Last week's debut of indie film Rage is one for the record books. Rage became the first full length movie to premiere exclusively over mobile devices. To keep it mobile-friendly, the film was released in seven parts last week for iPhone and iPod Touch through a partnership with Babelgum.

The unique release strategy is more than just a novelty as Read Write Web reports:

According to filmmaker [Sally] Potter, this experimental distribution for her new movie is actually an attempt to fight the digital piracy problem faced by the movie industry today. And yes, she's doing it by by offering up her film for free...albeit in a way that ensures the film can only be viewed, not recorded.

It's also clear that Potter had mobile in mind when the murder mystery was filmed. Its tight shots of interviewees almost look like they were captured on a mobile phone.

Following the mobile release of the film, which stars Steve Buscemi, John Leguizamo and Dianne Wiest, a DVD also became available. It's another interesting twist in the film's release calendar. DVD releases typically don't happen until many months after a movie premieres.

AMC's sleeper hit Mad Men recently scored its second consecutive Emmy for Best Drama Series, further lessening the possibility that someone in America hasn't heard of-if they haven't actually watched-the 1960s-set advertising melodrama. But midway into its third season, AMC execs aren't taking any chances, having recently launched the new "Live Like a Mad Man" sweepstakes in conjunction with Hilton Hotels-the cherry on top of an extensive, months-long marketing blitz.

Here's how it works: Book your next Hilton vacation online at hiltonfamily.com/madmen, stay at a participating hotel through November 15, 2009, and you are automatically entered to win. The lucky winner will be randomly selected to live like his or her favorite Mad man (or woman) during a VIP trip to New York City, which includes a three-night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, two round-trip airline tickets, an autographed script, restaurant gift cards and more.

Such an arty, introspective series is Mad Men that it could easily fly under the radars of everyone but critics and a handful of devotees, so in the months leading up to the season three premiere, AMC initiated a comprehensive, multi-pronged promotional campaign that has leveraged the series' obsessive fanbase and a number of retail partners. Promotions have included photo- and video-based "Casting Call" contests (the former of which was a partnership with clothier Banana Republic) and "New York's Gone MAD"-a weeklong kick-off celebration that saw classic 1960s cocktails on select Hilton hotel bar menus and a costumed premiere party in Times Square.

But on a series that piles on intense period detailing, pop culture nostalgia and creative product integration like...

We've been seeing lots of restaurants and wine bars moving into the technology realm taking advantage of everything from touch screens to applications. Now, a London restaurant is taking technology and wine in a different direction: crowdsourcing.

L'Anima went to its consumer base last month, asking them to pick three new wines for the restaurant's wine list. Once they had a list together of top suggestions, the restaurant took them to wine experts whose videos explain their final choices. The pair in this video, Denise Medrano and Dan Coward, got a little creative in their response, comparing wines to Hollywood celebs like Johnny Depp. That's my kind of wine pairing.

[Via Jaunted]

Are you looking for some excitement in your market reports? There's an app for that.

In these trying economic times, Puma is hoping to become a beacon of joy with its Puma Index. Download the iPhone app and get stock reports on the left of your screen and a model disrobing on the right. The more the market tanks, the more clothing the male or female model removes (until they're down to their Puma Bodywear of course).

It could just make you start rooting for a more bearish market.

After watching Helvetica again this week, I couldn't help bust pass along this story. Designers and typography geeks around the world are ticked off at Ikea for switching from the Futura font to Verdana.

Now that might not sound like much to the average consumer but it's a big deal to those in the advertising and design world, who realize that fonts do matter and convey subtle messages.

Ikea says the change-up is about having a font that works in multiple languages all over the world. According to Time:

"It's more efficient and cost-effective," says Ikea spokeswoman Monika Gocic. "Plus, it's a simple, modern-looking typeface."

It's also a free font distributed by Microsoft, leading some to suggest the change has more to do with cost. Still, some can't go beyond what the two different fonts mean to the Ikea brand.

Others seem mystified by the choice to eliminate one of the chain's key identifying features. "The former typeface definitely better reflected Ikea's design philosophy, giving it a very special, unique flavor that actually fit the company's style," says Vitaly Friedman, editor in chief of the online Smashing Magazine, which is dedicated to Web design. "With Verdana being used all across the Web, Ikea's image not only loses originality, but also credibility and the reputation that the company has built since the 1940s."

Judge for yourself from these font samples design blog idsgn shared.

If you agree with the font...