We do it for *you*.

Via Nerdcore, hey, YouTube nation, help me out here with the pornstar PSA por favor:

“I can’t even take them seriously
... yes piracy is wrong but just like the Music Industry since Napster, this is not going away, whether they like it or not.”
talacassidyayana

Much as I’m against piracy and illegal downloading, that about sums it up for anything free out there. There’s simply no way to control who downloads it without paying. Technology is outpacing the laws used to regulate it.

What’s with all the banks?

I got some work sent in from TDA for one of their clients (FirstBank), and it reminded me of a rant I had brewing. *slaps head* (It’s not about this work.) Nothing against them; it’s a nice dimensional execution of a point that I’ve been thinking about lately though: Why are there so many more banks now? Like, what the hell happened? Didn’t the bailout and closings thin the herd?

I move back to CT and there are literally four new Super Megaplex-O-Matic size banks near me now in addition to the ones when I left. For what? Here’s a Google streetview screengrab of a new TD Bank nearby. It’s the size of the Enterprise with parking to match. At night? It’s lit up more than the Vegas Strip.

So the question becomes, if more and more people are banking online, why do we A) Need so many more new physical locations and B) Why are they so damn huge? They’re not any more efficient from what I can tell. Do they really need a huge office to tell a customer they can’t have that car loan? For investment advice? E*TRADE it kids!

HELP A BLOGGA OUT.

#imjustnotseeingit

Deforest yourself. ReForest the world.

Philips Norelco returns with more Shave Everywhere shavery. This time, it’s offset by plantery. For every shaver sold now through June 30, they’ll work with the Arbor Day Foundation to plant a tree for a $1 each (up to $75,000).

(Via Cutters79.)

"In a time when subtly was lost..."

Only thing missing from the cinematical Golden Gate funeral home is the voice of the late Don LaFontaine and a subwoofer under the casket. What, you mean they DID do a version with voiceover that plays off the scenes? Nice!

Look, we're made in America, okay?

For Americans, by Americans, even though the part of America that has a problem with certain non-Americans is taking flack from the other part of America that says our tea should be boycotted by Americans who disagree with the other Americans. (No, the *other* other Americans.) Either way, we’re still made in America.

Just, not, *that* part of America.

But how’s Blanche gonna handle grown-ups then?

With a name like Lincoln, how can Arkansas go wrong. At least Blanche doesn’t try and sell people on values like ol’ Dollar Bill. She’s selling America’s non-outsourced agricultural workforce, hard work and free speech. Wait, what, comments for her videos are disabled? Oh. And, can someone who isn’t a Washington insider show you what’s really going on there though?

Save the date: June 20th is the last chance to explode some arteries.

Some would say you could do that every day in ’Marika, mister! Now through June 20, get your IHOP Pancake Stacker—a FIVE-LAYER PANCAKE SANDWICH FULL OF CREAM CHEESE. How did Paula Deen not come up with this? See, even if you ban kids’ meal toys, there’s always a workaround people–there just is!

(Via Dumb as a Blog.)

Have you got a little brochacho in you?

You do now. Part of Captain Morgan’s new Delicious Pours work for their Lime Bite line of Kwality Products™. In keeping with the existing tone of things, the over the top ridiculicious beer-like wordplay works here. (Other spots are Deliciouser and Sleepy.)

Overheard internet.

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


“I remember when cheerleaders didn’t dress like s l u t s. Look at them…..what a disgrace. ”
– Eric Burr


“I don’t know about you guys, but the one time I helped a Nigerian Prince out he gave me 2 million dollars and my own resort on the coast. Sometimes you just have to trust people. I think any email message containing the phrase “Western Union” should just be blackholed. I challenge you to show me an email with that phrase in it that wasn't somehow related to a scam.”
– Invincible


“really conflicted by this. it saddens me that the only companies that seem to succeed, are able to pull incredible technologies out of their asses, and change the world are evil empires that seem to run on the backs of terrified, burnt out workers (though likely brilliant and aptly reimbursed) under brutally repressive policies. ((do we know how Google runs?)) ahh america, the land that idolizes dysfunction, excess, self-destructive behavior, and ruthlessness -- and we still call them heroes. Business is war. Nice people finish last. The good die young. What type of world do we want to live in? slow-changing, contented, healthy mediocrity or dazzling, soul-frying, techno-worker hell? Hard call.”
– designguybrown


“@GBTactics F U CANADA IS AMAZING AT HOCKEY SO DONT BE SAYING WERE PUSSYIES U FAG ”
– MultiSteelpanther


“Sad day in america when the frenchies have bigger balls then our spineless liberal muslim loving government ”
– TeddyRoosevelt


“@pgame22 You are the worst kind of idiot because, unlike garden-variety idiots who keep shit to themselves, you might kill someone one day. I assume this isn’t the first time you’ve spouted this bullshit so, here, I’ve provided a nice quote for you. ‘Cars are not safe shelters, and as tornadoes can travel at more than 60 mph, you should not take the risk of attempting to outrun it.’”
– trendon


“Kick the shit out of him and then change the essence of a man. All in a days work for Steven.”
– goat6inboots


“im 21 years old and must say PSA's dont do sh*t. i had drinks with my parents when i was younger and have never abused. i learned about drugs through my parents and school and smoked weed maybe 3 times, and have decided it does nothing for me. i drink occasionaly and recreationly, but control it and havent smoked weed in at least 2 years. other than that i have done no drugs because i was taught about them. easy as that.”
– kb1kb1


“@That lightning bolt was like FUCK YOU PLANE! POW POW!”
– rltw04

Unhappy Meals.

The county of Santa Clara in California has now banned happy meals, specifically, restaurants that *entice* children to eat unhealthy meals. This of course would be the McDonald’s et al. of the fast casual world which have toys in their kids’ meals. (Think of the economic impact as fewer kids will be required overseas to make toys for... kids.) KIDding aside, while this could be seen as another step towards helping with childhood obesity following the removal of many soft drinks from schools, isn’t the restaurant the last line of defense when it comes to the issue? Shouldn’t the first line start at home with the parents?

The dandruff shampoo your dandruff shampoo could be.

Happy head and happy nose, Head & Shoulders makes sure your private parts glow. Heh.

"The flexibility of her positions."

Well, in energy conservation times like these, we have a hybrid: Half date, half political parody. Thanks Polluter Harmony! Thanks PolluterWatch! Thanks Greenpeace!

Razing Arizona.

So much for the global economy, we can’t even get along with Arizona now? Funny, the silence coming from Tea Party nation over this one. (Maybe they’re busy refreshing their supply of picket signs to touch this one. But a missed opportunity! Arizona Iced Tea Party boycott! They’d get that wrong too, considering the NY origins. The big problem will be labor. To parasteal from Evelle Snoats: “Work’s what's kept us happy.” Even if that work does come from illegals, mostly. What to do, what to do Arizona.

Outdoor with a purpose.

Via Tim at AdFreak. Hits home. (No pun.) I’ll take it over this shit.

Okay, but can we animate ‘popular support’ somehow?

Your tax dollars at work creating one of the best Powerpoint slides I have seen in some time. How else to explain a quagmire police action hunt for Bin Laden insurgency suppression initiative?* An equally confused mess of colored arrow hell. If you look longer enough at the center, you’ll see a • YOU ARE HERE.

*Made that last one up! Yeah, I did!

Unbranded man love—GET YOU SOME.

*cue SEO nightmare about to rain down upon this here blog*

Via Love in the Dumps comes some sort of unbranded campaign for The Man’s Guide To Actor’s Portraying Real Guys Talking About Why They’re Giving Advice on the Street Instead of Dating. that proffers advice from males ISO... people who need advice, I guess. No affiliation with a dating site that I see, but expect a female version soon enough.

But Louis Vuitton *is* synonymous with the beautiful game, no?

Yeah, scratching my head over this one. Least here in the U.S. as far as brands and tie-ins go. Even if soccer moms are helping to grow the sport, I doubt they shopping LV. Ennyway, Pelé vs. Zidane in the other beautiful game—at least in agencies—foosball, May 10. This way to the digress: I saw Pelé about two years ago with Franz Beckenbauer at the Red Bulls home opener (along with music acts *Shakira, Shakir, Shakira* and Wyclef). Basically, even with that opening roster, Giants stadium *maybe* a third full for the Michael Jordan of soccer. A pity, that.

It’s not just a job—it’s five free tunes.

*cue Village People reference*

From the emails I get department comes one from Uncle Sam trying offering five free tunes just for filling out an application. Of course, it didn’t say that right away. You had to sit through a three foot scroll to get to the disclaimer. Tip for the Navy: Keep it short next time, just like that masthead and save the pitch for after the download.

"What if we say he held a rifle instead?"

The Marines are looking for a few... less ad mentions. Seems Vaughn Ward wasn’t supposed to reference his service without a disclaimer saying it’s not endorsed by them. Here’s where I disagree: The uniform implies service but not a particular one, and if you’re going to neg him over this, then how is John McCain basing almost his entire presidential campaign on his service any different?

I told you Kim Jong-il was the best dressed.

But did you listen? No.

AdVerve - 29 – Ethicalicious

It’s crisis time. Midlife. Quarterlife. We lead off there and only go scarier places. From tampon ad positioning (ouch) to journalistic ethos, nobody unturns a stone and subsequently beats its subject to death quite like us. This would be the ongoing Gizmodo vs. iPad daddy iGod saga. Along the way, we factoid yo ass with stuff even we didn’t know. The prize in the cereal box is Five Minutes With... and guest Chapin Clark from r/ga and Twitter fame. From there, we create new gency job descriptions—just because we can.

All in all, it’s just another day in the AdVervehood.

Play the show now. (Or right-click to download directly.)

Subscribe via iTunes:

Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro to our midlife crisis
21:08 – 2. Five minutes with...

28:38 – 3. Ethicalicious

1:00:57 – 4. Wrap

Linkage:

• Ryanair’s awesome service and employees.
• Gizmodo saga.
• What it means is.
• Some Monkees have it.

Send questions, comments or requests for newsletter inclusion to advervepodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. You can also leave a review.

But wait, there’s more...

– Pour me a drink bitch.
– Cheese Monster!
– It’s all about the engagement capital.
– Earth from Mars.
– Costco shelf label prank. (Via.)
– How many KFC Double Downs is your fast food sandwich?
– The most bizarre weapons ever designed.
– Mort de rire = lol. No, it does.
– The hardest-working man in black advertising.
– Better stock up on floppy disks.
– As long as there’s no Speedo competition.
– Welcome to Dickens World.
– Wine by Joe.
– Damn. Those must be amazing screws.
– Todd Marinovich—The engineered QB.
– Because lotteries avoid serious spots.
– Peeps aflame.
– Chinese caligraphy justice.
– Own that heritage Roswell. Own it.
– Hancock. Dolby. Wonder. Jones.
– 7 Rubik’s cube fonts.
– Smokers got skillz.
– Nike goes grid.

When life gives you used life, make art.

For the Durham Arts Council’s recent Art Walk, agency The Republik had to resort to, well, whatever it is you do when working pro-bono with a non-profit—and no budget. Which is to say, get attention for the cause any way you can. They ended up taking about 30 lbs. of scrap postcards, bottle caps, LPs and DVD cases, then letting the Council’s volunteers make 50 different art pieces out of it all to hang around town. (Floppy disks on windows and vinyl on public steer? Check!) The only stipulation was that the date be on it somewhere. Result: Attendance up 2.5 times over last year.

You are now leaving us for a very, very bad place.

Okay, I admit, this one’s a peeve, a nit, a small thing on par with clients and agencies that still insists on using “www” before a url, or age verification on beer and spirits sites. It’s the warning screen you get when leaving a site. It’s not the part about running into third party sites that *gasp* might say bad things; brands consider that a must have in terms of cya legalese. It’s the part before that which says they are not affiliated with (insert website).

But they are.

Just physically linking to it means they are. Taking that a little further as only I can, doesn’t that also apply to the way in which brands on social networks *share* their promotions—or your profile—with your network? Seems affiliated to me.

Because even gangstas need more cargo space?

How can you drive by those options!* The Siennas are back, representin. Or frontin. Or sumpin.

*Advanced Photoshop work available only on certain models. See agency for details.

Davy *always* got all the chicks.

Before Old Spice started riding horses and Bruce Campbell talked about *it*, the Monkees were The Man, er, men who had it—as long as they wore Yardley Black Label. Look, some guys had it, some never will did. Or something.

Contextual madness.

And if the protestors won’t disperse from this vector far and fast, we got guns.

Somewhere, Iron Eyes Cody feels outdone.

First the white man steals our land, now he steals our tears. Okay, so he was just an actor. Don’t let that though ruin what you’re about to see.

Sometimes, you can’t make it to celebrate someone’s birthday on the actual day, or maybe you get together with friends after the holidays are over to exchange gifts and whatnot-a-ree. It doesn’t water down the occasion, rather, the delay enhances the experience when you do finally get together.

*Enhances*.

I GIVE YOU POST EARTH DAY GREATNESS.

(Via Ad Chick.)

Whereas Slim•Fast finally kills the stand-up comic routine in advertising.

They did, right?

Contextual Cruiseness.

I know it’s hard to control it, but at some point they really need to come up with a way to exclude certain placements of ad units based on the content of the story. IF WE CAN PUT A MAN ON THE MOON, WE CAN BLOCK SOME KEYWORDS UP IN HERE.

Another cool thing someone did with Twitter.

What else to call it the movement, right? Previously, we had things like the Twitteratti being twitterati, shit my dad says, Marcus Brown’s Tweet Reading, and novels/screenplays/whatever being released 140 characters at a time. Memes are real hard to keep going though. The first week is cool. By week two you usually wonder what you got yourself into. (It also helps to be good at whatever your execution is.) Museum of Modern Tweets definitely puts a new spin on things, if not one better than those from a purely artistic point of view.

Illustrating someone’s tweets like that allows you to take certain liberties as you imagine aspects of a scene that 140 characters can’t do justice. Using celebrities? Genuis! Follow illustrator James Howlett III’s exploits on Twitter too. Hurry though before he gets that damned movie deal.

(As for Aimee Mann, she learned the hard way that tweets carry. NEVER FRONT T—HE’S VERIFIED. She has since kissed the ring.)

(Via American Copywriter.)

But Phoenix isn't a real university, right?

Compared to 10 years ago? Probably. But, distance learning doesn’t have the stigma attached to it that it used to. (I guess. I never saw a resume with it on there.) Getting a major athlete like Larry Fitzgerald though does lend it a little more cred than it otherwise might have. While it’s not a reach to have jocks endorse a school vs. a Stephen Hawking, and the stadium his home team Phoenix Cardinals plays for is named after the Phoenix University, does that make it a legit school though? (It has actual brick and mortar locations.) As an easy way to take a few extra credits or odd course or two, sure.

But it doesn’t really matter what you think—perspective employers are the ones who have the final say when they look down and don’t see what they perceive to be decent school. This spot though is a nice extension of the I am a Phoenix theme they’ve been running, and is light years ahead of the only thing they seemingly did 10 years ago: The desperate pop-up banner ad that you couldn’t kill even if you shut your computer down.

Don’t talk to aliens—cross the street when they approach.

Not THOSE aliens ya moron. Stephen Hawking’s aliens. His current theory not only posits given the shear number of stars and galaxies out there that alien life almost certainly exists, but we better not find out:

“We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn’t want to meet. I imagine they might exist in massive ships, having used up all the resources from their home planet. Such advanced aliens would perhaps become nomads, looking to conquer and colonise whatever planets they can reach.”

I have less titles after my name, but where has Stephen been going for his theories again? People, that’s the basis for Independence Day. When Bill Pullman as President Whitmore is at Area 51 getting mind melded through the glass?

“I saw. I saw what they’re planning to do. They’re like locusts. They’re moving from planet to planet, their whole civilization. After they’ve consumed every natural resource they move on. And we’re next.”

Tell me Stevie hasn’t been raiding IMDB for material. I have so much less faith in NASA now. Who knows what they’re watching down there. I mean damn, they had to hire oil workers to save the planet, right?

BBC: Anatomy of a redesign.

It’s rare to get an inside look at the redesign of a major publication or brand. Usually, you end seeing the new version along with everyone else the day it relaunches. The BBC though outlines the various approaches it took beforehand in working with Neville Brody’s Research Studios. It’s highly recommended for anyone in digital, no mater what silo you’re stuck in.

(Via.)

"Asymmetrical warfare updated for the age of the Internet."

One of the topics I tend to cover here is politics, only because the way campaigns are waged has everything to do with advertising and how things are sold. I’m trying to get moms to buy more sugar for their kids while Drudge is trying to convince readers why Obama is evil. See? Connection made!

While it’s not *quite* that simple, I saw a piece in Esquire recently on Climategate that underscores just how much of an art there is to convincing people to either buy what they don’t need, or in the case of politics, questioning what they thought they believed.

And both cases, the facts you don’t bring up, matter.

It’s about Marc Morano, foot soldier in the battle over global warming. (His previous claim to fame is swiftboatng John Kerry.) I won’t rehash the article here; read at your lehzure (and the update too). But the writer, John H. Richardson, highlights a particular vibe out there now in trying to win political hearts and minds:

“This is how the information wars are fought in the age of the Internet, when an isolated outside voice can swing the debate and change the world.”

When you read the tactics he uses, you’re either giving Morano a fistbump or the finger. He’s far from alone there. Lobbyists and campaigns have always employed the strategy Richardson outlines.

Just change a narrative enough (or introduce a spin on it), and in effect, take it away from what the other side says it should be:

“So that’s how it’s done, Morano says later. He’s the turd in the punch bowl, that’s all he is and all he can be. But that might be enough. If they can use the echo chamber to reach enough people, they can confuse them enough to change the narrative. It’s asymmetrical warfare updated for the age of the Internet.

In other words, it doesn’t have to be true.

I know, this isn’t a new concept in politics. Politicians long ago mastered the art of changing the subject or deflecting questions to focus on their own agenda. The difference is that in the internet age, the speed at which that narrative changes has altered the landscape almost instantly.

Before the other side can craft a response to a leaked photo taken of a candidate smoking pot 20 years ago, there go five percentage points in the polls. Make a remark about military spending when you thought the mic was off? Driving an SUV on your way to a *green* conference?

Political waters, chummed.

Students though have a chance to witness a change that eclipses anything they could read in history books. The stories from 100 years ago that put me to sleep in school about Tammany Hall scandals et al. don’t come to life in nearly the same way stories on YouTube or Drudge do now.

Political porn as 24/7 addiction—one click away, and I am not going to rehab.

Students don’t really need to grasp the effect that a William Randolph Hearst had on publishing when he’s reborn online as Drudge, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. Enter the likes of Air America, Jon Stewart and Huffington Post into the nightly arena, and yes Maximus, I am entertained.

That a modern day link dump like Drudge though is viewed as a go-to media source holding sway over both parties shows how far things have come.

It’s a narrative rewritten constantly, as one sentence from a local story in Iowa—where that candidate lets their guard down for a millisecond—will be taken and rerun in all caps, red, 72 px tall headlines.

Once that happens? It’s real hard to unbelieve it. Not that the truth matters or anything.

“We have repaid our government loan.”

“In full, with interest. Five years ahead of the original schedule.”

Before we accept closure and let the healing begin however, Senator Shelby disagrees. (Starting at 9:34 of the Meet The Press segment below.) Is this true? Is it clever marketing? Fancy-schmancy Dances With Words hype? (Shhh... rhetorical.) Assuming though that GM has *technically* repaid *something*—and I have no reason to doubt a major corporation and the ad agencies it employs (for now)—why run this messaging now. Why not last September when many people were thinking the same thing every time they looked at GM.

I’ll miss Dodd though and his forward thinking, so it will never happen again positive approach. But Mr. Whitacre, in a global economy, don’t we all win, when one automaker wins? (Shhh... see above.)

CUE FLAG AND TRIUMPHANT HORNS!

At the least the Pre spot was epic.

At some point it becomes a question of whether the product you’re promoting can be saved or not. Wait, but that’s what an ad campaign is supposed to do, I thought? FF >> as another agency will likely win an award for a failed product, but great production value!

Marketing speak.

When words fail, combine! Hey Maxxinistas, have a Maxxinistabratiocilicious time shopping! And, if u r on the fb, check us out!

Wow, he came out pretty good.

Aka, the problem with using too good a photo to accompany a story on full face transplants. At first glance I was like, damn, if I ever encounter a Keanu Reeves Point Break lawnmower fight scenario, no worries because docs will just have me resurrected as The Hoff. But then, you have to scroll halfway down to find out that Professor Peter Butler is the one who performed the surgery.

Oh. You mean as much as an advance in medical science that the surgery represents it still looks like this?

I hate Keanu.

Now I can watch TV online on my phone on my monitor on my...

I guess this falls under the category of sure we can, but do we need to?*

So I’m sitting in the Testosteroom™ watching the first night of NFL Draft online where ESPN and nfl.com were streaming it live.** Rich Eisen comes on next and does a promo for the latest Verizon Motorola Droid iKnockoff that has iEverything (including free app for limited time).

He then talks about how you can watch anything anywhere and have up to the latest nanosecond coverage—almost implying a “before it even happens” type of coverage. (New top-secret feature of the phone—don’t ask.)

But as I saw this picture within picture being touted—literally and figuratively—I was like why?

Do I really need to have 24/7 access to... 24/7 access? It became this odd meta Escher data overlap of every single platform I could want giving me access—just because I *may* need it.

Is there really a calm that comes over me knowing they I can get ESPN six different ways if I needed to?

Yes, in times like these, there is.

Sure, each platform differs from the other in terms of sound and image quality and what we’re willing to accept in that regard. (I don’t expect surround sound and fury from a 3” screen the way I would a 42” plasma.)

But the important thing is that I have access to them all man.

All.

* This of course being the unwritten principle of Apple products and things you never know you needed but man, just gotta have.

**This being the place I’m relegated to with my laptop after the main TV gets hijacked with episodes of House Hunters.

Stop speeding and do something with your life.

Hey, you don’t know, maybe those 61 infractions involved Harold rushing to job interviews. I call that having drive, no? HA.

Purell-it *sorta* works?

Out of the mouths of...

From barfblog comes the story of a 9-year old girl who did a science fair project comparing the effectiveness of hand sanitizers on E-coli. Results?

Oops for Purell, of Kills 99.99% of the most common germs that may cause illness fame. Because while bleach killed the bacteria—no hand sanitizer used in the test did. Of course, what would allegedly disproven claims in a setting unlike one the brand used be without cover your ass marketing speak from said brand?

A spokesperson for the makers of Purell told KING 5 News that it stands by its claims to kill 99 percent of germs and suggested we contact the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Except that...

A CDC spokesperson says they have not studied hand sanitizers specifically on E.coli and recommend hand sanitizers only when soap and water are not available.

Oh. Cue gray area. (They do have guidelines for healthcare professionals though with respect to E. coli.)

Now that they mention it however, “E. coli” doesn’t apper anywhere on Purell’s facts page. Not to single parent company Johnson & Johnson out, but other brands like Soapopular don’t either. Making things more confusing for consumers, Germ-X also leaves out an E. coli mention but says their product meets FDA requirements as a regulated over-the-counter (OTC) drug.

Just what recommendations or governing body are consumers supposed to go by? The CDC? The FDA? The NFL?

And while *technically* brands may say they’re following federal guidelines, there are things they don’t say too. There’s stretching the truth, and then there’s leaving things out. 99.99% without even mentioning E. coli? Maybe the hot virus of the moment H1N1 was taking up all the space.

Had enough yet?

Among other companies making the FDA’s Hot 100 list, Soapopular got spanked for claims that using its non-alcohol products prevented H1N1. On their FAQ page, they dispute the CDC’s older approach to the problem, but then also cite FDA standards that their product meets.

Pick one: Either all regulatory bodies are not to be trusted, or they are. This isn’t about them being wrong, more, it’s that they’re just not apparently overseeing certain things yet, and that’s not the same.

In defense of a brand that has to submit their product for Uncle Sam’s approval, you have one government body saying one thing, another saying something different (or not at all), and the brand itself trying to go by what their own data shows.

The result though: Nobody is on the same page and consumers are confused.

My head was spinning just crosschecking all that—imagine the mom in the span of :30 seconds rolling down a grocery aisle staring at 10 brands all claiming they all kill 99.99% of whatever.

"Hey look it's a llama."

Stanley Steemer upgrades Toby’s new trick with two new spots Alpaca and the 1:21 too long I Could Have Saved This One.

YouTube: For ad agencies only?

Apparently. YouTube and the Art Director’s Club have partnered to feature what they’re calling the best of YouTube marketing in Show & Tell, where creatives from major shops critique the best work out there in the digital space. Supposedly. Everything’s subjective in advertising anyway, so who knows if they’re reaching with the premise.

It strikes me as more than a little elitist though when listening to the clip above talking about a separation between consumers and agencies. In essence: Only agencies are allowed to tell stories because clueless consumers are unable to. YouTube is okay though when agencies use it like an issue of CA for inspiration to use as the basis of a TV spot.

This attitude also undermines the whole democratic nature of YouTube and ignores how the platform has redefined just what is and isn’t creative anymore.

As for access to the platform that TV gave up on as expressed in this clip, that’s actually the problem from where I stand. There’s still a significant barrier in place when it comes to manipulating the nuts and bolts of the web for complex projects. TV doesn’t require the same level of constant changes to its platform that the web seems to, let alone the complex number of devs, Flash people, UX, etc.

No stories? If anything, the simplicity of YouTube lowers that barrier for anyone to use, resulting in more exploration of stories in their honest, raw state.

Look around man, look around. They’re being posted there every day.

These blog posts won't write themselves.

THEY REALLY WON’T. Because there’s no statue of limitations on cool? Well, for some people there might be, but check out these five Battlestar Galactica posters. Once again, propaganda and pop culture is the old...

(Via.)

Where discrete has no name.

Break away from your NFL draft madness for a sec and look at hype for a different kind of futbol. With Bono!

(Via TV, then via, then via enough already...)

But where do the checks go then?

If the glory goes to God I mean. Stephen Baldwin’s resurrection short here has to be the slickest piece of propaganda I’ve seen in some time, literally. Tight camera and visual effects! Won’t you please help... (a better script come along.) I might’ve put a counter on the website to chart the amount of donations to date. Not saying it has to have any religious significance, but, you know, couldn’t hurt. Unless that *sign* comes in the form of a new film with Al Pacino.

Microsoft tops everything in the world ever.

Cover your eyes and ears, here’s marketing stuff. A new survey out claims Microsoft is the leader in social media use in the workplace. I don’t even think Glenn Beck distorts things this much. If you wanna play in the metrics space though, I *suppose* you have to take a swing at a Nielsen every so often.

But really, some of the conclusions being drawn by the media covering it, hmmm:

“Microsoft tops social media use.”

So, the total number of workers at Microsoft outnumber the rest of the world using social networks? That’s not what the report reveals though. (It’s only covers the U.S.) This is Reuters? *The* Reuters? They should’ve just concluded that Microsoft leads the world in general web use then.

The survey is pushed as a means of covering who’s using what site in the workplace, but it’s only half the picture.

Missing is the other half acknowledging or at least demonstrating an understanding of the symbiotic relationship that exists with customers using social media for customer service issues. That’s fancy Friday talk for saying they’re *probably* talking to someone in... a business. (No, that’s okay, just shout them out when you get the answer.)

What good is saying “men are 19% more active on social networks than women” if I can’t know why each is using them. Are they checking email? Following up with customers? Surfing NSFW content? Apparently, some are.

“The most social media-savvy in the world.”

That was my fav. Being on a few sites and knowing what to do on them are *kinda* two different things and certainly don’t make you savvy. Isn’t that like concluding because she sells a lot of singles, Britney Spears must be a great singer then? Whatever.

Still, this’ll get traffic if Reuters picked it up, but it also shows what’s wrong with the business now more than ever: No set standard on which to agree how to measure things.

(Image from...)

They shoulda rejected it for the Barry Manilow.

Or the Chopin. I’m going to lose my Mantown Courtesy Card™ for knowing this, but another thing about that *banned* Lane Bryant ad: The background track Chopin Prelude in C Minor, is the basis for the melody of a Barry Manilow hit. I am so sorry for letting you know that, I really am, but, blame Top 40 during the 70s. Regardless, it is ironic that the network that brought you the Milf-Cougar hybrid show Desperate Housewives would object to another take on the afternoon delight theme. LOOK AT ME WITH A TWO SONGS FROM HELL REFERENCE! At least the brand learned something from GoDaddy and played it up.

AdVerve - 28 – Failed America Edition

Well, if we didn’t anger the gods last show, Where’s My Jetpack’s Dave Wilke helps us bat clean-up. This time out, we collectively diss the failed promise that was supposed to be a greener, cleaner Jetpack in every home. Oh, and we give Jack Bauer a little what for too. French politics and marble countertops? Well, ya just hafta listen to find out! More Dave on Twitter as well as a lotta places else!

Play the show now. (Or right-click to download directly.)

Subscribe via iTunes:

Topics:

00:00 – 1. Intro to a failed America
15:06 – 2. Jack Bauer saves America
23:10 – 3. Maps
28:48 – 4. Watching you
41:08 – 5. A Return To Americana
1:05:30 – 6. Wrap

Linkage:

• McDonald’s streams music.
• Jetpacks alligator break.
• christophe aguiton, kevin slavin and maps.
• V.
• Article on the iPhone.
• Gator rescue girl.
• Yahoo search share stats. (Correction to segment: Profits up while search share is slightly down.)
• TV is headed in this direction.
• Revised gator strategy: just fucking run.

Send questions, comments or requests for newsletter inclusion to advervepodcast [at] gmail [dot] com. You can also leave a review.

Don’t Stop Believin’ in YouTube.

If you look long enough on YouTube, you will be amazed at the stuff you forgot ever existed. Forget Guitar Hero, I’m talking JOURNEY THE ESCAPE VIDEO GAME!!!

And Flash 2... 3... 4...

My job is to bring you flashmobs whenever and wherever they appear. Even iterations like Diesel’s flashballet. Consider yourself mobbed.

(Via Brandflakes For Breakfast.)

No, yeah, 90 mph to the head? Good times!

Little league pushing advances in baseball safety? Whoa. Time, ump. As a former youth sports coach, nothing was more dangerous than baseball. Not hoops, football or soccer. (Cumulative effects of concussions in football aside.) Know how fast kids are throwing now while their asshole dad in the stands yells for them to bring the *heat*? Problem is, not veryone has control to go along with the speed. The number of accidents I saw in those other three sports in 10 years as a coach combined, still don’t match the number I saw in Little League and high school levels. I’ve seen two kids under the age of 11 take fastballs to the chest, one ending up in the hospital with a cracked sternum. Other incidents where this has happened resulted in fatalities. (The ball can hit the youth player not developed enough to withstand impact like that and can catch the heart between beats, resulting in a possibly fatal abnormal heart rhythm.)

Pitchers can be just as unlucky too. While there is debate over the return speed of balls hit with aluminum vs. wood (and contributing factors like a lack of helmet and distance to the batter after the pitch), there’s no doubt in my mind that aluminum bats produced quicker hits and more velocity over wood.

Gotta say, this spot by ESPN should be pulled. It almost as bad as if Philip Morris running ads touting advances in tobacco safety now.

Welcome to McDonald’s 2.0.

No, for real. Via Burgerbusiness.com comes word that the King of Burgers is wait for it... (no, not rebranding), reimagining it’s interior design this year for 2,000 of their 32,000+ stores (400-500 in the U.S.). At least they didn’t use reimagineer? Heh! I like the look and all as a radical departure from the arches of old I grew up on, but added to the Starbucks’ homage that is the McCafe experience, and ya have to wonder at what point does the effort become too sleek to sell what is really just a low-end burger experience?

Can’t go wrong with everything old being new again.

Or made older. Very cool collection of retro video game poster designs harkening back to a cross between old Hollywood and the days of WWII propaganda when loose lips sunk ships. The one above is a take on Donkey King, as if hardcore fans needed me to explain. THEY DON’T. Enjoy the rest here.

(Via.)

About the funkiest beer spot ever.

Well, so far at least. What do you do as a microbrew to stand out yet maintain your brand’s uniqueness, especially given the likes of a once-micro Sam Adams who can outspend you on coasters alone? You produce a spot like this. I hesitate to call what Magic Hat Brewery from Vermont did here a spot though, because it doesn’t behave like one. It brings the retro Pee-wee Herman funk. No, it does. Follow the story because it’s charming, told through vinyl and animation with verve. VERVE I SAY. Just watch, okay?

(Via Cool-Mo-Dee.)

That’s a busy kitchen.

So I got this campaign spot above sent in as most of the ad blogs get. (PR treats us all like fax machines, but, whatever.) It’s for Electrolux kitchen appliances. Gorgeous as hell, seamless animation melded with live action. A post production wet dream for any director’s reel, right? My first thought: How much did this damn thing cost. I mean, it’s European. The appliances aren’t $399 Home Depot specials. They were obviously shot on multiple sets with large cast and also spent a lot of time on visual effects. You’re dropping serious coin to make your kitchens look this good in real life.

Makes you wonder how many ranges they’ll sell.*

*Which is a loose steeping-off point to a discussion on agency credits, metrics and salaries coming soon. Or not.

Mt. Dew—premier lifestyle brand?

As the DEWmocracy project enters its next phase, I’ve been watching since it started to see how it plays out. When you read the background on where they began and where it’s headed, it looks like they have their act together in doing something cool with the brand and their fans.

*raises hand*

The idea of the brand “tapping the collective intelligence of its most passionate consumers” speaks to the theme of democracy; this in sharp contrast to the typical agency as dictator when it comes to controlling the creative.

But as I do, reading between the lines makes me think they may be believing a little too much in the idea of crowdsourcing and how the individual fan has control.

Not quite.

Democracy being majority rule, individualism has to give way to the greater good. Any personal expression will likely come from the more traditional promotional components of the campaign like “Send us your photo” type stuff.

That said, don’t get me wrong. I get what they’re going for here. It’s in stark contrast to parent brand Pepsi and the ball they dropped in terms of integrating product with their most ardent fans’ promotional efforts.

Does this also mean an end to agencies? No. There has to be a balance. I’m just saying keep a little perspective though on how this all works together.

Oh, and also DEWd, as much a fan as I am of the brand, let’s not ever mention the words *premier lifestyle* and *Mt. Dew* in the same sentence again.

Green to me is smiles, suburbs and no dads.

You?

Tea Party is the new...

You know, you don’t have to connect all the dots in an ad campaign. You don’t even have to include a url in a TV spot if you don’t want to. But if you advertise a product like Raw Tea in a banner ad with a Teapartay.com url, you probably should make sure it goes to, um, the Raw Tea section on your website. But then, there is no Raw Tea section on the site.

Oh.

Play Beer! 7-Eleven to release their own brew.

Look, it’s lame wordplay week here at mtlb, so deal. Third largest beer retailer in the U.S. is 7-Eleven? I guess so. If McDonald’s can sell an emulation of the Starbucks *experience* for $3 less a cup, why can’t 7-Eleven take on Bud with its Game Day Ice and Light private label brand? I ASK YOU. Bad move? Probably not.

There are worse demos and worse ways to go after them in times like these. It doesn’t have to win awards for taste either. As McDonald’s found out, it just needs to be “not bad”—for a cheaper brew. ($6.99—$8.99 per 12-pack and 24-ounce singles between $1.49—$1.89. By comparison, a 12-pack of Bud Light is about $13 around here.)

Only hurdle I could see to wide adoption is the ginormous offensive line all stadium concession deals represent—no way 7-Eleven penetrates that. Which is fine. My guess is they’ll be happy to *tap* into the couch potato demo and maybe even the college crowd too, given the proximity of their stores to many universities.

Teabaggers For Jesus.

“CLRubyHypatia: The majority of African Americans and Hispanics are Christians, yet I never see them get ridiculed for their beliefs. The same goes for Christians who are Liberal. It's only White Christians who are Conservatives who get made fun of.”

I agree!* Except... that I don’t see African Americans and Hispanics at rallys beyond the one or two cherry picked for interviews. Wait, come to think of it, I haven’t seen many of those either!** Hmmm. And, it comes down to majority rules is right!!! Screw the right to vote—which I *thought* the majority did in 2008—this is about something else!!!!

Wait, what? It is? Oh.

On second thought...

*Don’t exclamation points just scream snark?
**Yes, they do.

What goes with insurgency... hmm, the white?

Prohibition, alive and well in Tribal Pakistan, complete with $8 beers on the black market. Except for that whole if the Taliban catches you they just kill you thing. (Via NYT.)

The Man From C.A.M.P.

Canadian Actors Mostly Portraying...? Shatner was campy before Trek mah friends. Jump to this scene of Man From U.N.C.L.E. and watch a young Tiger at work, perfecting his craft as he brings his A-game (along with future First Officer Leonard Nimoy).* Not surprising an appearance given both series were on NBC either. Oh, and Shatner could bring the camp for interviews too, even then, he brung it... every single interview.

*U.N.C.L.E. stood for The United Network Command for Law and Enforcement, which, in addition to Get Smart and The Avengers in the 1960s, were all primetime variations on a James Bond theme.