"When In Doubt, Squirrel It Out"

I'll be perfectly honest, I don't quite know what that phrase means, but a colorful character in Las Vegas gave me that piece of advice about a year ago. Apparently, this guy has passed that information on to popular culture as well -- or maybe we should blame this little guy:

He has many names -- the Banff Squirrel, the photo crasher squirrel, the list goes on. Regardless of what you choose to call him, this guy has made it big. The Banff Squirrel is taking over the world of social media with pages on Twitter, Facebook and Wikipedia. Lexi, my beloved childhood dog must be rolling in her grave right about now.

Sites like The Squirrelizer and Twibbon allow you to make any photo a squirrel-crashed photo. Twibbon goes one step farther to automatically update that image as your Twitter profile photo. Take a look:

I think I'll stick to my Cardinals Twibbon, thank you very much!

Squirrel fever has also rubbed off on American Airlines. A recent article from AdFreak discusses American Airlines decision to re-air their Spring campaign which features a Parisian squirrel riding a bike/scooter.

This television commercial spot is a little strange and quirky, but American Airlines really seems to be embracing squirrel-mania thanks to the Banff Squirrel. In the News Releases section of the American Airlines website you can find a press release entitled American Launches Investigation of Possible 'Scene Stealing Squirrel' Role in Recent Television Ad. In this news release, American Airline announces their investigation to determine if the Banff Squirrel is in fact the same squirrel using in the filming of their commercial. The press release goes on to make ridiculous claims like:

“We’re not sure of the actual nationality of said squirrel - not sure whether he’s French at all. We hired him through his agent in LA,” said Bill Oakley, Executive Creative Director with TM Advertising. “Since he popped up in Banff, maybe he’s Canadian.”

Hey, who says airlines can't have a little fun sometimes?

So folks, when it comes to Twitter photos, advertising or life in general, just remember one thing -- when in doubt, squirrel it out...

UPDATE:

CNN Covers the Banff Squirrel on 9/9/09 -- Web Goes Nuts for 'Crasher Squirrel'