Dinosaurs Attack!

Happy Halloween via Nerdcore. Topps produced a series of dinosaur trading cards which never took off. (Maybe because there were no dinosaurs around to trade them.) Check out the rest, the rights to which are now owned by Tim Burton. Cue Ray Harryhausen flashback at some point?

Apple bites.

Saw an Ad Age piece on how Microsoft is taking on Apple at retail. AS FIRST REPORTED HERE. (Well, okay, it was more like photo of an unfinished Windows Cafe in Paris.) But it reminded me of Apple’s presence in Best Buy last time I was there. I can see the argument for Apple to extend their front into PC territory, and so trying to catch some of the overflow traffic from the PC section in Best Buy addresses that.

This is different from being in CompUSA retail locations when they were all over the country and Apple was selling through them. (They still have 27 brick and mortar stores.) Then, the expectation fit because it was strictly computers.

When you see it Best Buy though, you can’t help but wonder if it doesn’t dilute the Mac experience a little to be in that big box environment with washers and dryers. That image is not from the location I was at, but would’ve like to see Apple retain it’s bright color scheme and stand out against the heavier black and blue of most Best Buy locations.

Besides, I think a different type of shopper is hitting Apple than Best Buy. Look at the shoppers in that picture. Not quite who hits up an Apple location. Not that I’m judging. Much. Sure, you have some of the flip-flop and t-shirt crowd that wonders into real Apple stores, but the pristine matte aluminum environment washes away all customer sins. Not so at Best Buy where all are welcome. I said “all.”

The staff didn’t feel very Apple-like either. In a regular store, you have several Mac Experts floating around, and they’re easy to spot. While it’s impossible to replicate Apple’s retail experience completely (like having an appointment scheduled at the genius bar), I just wonder if the push into Best Buy takes a little luster off the... bite out of... (insert other cliché please).

(Image)

What’s changed.

I read this. Then I read this. Then I tried to figure out what’s changed in 40 years. I hadn’t known much about Harry Webber until these past few years. It’s clear the industry that praises buzz and getting attention for its clients doesn’t like someone who speaks out. That the many classic lines he wrote doesn’t allow him any sort of creative immunity even now explains a lot.

Epic local.

Where “I don’t care” is the new...

(Via Jetpacks.)

Art, or political statement?

Why not both! (At least he didn’t let the flag touch the ground?) Street artist Saber rattling people with his entry into the Health Reform Video Challenge contest. While several “flag burning” amendments have made it as far as the Senate, descretation of the U.S. flag is protected speech under the First Amendment.

The problem with the video is that it's just not that good, and blows the message with sloppy execution. The point he’s trying to make by using life support sound effects doesn’t have anything to do with the visual. Slow fading death with progressive writing that you could actually read would’ve worked better, not the helter skelter mess going on.

Let’s terminate subtitles.

Caught this clip that was in a doc on digital rights in today's culture and wanted to post it. Killing two birds with one subtitle: Priceless!

But wait, there’s more.

- Nude model global warming!
- AdPulp goes Hogshead wild.
- Forget Phoenix, apply to college via Twitter.
- Charles Rangeled.
- BFB.
- Think Different, wait longer.
- “That one looks like a smile.”
- Yahoo puts the you somewhere else.
- “Spooning can be romantic.”
- $4 billion dollar Nook.
- Crowdsource, LLC.
- All things are possible.

AdVerve - Episode 3 - Socially Inept.

And a blog. Yep. Got a place to house the show. While I’ll post new episodes here, they’ll be all in one place there for twice the fun. I said twice.

On this episode, social media gurus, Thought Leaders™ and whatever else you call them. Instead of the established players, we brought in two relatively unknowns to lend a different perspective. Social media strategist Len Kendall from 3six5.com Project joins user experience designer, content strategist and marketing optimization consultant Robert Gorell. Discussion ensues!

Other topics include a brand aid segment with Home Depot, Netflix and Microsoft Windows.

4:48 – intro
38:04 – brand aid
1:05:53 – wrap

Download the show directly here.

Or subscribe via iTunes:

Next item on the to-do: A newsletter for listeners. Send questions, comments or requests for newsletter inclusion to advervepodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.

The Cult of Mac.

The one thing Hulu does do well is offer full-length docs in a way YouTube doesn’t (yet). One of them, called MacHeads, takes a look at the cult of Cupertino. It does a great job of portraying Mac users as a bunch of iGod zombies in much the saem way PC users are regarded as mindless drones. It’s under an hour, but watch it less for the moments of Mac nerdness and more for its approach to marketing in the early days.

Best diner location ever.

I would fly there to eat there.

In times like these, nobody profits better...

Than Drudge Report. (I know where I’ll be when the bombs start raining down.) And when I have an end of world product to hawk, I’m buying space on Drudge. What good’s having a bunker if you can’t drive traffic to it!

Windows 7 on Family Guy? Oh, that’s EPIC!

Wait. What? No?

Oh.

Sokay, Microsft backed out of the Family Guy/Seth MacFarlane deal and ad blogs are abuzz. Abuzz I say over talk of Holocaust jokes. I’ve seen various responses from Microsoft is blowing it to Crispin ran out of ideas to have to resort to a tie-in like that. (Hmmm, not sure about that. A lot of brands are going the integrated/product placement/branded contenet route. If you’re going to fault Crispin for that, then go after Unilever and other brands for doing exactly the same thing.)

But the only thing I can think to say that hasn’t been said is that it seems Microsoft is just making it easy for Apple whenever they do stuff like this. Why not focus on building a stable platform so Apple can’t attack it in ads. Go ahead and do the tie-in that your consumers would find funny, seeing how a lot of them watch the show. You can bet the kids in the laptops for $600 spots watch it.

The other thing here actually allows me to work in a shameless plug for the next episode of AdVerve. This week, Angela and I talk about social media guruism. Ad blogs aren’t the only ones abuzz over the Family Guy deal either. Right now, armchair social media gurus are furiously blogging away about how Microsoft missed an opportunity to engage in conversation, or how they’ve now created a bigger PR mess for themselves. A transparent mess I say.

(I’m not defending Microsoft, but one thing you won’t see the Twitterazzi mention is that maybe this simply is an example of a client that may not be aligned with a certain creative direction, because that’s just how they’re wired. No amount of social media outrage outreach will change that.

What we discuss on the show is how this is really the only way someone in social media can show anything tangible that they’ve done. Instead of a portfolio of work, they have case studies on a blog about what Brand X shoulda, woulda and coulda done.

So tune in, ya’ social media guru freaks!

Nope.

When I saw this spot, I loved it. Gorgeous shots. Nice suspenseful build. The flow is right, what it’s going for. All of it. Then I saw the creatives talking about what they said it was about and I felt a little disconnect.

Who knows better than them what’s in their head, right? I wasn’t there and all that. But their rational straight up doesn’t seem to match the spot I watched, nor does it seem to fit with what the athletes are saying relative to competing. The actual game may be a reward for the practices put in, but that feels like a stretch, and incidental to the idea I see.

It’s less about breaking down and more about motivating. If you’ve played any team sports or worked out on your own, it’s working hard and putting up with the anger of sport when things don’t go your way. It’s digging deep to make it through shitty practices, scrimmages and workouts when you don’t want to.

There’s something else about this spot too which the rest of Jordan’s Nike offshoot Jumpman brand suffers from. It’s probably a small thing, but they tend to make some emotional spots which are then ruined by the addition of motivational hyperbole at the end. The brand needs to learn from Big Brother Swoosh and just close with a simple silo of the logo. I got what this spot was about in :10 seconds without needing copy to tell me how I felt.

I’m sorry, what? For pharma?

Now they’re just messing with me. The Nuvaring spot is up for a Clio. The one that started as a poorly animated spot, then was reborn as live-action the next time out. That Nuvaring? The Nuvaring allegedly responsible for several deaths due to heart-attack Nuvaring?

Since there’s now a Clio Awards for pharma, excuse me “healthcare,” why not just have one for FSIs while we’re at it. (Save the date and save your emails because I know a lot of amazingly smart people who work in pharma, so this isn’t a dig at all creatives in that area of the biz.)

However, awarding what is essentially an account-driven/managed/stomped/product-recalled segment of the industry “that’s different from other products” kills me. (Actually, it kills others because the FDA appears to have a problem with brands rushing products to market thanks to lobbyists.)

That one nomination says all I need to know about the current state of award shows though. Because now you’re just awarding the best of the rest in a category that legitimately deserves no respect. It’s a creative black hole because no good ideas escape from brainstorms.

Name one other category in advertising where the creative work is as driven by the regulations placed on it (which also have to appear in the same ads).

Drink responsibly? Still doesn’t keep Bud from doing good work. “Past performance is not indicative of future results?” Financial ads may be as mundane and boring as pharma, but not even they are as restrictive. Until you change the regulations to open up things, creative awards at this juncture are meaningless.

Go award a shop in Canada where they have different rules, but here? A Clio for something with two pages of fair balance is a joke. Based on that criteria, then Yaz would clean up at Cannes. (Even with their wrist-slap from the FDA for misleading claims, they’d still qualify, no?)

Wanna give a creative in pharma an award? Give them one for coming up with 75 boards that the account group “doesn’t quite get,” and who then butt heads with the CD over the themes of “Power” and “Control.”

And that’s also before the $225 a ticket. Yikes. See, if I was “leading the way” I’d donate all proceeds to a needy family that doesn’t have health insurance. (Or a freelancer.)

If, you know, I wanted to do something that had “impact” and “broke through the clutter.” That way, I could then nominate myself in the self-promotion category. What, they don’t have that?

Maybe next year—there’s time to add it in.

U2ube schools Hulu.

On a weekend when Hulu was speaking/not speaking out of turn regarding their future plans for charging it’s viewers, 800 lb gorilla YouTube looks like they took the next step to elevating their game with a free concert from U2, live from The Rose Bowl in Pasadena. (Watch the replay here.)

First, from a technical point of view, they nailed it. Bono may have been off in places with his singing, and the band has sounded better on some songs in other live events, but over the 2.5 hours of listening I did, I counted only one gap in the actual audio feed. There were more problems with Bono’s mics cutting out than with any bandwidth issue.

The quality of the streaming video was equally good. Sure, it pixelated somewhat if you enlarged your screen, but, um, just don’t enlarge your screen then. (Credit also to the director and producers for some really good camera angles and a nice pace to the cuts, especially for a live event of that size.)

Now, on to Hulu and the real issue.

This might be an oversimplification, but I view YouTube as still very much the Wild West when it comes to content. Yes, more and more, they’re policing the material that violates copyrights, but the billion daily views it gets is basically composed of the net’s unfiltered B-roll.

Hulu seems to be content being the official rerun channel. They’ve focused on making deals with networks and movie studios in this regard, even though they have a problem with the latter and available movies: They’re not that good nor is there a huge choice for users.

Where I think YouTube just leaped ahead is by doing what I think will make up for any studio deals Hulu seems to be taking a pass on: Live events.

Numbers will probably take a day to sort out, but the YouTube page that streamed the show got 1.3 million views and 84,000 subscriptions at the time of the show. In the 12 hours that followed, the numbers became 6.9 million and 90,800+ respectively. (10 thousand subscribers joined the page over the course of the show from what I saw.) They also had links to the album/songs on iTunes as well as Facebook and Twitter integration.

While having a mega-band like U2 as your headliner is a slam dunk, you can’t always get Bono. still, there’s something that could work on YouTune or everyone’s favorite social network whipping boy: MySpace. It’s the unofficial record label for teen angst rock, much of it amateurish.

But why hasn’t anybody figured out a way to live-stream the countless bands there? A virtual nightclub/affiliate network if you will. Create a service for all bands to sign up for. Or maybe they have other plans.

There’s a couple of other things at work here too.

Hulu can position itself all it wants to try and be an outlet for the networks who need a place to double dip on advertisers (sell them time when the show first runs then hit them again on the net), but they won’t be the only service to do this for long. Not unless they lock up all the content the way iTunes tried with the record labels. Even so, Last.fm and others have now found their way in and want a piece.

The way forward is original programming, the way HBO got its foot in the broadcast door years ago. And a live free concert from a major band is a good place to start. Will future shows be free? Probably not, because we’re still in the early stages of a transition phase from free > paid content that hasn’t worked itself out yet.

But consider a series of global concerts that you couldn’t get to in any other way but watching them on YouTube. Wouldn’t you pay $1 to see one? Instead of needing to fill a stadium full of 100,000 people at an average ticket price of $40 ($4 million in revenue), bands could be happy with even five million views at $1 per, then they could play smaller venues.

Maybe an à la carte deal with x amount of concerts available per subscription (at rates far below Pay-Per-View).

I raised the issue of causes only because U2’s use of them is integral to their dynamic. While it seems like I’m undermining the argument of commercial-free vs. sponsored content, well U2 brought it up by making it part of their show.

Half-joking, you might not want to pay a buck for an episode of 24 if it ran Pepsi spots, but you might consider Bono’s push for his One initiative if it helped people. And if more bands charged micropayments for their shows, wouldn’t there be an economy of scale occurring?

I’m probably getting ahead of myself though.

Rerun channels like Hulu serve a purpose for the time-shifted challenged among us who would prefer to “Catch it online,” but that’s not a unique enough draw unless Hulu can do some of the things I outlined above.

For now, I’ll take live U2 concerts over reruns of The Office.

Where slogans go to die?

The intellectual property section of most legal sections on brand websites? Yep, sometimes. “You Want Fiber, Eat a Sweater” was from a Wendy’s campaign a decade ago, courtesy of BurgerBusiness. While a lot of the lines were probably for in-house functions, it’s still a nice collection of the phrases Wendy’s has trademarked over the years.

Even better is how interchangeable many of the lines are with other competing brands in the category. Like McDonald’s Is Your Kind of Place.

Others can be found at The United States Patent and Trademark Office:

Budweiser Fiesta Musical is available.

Pepsi in the morning wasn’t renewed? But it dovetails so nicely with Peopleofwalmart.com.

The best Sears of your life.

Hulu to charge for content.

No shock there. (Hulu has since responded.) Instead of some deep analysis though, I’ll let the comments on the article speak for themselves if this is really something they’re considering:

“I use Hulu almost everyday. I can tell you for certain that I’ll just go back to downloading all my shows on bittorrents if they charge. I'll be damned if I pay for shows and still have to watch commercials. That’s why I don’t have cable...”

.................

“Yep, bye bye hulu.”

.................

“Forget it Hulu. I’m not gonna pay, and I doubt many others will. If you want to reduce your user numbers to a fraction of what you have today, then go ahead with this idiotic move. I for one will head elsewhere.”

.................

“Yeah. I don’t pay TV cable for that exact reason, I don’t wanna pay and still have to watch commercials. I’d certainly go back to torrent stuff if they start charging. I didn’t even hate their commercials, they are really unobtrusive, but I definitelly won't pay for that.”

Bursting with love.

FREE! $2 Off! New! Improved! What FSI or package would be complete without a designer’s favorite graphic device, The Burst™ (or violator, if that’s how you roll). Box Vox put together a pretty extensive collection of the history of the burst. Was it an explosion that inspired someone to create that shape? Who knows, but they’ve been around longer than TV. Damn that’s a lot of bursts.

Vogue cover, or Disney sci-fi movie poster. DIscuss!

At the rate Vogue is going, models will be down to modeling spines anyway, so this isn’t too far off the mark. But fooled ya! It’s from a series of promo posters for Disney’s latest The Surrogates (with Bruce Willis).

VW vs. Detroit—Selling cars, 3.0.

I guess this is the provocative advertising Chrysler talked about? I saw a few things today that brought to light the divide between old and new mindsets relative to the marketing of the auto industry. The first involves the Buy American selling prop which is currently dying hard at my local Pontiac Dodge dealer above. Irony ensues. Over the summer, there was the previous “innovation” from GM and their eBay auction in California.

Then I saw where Volkswagen is going to be the first auto manufacturer to introduce a new model (2010 GTI) via the Real Racing GTI mobile app. (Screen grab here.) Cool idea to appeal to gamer crowd by going after them with... games. While eBay auction may seem hokey, at least it’s trying to do something to disrupt the traditional dealer > consumer purchase cycle.

Six gamers at random over six weeks will each win an exclusive MkVIs based on how they do in the gaming competition. buyers will also be able to configure their vehicles, modeled after the six prize cars, at participating Volkswagen dealerships throughout the U.S.

While I hate marketing speak, it fits in this case:

“The GTI customer is a tech-savvy consumer who enjoys social networking, playing games and spending time on mobile devices – most often an iPhone. Launching the all-new 2010 GTI via the Real Racing GTI App allows us to connect with this savvy GTI consumer within his or her everyday life in a way that no 30-second spot ever could.”

Cars via mobile phone? Definitely more innovative than another ad campaign filmed on location in a desert.

Dead guy in a little coat.

I’m glad Tim posted this. I had the same reaction of “Oooooh.” Feels wrong. But not just for the dead movie star thing, but because apparently Spade’s overcome his not wanting to talk about Farley’s death. Long as the check clears I guess.

This time it’s gonna be different.

Mac continues its relentless shooting down upon the Windows 7 unit from an elevated position. It feels maybe like it’s a little too self-serving, even for Mac though. This is the equivalent of a :20 second timeout to slow the momentum of the other team when they get on a run. Thing is, Mac doesn’t even need spots like this, or Teeter Tottering, or PC News. Windows will take care of things all by itself. Trust me.

Does Google need to advertise?

This is a billboard for Google’s apps to make your life better. All I go back to is this: Amazon, eBay and Google are a few of the dot.com brands that started and blew up without the help of traditional media like TV behind it. Granted, it’s not a major consumer push across all media channels, but is Google this threatened by Bing and Yahoo? Maybe they feel they need to stay ahead of the curve.

Do that with innovation in development, not advertising though. That’s the approach Microsoft seems to take with their better products through advertising mindset. Google is function and minimalist form, almost on par with Apple, but Apple has a more human feel and vibe to its advertising. I wish there was some of that here, but practical and simple at least doesn’t stray from what Google is.

So, do they need to advertise? Because you know what happens when you don’t advertise: You invent the category you dominate.

AdVerve - Episode 2

We’re on iTunes now. Subscribe here. (The show will be searchable there in 1-2 days, but otherwise, it’s live now.)

Episode two covers a lot of ground and is different than the first one on race, for sure. You can also download the latest episode directly here. Topics include:

00:04 – Off-limits.
05:20 – Approach to the show.
13:30 – 10 for 10.
42:22 – Keeping PR away from social media.
49:45 – Smaller agencies want a bigger piece.
54:09 – That’s a wrap.

We also manage to work in French porn and Godzilla.

Next up is a blog to house it all. I burned too much time with Tumblr, Posterous and Mevio last night just to discover that a blog will probably end up being the best solution. (Tumblr doesn’t allow comments. I’m not gonna email the show files to myself from Posterous, and Mevio, while cool, has way too much other shit.)

Email us complaints or love to advervepodcast@gmail.com.

A simple idea from Levi’s.

Not just for Levi’s, but this is one of those simple ideas that just makes sense. Instead of chucking your old Levi’s, donate that shit youngins. Starting In January 2010, Levi’s care tags in their jeans will carry a simple message encouraging people to donate the item to Goodwill when done with it. That’s a cool idea. (Don’t worry, BBDO West has viral videos in the works to support the campaign lest you thought that’s all there was.)

The rez they live on.

How much Native American stuff gets covered in the press? Not much. (Like I’m “the press.”) The rez we live on is designed to dispel the myths people believe about the culture of American Indians. Montana's Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) produced the work to reach out to all generations, not just the kids these daze. (Hey, why not. If GM can dispel myths about cars.) What’s cool about the work is the simplicity of the animation that gets the point(s) across, which is better than most charts and decks I’ve seen in a long time. Click on the talking faces on the main page and it leads into discussions of the same topics.

Enjoy the go? Then take home $10,000.

Enjoy the Go? I’m having trouble going... beyond that title for Charmin’s latest contest.

“To be the best.”

There are more than a few cringe-worthy moments in this 25-year old spot for Chrysler with back from the brink master Lee Iacocca. Like comparing Dodge Lancer to BMW, or the notion that we’ll beat the Japanese at their own game. (Wondering which game that is by the way, the one where they take our production methods and make something, faster, better and cheaper?) But give Lee some credit for focusing on product. I mean what else is there, focusing on making your advertising provocative? Oh, yeah. Maybe that’s it.

The production value? Surprisingly good!

Super Marty indeed.

Chase’s WTC tribute.

Not only can you be a shining star with paint, but now you can rock the world of withdrawls. No, it doesn’t remind me of anything in particular. Why?

Diversity IS our strength. AND yours.

It’s about Mexicans and wigs. Watch and learn kids.

(Via aNYthing glob.)

“Now, in a time before...”

The voices you know, the faces you don’t. This old Five Guys clip above puts a face to some of the most famous voiceover talent you’ve heard forever. With the late Don LaFontaine, John Leader, Al Chalk, Mark Elliot and Nick Tate.

But wait, there’s more! Here are a few more from TV and the movies. (The second half of the clip covers Latin voiceover artists.)



Then there’s Mark Elliot, the voice of Disney. Ernie Anderson, the classic voice of ABC News. Then there was the best damn voice in political attack spots, the late Betsy Ames. Saving one of the best for last, which actually, is wrong. It’s not about “best” as it is distinctive because all these voices are unique.

But Peter Thomas of Whopper Freakout fame is probably one of my favorites. Dude’s done everything. It’s a shame the talent in commercials don’t have their name credited more.

(Some of the voice clips found via.)

iWish Droid luck.

While it hasn’t been released yet, the Verizon-enabled Droid seeks to take on the iPhone. After watching the commercial go from peppy, upbeat Mac-like minimalist chic to I Am Legend creepiness, all it has to do now is... go out and do what it says. Another* David goes after Goliath with a positioning based on what Goliath can’t do. While hoping to gain some AT&T haters, that may not be enough.

If customer complaints are any indication, Apple’s partnership with AT&T may be the biggest mistake Jobs made with the iPhone, but that can change. Apple hates competition, and even though they chose AT&T as their exclusive U.S. carrier, AT&T offers the Blackberry with Windows Mobile software. You can argue this might be a non-issue, but you’re not iGod. How long before Cupertino looks for a new wireless carrier?

But must-have features are a little harder to get right. Is it enough to be first anymore? Probably not, even though the iPhone name is perfect in retrospect. When you create what others play off of, you already win. Cool matters too. (Cheaper helps too, but cool seals the deal.) To that end, what iDo see is a video on YouTube with 4.5 million views from a community inspired by the cool Jobs builds into his designs. Apple’s stuff feels natural, organic, right.

Not robotic, like a... Droid.

* Dell plans to release their iPhone challenger using Google’s Android operating system in early 2010.

A Monopoly on crappy work.

Well, if you hate the Giants, then listen to a podcast today! This week’s Beancast is up early since we recorded Saturday amidst the sounds of gas-powered weed whackers. Good times! More other stuff we covered? The post-Hadji interview, Lowe’s merger and the FTC blogger guideline fallout where I effing stammered my way through. Attending this aural banquet were John Wall and Angela Natividad. Download the show directly here. (The topics are here.) You can also follow us on Twitter: TheBeanCast, mtlb, John and Angela.

Tags: The Beancast

Anatomy of a slogan.

In my quest to find local greatness, Fred from Tires and Wheels is making some noise. It’s some of his early work, a bit unfocused, but hinting at things to come. It’s here you can see the humble beginnings of a slogan take shape, even if it has nothing to do with anything. “We’ll do the damn thing” could be for a contractor as much as as anyone. But I like Fred. He’s Bob, but scrappier. He looks like he would knock Bob the hell out. In times like these, you need a slogan you can trust, and Fred’s the man.

This is part of the problem with awkward slogans in local spots though: When business takes off and the company becomes a regional player, the slogan remains. They become part of the “brand” experience. Annoying, but endearing too. When Bob walked away from “Come on down!” the ads lacked something. This is Private Joker’s duality of local advertising. People remember tacky, but often times an agency tries to evolve tacky into almost tasteful.

However, people still perceive your product as cheap inexpensive because that’s what you conditioned them to do. Better that Bob tone down* the delivery of his “money shot” phrase. Change your crappy logo, fine. But a catch phrase people recognize delivered by a scrappy owner? Gold baby, gold!

*Do I have any info on a correlation between a decline in sales and when the different spots ran? Absolutely not. You’ll have to ask Bob. I suspect though that the crowd who’s only willing to spend $399 on a 12-piece living room set doesn’t really care what the ad says.

Rebranding potatoes.

Change perceptions, or, the perception of change. Great talk from Rory Sutherland at TED via Hee-Haw Marketing. It highlights the difference between work that’s crowdsourced (or user-generated) and agency-created. Someone posting this doesn’t need to think about changing anything.

Maybe we’ll get Huey Lewis here.

Starting January 7, 2010, Britain’s Royal Mail will be issuing 10 classic album covers as stamps. Not just from one decade either, the series looks back and grabs something from every time period. (But Blur, really?) Still, it’s better than the Simpsons the USPS has.

(Via.)

Just another weekend with the kids.

God I hate working marshmallow roasts. Probably gotta listen to “Why can’t one of you come up with an idea like a missing balloon?”

Or is it because he lied about it?

Is this one of those Martha Moments™ where the cover-up is worse than the actual crime? Maybe. Turns out Shepard Fairey did use a version of the photo the AP had claimed he did all along. If you followed the case of his iconic Hope design, you know he was inspired by a photo of the then senator, but claimed it was a different shot of him next to George Clooney that he used. (The pose would later become the basis for the poster hung round the world.)

His arguement is simply this: “Regardless of which of the two images was used, the fair use issue should be the same.”

Originally, Fairey claimed that he was under the impression that the image was in the public domain, and as such, fair game. But the AP said otherwise. I’m really unclear how Shepard would think the AP would just let their images be used for commercial purposes.

While laws are different around the world, the copyright clock in the U.S. starts the moment work is created and/or published, and is good for 95 years from publish date or 120 from creation date. (Regarding authorship, the copyright covers the life of the creator plus 70 years.)

The photo was taken in 2006 and I doubt it moved into the public domain that quickly. Maybe he thought Obama was a public figure? Even that doesn’t seem to hold water since public figures still own rights to their images as well as the rights of photographers who shoot them.

The issue of which image he used is splitting hairs, but like Stewart, it’s overshadowed by this “little” detail of lying about which image he did use, then trying to cover it up. In other words, he may be right, but that might not matter anymore.

(UPDATE: I noticed that ANIMAL New York has a Fairey email from earlier this year which doesn’t really help him out.)

But wait, there’s more.

- If more demonstration videos were like this.
- Tweeting after sexy time.
- Captain Lou man, Captain Lou.
- The Olympics IS for cheating.
- Social media marketing for donkeys.
- The boy who cried balloon.
- Equal rights for equal internets.
- And then comes Twitter.
- An 8oz. flavorless mistake.

Target wishes illegal aliens a happy Halloween.

After they pick E.T. up, I think he gets one phone call, no? Get your Target costume while supplies last. They may run out—of the country. OH! *Tries to think of other powderkeg topics doubling as entendre!* Tea bag party makes a nice costume, no? No. Public option? Eh, too boring. No, illegal aliens is perfect.

UPDATE: “Aliens” have since weighed in and given their two cents, and Target has agreed to pull the costume off the site, claiming it was a mistake. Uh, yep. Of course, several people will be disappointed to see it go, with more than a few voicing this sentiment:

“How dare any person be offended by this spectacular costume! I think it is hilarious, and I believe it should be sold to any REAL American. People need to quit their cryin' and get over it, this is America and if they don't like it, go back to their own Country! I'll defiantly purchase one of my own.”

Happy Halloween indeed.

(Via.)

More AdVerve on the way.

Thanks to all who downloaded the first episode of AdVerve with guest Hadji Williams. We had close to 1,300 episodes downloaded in the first week. Many people emailed Angela and me and expressed support over the way we talked about a subject nobody likes talking about. Thanks also to everyone who dug the show enough to blog about it, Craig, David, David, HighJive and Steve.

(Yes, the audio issues were annoying at times, but after previewing the final version, we all agreed the vibe we had going was going to be hard to repeat, so we ran with it. Lotta shows we listened to make the production thing look easy. After one show, and while I knew it might be some work, I can officially say it, um, takes work. Stay with us though as we move forward and get things tighter.)

As a result of the show, Hadji got a guest stint on Ad Age discussing one of the issues we raised. Unlike most pieces on the topic, the comments were mostly civil. Mostly. (Thanks to Ken Wheaton for making that happen and covering us as well.) Not every show will be that deep, that’s for sure, but we’ll talk about advertising the way we want, in ways we don’t see discussed anywhere else and sometimes, in ways that may be out of your comfort zone.

Here’s a little sample from the new episode coming out next week:

Adverve Show #2 - Trailer

And if you didn’t listen to the first show yet, download both parts here:

Adverve Show #1 - part 1

Adverve Show #1 - part 2

Until we get into iTunes, subscribe to the show feed directly here or through Feedburner.

He said “Pooper.” Heh-heh.

Are we that shallow that we’d post this just for an optimum poop reference? Are we!* From sex addiction to optimal Pedigree puppyage, David Duchovny does it all!

*Who’s we? It’s just me here.

Overheard Internet.

Because internet comments are cool, honest and sad. In an unedited B-roll, straight to your monitor kinda way...


“It seems that we still have a long way to go in eliminating, associating a woman’s ‘nether region’ with ‘aquatic life forms and smells’. ‘Cock and balls’ YES, but I didn’t see any ‘beavertails'’ in their menu.”
– Hygenia Crabtree


“hes like the enemy in the MIB... ^^”
– ollopmac


“Newsom levies new surcharge on Twittards to fund clean up “disgusting” San Francisco. News at 11... Tragedy of the commons is a bitch, APIyoungblood; go debug your unscalable shite code and make me a chicken pot pie...”
– schvitzatura


“wow you guys are idiots seriously posting comments on something from a year ago...what retards....wait oh $hit”
– Scruff Mcgruff


“How much meth does it take before the rat starts looking attractive?”
– IceMan

Disney says Ho no.

Speaking of trademark infringement and porn equivalents of classic titles, Australian beer Jamieson’s Raspberry Ale wanted to convince people their flavor was anything but sweet. Enter Filthy, Smarmy and Randy in a new ad. Or is that enter Snow White. (OH, look at me with the puns.) Not so fast though. The agency behind the campaign The Foundry said they’ve had “a little bit of contact” with Disney over this, but it must have been enough. They apparently put up a website which is no longer live called anythingbutsweet.com. Mates, a few words if I may. I LOVE the PR angle here, but, next time, screengrab your own site and have ready for the media for when Walt’s lawyers email. Secondly, spend a little on fixing up the main website first before you have company. We can’t help you with your lawsuit, but we can help with a killer site.

Catwalk Lego.

You watch mesmerized at smooth animations guiding brilliant uses of teen angst rock a la Nirvana for 2010! LEGO FASHION RUNWAY!

(Via.)

It’s your GM people.

It’s an interesting idea. We do actually own 60% of the company America. So what kind of spots do you want to see? I KID. But take a look through the site and see some of the ideas put forth here on We Own GM. (Many of which are aggregated from Change.gov.) Crowdsourcing America’s is the concept here. Automakers have pushed their message and their cars for a long time, and based on sales and the “love” of a good bailout, people are pushing back. Started by ad industry vet Harry Webber :

“I created a user-generated campaign for the 165 million U.S. stakeholders in General Motors two months ago that lead to a pitch to the head of Global Marketing at Chevrolet last Tuesday. It cost less than a grand, all in.”

While Ford, GM and Chrysler had previously put out messages to counter negative impressions of the industry, GM here looks like they’ve even updated that message. (I still contend that GM and Chrysler will have a tougher road if for no other underlying reason than they took bailout money, something that doesn’t sit well with many consumers.)

Got an idea? Submit it.

What’s so bad about this?

Proving again that no matter how local something is, the internet is always everywhere. French Voguesters are at it again. Arty! Cultural commentary! Oh to be a French editor poking at the foibles of lazy Americans!

See, I’d make AirTran paint it in throwback colors.

AirTran Airways is now flying a one-of-kind Boeing 717 with the Atlanta Falcons colors and artwork. “Falcons 1” will fly to all the airline’s destinations. Cue floodgates for other teams to jump on board the painted jet concept. Oh, and if Freddy Falcon’s at the helm, take Jet Blue.

Well, it’s not often you can schedule your rebranding, is it?

Rebranding time once again. But here’s what I don’t get. Fox has how many different reality shows, arguably inventing the modern* version of the genre with COPS and now running the table with American Idol. Yet somehow, not five years after it started, it wants to rebrand and possibly do away with its reality channel. File this under why? While not the most amazing of logos, NOBODY is looking at it, let alone cares. They’re watching the trainwrecks you program each night. It doesn’t even make sense from a “branding” point of view. The name says it all. (Unlike Court TV, which morphed into TruTV. There, it no longer covered just trials, but had branched out into reality fare, so the move made sense.) Just leave it alone. You’re on auto-profit.

What’s next, the Rebranding Channel?

*Don’t make me school you on Candid Camera.

Coke introduces mini-Me.

In an attempt to help America’s full-on obesity epidemic, Coke will be rolling out 90 calorie versions of its flagship brand alongside their existing sizes. (Yeah, I bet Walmart will be ALL over that shit.) Face it, calorie control means nothing to certain people. That’s like trying to curb smoking by making smaller cigarettes. Even though many soda brands already had smaller cans for years, Coke will likely get kudos from some group or another for appearing to address a problem they’re a part of contributing to.

(Image.)

Because nobody from the East Coast moves to California.

Well, at least not the way they used to. What would mid-term election season be without a clever acronym and a little 5013C fun. CAPS* may not be able to endorse a particular candidate, but we can sure as shit imply some things using the country as a whole. I knew there was something about those immigrants. Who would’ve thought they had the power to get global warming naysayers on board! Look at them, all crazy and what not, using words like carbon footprint now. And in just one year too! I say more immigrants, not less. That way we can get them to come around to support of a public option for healthcare.

Wait, but moving to California is good, right?

*Californians For Population Stabilization.

Americans: America is Back. Right?

Right? And we’re doing what we do best: Americanizing. Where else would you rather be than right here, right now, America! I saw this piece in the New York Times about a message of American resurgence now sweeping across advertising’s Great Plains. I took the tone of the piece to be slightly more negative though.

Maybe it was the use of TARP money to help a few brands continue to mislead the American public even further? (With the blessing of a few agency heads who apparently have no problem doing their part in this regard.)

Then I came across a beautiful spot for New Balance. Even though I swear by them as the most comfortable running show I’ve ever owned, I didn’t know they were made in America. Who knew! Underaged and exploited child labor? Not for NB.

The Made in America message, while lost on many these days, is at least more credible here than the one in the financial spots which say Hey, look, we’re back! Especially when we’re not yet.

Where Wieden+Kennedy’s bold Levi’s spots celebrate the spirit of the product and the demo who uses it, New Balance focuses on where they come from and the way the product is made. Compare that with the way American Apparel seems to hide behind the MIA theme, but instead, is undermined by the exploits of CEO Dov.

Regardless, most of the spots in the article are typical of Sunday morning news roundtable fare, supertanker productions from supertanker agencies. (George Parker calls them BDAs–Big Dumb Agencies—while others call them dinosaurs.)

However, as long as there’s big TV “events” like the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, etc., hubris dictates there’ll still need to be “big” moments in commercials to go along with them. And the only way to get them is from a supertanker agency (not a cool little interactive shop).

Which means no end in sight for self-congratulatory internal videos masquerading as TV spots from companies making lightbulbs and missile defense systems in Mississippi. (SAVE the emails. I love Mississippi. Forest Gump? Great movie. Oh wait, that was Alabama.)

I’m not seeing how they belong in the same discussion relative to American heritage. Besides, didn’t Obama usher in an era of optimism throughout society? I hadn’t realized we’d had a Hope relapse and needed new ads.

So while slowly waving American flags, freshwater rapids churning productivity anew, and dramatic sunsets with ethereal track seem played, they work here.

She-Cats unite! It’s Sleevie™!

Talk about a PSA done right. Perfect spot-on Snuggie/Slanket spoof for a good cause: The Blood Center of Central Texas and their website inyourhands. Produced by REBEL REBEL.

(Via.)

But wait, there’s more.

- Chicken jerkers.
- Healthcare napkins.
- You mean, a whole $22 an hour?
- How to get 40,000 followers on Twitter. BE A FUCKING CELEBRITY.
- Do it for... The kids.
- Black Dynamite, in cinemaphonic quadrovision.
- Awards are for losers.
- Put your face on a really big building.
- Cassette tape measure.
- It’s all about the brand loyalty, people.
- Half-dolphin, half-Jet ski.
- So long, one-armed POV shots.
- There’s no NJ Dream.
- Blasphemous Bob’s Burgers.
- Someone else shares my PR release pain.
- Pats vs. Fins.
- The Ad-O-Matic.
- No $11,000 Pampers.
- 10 things you need to stop tweeting about.
- Advertising is hard.
- Living la vida disclosure.

“The hula hoop of the jet generation.”

Because anti-drug PSAs work. No, they do. More PSAness here.

Maybe Monster.com can jump in on the lawsuit too.

Look at those two identical products, won’t you? Hansen Beverage makes energy drink Monster. Rock Art Brewery makes Vermonster beer. Guess who wants who to cease and desist. Only thing is, Vermonster isn’t. Even though I’m still taking Phoenix law classes at night, lemmmee weigh in. Seems like Monster might have had a better case if they stuck to the claim that “Vermonster” infringes or implies endorsement. Rock Art says they’d even relinquish rights to an energy drink, but here's where Monster blew it: They plan on entering the beer category where... Vermonster already is. So what’s a little guy to do? Let your website talk about “The Man” and his corporate greed!

Hey, I know, let’s fix the NFL.

Watching the Jets-Dolphins Monday Night, here are five fixes for my favorite brand:

1) Everything needs to be reviewable. You still get x-mount of challenges to control how long the game runs, but allowing some plays to be reviewed and not others is just insane. Especially pass interference. Braylon Edwards had a call go his way late inside Miami’s 5-yard line that should’ve been a non-call, but because interference isn’t reviewable, it couldn’t be overturned. Ironically, a ref call interference, they huddle, and the flag is picked up when it’s decided there was no foul. Basically, the NFL is okay with getting half the calls right.

2) Down by contact. Aka, the inadvertent whistle. This isn’t just last night, but in general. Plays ruled down are not reviewable, even when the ref made a mistake. Why? It’s his fault. Who cares if it’s whistled down, fix the call.

3) Goal line cameras. Braylon Edwards also got robbed on a spectacular catch earlier. A replay from an odd angle and behind the play was determined the call. Behind? But it’s not the first time. There are way too many close plays on the goal line where having a fixed-position camera aimed straight across would make the difference. The angle in the image above is typically what refs rely on when determining if a player scored or not. (Funny, track and field or horseracing figured the photo finish angle out a long time ago but the NFL stil has toruble with it.)

4) Lose the sideline reporters. They add nothing to the game except a bunch of uncomfortable questions at the wrong time. The only time I’ve seen a sideline reporter work is with Tony Siragusa on Fox doing limited play-by-play standing just outside the endzone.

5) Throwback uniforms. Either all teams wear them the same week or not.

(Image via.)

Here’s an idea.

While it may be too late to keep this crowdsourced jury effort from devolving into more of the same judges judging more of the same people, they could’ve done something really unique. While I like David’s idea of a few ad bloggers in the mix, why not go further and included a few consumers off the street to take part. Imagine actually asking the people your work targets what they think.

Nah, what was I thinking. That would get in the way of judges lobbying each other for votes on Facebook.

Bacardi builds island—forgets Wilson.

Because nothing says youthful exuberance like converging powerboats and rock-throwing partygoers. Shot in Malta. Specialized dive units and aerial photography crews employed. Authentic elements utilized for the shoot including: a real island built on the water, imported fine tropical sand and palm trees, as well as a cast of 120 actors from Germany and the United States.

And it’s all up on the screen people. Who said extravagant shoots were only for Detroit! Not Bacardi.