In all honesty, this isn't against Deuce or rules in general or anything, but I've never followed the limitations, because I've never understood them. There really is no point. I followed my heart, and my sense of humor. Obviously I mis-read the barometer for Sony POS, but even that turned into an even better clip because of it (or so I'm told ^^). There's no plot to follow to make a unification, there's no continuity with which to require a restriction, and all evidence through all AMV Hells and Salads have shown that audiences get less tired and bored when there's a variation in the content styles. I have a couple that follow the criteria, but they're not at the top of my list as ones I think are very amusing. So really I've gone by the same criteria for the last two and a half years, and that is "What is truly, unequivocally funny to me in the context of anime?" The end result seemed to have worked better than I'd hoped. In two years, I don't think I've made a clip that has 'missed' so to speak.
So in all honesty, if you're feeling restricted, just get rid of those restrictions and make the audience laugh. None of them signed on to be shown only ironic kid stuff alone. It's a very good direction to start in, since off-color irony is often very humorous, but once you've milked it for everything your imagination's given you, I'm of the belief it's good to let loose from then on. That, to me, was always the true beauty of the Hells and Salads and why I joined in the first place.
...then again, if AMVS4's restriction birthed the Geico money, then perhaps you should be restricted even more so that you can turn stone into gold with three weeks to a deadline like you did this year
As for the running gag, I think there could be some potential gold in the Old Spice commercials. They may be a bit too obvious, and footage is tough to think of for it... especially a horse... but I think if we are careful it could be done well.