From billboards and television commercials to viral spots and online marketing, he’s everywhere. Lately he’s been seen touting a diaper bag, but he’s also found hanging out with his bros shooting the breeze about parenting stuff. He is the modern dad and marketers, it seems, just can’t get enough of the guy.

Some call it a re-verb of the crap economy; others call it a balance of power. But whatever you call it, the Mr. Mom phenomenon is a very real one to advertisers. The modern dude-dad is funnier, more subversive and just the kind of man marketers hope we can relate to. Huggies is leading the way in the dad marketing revolution. Dads are front and center in a series of commercials which put real life papas and Huggies products like wipes and diapers to the test. Huggies and the dads are put through ringer in a series of challenges like eating spaghetti and speed changes. The funny reality TV-like spots are right in tune with the trend of featuring dad as this beleaguered, flawed superhero.

And what’s funnier than one Mr. Mom? A group of supper daddies, naturally. So appealing is the trend of the Dad-Dude Pack that What to Expect When You’re Expecting, a movie based on the famous pregnancy book, has tailored its trailers to feature funny dads. Never mind that the source material is about women’s bodies during pregnancy. Lionsgate Films is hoping to reel in guys with wacky shots of funnymen like Chris Rock and his fellow father friends carrying babies around Central Park.

And as much as we love this modern man who isn’t afraid of some diapers, we still love the stereotype of the dumb dad, too. This Verizon spot, which features some clueless dads with some really bad ideas, is an online hit even if it doesn’t celebrate dad as Superman.

But let’s ask you: Is this Mr. Mom marketing trend about to burn out or have we only seen the beginning of Dadtastic campaigns? Tell us in the comments section below!

Any blog content management genius will tell you that coming up with a Top 5 or Top 10 list is just an easy ploy to rope in more readers. And they’re right! Still, we happen to think ours — the Five Things You Might Have Missed List — is also pretty darn entertaining and informative. Take a peek and tell us what you think!

1.) Your New Business Idol is Only 9 Years Old: High atop our list this week is the story of Caine Monroy and his cardboard arcade. If you think it sounds like a Spielberg movie now, just wait until you hear the real-life details: Monroy converted his dad’s garage into a cardboard arcade and, with the help of online branding, some enthusiastic customers and a great video, he’s become the latest meme as well as an inspiring startup story for folks of all ages.

2.) Enter the Branding Police: There’s a new sheriff in town on Twitter, and he’s gonna get ya if you mess with the Olympics. Forbes turned us on to the new (and slightly ominous) prospect of Twitter brand cops this week. Turns out the Olympics are taking their image and branding more seriously than ever, enlisting the help of monitors to shut down accounts illegally using the Olympic name and logo on Twitter.

3.) Up, Up and Away: Jack White and his label Third Man Records came up with a one-of-a-kind way to help sales of his new solo record positively soar. Third Man shoved limited edition flexi-disks into balloons and set them free on April 1st from their headquarters in Nashville. The label expects about 10 percent of the copies to be found. The stunt scooped up a handful of headlines for the indie record label and even made hippies happy — the balloons are biodegradable.

4.) Step Away from the Android: Did you set down your smartphone on April 14th and say “enough is enough!”? If so, you were the few and proud who participated in art blog/collective Provocative Penguin’s Leave Your Phone at Home Day. The event encouraged followers to unplug and not use their phones for a whole day. Gasp! We’re happy to report that humanity continued to function as folks left their phones at home and think it’s a great idea any time of the year.

5.) A Little French, A Lotta Fabulous: Lastly, we close out our list with “Petit H,” a video from luxury brand Hermès. The video is a promotional piece for Petit H, which Adverblog describes as a “creative workshop that brings together materials, artists and craftsmen in single space, faithful to the exacting standards that characterize Hermès.” It’s a beautiful video that’s meant to spark creative fires. We say job well done, Hermès.

Social media marketing, in its relatively short time in existence, has already claimed certain days of the year as its own: Cyber Monday, Super Sunday, Black Friday and, most recently, Tax Day. This year, a record number of brands offered big-time deals on Tax Day, and we have the rundown on who gave out what, what promotions worked and which brands missed a golden opportunity.

It was a junk food lovers jamboree on Tuesday as tons of brands used Facebook to promote free food giveaways. Arby’s gave out curly fries to Facebook friends while Chili’s doled out free desserts and appetizers. And the social media gut bomb didn’t end there; Cinnabon, Panda Express and Chevy’s also gave out free Tax Day eats. Seattle’s Best gave out free coffee coupons on its Facebook page. But the big winner here was Pizza Hut, which used social media to pick out winners of free large pizzas in six U.S. cities at midnight to feed those last-minute filers.

Food wasn’t the only category busy on Tax Day, though. Hydro-Massage once again gave away free 10 minute massages and Office Depot donated free copies to the rushed tax day crowd.

Things like free copies, free coffee and free pizzas speak very much to the spirit of Tax Day and using Facebook as the coupon hub makes a lot of sense. What doesn’t make sense is the companies that didn’t promote at all on Tax Day. If we ran the Facebook marketing for an airline or a travel website, we wouldn’t have missed offering flight specials and vacation deals to those lucky folks who are dying to spend that refund money on its way. Likewise, the pain relief industry, the Tylenols and Advils of the world, really missed a promotion opportunity to hand out free samples to filers who had splitting Tax Day headaches.

The Tax Day social media marketing blitz has become a tradition and we can’t wait to see what the brands roll out in 2013. But don’t get any funny ideas, IRS. We’re in no hurry to file again.

Between all the campaign drama and sports shenanigans, you might have missed some of the smartest, sassiest and strangest stories from social media and online marketing this week. Fear not, gentle reader! We have you covered.

1.) The BK Blige Bilge: If you missed this story about Mary J. Blige’s yanked commercial for Burger King, you really were hiding under a rock this week. Nevertheless, it’s a list topper for personifying all that is ridiculous with viral advertising, racial sensitivity and celebrity endorsements. Claims of racism aside, we dare you not to chuckle while listening to Blige warble the ingredients of Burger King’s new chicken wraps. In the end, BK apologized for releasing a spot they claim “wasn’t ready” and Blige apologized for offending anyone with the commercial. Perhaps the ad was pulled because it’s a really horrible ad. Just a thought.

2.) A PSA with Balls: We’re always on the lookout for print ads that have a strong voice and a clever delivery. So we were thrilled when we found these ads for the League Against Cancer on I Believe in Advertising. The photos feature cell phones, joysticks and magicubes on the front flap of men’s underwear in an effort to raise awareness for testicular cancer. On the band of the underwear is the message “Give your fingers a better use. Examine yourself for testicular cancer.” Kudos to the League for grabbing their audience in a way that’s hip and bound to make them think.

3.) Hand Over that Password: This ominous sign of the times couldn’t be over looked by those of us who work in the social media marketing field and who often hustle for freelance jobs. The Atlantic and other big news sources were in a tizzy this week at the news of Representative Ed Perlmutter’s proposed amendment to H.R. 3309, the Federal Communications Commission Process Reform Act of 2012, in an effort to thwart employers from demanding the passwords of employees’ social media accounts. Perlmutter’s amendment was voted down and now all of media land is gearing up for a social media privacy battle unlike anything we’ve seen thus far.

4.) And Speaking of Creepy: Without giving too much away, we can tell you the latest promo for Google+’s Project Glass is part science fiction, part annoying Google+ branding at its most shrill. Yet whatever you think of these yet-to-be made Google goggles, it can’t be denied that the idea is a groundbreaking one. Tell us what you think about this Geordi LaForge-style innovation in the comments section below.

5.) When Skype Talks Smack, You Can See it: Finally, we haven’t had a good old trash talking from a tech brand in quite some time. Thankfully, the good folks at Skype answered our prayers with a series of UK ads that straight up diss Facebook and Twitter. Oh no they didn’t! (Oh yes they did!) And the result is pretty entertaining.

This week’s Five Things You Might Have Missed promises the best in viral marketing, Twitter management gone wrong, some digital Easter eggs and even a walrus on your back! Read, enjoy, tweet and repeat!

1.) Tweet the Wrong Thing: Spike Lee on Twitter just seems like a recipe for ill communication — and this week, boy was it. The diminutive ’90s auteur raised eyebrows when he re-tweeted the wrong address for George Zimmerman, the man who allegedly shot teenager Trayvon Martin. The tweet ticked off tons of tweeps and put Lee on the defensive. Martin’s story is already a highly-charged one and Lee’s misinformed tweet proves how out of control Twitter can get when the wrong information spreads like wildfire.

2.) Happiness 360: Streets Ice Cream took its good-time brand to the streets with a pop-up 360 photo booth that invited passersby to jump, dance and interact in front of a Matrix-style camera. The end campaign is an interactive one which features ordinary folks in extraordinary poses and promises to end lame sponsored photo booths forever.

3.) Cat in a Raincoat!: Columbia Sportswear embraces the spirit of invention with its “Great Moments in Trying Stuff” viral campaign. An earnest 1950s style announcer takes viewers on a hilarious journey through innovations, like sweaty hot dog buns, mesh tank tops and a not-too-happy cat in a raincoat — all brilliantly illustrating Columbia’s outerwear technology.

4.) An App to Dye For: PAAS Easter Egg dye partnered with Heinz Vinegar to come up with this cool Easter egg decorating app just in time for the holiday. It’s digital egg dying without all the mess — genius! The cute seasonal game is sure to be a hit for egg-enthusiastic youngsters, but PAAS gives the app a little something extra by donating $1.00 for every download to Make a Wish Foundation through April 8th.

5.) I am the Walrus: We wrap up this week’s list with a spot for muscle cream from Allgauer Latschenkiefer. Nicely shot, cleverly edited and, featuring a piggybacking walrus, this viral ad is simple, funny and sweet.

Disney-Pixar is just one of those brands kids of all ages love dearly and without question. It even withstands not-so-great moments (*cough,* Cars 2, *cough cough*) with flying colors. So beloved is Pixar that it can get away with things other companies would never dream of (like the dialogue-free first 20 minutes of the hit Wall-E).

That said, Pixar knows when it’s taking a risk and markets accordingly. Take this summer’s Brave, for example. The film boasts the brand’s first film heroine, a sassy Scottish tough girl named Merida. For the decidedly dude-centric film empire, her creation is an act of bravery in itself. Marketing Merida to the Toy Story set takes a certain finesse, and here’s how Pixar is handling it:

Thanks to Twitter’s new capacity to relay brilliantly and beautifully handled images, Pixar has been tweeting photos of Merida since late last year. Early on, bigwigs at Pixar clearly thought that the sooner they could establish Merida as a new animated star, the better. Next, the company employed the hashtag #Brave to get film fans chatting about the recently-released trailer. Since the film is a bit of a departure, image- and clip-heavy tweets are the fastest way to get folks excited about the film. Pixar, by the way, is a great example of Twitter marketing in general. The brand tweets clips and quotes from classic films as well as news on upcoming projects like Brave.

In addition, over on Facebook, it appears the movie is already a hit — and it doesn’t even open until June. With over 100,000 fans, Brave on Facebook embraces the film’s international roots by having multi-lingual options for viewing the trailer. The page promises to serve as a hub for contests, ticket buying and fan interaction as the film gets closer to its release date.

While we can’t be sure if little boys will love Merida, we know if any company can get inside their minds, it’s certainly Pixar with its masterful grasp on online marketing.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m sure many of us were disheartened to see our beloved childhood friend, the Etch A Sketch, dragged into the unsavory world of political campaigning. Last week saw everybody’s favorite red-screened, white-knobbed drawing toy used as weapon against Republican hopeful Mit Romney. Etch A Sketch fever hit social media like a tornado on Wednesday when Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said of his candidate’s performance during primary season, “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. Everything changes. It’s almost like an Etch A Sketch. You can kind of shake it up and restart all over again.” This off-the-cuff comment led to Twitter silliness, moments of unexpected branding brilliance and a case study on how social media marketing interacts with today’s political campaigns.

Within moments of the comment, “Etch A Sketch” had become a top trending topic on Twitter. Much like Angelina’s leg, Mitt’s Etch A Sketch launched a Twitter account of its own. While all of this was funny and buzzworthy meme stuff, the comment itself was a PR disaster and Romney’s opponents hopped on social media almost immediately to skewer Fehrnstrom. Newt Gingrich and others were quick to use the Etch A Sketch metaphor to exploit Romney’s changing position on issues. Gingrich tweeted, “Etch A Sketch is a great toy but a losing strategy. We need a nominee w/ bold conservative solutions.”

Meanwhile, the makers of Etch A Sketch, Ohio Art Company, couldn’t have been more thrilled. Their product quickly received millions of dollars in free publicity as images of the Etch A Sketch were shot around the globe via the Internet. The company released this giddy statement about the brouhaha: “Happy to see Etch A Sketch, an American classic toy, is DRAWING attention with political candidates as a cultural icon and important piece of our society. A profound toy, highly recognized and loved by all, is now SHAKING up the national debate. Nothing is as quintessentially American as Etch A Sketch and a good old-fashioned political debate.”

News outlets were reporting toy retailers couldn’t keep Etch A Sketches in stock after the quote exploded. So score one for Ohio Art Company. And score one for social media marketing and digital PR. This silliness over a quote about an Etch A Sketch is the perfect example of how fast these channels work for and against brands of all sizes.

Tech oddities! Branding delights! Social media marvels! Step right up and enjoy the little online marketing circus we like to call “Five Things You Might Have Missed!”

1.) Meet the Social Pizza: What’s more social than sharing a few slices of pizza? How about actually creating a pizza on social media? Domino’s in Australia is calling on Facebook fans to create the ultimate social media pizza pie. Through March 25th, Domino’s fans down under will have the opportunity to vote on favorite sauce, crust and topping combinations, with the winning concoctions featured on Domino’s menu. Amateur pizza chefs will also get a shot at $1,000 bucks for coming up with a great pizza name.

2.) Skin Vibrations: Here’s one from the “What the Tech?” files. Nokia is reportedly working on a patent to help smartphone holders literally feel when they receive a call. A small patch of fabric or a tattoo can be attached to the skin and will vibrate when an incoming call is received. While still in the developement stage, the vibrating tattoo officially ushers in the era of humans being literally attached to their phones.

3.) Main Events: Like the rest of Facebook, Facebook Events got a big-time makeover this week. Unlike Timeline and some of the other updates, however, this one is bound to make plenty of people happy. Easy for brands and individuals alike to use and keep organized, the new Facebook Events is the must-use use tool of the spring on the planet’s biggest social media mecca. Check out Social Media Examiner’s in-depth look at Facebook Events to learn about all the new features.

4.) Holy Phileas Fogg! So they might not be able to make your skin vibrate today, but Nokia claims its battery can last on a trip around the world. Inspired by the 140th anniversary of Around the World in 80 Days, Nokia sent its phone to 12 cities and 4 continents with a single charged battery and no charger. The results are a globe-trotting, good-time viral hit.

5.) Help for Your Ugly Office: We close out our list with a drool worthy digital contest from Turnstone. Those makers of pricey but awesome office accoutrements, Turnstone is giving away 5 office makeovers to startups with great ideas and amazing stories. Wannabes are encouraged to pitch their dream office ideas to Turnstone via video. After a judging committee sifts through the submissions, Turnstone will post the best videos and users will vote for their favorite. It’s a cool contest with a great prize from a brand that encourages vision and personality.

In online marketing, there are some brand names you hear time and time again: Innovators who can simultaneously rock social media marketing, traditional advertising and digital engagement. Over the last two years, Dunkin Donuts has truly emerged as one of those names, and this spring the company launched two newsworthy social media campaigns.

2012 saw a ton of brands get in on last week’s Saint Patrick’s Day action with all sorts of Twitter- and Facebook-based campaigns. Fast food chains in particular were quick to push their green-colored products in hopes that the luck of the Irish would translate to a bump in seasonal sales. Dunkin Donuts launched the hashtag #GooDDLuck to promote its GooDD Luck Twitter Sweepstakes. The clever contest called upon DD’s 134,000+ Twitter followers to tweet what items or rituals bring them good luck (followed by the #GoDDLuck hashtag). Dunkin social media wizards then picked 7 lucky winners to get $50 gift cards. That’s a lot of green donuts! The campaign boasted a lot of responses and even picked up some headlines along the way.

On the Facebook front, DD is one of the many companies capitalizing on March Madness. The Dunk Zone is Dunkin’s Facebook hub for all things basketball. As one of the lead sponsors of NCAA Basketball, Dunkin has partnered with CBS to offer Facebook fans inside info on all the latest games, scores and stories coming from March Madness. While basketball and the company’s new Angus Steak & Egg Sandwich might seem like a brand disconnect, DD has a long history with the sport — even recently calling upon superstar LeBron James to promote the company in Asia. Dunkin has all kinds of other action happening on its Facebook page, as well, and clearly people are responding. As of this writing, Dunkin Donuts has 6 million-plus Facebook Likes.

So what can indie companies learn from a donut digital dominator like Dunkin? First off, seasonal social media campaigns like Dunkin’s are the kind of things anybody can do and are a great internal motivator to plan ahead. Also, Dunkin excels at coming up with interactive conversational campaigns on Twitter and Facebook. Again, all of us could and should do that. Lastly, Dunkin Donuts is a great example of a brand that’s simply well-liked. Donuts are not supposed to be serious or make people think, so Dunkin appropriately speaks the language their customers want to hear.