The holiday season is all about giving and caring and all those warm and fuzzy feelings, but for the Humbugs, it’s a time to be grumpy, greedy and downright rude!

Zehnder Communications, an American design firm, is using Layar to bring their latest creation, the Humbugs, to life. These fun-hating killjoys are featured on a set of free printable paper Christmas tree ornaments that spring to life in all their nastiness when scanned with the Layar App.

“These crude-rude, seedy-greedy creatures slink about in mockery of this most joyous season. And now it’s time to take a stand,” Zehnder’s website declares. “This year, Zehnder has devised a new way of exposing the Humbugs by adding a little cheer to the holiday at their expense.”

You can even battle against the Humbugs in a side-scrolling adventure game! But the real fun comes from seeing the paper ornaments come to life when you scan them with the Layar App. Enjoy!

About Zhender: Zehnder Communications, a full-service advertising agency, was one of the first agencies in the U.S. to venture into Augmented Reality in 2009 with its Voodoo Music Experience app. The app, featured in Fast Company, was one of the first of its kind — innovative apps for brands like Sony and Disney parks soon followed. Zehnder serves clients across the country from its offices in Baton Rouge, Nashville, and New Orleans. The agency was founded in 1996.

As the end of the year approaches, so too does the cold and miserable weather of winter. When it’s wet, cold and gray, who wouldn’t rather be in a sunny, warm location by the beach? That’s the idea of the tourism department of Sarasota County, located on Florida’s Gulf Coast, which will be running ads this January in one of the more dreary winter cities, London.

But they’re not just any ads. They’re Augmented Reality (AR) ads, wrapped onto the sides of the city’s taxi cabs. Sarasota County has teamed up with Miles, a destination marketing agency from Sarasota, to create scannable AR taxi wrap ads that spring to life when scanned with the Layar App.

By scanning the taxis, users will see a minute-long 360-degree video of Siesta Key Beach and will be directed to the VisitSarasota.org website where they can learn more.

“It is imperative that we stay on top of the latest marketing trends in order to establish Sarasota County as the must experience destination on Florida’s Gulf Coast,” said Seana Mincy, Advertising Manager for Visit Sarasota County. “Incorporating interactive mobile technologies, such as Layar, into our advertising mix helps us remain on the cutting edge of our industry.”

The taxi ads will accompany promotional posters throughout London, including at airports, public transit stations, restaurants and more.

“We believe traditional media is an important part of a marketing strategy, not as the primary messenger, but more as a tool to drive visitors to the digital marketing components,” said Neal Alfano, Creative Director for Miles. “To help bridge the gap between traditional and digital media, Miles incorporates mobile technologies such as Layar in traditional advertising to provide instant gratification and delivery of content.”

Bzenia, a family-owned and operated luxury organic winemaker from the Czech city of Bzenec, recently teamed up with design agency Little Greta to add a bit of Augmented Reality flair to the company’s bottles.

As part of a project to refresh the label of Bzenia wine, Little Greta made use of Layar’s technology to enhance the label with interactive AR elements. Nicknamed “your personal sommelier” or the “genie in the bottle,” the added AR content allows customers to view a short video showing the winery owners sharing interesting trivia about each bottle’s unique contents.

To access the content, customers need only to scan the bottle’s label with the free Layar App, available for iOS and Android.

“The AR features have been commended by many of Bzenia’s customers, even to the point where Bzenia’s very own clientele requested AR to be featured on the bottles Bzenia produced exclusively for them as Christmas gifts,” said Little Greta. “Thanks to Layar, Bzenia was able to boost their sales and enhance its reputation as a technology pioneer among Czech wineries.”

To try it yourself, head on over to our client examples page and scan the bottle with the Layar App!

Earlier this year we told you about Popcards, a personalized Augmented Reality (AR) greeting card application custom built with Layar technology.

The app, available in U.S., allows anyone to create printed greeting cards that come to life with an AR video experience. The user can simultaneously take a photo and record a personal video. The photo is printed on the greeting card with a personal message. The greeting card can then be scanned using the same Popcards app, bringing the card magically to life.

For the holiday season, Popcards has partnered with the Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF) to donate $1 from each purchase to the charity. Based in the United States, the CCRF is dedicated to eliminating childhood cancer by funding leading-edge research in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure of childhood cancers and blood-related disorders.

“Children’s Cancer Research Fund is near and dear to my heart. As a stage 3 cancer survivor and a CCRF board member, I’m dedicated to helping children and families in their battle with cancer. Popcards is a fantastic new invention that helps people uniquely stay connected, and if it can help in the fight in any way, we are over the moon,” says Stephanie Hansen, Popcards Owner.

Popcards is an amazing example of the power of AR and how the Layar platform can be leveraged to create new, innovative mobile apps and experiences.