There's something really wrong, here. None of our newspapers reported that Boulder's Crispin, Porter + Bogusky won the entire $300+ million global creative assignment for Microsoft. This account involves all efforts for consumer products – notably trying to counteract the worsening aftereffects to Microsoft's brand thanks to Mac vs. PC.

The creative world is absolutely buzzing about it. Yet our entire region is mum. What gives? Arguably, the year's most prolific creative assignment is coming to town, and we yawned. Countless jobs and top-notch talent will be arriving soon, and we look the other way. Yet whenever a real estate developer sneezes, our news is there with a hanky. C'mon, Colorado. We're better than that.

Guess that goes to show how much emphasis our business community places on breakthrough creativity. And maybe that explains why The Denver Egotist is fighting an uphill battle "attempting to help Denver suck less, daily." (That's their tag line.)

Have you seen the latest news about the Whopper Freakout campaign? Wow. Double-digit sales gains in a stagnant category during a recession? Guess that goes to show relevant, brand-specfic advertising makes way more sense than silly commercials with people wearing silly red wigs.

Huh? Those Wendy's ads worked, too? Even the one with the hole that blatantly ripped off the classic Macintosh lemmings ad?

There's a lesson here. Entertaining ads are effective. Want to stand out? Invite your customers to engage with your brand in a way that rewards them. Otherwise, you'll just be another voice in the crowd.