite frequently in designs for Macs, and we love the touch of subversion here. It’s called Snow White’s Revenge. Who says princesses can’t be ninjas? You can get a similar one here.

Super Mario to the rescue! Quirky and funny. Funnily enough, the most popular stickers for cutting-edge Macs tend to feature retro video game characters. Get yours here.

Do androids dream of electric sheep? Do robots philosophically contemplate Apple logos? Encourage others to consider these pressing questions with this sticker.

A few weeks ago, we ranked Banksy as one of our top ten creatives. So we love this tribute to the artists famous images of rats, and it certainly attracts attention! Get yours here. And if you must have your very own decal design, or you don’t have a Mac, don’t despair! Let us help you out, brief the Exchange.

This crops up more than any other ideas such as hoverboards or self-driving cars; perhaps it’s part of our collective subconscious. This is all despite the fact that videophones have been around since 1964 and have never really taken off. It may be because of the high costs associated with them but it’s more likely to do with their boring nature. We all know how the futures meant to go, it’s supposed to be a broken dystopia with lots of cool toys. Well never fear, the best minds in the world (maybe) are working on creating some seriously cool stuff. Here are three of the best:

Embrio

The Embrio from BRP utilises a gryoscope to keep itself balanced when in motion. Not only does it look incredibly cool but it’s green as well, using a hydrogen cell to power itself with water as the only waste product. It’s been toted as a competitor to the Segway but aimed at a younger demographic. However, I think it’s it’ll appeal to the police more, especially after their failure to adopt rollorskates. Plus with that big wheel it’ll be quite useful for negotiating the desolate wasteland of future.

Malthus

One of the things we’re going to need to be in the future is self sufficient. After a hard days roaming the deserted cities looking for survivors it might be nice to come home to disturbing plant. But you can’t eat your plant (not after you’ve named him and nursed him from a seedling), so where do you turn? To aquaponics of course, the cultivation of fish and vegetables within the same unit. Malthus was built and and designed by the clever folks over at Conceptual Devices and can provide one meal a day. That might not seem like a lot now but after the end of civilisation it’ll be a feast. As long as the fish don’t die from radiation poisoning of course.

Digital Pot

Do you talk to your plants in the hope that they’ll grow better? Wouldn’t it be easier if they could just tell you what they need? If Junyi Heo’s idea comes to the market then they’ll be able to communicate with you by a slightly disturbing LCD display.

Are you developing an innovative product?  Submit a brief for your marketing & support campaigns.

Written by: Will van Wyngaarden,  Brief and Crowd Executive, blur Group