The year in review—1964.

I mean, everyone has their list of the best and worst of 2007, why not change it up a little. So what happened to make 1964 memorable? Lots according to babyboomers.com:

1) The Beatles arrive in America.
2) First lung transplant takes place.
3) World’s Fair in NYC.
4) Elizabeth Taylor marries again, for the first time.
5) Gilligan’s Island premieres.
6) Anchorage, Alaska hit by massive earthquake.
7) Congress passes Gulf of Tonkin resolution allowing President Johnson to fight them over there before we have to fight them here.
8) Jimmy Hoffa convicted of fraud, conspiracy and jury tampering.
9) Cole Porter passes away.
10) Leonid Brezhnev replaces Soviet leader Khrushchev, ensuring the reign of ‘evs’ for the forseeable future.

Ronvertising 2.0.

Aka, “All you need is Ron?” I love crazy as much as anyone, I mean, this blog runs on it. But if Ron Paul wins? I’m movin’ to Canada. You must have seen these banners by now. At first glance, they look like someone tried to spray something over his name, but it’s the actual logo. And these things are appearing in the oddest places. I see two on I-287 in North Jersey in a pretty remote spot that look like monkeys hung them.

(And NO offence to street team monkeys. After all, any guerilla effort [ouch] fails if you don’t have people with the tenacity to pull it off.) But the love message seems odd because that’s not the vibe he’s giving off in his appearances. Now that I think of it, maybe that’s where that other as-stable-as-Britney presidential candidate Ross Perot went wrong. No blimp.

(Image via Ron’s street team.)

Tags: Ron Paul

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Congrats to the Pats.

Even though I hate them, and I know at 16-0 they’re not done yet, I was real tired of seeing that gang in Miami and their annual popping of the corks on ESPN.

As for the Giants? Folded like a cheap suit. “Senator, I knew Peyton Manning. Peyton Manning was a friend of mine, and you, sir, are no Peyton Manning."

Tags: Eli Manning, New England Patriots, Evil Knievel stunt bike

Exploit Your Curiosity with Kahlúa.

Sorry, I meant explore.

Tags: Kahlúa

Cleaning up after the holidays.

It’s Dutch. It makes you go wtf? And yet I watched it for a long time and typed in things to piss Santa off. (From Rhinofly.)

Coke’s big-ass family.

Just caught this Coke Side of Family spot. Until now, although I understood the Coke Side of Life theme, I didn’t really connect with it. But this made me think back to the classic “I’d Like to Teach The World to Sing...” because that’s how big this feels. What also makes the spot is the ‘move down’ gag that we all do at tables.

Tags: Coke Side of Family

The Chancellor of Basketball.

Money, it’s gotta be about the monuments, right? Check out this Nike sponsored Footlocker spot featuring Terry Crews as The Chancellor on Bestads.tv.

Tags: Footlocker

10 advertising questions.

A little year-end homage to James Lipton.

1. What is your favorite ad word? Zesty.
2. What is your least favorite ad word? Zesty. (It’s a love-hate thing.)
3. What ad or form of advertising turns you on? (Creatively, emotionally, etc.) I’m a sucker for a good PSA.
4. What ad or form of advertising turns you off? Any pharma.
5. What sound or noise in a commercial do you love? Growling dog.
6. What sound or noise in a commercial do you hate? Beer pouring in a radio spot. (Don’t know why, but hearing it in real life? No problem.)
7. What is your favorite curse word? Fuckers.
8. What profession other than your advertising would you like to attempt? Powerball winner.
9. What profession would you not like to do? Work for the DMV.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? I need to reschedule.

Fun with iTunes.

Tags: iTunes, iPod

What does that mean anyway.

“USED 100% GUARANTEED.” Does that mean the previous owner listened to every track before trading it in? Do we know for sure? And if they didn’t, then is it really used? I need answers.

Remembering when...

Smoking sizzled mister. Sizzled.

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We can go no lower in this business. No wonder lawyers and politicians get a higher ranking than the ad industry.

All you need is Luvs?

I mean, why stop there:

She Luvs you. What’s Luvs got to with it. What’s so funny ‘bout peace, Luvs and understanding? You can’t hurry Luvs. Interstate Luvs song. Accidently in Luvs. Luvs are like a rock–(Luvs can rock you, never stop you!) Whole lotta Luvs. How deep is your Luvs? Addicted to Luvs. Luvs^* will find a way. Luvs will keep us together. Your Luvs. (And when you upgrade to the next size, Bye Bye Luvs.) Pride in the name of Luvs. What The World Needs Now Is Luvs. Can’t help falling in Luvs. A groovy kind of Luvs. Luvs her madly. Sowing the seeds of Luvs. You give Luvs a bad name. I’m not in Luvs. The look of Luvs. It must have been Luvs. Tainted Luvs. Baby Luvs. Modern Luvs.

Yeah, you had enough.

(Update 1/22/08: I noticed that AdRants loved this as much as I did, albeit earlier this year.)

*I mean, a Pablo Cruise reference? I’m working overtime here.

Tags: Luvs

But wait, there’s more.

•• Yep, and pretty soon, even parents will plant messages in video games.
•• Click here for instant salvation.
•• And Sting once said he’d never Roxanne again either.
•• Is there anyone who doesn’t have a microsite?
•• Freaky sun.
•• OK, 3D U2.
•• Apple doing its part to kill theatres.
•• 2007’s best gadget ads for stuff you bought. Admit it.
•• The future of advertising.

What’s so funny ’bout peace, love and ... shopping?

Hey, why not work in Elvis Costello this holiday season while we’re at it. Don’t know why this bugs me, I mean, we help people sell things to people who don’t need them after all. At one point though is the holiday just a total joke? I thought Macy’s was bad, but this empty gift card I found from Old Navy at Tuesday’s scene of mass gift carnage takes the freakin cake.

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Tags: Old Navy

T-Mobile disconnects.

How could a brand that produced some of the funniest dialog-driven cell phone spots around come up short in this online series? Entourage Lite, aka connected, plays off their new Sidekick LX and the ‘sidekicks’ in this MTV Networks show. Yeah, I know the family plan crowd in the :30 spots is a different audience, but I’m not digging this series.

Homage is one thing, but Entourage works because Jeremy Piven’s fast talking Ari Gold drops F-bombs like nobody’s business and keeps things moving. None of his same charm, nor that of T-Mobile’s motivated realtor Ronnie Briskman is on display here. Still, I watched four episodes to see if maybe I was missing something. The scene with an agent and her ‘rock star turned actor’ client in Episode 4 was maybe the funniest thing I saw to that point.

Problem with the current branded content bandwagon–(BCB! Look at me coining phrases before the new year!)–is that it needs to work as a show first before anything else like a product mention. Drama, comedy, scifi. Whatever. Make it cool as hell. Otherwise, we should just go back to the days of network television and the infamous ‘Brought to you by...’ VO crap that sitcoms employed for years.

Maybe the current media-fragmented, disposable teen culture likes this watered-down stuff, I don’t know. Maybe brands are afraid of pushing the language past a PG rating? Maybe some brands just kick ass in :30 seconds and that’s it. Maybe I have too many high expectations.

Maybe I use maybe too much.

To be fair, the individual webisodes look like they generated some decent views, even though inconsistent from show to show. And no doubt T-Mobile will say they generated buzz. Hey, cool for them, really. Cool for the agency who made a shitload of money off this as well. But all I think I know is this: if as a brand, you keep putting your name on pale imitations of real content, all in the name of ‘engaging the consumer,’ there has to be a backlash at some point in terms of how those consumers perceive you.

Reason being is that those consumers already have the real shows to compare the knockoffs to. Unless it’s just a case of the ‘same old, same old’ being good enough. The underlying message sent though is that your product is just like everyone else’s. If that’s the case, what are you offering people that’s unique about you or your brand?

Tags: Entourage, Connected, Sidekicks LX

One of the best spots you never heard of this year.

Too late to get this one in before the year’s up? After watching this on ectoplasmosis for Herringbone Clothing, this may be one of the best I’ve seen this year. Brilliant. Amazing. Touching. Who’s to say, maybe a little of all three. While it uses the trick of the month disproportionate body parts thing, they really nailed the execution. Reports of its demise notwithstanding, and even if agencies do migrate from TV, the chance to do longer form content like this awaits. (Also worth noting is a clip someone on ecto mentioned featuring a similar affliction, albeit handled in a Benny Hill sorta way.)

Tags: Herringbone Clothing

Christvertising. Yeah, it’s new.

Sure, while you’re all kicking back after the ton of carbs you scoffed down, I’ve been out finding this stuff for you. Do I get any thanks? No. But I’m okay with that, really, I am. And after seeing this clip on Adverblog, all I want to know is whether the proprietary Brand Targeted Prayer Approach^™ system is in fact, tax deductable.

Feed the Pig

Spend too much this holiday? Good. Time to feed the pig again. Or, you can watch lessons on financial responsibility from the Ad Council and this Young & Rubicam work from last year that’s been running lately. Speaking of responsibility, whoever the CPAs are who’ve been coding the regular 360financialliteracy.org and AICPA sites need to step aside and let Y&R handle updates for those as well. Something that at least matches the fresher look of the Pig microsite.

Wyle E. Coyote — Chief Interruption Officer

Hj’s agency self-promo rant got me thinking. (He was referencing Danny’s take on agencies getting their own word out.) Just who would work at an Acme Marketing and what would their title be anyway.

Happy tomorrow.

(More Americana goodness here.)

No particular reason.

If you don’t deserve an award who does? These spots capture what it’s like every day, (even if you don’t enter the One Show).

Wednesday, I’m thinking this site fills up real quick, because everybody has one of these in their families.

Win one of Ellen’s blatant product placement-live ad things.

Dan the CD thinks simple thoughts. This is a good thing. He also has a podcast.

Peyton Manning breaks own commercial record in new Gatorade spot.

I think League of Clutch from Gatorade makes it now 192 career :30 spots. Freaking guy’s gonna need his own trading card with media stats just for all the promotional stuff he does. Using the eye candy flavor of the month technique with Ken Burns on steroids and blurred slo-mo stills, it’s a pretty compelling spot. Parts of it eventually break into full-motion, but the still-action thing was cool enough that I’d like to see the whole spot done that way.

Regardless, Gatorade spots always seem to be on par with Nike in how cinematic their stuff is. They have a website where you can get more fictitious inspirational wisdom from some of today’s supposed clutch players. Minor stuff but for all-time clutch, I’m taking Elway, and while the interface for each player does a nice revolve trick, half the profiles aren’t up yet. (Btw, bonus points for spotting the typo.) There’s also a MySpace where you can upload your own clutch moment in sports history^*.

UPDATE: See a spot on Agency Tart. In this Brave New YouTube World, I knew I shoulda waited a few hours because eventually someone was going to upload it.

*(If you can count the RBI double which I drove in during the agency softball game in July of 1996. This after swinging at the previous pitch so hard that I lost balance and fell down. Refusing to brush myself off, and dismissing the scorn, redicule and taunts of my coworkers, I dug in for what soon be my moment of glory. Yeah. That counts. I am so money.)

Tags: League of Clutch, Gatorade

Southwest wants you to Be More Productive.

Pretty good microsite called BeMoreProductive.com that pays homage to unproductive Web 2.0 offices everywhere, (although not everyone digs it). It has vid clips of various office work scenarios. First, it could be for any brand. Where is the branding other than one mention of their actual name buried in the legal section or the :30 spot leading you to the site? Considering that even though consumers have more entry points into a brand these days, you still need to connect the brand dots.

(Boredomhurts.com and the Algorithm campaigns teased, but once into their respective sites they came full circle back to their brands.) Here though, there’s no payoff that they’re the solution to an otherwise unproductive workday.) Second, the characters ham it up too much, bordering on the stereotypical comapny guy, bordering on Dell’s recent effort. But that’s more my own person preference. Parody and satire that plays it absolutely straight/real comes off funnier.

Tags: Southwest

Pharma that lowers the Barr.

Or Barr lowers pharma. Or raises it. You choose. Now here’s an elevator pitch: On the edge of a gunfight, two thieves bond over their girlfriends’ periods. Resulting in the soon to be classic line “She’s got her period” from the Barr Men of Action spot. Not sure if it’s:
1) Campy.
2) Funny.
3) An attempt to inject some humor into a category that doesn’t involve an animated bee?
4) A reprieve from the typical fair balance that takes up entire spots?
5) Two guys fresh from a stint in a Suzuki action flick working some stuff out?

Tags: Barr Pharma

Ricky Gervais’ gets PC about the disabled.

Just saw this spot from for the UK’s jobability.com. It drives home the point that people should be judged on ability, not their so-called disabilities. It’s a risky angle to come at it from as some people will do doubt be offended by some of the references in it. But that’s the point. Ricky Gervais’ David Brent (from the UK Office) voices those stereotypes as only he can and drives home the message.

Tags: jobability.com, Ricky Gervais

Last-minute 2007 advertising stocking stuffers.

Since opinions are like blogs and everyone has one, here’s some last-minute snark of the year that was. (I didn’t have time to wrap these, sorry.)

1) Echoed elsewhere, but please, go ahead and keep calling the storyboard ideas you pitch to clients virals. Doesn’t matter if the agency intern, the art director and the AEs end up being the only ones who’ll view it on YouTube, or that it won’t have the requisite 1.7 million views. All that matters among your five is that it’s a viral.

2) Even though 2008 is almost here, doesn’t mean you should stop putting www in urls.

3) When the client wants the creative to be the same no matter where it runs, (TV, print, outdoor, online, etc.), agree with them and tell them what an excellent way to repurpose content and keep the message consistent across all media.

4) If anyone ever asks about your interactive capabilities, tell them you have a blog and “it gets a lot of hits.”

5) At Web 2.0 seminars, you’re no longer an assistant project manager, be a director of consumer brand engagement and experience in the interactive space responsible for cross-channel optimization initiatives.

6) Remember, any PR is good PR. Always.

7) With Facebook, now you really are somebody important. Or at least connected to someone who is.

8) Creative budget cut? No problem. That cool microsite’s safe after all. Just charge more for media and take it out of there.

9) If the client asks “Don’t sites like MySpace have a problem with pervs and sex offenders?” Respond, “Yes, but only because our teen demo is there.”

10) So the brand did worse under your tenure after you brought in your own agency, followed by a drop in the stock price. To boot, you’re leaving with a golden parachute and a place in history–in your own mind at least. Because that’s what change agents do.

(Image found here.)

Ikea holiday hell.

So I had to run to that bastion of compressed Swedish particle board a few weeks ago, Ikea. No, not for a HEMNES, a EKTICKA or a GRUNDTAL. It was a MYSA MÅNE. (Don’t say a word.) One item. In and out and nobody gets hurt–except for a little thing called the Christmas shopping frenzy. Plan derailed as I stood in line for over 10 minutes to only move six feet. Since I didn’t have a camera handy at the time, I grabbed a pic from another Ikea. Trust me, the photo does not do the lines justice. Forget the self-checkout lanes. They’re clogged more than the arteries of a NASCAR fan–not that I’m profiling. People with carts holding 75 items, I don’t think so.

So why not have a few express lines for one item or less? (Okay, okay. I’m being a jerk. Two items or less. Happy?) Seriously though, if Ikea can innovate when it comes to meatballs and inexpensive kitchen cabinets, how hard can it be to work on the checkout process a little more and speed people through a little faster?

Tags: Ikea

A little more cheer for the holiday.

I just happened to notice these signs on the Tappan Zee yesterday in the holiday exodus from NYC and CT. (I was actually stuck on the bridge in 2003 while a jumper held things up, resulting in the installation of these signs and hotline phones.) Obviously, suicide prevention is a good thing and all, especially this time of year, but how loud is that conversation with traffic whizzing by.

Smell like Antonio Banderas.

See, I bring it for the ladies too, not just the guys. Guess the movie roles aren’t coming as often as he’d like. Antonio brings you Blue Seduction. For you. For him. For the world. Wait a sec. Turns out he’s really been busy. Maybe it’s not just a fad after all, not just another job in his spare time between acting gigs. I mean, how many fragrances can one actor have? Why can’t Carrot Top come out with his own?


Tags: Antonio Banderas Blue Seduction

Fred doesn’t do pink.

Why would you think he would? Aircraft carriers. Commies. Rogue generals taking over airports. Nah, a pink bracelet just won’t do mister. When it comes to fighting bad guys, wear what the pros wear: Fred Gear.

Tags: Fred Thompson, Fred Gear

Some pre-Holiday chill for y’all. Word.

“Yo Vanilla, kick it one time boyeeeeee!” From DJ V, the V-man, Ice Ice baby yo. (Tip to my boy on tha Mike. Word up representin’ again. Yo. To the V, er G.)

Tags: Vanilla Ice

Smell like Shania for the holidays.

Just in time. I was worried about what to put on since my Axe is running low. How Unforgivable of me if I ran out. (From Brands|Bands|Fans.) Although, Axe could put out a knockoff to compete with this musician fragrance trend:

Roadie^™–Because why should lead singers get all the action.

Tags: Shania Starlight, Shania Twain

Just keep him away from helicopters.

I hate this kid. 8-years old?

Duh da duh duh da:
Brushed my teeth and had to get to bed by nine.
Duh da duh duh da:
Had to get up early for school but you know I don’t mind.
Duh da duh duh da:
Teacher said son, why you always goin around and wearin’ them dark shades?
Duh da duh duh da:
I just looked at her and said ’cuz my women don’t care about grades.

But you know it’s hard...so, so hard.

Tags: Little little Stevie Ray

Jackass 2.5–so you don’t have to.

I report–you decide. Okay, so you can watch the new Jackass 2.5 at Blockbuster here for free. Forget the review, it’s more of the same stuff you love or hate with them. Like reality TV, it’s immune to any writers’ strike: no script needed. Problem wasn’t the stunts though, it’s the streaming technology they used to play the movie: Microsoft’s Silverlight. Twice I had to restart the movie from the beginning because the audio was out of sync in Firefox. (Couldn’t pick up where you left off either on reload.)

While the picture looked clear enough, Blockbuster needs to get this worked out if they plan on competing in the online film space. Yeah the flick was free after registering your email, and I sound like a customer who complains about a bad steak yet still eats the whole thing, but if I had to pay $3.99 for their regular service? No way.

Blockbuster just did more in one film to convince me not to try it.

Why do developers insist on coming up with proprietary applications that are only 75% ready, release them as ‘Beta’ and then try and go for the IPO lottery? (Yeah, I know this is a MS product so they aren’t trying to do the IPO thing), but it highlights a developer mindset pervasive in the industry: let’s get something out there, anything, even if it’s not ready, and we’ll fix it later.

Geek squad: chicks would dig you more if you just made sure the apps worked better first.

Sucks for viewers because they have no other choice yet on how they stream it. What about QuickTime though? Even Flash. YouTube already uses it as the basis for their clips. It works. 987 billion uploaders of high school fight vids can’t be wrong. Why would Paramount take a chance on it’s first foray into the online streaming thing by using an unproven, unreliable tech on such a widespread basis right from the start?

Probably a moot point soon enough as someone either hacks the site or tapes the movie and posts it on YouTube.

Tags: Jackass 2.5, Microsoft Silverlight, Blockbuster, Paramount

Facebook nails that whole targeted ads thing.

I bring it all to you, the American working people, because that’s who I am, and that’s who I care about. Now, this is in NO way a slight at disabled people who want to date. Quite the opposite, I thought it was a pretty cool looking ad leading to a clip on dating for people regardless of their physical limitations, and an even more honest site. (Some dialog definitely NSFW, at least in the clip I saw.)

The problem is that this is yet another ad on Facebook that has zero relevance to my life other than providing snark material for this blog. Hey, wait a minute, come to think of it, I have found all these seemingly unconnected ads though. Maybe the $95 billion owner-operator kid does get that whole targeted ad thing after all. I mean, who else but me would use an ad for zits, high performance fuel injection kits and a dating service for those touched by disability? Sorry for ever doubting you Mark.

Tags: disaboom

There’s something you never see:

A climbing metaphor in a financial ad.


(Editor’s note: This will be a semi-regular new feature here. Maybe not if it sucks. ‘Editor’–yeah, right.)

Puma hires GM’s suicidal robot.

When we last left our little robotic friend during the Super Bowl, things didn’t look good. Happy to report though that he’s caught on with Puma for their very cool holiday website. Although he’s probably making no more than an 8-year old in the same position, it’s good to see he’s at least warm and dry now. And happier. Yes, happier. (Via Dazed Digital.)

Tags: Puma

Because two billion doormen
can’t be wrong?

Tattoo Santa and other holiday greetings.

I haven’t really gotten the spirit this year, sometimes posting some of the self-promo things I’ve seen, but the big boys like AdRants, AdFreak and so on have ya covered. .•. Anyway, saw this on Eric Shoemaker’s blog for R/GA’s take on the holiday season. Cool stuff. Pick it. Ink it. Send it. .•. Darryl and my Plaid friends getting in the musical spirit for one of their clients. .•. If you like, take a bite out of the holidays with this cheery thought from Bray Leino. .•. But as far as thoughts of peace go, I still go back to this compelling spot from Brew last year. .•. Or maybe, just go wrap some gifts for kitty.

A campaign of real beauty? Or really old.

Okay, the Dove play aside, I saw this pic on Drudge yesterday and had to comment. It’s gotten some attention in political talk circles, mostly among the Limbaugh crowd and other hate radio ilk. It goes to the issue of just what is it we will accept in terms of image.

At first glance, it’s yet another typical Drudge move where he runs an image of a leading Democratic candidate at their inopportune worst, then leads with it. 10 gajillion views later, a bell you can’t unring, a campaign now affected as people view her in an old light.

(In reality, I think all it does eventually is cement opinions on both sides: those who hated her just got more ammo, while her supporters will no doubt sympathize with her because of that bush league move by Drudge. And if she’s as shrewd as is reported, she’ll use this to her advantage.)

In the bigger scheme of things though, the media has to recognize the effect it has. Drudge did. Certainly Rush bringing it up ‘innocently’ and then claiming he was merely raising an issue we all think about knows it affects things. It was a calculated move to seize the moment, play off a bad photo and fire a shot broadside in support of his party–no pun intended. Even though most of that kind of talk radio distances itself from the regular media, they all swim in the same ocean.

Problem is, what candidate doesn’t have an outtake moment in them. Bush’s finger, Reagan’s “bomb Russia” comment. Dukakis and that damn tank. Spacesuit Kerry. Maybe because a woman is in the mix that this becomes a perfect storm: vanity, politics and the media. If so, where does it end?

Do we knock Rudy and his lisp? McCain and Thompson and how they come off more as grandfathers than presidents? Edwards and his perfect form over function? Mitt’s? As real beauty goes, Maragret Thatcher was no Jessica Simpson, but she knew how to run a country. Does that matter though?

Does age matter more here because we’re talking about a woman and we happen to see a few flaws?


Tags: Hillary Clinton

Dove Beauty goes to the theatre now.

The Dove Monologues? First Evolution, then Onslaught, now comes word from culture-buzz.com that they’re doing a play. Although auditions are over, production has begun and will once again challenge our notions of beauty. On one hand, from a branding POV, it’s cool to see how content is now integrating with other media and entertainment, Walmartopia notwithstanding, but Dove is still controlling the message again.

Why not though let bitter ad folk-bloggers get the word out for the audition process? Seems to me if you want to affect change, you start with the media unless that wouldn’t allow them total control. Where we’re headed: real beauty feature-length film. It’s fertile ground. Sodeburgh’s done it using real people as actors. Even friend of the show Crispin Glover walked the walk and used actors with Down Syndrome.

Tags: Onslaught, Evolution, Dove

Weekly what the...?

Father Time redefining WWT? Word.
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Dogma dashboard Jesus.
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The Beatles rock New Delhi.
(Thanx BB.)
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Kim Jong II, Mr. Internets.
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Carhenge.
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Pope makeover.
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Giant jellyfish.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
craigslist ad of the week.
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LEAVE SANTA ALONE! The Santa Sessions.

“That’s not how I wrote it” is just one memorable quote in this clip of an all too familiar scene for those who’ve done VO sessions. Thanks to Tim on bad banana. Witness too how there’s no shortage of ‘experts’ in the room either.

Tags: The Santa Sessions

The dancing skelton is your friend.

It’s retro vectro dancing animation party time. Like the OJ car chase, you want to look away, but can’t. This clip called kokiriko bushi has a bunch of stuff going on, from old vector sfx to collage to the Adams Family’s Thing x 20.

Tags: kokiriko bushi

Fly the friendly sighs with Spirit Air.

Spirit Air sure loves their promotions that start with M. Found on World of Wonder is another one called Many Islands, Low Fares, which offers discounts to Caribbean destinations. About the campaign, a BU marketing prof was quoted as saying:

“Maybe these guys crossed the line, but what most people are going to think is, ‘Cheap flights, warm islands, count me in.’”

Yeeeeah, right.That’s not the first thing they’ll think of. It does get attention though. While I think the concept’s funny, Spirit acting innocent is a little disingenuous. People might not expect a public confession, but at least don’t insult them by telling them you had no idea. Not even the illustrator you hired for the map believes that one.

Tags: Many Islands, Low Fares, Spirit Air

The Electric Church wil save you.

Book promotion doesn’t always have to be done the same old hacky big-ass movie quote way. The Electric Church is a website in support of the book by the same name that’s a nice change of pace. At first, it’s very much like wtf is this thing I’ve stumbled across, until you start exploring. Chat with creepy Saw guy. Join their church too. You can also read more about the author Jeff Somers and the book here. (Hat tip to Zeke.)

Tags: The Electric Church

Get baked with Jamie Lee Curtis.

I’ve heard of this gateway dish called lasagna before, but I didn’t know how rampant its abuse was becoming. (On the street, it goes by L or Lag.) This radio spot called Lasagna, from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia, highlights the positive effects of having dinner as a family to offset the deadly ravages of this growing epidemic. Remember, kids, we can kill two birds with one stone here: just say no to seconds.

Tags: Jamie Lee Curtis, CASA