The wildly successful ElfYourself campaign from Office Max has become a holiday mainstay over the last few years. Something you can count on… like egg nog and shopping mall brawls.

Office Max and JibJab have just launched the 2009 edition, complete with a Facebook Connect component AND a flash mob.

So be sure to get elfed this year. Now, with more social media!

 

What’s tastier than a pudding pop and less itchy than a sweater? Why, social media of course! Just ask Bill Cosby, the veteran comic who has recently taken the web by storm. With no less than eight outlets, Cosby is more accessible than ever.

He’s even got a Facebook app that lets you dress yourself up in a Cosby-style sweater. Who’d have thunk all the strange and wonderful places we’d go wtih social media?!

Read more about the Cosby invasion here and here. And be sure to follow him on Twitter here.

Honda and Ford have been at the forefront of the social media marketing shift lately, proving that the auto industry—albeit struggling—has its finger on the pulse.

Case in point: Honda’s ‘Social Experiment’ recently netted 2 million Facebook fans. This cross-platform push urged people to join as fans and also to learn how they are connected to other owners, friends, and fans around the world. It would appear that “Everybody Knows Somebody Who Loves a Honda,” but the real question is: will it sell more cars?

And let’s not forget Ford’s Fiesta Movement. This grassroots social media campaign gave 100 social “agents” the keys to the new Fiesta model and encouraged their feedback through blogs, Twitter, video and events. All without spending a dime on traditional media.

While both Honda and Ford have turned out impressive numbers, the jury is still out on what this will mean for the revival of the auto industry. Perhaps the more important implication here is the extent to which social media is overtaking traditional ad dollars and making more sense when it comes to brand marketing.

Attention, Finns! Broadband is now a legal right. In a landmark case, the Finnish government became the first country worldwide to sign a law dictating that every citizen has a legal right to a broadband connection.

In other news, the Federal Court in Australia has recently decided that individual judges may decide (on a case by case basis) if they will allow Twitter coverage in their courtrooms.

And, not to be outdone, our very own CIA has just invested in a social media monitoring firm. The agency plans to use technology to monitor International intelligence shared in public channels to get an early edge on what’s being communicated by influencers.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave this week, you’ve most certainly heard of the Jim/Pam wedding on “The Office.” According to Philadelphia Daily News critic Ellen Gray, “Thought the hype had killed ‘The Office’ wedding for me. But I’m all choked up.”

So, how did they do it? Yes, everyone was über-excited to see Jim and Pam walk down the aisle, but many worried that the overexposure and massive media coverage would kill the special event. But with the help of social media, the Thursday night favorite managed to tug at the heartstrings of fans and critics alike.

Starting with Dwight’s Three Wolf Moon T-shirt and culminating in the charming-yet-ridiculous wedding dance set to Chris Brown’s Forever, “The Office” was like an hour long love letter to social media.

Read more about the spooftastic sitcom success here and here.

NBC has made quite a fuss in the blogosphere for tapping none other than Facebook for a first look at its much hyped new show, Community. Using an application created by (you guessed it!) us, users who become fans of the show can watch the pilot in its entirety before the September 17 premiere.

Community on Facebook

Read more about the press it’s getting on NewTeeVee, EW PopWatch, Flixster, /Film, Hedgehogs, TV by the Numbers, and Examiner.com.

You may think that shark week is every week here in Los Angeles, but according to the Discovery Channel, it’s this week! Perhaps even more exciting for us social media geeks is the Frenzied Waters experience which utilizes Facebook Connect. Click on My Story to get in on the action. It was nice knowing you.

Discovery Channel's Shark Week

Talk about corporate buzzkill. YouTube may be the promised land of affordable, grassroots advertising reach and brand awareness for companies big and small. But YouTube giveth… and YouTube also taketh away. When alt-country crooner Dave Carroll hit a brick wall complaining to United about his damaged guitar (victim of the airline’s baggage-handling), he didn’t get mad. He went viral. His song, “United Breaks Guitars” has received over 4 million views on YouTube and massive online attention. Check out the video below and read more about Dave’s story here.

A very simple and effectively executed advertising spot for Samsung’s HD camera, the video revolves around an “ordinary” guy in his apartment performing an impossible feat. Interesting to note that it doesn’t matter if anything was actually done, the piece engages the viewer and has a very high replay value. Successful branding done on the fly and for relatively little money (I would imagine).

Check it out Here:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX8iVo5vc8o[/youtube]

Prezi is a new, powerful drag and drop app based in flash that can make client presentations a bit more than the current drags they are. Essentially, Prezi offers a navigable, zoom in/zoom out, “flowchart” canvas. It is highly visual and give presentations more bang on the low dollar…

Click on picture to visit.