Although this certainly won't go down as the first attempt to integrate cellphones into discrete marketing, Japan's largest online shopping mall operator is apparently taking advantage of the country's oh-so-superior handsets and offering up tantalizing "promotional videos" for consumers who snap pictures of ads. Rakuten is reportedly set to hand out thousands of pilot issues of a magazine, Zero90, in hopes that mobile-wielding readers will snap photos of certain articles in exchange for a free commercial intellectually stimulating media clip. While this sounds an awful lot like QR codes, the actual technology used in the pages isn't mentioned, but we do know that Japan-based Clementec is behind it -- and you thought print media had too many plugs as is.

[Via Physorg]

You gotta hand it to those sadistic bastards from Will it Blend?: not only have they struck viral marketing gold by playing to our innermost voyeurs, they clearly have a wicked sense of humor, as evidenced by their futile attempt to return the completely obliterated camcorder that got sacrificed in the last segment. Luckily for us, Team Blendtec decided to secretly tape their exploits (video after the break), and while the salesdrones do seem slightly shocked at the product and ridiculous story that goes along with it, they certainly do Best Buy proud by keeping their cool during a clearly provocative encounter. There's also a lesson to be learned here: not only does the regular manufacturer's warranty (and the BB return policy) laugh in the face of such situations, if you thought that the flimsy "extended service contract" you bought covers gadgets in powdered form, well sir, you'd be out of luck.

[Thanks, El_Capitan]