Sleep smarter... or we take your arms.

Best spot of the year? Not sure because I still have a sweet spot for Vern, but as well-produced *local* goes, it’s damn skippy.

(Agency: Leopold Ketel & Partners.)

Btw...

- I TOLD YOU 3D WAS BAD FOR KIDS.
- Coffee With Jesus.
- What up dog. NOT YOUR MORTGAGE RATE!
- Army men carpet... killing your feet.
- The meaning of car company symbols.
- I’ll try the Jihadist mango.
- IPhone Beer Cannon.
- Radiohead For Haiti: fan-created, pay-what-you-want charity-DVD.
- 2000 vs. 2011.
- Year-end list 1.
- Shoe boxes they will likely never make.
- Year-end list 2.
- Let it go guys. Let it go.
- Year-end list 3.

Following you on Twitter.

You know, now that they mention it, there ARE a few suspicious people on Twitter lately. Talking about conversation, engagement and empowered consumers. Might wanna look into those people... if, you know, you were paranoid enough.

The way they were.

Okay, last one this year, I swear! (See what I did there? Yeah, you did. END OF YEAR HUMOR.) But there was nothing funny about this year, if you believe the daily headlines on Drudge. SO LET’S GO BACK TO 1996, where Pepsi partied like it was... 1996. Does anyone remember laughter? No... DOES ANYONE REMEMBER SHOCKWAVE?

We will get you the 3D money you deserve!

Is it too late to nominate a commercial for lawyer ad of the year decade? Eric C. Conn just won them all. You do not need 3D glasses to enjoy this gem. In fact, it’s better if you don’t use them. HE’S COINED A NEW PHRASE TOO: THE E-MAN! He even shows you how to make your own 3D glasses. Who does that? HE SHOULD BE IN COURT! Watch as his avatar even tries to get down... a little. Not bad for a... LAWYER!

Here’s more Train!

Heh. JOKE. Enjoy the animation work in this student short Train of Thought before some agency gets its hands on it for a floor wax. (Okay, it’s *sorta* like this.)

The way they were.

Yes, I am now hooked on old websites. It’s all I can do this Holiday Week though. Deal. LOOK AT THE CHRYSLER FROM 1997! Certainly a stripped-down version of the sleek sexy beast of today.

Btw...

- Traitorware. Your printer is spying on you. (Via.)
- Cloudsourcing.
- Worst ads of 2010.
- Godless SEO heathen take note: “Merry Christmas” twice as popular as “Happy Holidays.”
- They’ll probably last longer than the Post Office.
- Sleekness! 1938 concept car.

The way they were.

It’s a triple header retro nightmare with AOL and Yahoo! from 1996, and MySpace from 1997. Sexy! 1996 is retro? IT IS NOW. (After the jump.)

Sorry our hacking cough got in the way of your agenda.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
9/11 First Responders React to the Senate Filibuster
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Murrow or not? I don’t know. Whether it was Jon Stewart or TVNewser or Fox or whoever... people who went to help on 9/11 and came out far worse for wear will get more financial aid due to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. More important, that, than who takes credit. Blame whoever you want for stalling it, but this wasn’t a unanimous vote. Almost as many Democrats abstained from the vote as Republicans did. Yep, it’s one big scam alright, wondering when you’re going to get cancer. (Disclosure: My brother-in-law who was a fireman at the time is now on a health watch list for the rest of his life due to time spent at Ground Zero.)

Overheard internet.

Yep, they said it...


“This is day-um ridiculous. How is a bitch supposed to make a living with Craigslist Adult Services shut down?  Gawker Dating? Hah! Those cheap bastards are so fugly they cracked my computer screen.  You can find me on Craigslist under home repairs where I charge $200 per hour to fix your "plumbing".  Just look for Magenta.” 
– Total Package


“Anyone calling Obama “president” is a Traitor to America and the US Constitution and will be prosecuted when we take power. We got to get rid off the Liberals like we did to Nazis in Berlin.”
– Kim Bailey

Baller’s bus breaks for Bango.

The Milwaukee Bucks’ mascott has an okay first move off the dribble. Maybe he should try football though because he sure seems to like hitting.

Time lapse is the new...

I’m just going to start saying that for everything. “BLANK is the new...” From Belmar, NJ, comes 20 hours of snowage in under :40 seconds. While we didn’t get that much, two feet plus was pushed aside by man and machine here in CT.

(Via.)

Launching stuff from your backyard into space is the new...

Nice way to promote Google’s Nexus S, I guess. Except, the novelty will be wearing off at some point, and then we’ll want to put stuff with logos on it on the moon.

Btw...

- Apple 3D - no stupid glasses.
- Nissan Leaf Karma.
- War Machine, D.C.Note the Beatles above Batman’s left ear spike.)
- Merry Kwanzaa cake.

Pepyo Bismol bails you out this holiday season.

Ken Jeong reprises a Lite™ version of his Slim Chin persona for the Under-Indulgence of partiers everywhere and Pepto Bismol. I’VE ONLY EVER HAD IT ONCE. Only thing worse is Alka Selter. Then he’s in your stomach as part of Tummy Time (after the jump).

Btw...

- Who writes Wikipedia.
- YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING: Chilean miner wine.
- Outsourced to Africa.
- Xtranormal holiday PR time.
- The original Ab Roller.

The CDC’s 12 Days of Christmas.

“Said the CDC to me...” Your U.S. Centers for Disease Control tax dollars at work.

(Via Barfblog.)

Santa’s brand promise: excellence, measurability, accountability and snow.

Nice little self-promo for UK’s Quietroom on the business side of Christmas.

(Via Ad Broad.)

Merry Christmas, Hipsters!

(Via.)

Btw...

- Merry deathmas.
- Homograph attacks & script spoofing. (Via.)
- OK Go on their sponsored videos.
- “There’s the orbiter, go put a motor in it.”
- First Person Shooter – in real life.
- “They owe me.”
- In case you need more dancy gaps.

Flying the friendly skies of MINI.

C’mon, it’s a cute spot. Ironically, the MINI Countryman probably has more legroom than most commercial flights. (Other useless trivia? It’s MINI in all caps when referring to the modern version of the car and Mini when referring to the classic. So there.)

Wait, I thought we killed all the guys in lab coats videos?

Snow kidding? Guess who’s back rhymin and stealin with a License To Spill! Yeah boy, it’s Bounty in the house. MAKE THAT THE KITCHEN.

Forget people, give to dogs.

Saw this over on Live and Uncensored! and couldn’t resist a chance to help the puppies. Luckie & Co. have some Kaish lying around – $6K – and want to give it to someone with Choose Your Charity. (That’s the good thing about holiday promos like this: You can’t hate any idea where giving is involved.) So cast your vote by December 31, and one of the three will get the cash they deserve. Faith in mankind reality check: 60% of you care more about dogs than kids.

AdVerve 59 - Psychedelic Curation Station.

Play the show now.

Guillaume Decugis (@gdecugis) of Scoop.it joins us to talk about the curation age, what makes the HuffPo model “special,” protecting journalists while serving users’ desire to share, and Silicon Valley versus the French tech scene. (Email us for a Scoop.it invite: advervepodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.)

That’s a lot to cover in 30 25 minutes. Hold onto your hats, cowpokes.

(Image.)

Ad of the year? SHIPOOPI!

Maybe not ad of the year as much as ad word. Sure Old Spice, Most Interesting and Nike’s Write The Future get all the glory, but I put together a few spots featured here in 2010 that either drew the most traffic, or were ones I just liked. Which makes this my end of year blog post, I guess. Cue streamers!

1) Chrysler Bullies.
2) Off the Chain bail bonds.
3) Adidas Originals - Star Wars Collection.
4) Bill Smith Buick.
5) Whoosh!
6) The NBA on ESPN campaign.
7) “Girls like guys who stand near flames.”
8) The best seat belt PSA ever.
9) Kevin Butler & anything PS3.
10) “Tuck in your shirt, hippie.”

Random bannerness.

It’s been a few months since I stabbed some banner ads in the eye. So here re a few that showed up on radar recently. 1) Look at playa spying the results of a Reebok workout. 2) Then, after the jump, look what Ted Kaczynski Santa’s bringing with him: 2.99% mortgage rates! Wait, that second frame though, he passes the shavings savings onto you!

Btw...

- Stormtrooper Super Shogun Xmas!
- Gingerbread Crackhouse.
- 3D printed custom prosthetic limbs.
- Lunar eclipse... on Mars.
- You dudes going to Der Fuhrer’s Christmas party? (Via.)

Jack Black will save MySpace.

I’m apparently on the list now as MySpace sends out weekly attempts at relevance. Oh though, Jack, really? The blatant Gulliver’s Travels plug at the lower left? Check out what they did with Jack. Translation: Watch old clips of him from other shows after the jump.

Get up for the Viagra challenge.

You vs. the stock photo. (Heh.) Look at Viagra branching out of the bedroom into the wild blue yonder! (Office party hangover aside, you saw what I did there... blue > Viagra > blue?) But the Time connection though, hmm. “Co-branded integrated marketing opportunity that hits our demo where they live” aside, feels more like it cheapens Time’s image a little as it actually enhances Viagra’s and its lifestyle push. Remember, if you experience dizziness while feeding pills to sharks, discontinue use immediately.

Merry Garbagemas.

Sorry to be an experiential Scrooge, but aren’t tons of paper and plastic wasted every day, not just at Christmas? Hey I know, let’s build a large wood and plastic unit to show people. Cute idea though for Volkswagen Italy: Garbage in, garbage out. Sure my title was a stretch, but I just think the Christmas thing is a bigger one if you’re trying to promote your brand as eco. Year-round kids. Year-round. (No worries – you’d still be able to enter it in the award shows. Where they waste even more paper and plastic.)

Btw...

- The VW Box.
- See how camels agree with your throat.
- A little Gulf in every Volt.
- NASA has no policy regarding sex in space and its repercussions.
- Snow under a microscope.
- Flashmobs gone wild.
- What Homeland Security knows about the internet.
- Zappa on censorship.

Esurance mulls name change to Esaver.

BECAUSE THEY SAVE YOU SO MUCH. The *Saver* is back for Esurance in series of new spots built around... savings. Going full-bore with the Kevin Butler PS3 schtick this time out, but at least they appear to be going away from that damn Erin character. For that early Christmas present, I will simply call him – The Savior. EXCEPT SHE STILL HAUNTS ME IN THE BACKGROUND. (Other spots below.)

Augmented abuse.

This violence against women app supporting Germany’s Frauennotrufs München eV works with an accompanying print campaign by demonstrating the two parallel lives abuse victims lead – in *theory*. Like its French counterpart though, the execution, while technically solid, sure seems at odds with the insight. Or at least the point they’re trying to make based on the insight. It requires some effort for the viewer to go through just to get that far. (Why not a simple two-page execution in print with the before and after shot.) Regardless, what’s the point here, that women get abused? That’s not really news. (Or will this be downloaded by abusers themselves.) Just not sure how downloading an app is supposed to make me see something different from what I already know goes on.

(Agency: brand.david.)

Year-end rantaganza.

Download the show now or listen through iTunes.

Ken Wheaton, Angela Natividad, John Wall and mahself join the year-end edition on everything we covered this year. (Of course, what else does *year-end* mean?) Name a topic and we riffed on it. I probably went off too much on crowdsourcing, but like most stuff that gets to me, I *eventually* come around to a point. (In a perfect world, crowdsourcing would offer both parties in the equation something of *real* value. As it’s practiced now though, it’s inexpensive creative for clients with no guarantee of compensation for all participants. I’ve still only seen one example of how it could work in my perfect world.) Download you some.


Tags: Beancast

Burberry ain’t complaining about Christmas.

Not with their stock heading to Pluto. Okay, I admit it, as long as it’s not that Train Coke shake thing I love this little short but sweet Christmas burst from Johnny Borrell of Razorlight for Burberry. One shot and done. The brand had been going through a reimagineering for some time, and I thought the band gives the brand too much of a down and dirty bohemian vibe, but it works. (Borrell didn’t charge for appearing and instead made a generous donation to the Burberry Foundation. VERY BOHEMIAN, again.)

Our Fall edition will be amazing.

“The formula most commonly used by the magazine's art directors and photographers: dark-haired, white-skinned model, centered.”

No, it’s not Photoshop gone awry, but an entire year’s worth of Vogue covers run on top of each other, sans type (mostly). Eerie as it looks, the quote sums up the type of model the Vogue art directors seem to look for in their covers, and in a larger sense, maybe even what the audience subconsciously expects.

(Via.)

Btw...

- Superheroes and the law. (Via.)
- Rumming soon.
- Your bellwether of new journalism.
- Some day, iPads WILL be this big.
- Twitter wars: Soulja Boy vs. Toyota.
- Guys and their dumb mags making them dumb... er. (Via.)

AND THE CAMERAS ALL BROKE OUT...

As if on cue! Be kind, dear readers... for I give you the last flashmob of 2010 – or ever? Hopefully. It’s for Dell XPS laptop speakers in an Austin coffeehouse. Yes, I know, that’s some HOT sexy keyword action, and yes, any brand could own flashmob coffeehouse speakers, and yes, shaking a laptop around like that is an ass-kick worthy move..., but can’t you smell the charm? Just a little? Maybe though next time everyone sit the hell down, and one by one, the song builds from the various tables throughout, filling the air with joyous wonder... AND NO GRATUITOUS BOOTY SHAKE. The HELL? It’s Christmas. SHOW SOME RESPECT. No more flashmobs unless they have a charitable angle to them or are breathtakingly cool.

Make flowers not war.

Nice anti-violent spin on the FPS genre for Atari’s The UnderGarden.

(Agency: Supercool Creative.)

If you see something...

Oh, like our TSA messages? Nothing like an domestic abuse/human rights/condom ad for the agency reel, especially this work for France’s Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes. Only thing I condone less than violence against women is an insight that feels wrong, although I’d agree with the message here – if I saw it happening. But whoever does? Abusers are really good at one thing: a Jeckyl and Hyde public/private persona that makes you doubt they would ever do something awful. “What, that? Oh, that’s nothing. She fell.” The execution, while sensationalized, just undermines the point even more because the guy hitting his wife in front of their mailbox? Is doing that shit behind closed doors, and if the victim won’t say anything out of fear, not much the police will do. Instead of a friend’s silence, address the silence of the victim because they need a way out. (More abuse after the jump.)

Roll Huskies!

Nah, doesn’t have the same heft as “Roll Tide!” Mostly because UConn suh-HUCKED for a long time – and that’s before they had a football program. ROLL TIDE!

Btw...

- Don’t be like this guy this week.
- Christmas needs more Sandstorm.
- WHAT IS HIS ACCENT AND WHAT’S WITH THE BEARD?
- Why you can’t find the original Tron.
- Krispy Kreme sells out down under.
- Humongo hiring: Interactive designers need apply.
- For real: Farmville For Dummies.

They want your Bod, man.

Oh sure, I walk around Super 8 hallways like that ALL the time. WHAT’S WITH BOD MAN’S INDUSTRIAL ARMOR ALL SPRAY BOTTLE PACKING? That’s some serious spray trigger action. They also have an amazing effect on dressing room attendants. ONLY ONE IN THE ROOM AT A TIME PLEASE. The packaging? Action hero comic lite! The scent?

“The essence of crisp verbena is highlighted by wild bergamot and a bright citrus zest accord. The masculine impact is revealed in the midnote where white sage, orange blossom, and a cool oceanic accord create a sense of modern seduction. The background is sexy and a bold blend of tonka bean, sandalwood, and amber intensifying the exotic charisma of this fragrance.”

HYUNDAI MAKES AMAZINGLY HUGE GAINS!

Thanks to advertising, apparently. It’s less the delivery of Jeff Bridges though that has Hyundai racing up the Brand Value Growth chart at number eight in the automotive section (65 overall). Try favorable dealer incentives, an Assurance plan to cover your out of work ass, and America’s best warranty (10-year/100,000 miles). Things like that tend to help anyone overlook a ho-hum interior. (Sorry, but I test drove one and that’s how it felt.) The more noticeable aspects of the chart is first, who’s still number one, and second, who’s not on it at all: GM & Chrysler. While any chart is open to debate, but how bad are things for those two when Marlboro stays in the top 20 and they don’t even appear anywhere.

Are The Black Keys taking the Train?

...to most overused band in commercials? Not song per se, as Train still has them beat with Hey Soul Sister. Off the top of my head though, there’s Tighten Up in the Subaru spot above after Molson M had also used the song months earlier. Then there was a Levi’s spot. Now, the band has ventured into the land of Victoria’s Secret and Zales’s diamond life with Girl on My Mind. Their raw Led Zepp garageband practice sound once stood out from the usual music you heard in ads, and especially Train’s Pop 40 leanings, but now they’re getting played out as agencies grab any song by bands with lyrics that match a particular product. I DIDN’T SAY SELL OUT EITHER. Band’s gotta do what it do, but, would be nice to cut back a little before they end up in a floor wax ad.

Truth in advertising No. 59.

The liquor edition. It’s Sunday, slow news day, but this one was bugging me. You had Dove’s Real Beauty, Domino’s pizza pictures and soon, I hope someone will show their soda, beer, wine or liquor without glowing glowiness or misty mistiness. Aka, reflector cards behind dark bottles and Karo syrup sprayed on the surface to recreate a nice chill. Cue photographers: “Dude, stfu, I’m trying to make a living here.” Sorry friend, but the only thing it does is make the label stand out. The flip side: Would anyone drink something that looked like dark mud? I don’t know, but for wine or spirits that tout aging in *real* oak barrels, it’d be a nice change of pace to see something other than an unnatural glow that will never be experienced beyond an ad.

The Lego search engine.

 “Kind of sobering to realize that in 1996 I was building duplo doll houses with my daughter while Larry and Sergey and were building a duplo server housing that grew into a $190 billion company.”

14 years ago, there’s the soon to be Google, Duplo color scheme and all. Wonder how much Lego spends on search now... or do they get free keywords for life?

(Via.)

Christmas cheer time.

Make Every Day Christmas - watch more funny videos

Couple of items making the rounds for the holidays... Malecopywriter Lawson Clarke makes every day Christmas in the clip above. I SAW MOMMY F***ING SANTA. (Wait, other way around.) Then, Traction is celebrating things with the 12 Days of Grouchmas, a collection of daily videos. (S&M Santa sample after the jump!)

Btw...

- Body count for The Expendables cast.
- Inception confusion chart.
- American Redneck Society.
- Death on the playground.
- 2001 deleted scenes.

YOU COULD WIN TWITTER!

Not sure why I said that, just felt like it after seeing Mercedes-Benz use Facebook to promote a Tweet contest. Integration! Except, for the brand concerned about attention to detail (I worked on them in the past), the curly Q quotes on “Like” scream type noob. Amazing what a digital age still doesn’t know. Yeah, I know, amazing what people like me still care about. So let me throw some more confusion out: You have to like them to find out more information about this amazing Cannonball Twitter run, but like most contests, the rules say no purchase required to enter. But... I won’t enter until I find out more. In other words, if the proverbial *we* have now assigned a value to likes and followers, then my giving up a like has some value to the brand. (Otherwise, why would they be asking for it?) By doing so though, they’ve unknowingly lumped that value in with the idea of purchase. They’re not the first brand to apply old school sweepstakes thinking to social networks, but for a brand focused on details, it’s one that highlights a lack of seamless integration.

Careful, you don’t know where that picnic table has been.

Quick, it’s raining – off with your clothes and on with the timepieces. The exquisitely handcrafted timepieces from D&G. Sexy!

Getting your head out of the cloud.

“We’re proud to announce that del.icio.us has joined the Yahoo! family. Together we’ll continue to improve how people discover, remember and share on the Internet, with a big emphasis on the power of community. We’re excited to be working with the Yahoo! Search team – they definitely get social systems and their potential to change the web. (We’re also excited to be joining our fraternal twin Flickr!) [...] I look forward to continuing my vision of social and community memory, and taking it to the next level with the del.icio.us community and Yahoo!”

Heart the cloud bitches, for it’s all we’ll have one day.

Who doesn’t love it though. Windows ads say you should. Techvangelists want you to. A paperless future and increased productivity – who doesn’t want that? Except, with the apparent suiciding of some its *underperforming* properties like bookmarking site Delicious, Yahoo highlights the inherent problem with depending on *the* cloud.

Please don’t let this happen to you.

This time of year gives permission to the green sweater with candy cane patch crowd to do their thang. See above and comedic legend Eugene Levy.* Help him f... ind a fashion sense, won’t you? SO THAT IT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.

Btw...

- UPS trucks don’t make left turns.
- WikiPads.
- “How I‘d hack your weak password.” (Via.)
- Translate via picture.
- Everyone needs their own trailer. (Via.) 
- How to promote a book.
- Christmas cards Hallmark won’t be selling. (Via.)

Google’s Super Delux Ninja Takeover!

It’s ninjas fighting to promote Google’s new Android phone the Nexus S, cool and all, but wished it had some player controls.

When life gives you Bridgeport, make... fun of it.

I KID CONNECTICUT, I KID. Oh Family Guy, you gone done it now, making fun of the Park City and angering the Gods of I-95 (ranked one of the worst cities in terms of commute). I GREW UP THERE – SETH AIN’T LYING. Except that maybe if the factories still remained. (...2 ...3 ...4!) Oh, and the guy with the Bah-stan accent writing the letter. Hmmm. Other than that, look at Bridgeport mayor Bill Finch laughing it all off and even upselling the city:

“We've got great sources of entertainment in the city at the arena, the ballpark and the zoo and the discovery museum.” 

Classic hit from guy with funny name gets makeover for worthy cause.

Yes, this is supporting a good cause in The Meningitis Trust (aren’t all causes good causes?), but this reworking of Engelbert Humperdinck’s hit Release Me by the Drybrook & District Male Voice Choir may have also just killed social media terminology for good. So yea collateral damage! Although, admit it, hostage videos look more comfortable. But they also have an app! (At this point even my dog has an app.)

There’s something about Mary’s wedding shower.

Congrats Mary, you hit the Triphoria! Jeez-zus, I know it’s an extension of their regular product line, but Trojan is fast becoming the Skechers of condom brands here. (Cialis ads are even laughing at them.) So basically the message is, Trojan knows your fiance will suck so bad in bed that you need three of these before you even get married? Speaking of, the fiance is a little too happy to be getting these. Two people + three units means another friend, or, someone gets to double up.

Overheard internet.

Yep, they said it...


“You bought a truck based on an invisible monkey. Think abouit that for a minute. Then slap yourself in the fucking face. Hard.” 
– U Flung Pu


“Don’t dispose of your chewing gum on the (station) platform,” Interestingly they have used “suteruna” for “don’t dispose of”, the short and quite brusque “na” form, as opposed to the more usual “sutenaide kudasai” you would expect from a company such as Tokyo Metro. Bringing the verb forward in the sentence also gives the order more strength, normally in Japanese the verb comes at the end of the sentence.”
– mrjohn


“It’s interesting that the only time Facebook seems to want to offer you any kind of emotional experience is when you're trying to leave the site, and the experience is designed to be a negative one, rooted in guilt.”
– izaidi

Btw...

- Rebuilding a town.
- Ho, ho, no way.
- More unhappy mealness.
- Happy agency holidays from Noslo, Philly and Feral Carol land.
- InDirecTV.
- Not a Creep a year later.

Unlock you some Coke.

Simple demo on how to make a YouTube clip do more as Coke revels some hidden stuff and a brand story/timeline. WHY AREN’T MORE BRANDS DOING THIS. It’s not hard to figure out, except apparently, it is for most.

450 pages of pure Google Docs pleasure.

Or, maybe you prefer 1:30 seconds of pure Maria Sharapova pleasure? While I admire the effort put in, a guy should never say “Let’s rock the Google docs!” Choose your favorite at Google Demo Slam.

(Via.)

“This is causing so much conversation, we have no intentions of pulling it.”

So says the Assistant Health Commissioner for the HIV/AIDS Bureau behind the commercial that has people squeemish – squeemish I say! (:24 for the graphicnicity!) All that matters is that people talk, right? Who cares if the spot is misguided and ignores non-gay HIV/AIDS victims. PEOPLE ARE TALKING! As usual, that’s the weak argument people fall back on to justify shock and awe. What needs to be addressed is the mindset of the younger generation (regardless of their sexual preference) that HIV is not a death sentence anymore and that it’s okay to get an STD because hey, at least it’s not AIDS! Sorry, but if AIDS or HIV is still very much a global threat, then don’t you have a responsibility to represent all the groups potentially affected? SO SAYS YOUTUBE:

“Hey world! Lets make a PSA video talking about poverty and only show black people! --- That won't be offensive or discriminatory at all!” – HenhousetheRed

Or not:

“Well coming from somebody living with AIDS, I believe this commercial is GREAT, NYC Health is realizing that HIV rates with young men are up, hence only young men in the commercial and yes it is fact that gay men are much more likely to get HIV/AIDS than straight men..Especially here in NYC ,and everything said in that commercial is based on fact. HIV /AIDS does cause effects on the body regardless of medications. The ad gets the a point across, Its never just HIV there is no cure for AIDS.” – NYC212010

Happy 10th Google AdWords

If they wanted heartfelt, just cut to the end and the group “Thank You!”  Google created personalized response for its AdWords customers as a thanks. Nice intent. The cgi is solid here, and I always love engineers gone wrong themes, but I also wondered as I watched why Google felt the need to resort to almost Bud Lite-like stunts. (These feel more real, if a little forced.) The combo of actor and actual Google employee (Sr. VP Susan Wojcicki) feels like a disconnect from the more genuine story theme they’d started and were evolving. Those are the finishing touches Apple understands throughout all their product lines. Why not instead something that speaks to the broader experience they’ve created for people with AdWords and search? *sigh* To have that production budget though - I am jealous.

(Crafted by: rehabstudio for AKQA.)

YOU WILL ROAST IN A CAULDRON OF TINSELY FLAMING DEATH!

State Farm’s deathscare squad is back, just in time for Christmas. (Wait, are we still saying Christmas?) Enjoy the fun as they run through a few commonplace scenarios where homeowners get stupid. I will say we've been lucky in all our tree-trimming years to not have had any fires, save for the collateral damage of glass ornaments hitting wood floors thanks to our cat.* Closest to holiday fire stories I got: When I was six and change, our neighbor took out his second floor after using a propane torch to peel some paint. (Their Christmas sucked and man, the fire smell is almost impossible to get rid of.) Then just a few years ago a guy with a snow plow kit on his 4x4 hit a curb at Town Fair Tire across from us. Time from smoldering of kit to fully engulfed vehicle? Less than four minutes - for true! Which leads me to the part where State Farm should do one where people can see what happens in actual unedited time before a room flashover occurs and just how quickly a room goes up. Oh, and the cord thing: Not really sure CVS and Lowe’s sell a lot of those knock-off cords (UL THAT SHIT KIDS), but, don’t be a dumbass and bury them under a carpet or where people walk. That is all. Happy Holidays from me and State Farm. (These clips really didn’t need the music, but in case you need a version with a more dramatic backing track that builds to a fiery crescendo.)

*R.I.P. Adonis, you crazy little fucker.

“I’ve seen what you look at online.”

Oh. Little creepy when a software knows what you’ve been up to. NO IT’S NOT. It’s freakin’ software – it’s what it does. Webroot is running a print campaign doubling as a rebate program basically. “This holiday, give a gift they’ll actually use” is the angle, even though thanks to gift cards for almost everything these days, not sure how much mileage that approach still has. I can’t recall a bad gift experience in years; bigger problem is unused gift cards. (More holiday writing post-jump.)

Btw...

- Today you... tomorrow me. (Via.)
- Social media trekkie edition.
- Your animation tax dollars at work. (Via.)
- 10 most overused buzzwords in your LinkedIn. (Via.)
- Bombed in the shelter. (Via.)
- YouTube’s top tubes.

“This is not a challenge, this is an opportunity.”

A recent website RFP reminded me of this old video on all the ways first-time clients talk you down on price. Taken further, imagine if people in other walks of life haggled the same way...

(Via.)

Suitsupply - For men who know what they want.

And the room they want it in. That’s about the safest shot you’ll find espousing any sense of gender equality in the NSFW SHAMELESS campaign from Suitsupply in Europe. IMAGES BANNED FROM THE FACEBOOK BUT NOT THE TWITTER! The other reaction? Yawn. So edgy using nekkid women in compromising positions to satisfy the male beast. The imagery is nicely shot by Carli Hermès, whose style is typical of the industry’s current love affair with a coldly-lit, disconnected HD world of tomorrow, where models shiver on cold counters as men have their way with them. (I sense though that one of our heroes has regrets over his treatment of women. Can’t you smell the shame oozing from his averted gaze? He wants to rescue her but knows he has to live up to the role society has written for him. That, and if he bails, there goes his day rate.)

The Patriot App. Aka, there’s a snitch for that.

Thought Steve Jobs was Big Brother? Ha, maybe you were right. Look at Apple carrying this fun little tool! Now with The Patriot App, use your smartphone to turn in that neighbor who just didn’t seem to fit in at summer block parties. You know, the one who kept to himself? You may hate what it stands for, but if there’s a better product name that melds with the app category in general, I haven’t seen it. Supposedly created by former Department of Homeland security people at Citizen Concepts, you can do fun things like text local authorities when you suspect something. (Man, why does the word *citizen* always give me the creeps. Oh yeah, that’s why.) Need a guide for what to do when the Russkies drop the Al Qaida detonates a suitcase at the mall? There’s a paranoia for that.

(Via.)

Same as it ever was with Martell.

...and the rest of the liquor industry and their lifestyle shot porn. Except, nice to see a little different spin on why all those people stand around in booze ads. Martell recreates art from the past – in print. (Wait, paint was print, sorta, no?) It’s a series that can get old fast if all they do is stay in the party circuit, but, clever! Except, dude in the middle? Take a cue from your boy in 1715 and DO NOT HOLD A BOTTLE THAT WAY – EVER. (Uno más after the jump.)

Btw...

- Un_______ the holidays.
- The third happiest day of a boat owner’s life...
- Rock band T-shirts for arthouse film directors. (Via.)
- A print wtf, WWF.
- Star Wars Dark Side coffee.
- Package design cakes.
- It’s a damn ink cartridge. (Via.)

Email still works.

At first I was like damn, messing with people like that, but okay, it worked. Photographer Arthur Mebius and agency New Message employed OLD SCHOOL email as part of a self-promotion to get him more clients. How? By indirectly playing up on the anticipation photographers have while awaiting word of inclusion in a REALLY important nominations book by the Art Director’s Club of Netherlands. He sent out an email to the same list as the ADCN membership would have around the same time they were to notify people of their decision, and thus jumped to the front of the mind line. Nice trick.

Facebook’s arty side.

This visualization of Facebook’s friend connections is bee-u-tee-ful, no doubt. Visualization based on paths between two set points doesn’t leave much to chance as you know what to expect, but this is still compelling when you see it close up. As Facebook intern Paul Butler describes his pet project:

“It’s not just a pretty picture, it’s a reaffirmation of the impact we have in connecting people, even across oceans and borders.”

Wouldn’t that be a myrrth?

New Jersey, I swear you do not disappoint. “Reasonable Since 1963.” What were they before? American Atheists are here to wish you Reason’s Greetings with a billboard sure to please just about anyone. Just what the hell are reasonble greetings, anyway? (I can still say hell with atheists, right?) I mean, “Hello” seems a reasonable greeting to me, or “Have a nice week off between December 25th and January 1st.” But seeing a Billboard Battle between them and the Catholic League might be enough to screw with the heads of kids everywhere. WHY MAKE THE LITTLE ONES WORK SO HARD FOR THEIR GIFTS.

Grab what you want, it’s free, right?

“I would have never heard of these writers or books had the net not been around and had they not been shared.”

So goes a typical response to the story of an author complaining that pirated copies of her work are eroding her income from sales. This is the same author who also has zero problem with designer knockoff handbags or downloading thousands of free songs. There may be *good* reasons in theory for why someone shares, (exposure to new music, The Man™ is screwing me, etc.), but no matter what excuse it is, the creator of the work ends up getting screwed. Do those arguments hold up anymore, if they ever did?

BMW wants you to stare into the sun.

Sorta. AFTER IMAGE EFFECT IS THE NEW SUBLIMINAL SUGGESTION. Replicating the moments after you look at the sun and close your eyes, they flash a logo, then when you close your eyes later, it appears and fades from view. Of course, a lot of it also exploits the rods and cones rushing round in response to light-dark stimuli, but that doesn’t make for sexy ad action where dreams live and logos fade. Now, don’t you feel targeted, as a group?

(Via, via.)

Btw...

- The Italian Amish.
- Muslim petal peril.
- The Jim Brockmire story. (NSFW.)
- Monopoly mash.
- Facics.
- Post-shuttle launch.
- What’s really wrong with BlackBerry.

AdVerve 58 - How (Not...?) to get ravished at tech conferences.

Play the show now.

Aka, tech conference date rape. We had other things on our minds what with the wrapping of LeWeb 2010, but as often happens only one topic dominated the score: those whose hands traverse the endless expanse of your inert spinal cord after a watered-down cocktail or two. What to do? Do you out them? Or do you play it cool, like Sam L. Jackson? Well, two topics actually. We then WikiLeaked on why Julian Assange is both hero and villain.

We cover that and myriad little else in another superfast 30-minute show.

Linkage:

- Google tech conference dating fun.
- Julian Assange doesn’t like to pay?

(Image.)

Zeitgeist 2010: What people searched for.

Google’s Year in Review promo sums up the good, the bad and the ugly from 2010. While Bing is still trying to establish itself as the go-to search resource in your life, Google’s already there as it continues to reinforce its importance there with compilations like this.

(Agency: Whirled.)

“What’s happened to that bold, progressive man we elected president in 2008?”

Hey, politics isn’t just for Movember anymore! In the Disinformtion Age, we can go 24/7 on any issue. So what happened was... uh, his crew just got their asses handed to them in November and he’s fast on his way to becoming one and done? Like the Tea Party candidates who couldn’t even last a month before caving and selling out their ideals, he was the Washington outsider who learned Washington from the inside. Compromise is what happened grandma, compromise. Nothing more to see here, so Move On dot org please.

(Via.)

How crayons are made.

C’mon, it’s the weekend. THIS is the stuff you need to know. All the years you’ve used them and didn’t know a thing about them.

(Via Joe Sabia.)

Arm yourself with great deals at GameStop.

More like third arm yourself. It’s called the GameStop Holiday Power Saver Sale spot – you’ll call it one of the funniest video game spots this year. Okay, I will then. A nice spin on the multi-hands idea. Hopefully they have one with the dog?

Be the man.

 

When you’re out getting hammered this holiday, get a ride home. DIDDY DOES IT ALL THE TIME.  CÎROC vodka is handing out 2,000 $25 *free* rides to you, the man with “yellow cabs and participating livery car services [...] rides on MTA, PATH, and NJ Transit” in Manhattan. (Next giveaway dates on December 17 & 25.) That’s $50K for 11 miles worth of pubcrawl. Based on current NYC cab rates, that means you can start drinking in Chelsea, hit Midtown, then back again – with tip! I dig the responsibility of the brand to offer the service, but damn, that’s a lot of cash to spend on a safe rides program in one city. Join up with them on the App, T and the F lines.*

*No T in the NYC subway system for now, but see what I did there with the subway humor?