Venezuelan-American Devendra Banhart is known for his eccentric dress, low-rise pants and surreal, often pretty songs. In the video for his new track, “Carmencita,” starring Natalie Portman, Banhart goes old Bollywood movie-style, complete with grainy footage and oddly translated subtitles.

McDonald's, an official sponsor of the Olympics since 1976, has committed more dollars to Beijing 2008 than any other Games. The fast food giant introduced new menu items, such as the Beijing Burger and Rice Sticks, in stores across the globe, sent 300 kids from 40 countries to the Beijing Games through its Champion Kids program, launched an online game called "The Lost Ring" and implemented a viral component allowing visitors to FacetheGlory.com to superimpose their heads on athletes' bodies and send the images to friends. 

As a "real" global company, Coca-Cola is a natural global sponsor of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In addition to its advertising campaign, which includes this cute take on Beijing's Bird's Nest, Coca-Cola also collaborated with Chinese artists to create a series of specially designed bottles, developed interactive games for its website, and implemented the largest-ever Bluetooth campaign. 

Visa, an official sponsor of the past 11 Olympics, is using its presence at the Games to increase its global acceptance. Along with its U.S. "Go World" ad campaign, Visa ran a promotion in 66 countries offering cardholders the opportunity to win a trip to the Olympics, installed more than 90,000 ATMs in China, and created an online campaign asking consumers to submit photos that represented the Olympic theme, "Faster. Highter. Stronger."  

One of the top 2008 Olympics sponsors, Adidas has spend tens of millions on its "Nothing Is Impossible" campaign, which includes advertisements, user-generated videos and online trading cards featuring athletes and other Olympics-oriented images. The campaign will continue even after the Games end, as Adidas plans to open 5,000 new stores in China by the end of 2008.

In May 2008, the BBC commissioned Gorillaz founders Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn to produce an animated commercial for the Beijing Olympics. It hit British television two weeks ago and shows how Gorillaz infused the Olympic theme with their style. Not sure about you, but this totally gets us in the mood for some pommel horse action.

This video from Digital Journal was created more than a year ago, yet the Internet censorship issues it discusses are still a problem just one day before the Beijing Olympics' opening ceremonies. But as bloggers find ways around China's censorship, and citizen journalism increases, could the 2008 Olympics spell the end of China's great firewall?