The HAL 9000 - Get one today!

The future of computing – today! Cool look at the influence of the movie 2001 in advertising. (See that shit when you’re five, trust, you’ll need therapy for the chimp scene alone.)

(Via.)

Because chicks dig a fanny pack.

No, they do. I have three. (Dukes of Hazard, Van Halen and an A-Team.) In this case though, TDA does not share my view that the male fun bag is as effective for luring women as say, Axe, so they created a safe-sex campaign for Sir Richard’s Condoms (the Tom’s Shoes of condoms, available in Whole Foods and Walgreens). The accompanying message states “This is a complimentary fanny pack. When worn as a fashion accessory by a man, it makes for excellent birth control. No man has ever been seduced while wearing a fanny pack in the history of the fanny pack. In the event you prefer your birth control to involve actual intercourse, may we suggest Sir Richard’s Condoms.” Sexy!

Btw,

- Commencing coloring, crayons on.
- GPS detects nuclear blasts.
- Wahlburgers.
- Get me to pun ER, stat.
- Pantone as merch.

Kubrick deconstructed.

The internet is a wild wonderous place, innit. From designer Viktor Hertz comes a different interpretation of Stanley Kubrick’s movies through posters (which appears to be part of a larger collection, some of which is NSFW.)

Btw,

- Harold, Harold & Kumar get locked up.
- Sears ups its image.
- Spranta.
- Putting the yo in yodler.
- Future chav.
- Death Star dress.

I’m gonna need time off for Burning Man.

Come again? Employee guidelines for Twitter? WE GOT GUIDELINES FOR BURNING MAN. I thought this was cool to do for your crew. Adam Kleinberg from Traction in San Francisco has built into their employee guidelines a section about attending outside events “to attend events that inspire or enhance professional and/or creative development.” Now some agencies do foster that attitude by letting people attend conferences, but how many actually let you go to large-scale events like that if it can’t be billed back to clients. NOT MANY I SAY.

AdVerve 78 - The Rapture

Play the show now.

Wait, that’s the end of the world, innit. WELL IT’S NOT. We have more AdVervial goodness for you people and that other stuff will just have to wait. Pick a topic because like a pot luck from hell, it’s in here. Movies to watch, commercials to avoid, and politicians to vote for. But wait, there’s more: Other podcasts of note and blog projects to read. Angela dishes on why Egypt is a swell place to visit and why the lira is was an even sweller currency. But we digress. Which is why you listen.

The Linkage You Need:
- Vintage Palmolive ad: "Most man ask 'is she pretty?', not 'Is she clever?'"
- Mohr Stories
- This Week With Larry Miller
- Big Lebowski
- Sarah Palin’s Grizzly spot
- The 3six5 Project
- The 3six5 Project, Chicago edition

(Image.)

Roll tide Night Ranger!

I generally don’t like my popular culture and lexicon smashed together, but Old Navy gotta do what it do. Next up, Winger: “Look at that Old Navy girl, she’s only 17!”

“Dear Netflix...

Whenever I leave after a movie, there’s a different couple in my house getting ready to watch another one. I do not like this. Thanks.”

Forget flashlights and batteries, we’re talking savings!

IT’S GONNA BE A TSUNAMI OF SAVINGS! A TIDAL SURGE OF BLOWOUT DEALS! A PERFECT STORM OF DISCOUNTS, SELECTION AND FASHION! Nice exploitation of impending natural disaster before Hurricane Irene is over, courtesy of The Avenue. Looks like one person already won’t be able to take part. No worries, the deals extend to family and friends!

Three words, 999 fonts.

Typegasm time for Pentagram’s promotional video of the Simon Garfield book “Just My Type: A Book About Fonts.” (Via, via.)

Btw,

- Lyle Waggoner as Batman!
- The Monkees screen test!
- Dennis Hopper!
- Blame Sam Jackson.
- Fun with asbestos.
- Without a good club, or good knife.
- Russian subway dogs.
- Ugandan skateboarding. (Via.)

The way they were.

Hasbro toys 1996!

Btw,

- Nivea Re-Africanizes.
- The Donkey Whisperer.
- The Second Amendment right to bear tyepfaces.
- iPackage.
- Liquid nitrogen ice cream.
- Happy 20th Birthday Web!

Back in my day we had dinosaurs, and we liked it.

Alternate histories created with dinosaurs. (Via.)

Throw another McFeast on the barbie.

MCFEAST???? For like a family of 12? Relax friends, it’s much smaller than that. And, the Maccas staff are very friendly down under, no? (Agency: DDB Sydney.)

(Via.)

The Kubrick girl was never really happy, was she.

Instagram schmintztagram. Awesome collection of director Stanely Kubrick’s work as a photographer in 1949 Chicago. (Via.)

What goes with Tower 1, beef or chicken?

Yep. 9/11 wines.

The Commercial Hyundai Doesn’t Want You To See!

I love emails like that. The brand bans it but somehow magically it ends up on YouTube. Yeeaaaaah. Okaaaay.

(Agency: Fitzroy.)

Burger King returns to its glorious food porn past.

Proof of what happens when you let franchisees have it their way. Welcome to a post-King world kids. Is guacamole really their problem? At least they didn’t use succulent in the copy. Enjoy!


(Agency: McGarryBowen.)

“I pledge allegiance, to the bear...”

I can see bears from my front porch right now! (Watch to the end to let that one hit home.) It’s important to get America back on track. That’s why in a land of liberty it’s also important to disable comments.

DWUIG. (Driving while under the influence of ghosts.)

Yeah, except, no in the new USDOTNHTSA Drive Sober campaign. (Man do we love our acronyms. Like jazz and complaining, one of the few original forms of art we have left.) Checkpoints might catch them but the problem is up to the point someone gets caught, nobody’s watching. Except for your friend, who’s also getting hammered.

The way they were.

Hot sexy computing fun from HP back in tha day, 1996.

Overheard internet.

Yep, they wrote it...


“Based on the many insinuations floating out there, this is what I imagine to be the other Katie's come hither, mating stance, the surefire one to get a rise out of T. Cruise.”
– -1-T-M- 


“Let me summarize the comment section of this and all the other threads in this site so you won't have to bother reading. --- Goodby is a hack. WK hacks, little agencies hacks. Award winning agencies are hacks, whoever we're talking about is a cokehead and a dick. This is ripped off from somewhere. You're all unemployed hacks in your mom's basement. YOU, yes YOU reading this, are a hack too. All work sucks except what I do, but you'll never know 'cause you don't know who I am. I do Cannes winning work 24 hrs a day, but Cannes is a hack fest, except when I win. --- What else? Someone else not mentioned in my previous paragraph is also a hack. Except me. --- That pretty much sums it up. ”
– Notahack


“The super liberal in me wants to put his teeth against the curb and stomp on the back of his head. But the super super liberal in me wants to defend his right to say asinine crap without fear of reprisal from super liberals like myself.”
– EmilyStutters

Btw,

- Abercrombie tells Jersey Shore to suck it.
- Madlanta.
- Pray!
- Filmed in 110% Color-O-Vision!
- Make your pet catastic!
- Light Bladder Leakage is the new...
- FLASHMOB FREEZE TAG!
- Zombie training exercise.

“Vote Ron – Because a 1,000 yard stare is a good thing.”

A touch of the crazy is about the only thing missing from this epic trailer for his presidential campaign. He does have a little touch of the something goin on there. Like that uncle who’s always off on his working on his latest invention. Maybe that’s what we need. Not a Bachman crazy per se, but something that hints at him *maybe* going off if you pushed him too far. He hits all the right notes in this spot though. Voted against everything you hated, is the only guy who can beat Obama (althogh I question whether candidates need to hit that point so hard), and it’s got flags. Yeah, I’d vote for him. The crazy bastard.

Discounted America.

Forgot lost America, Aaron Draplin returns in The World’s Longest Yard Sale. For a few days in early August, people trek close to 700 miles through the U.S. 127 corridor to sort through other people’s junk.* Everything in it is pure America: Aaron, our inalienable right to haggle, forgotten memorabilia and junk from someone’s basement, not to mention one of our last remaining art forms: Proclaiming stuff in the context of “The World’s (insert adjective and event).” That my friends, IS America.

*I was supposed to go this year. I didn’t. My excuse is also America: I was too busy working to attend.

The tablet of tomorrow, today!

Er, then! Actually, 1994. This Information Design Lab/Knight-Ridder clip shows a pretty accurate depiction of what tablets are today. 17 years in the past! Amazing! Take THAT Steve Jobs! Pa-POW!

“Steve Jobs & all the dirty lying Apple fanboys can wish all you want that Apple & Steve Jobs invented the TABLET. Disgusting liars.”

Thank you astrologyzone, thank you.

(Via.)

Will this song die?

Only in my dreams. Debbie. Deborah. The song sucked then, it sucks now. Next up: Kajagoogoo. (These Old Navy jeans are too fly fly.)

Give-A-Sh*t (NSFW.)

And they say the world has run out of causes to give a shit about. Give-A-Shit is a new low in low-hanging wordplay/literal wtfness running rampant through adland. Nikki Reed does her part – time for you to do yours.

(Agency: TVF.)

AdVerve 77: The Self-Interested Entertainment Purge

Play the show now.

We breach hot social music solutions: Spotify, GrooveShark and Songify. Then it's a hard turn into licensing and piracy, dipping into the Netflix price hike, the true cost of content (if any) and Kevin Smith's latest (and last) directorial oeuvre (no more Chasing Amy for you). Angela squeezes in helpful facts about advertising to monkeys (sex and celebrity still sell) and lets loose on the unique qualities of ants. Bill wiggles in a vivid reflection on Tarantino and his Inglourious Basterds catharsis. It's an AdVerve ride like no other! Did we mention the hot eyepatch talk?

(Also, don't forget to ping Angela and force her to watch Big Lebowski.)

Link derbyshake:

- “When Advertising to Monkeys, Sex May Sell, Too”
- @WeArePrimates
- Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber (READ THIS SHIT)
- Kevin Smith and Wayne Gretsky
- Kevin Smith and Prince

E-COM will save us.

Best of all, E-COM will deliver two pages of “converted” email – in two days. That’s United States Postal Service All-Pro awesome. (Via.)

You’ve got app.

AOL as app. If this new AOL iPad app called Editions is that intuitive, maybe AOL should just become one instead of buying stuff all the time.

(Agency: Heat.)

Btw,

- iSung.
- Friday the 13th killfographic.
- Hitchcock directs the MGM lion.
- UKOs.
- So much for free speech.
- Are you not detained?

Notes from the road - Tell us your damn story.

While contemplating a blog future beyond posting the latest ad agency flashmob case study – from an ad agency you never heard of – this Notes series becomes a time to riff on things already written about here from a different perspective. Namely, interaction with brands and clients out on the road.

One of those things is the Tell us your story! rut that too many are stuck in. After conducting some employee interview sessions for one of our clients recently, it’s clear that few brands focus on telling their internal story. It’s too bad because the people behind the scenes and on the factory floor have great stuff to share.

No stop-motion ‘til Brooklyn.

8 Hours in Brooklyn yo.

Btw,

- Hugsta life!
- Get you more pickles!
- Write me!
- Spammy banners!
- Big Lebowski reunion!
- Riots for Bieber!

Notes from the road.

Sitting here scoffing down mini bags of Southwest's finest snack cuisine and going 43 emails. This is the first time flying them and I have to say it lives up/down to the hype/ad campaign. I’m puzzled/intrigued though by an airline that will throw a celeb and regular citizen off a plane, but then hire for a flight attendant who I can only describe as a guy equally at home working the paint counter at Lowe's - beer belly and all. I’m left describing the experience as akin to flying with your high school cafeteria. #loud

Despite that, it's the first time in weeks I got the seat I wanted, thanks to a general admission/no seat assignment policy. Not sure I'll be as lucky on the next trip, but compared to the US Airways experience this time – and the bent suitcase I got from baggage – I’ll take it. Plus, along with the pilot, paint man brought a Tommy Boy vibe to all the announcements.

This comes after a few days weeks of hitting the road for pitches and whatnot. Some of the whatnot involved reinforcing the idea with clients that ad campaigns mean nothing if the experience people have with your brand sucks. But at some point, every brand sucks. Just when one does something you love, they’ll likely turn around and do something others hate. THERE’S NO PLEASING YOU PEOPLE. For now, I’m good with them though.

Btw,

- Tony Curtis estate auction!
- Biscuit mayhem!
- Levi’s Bukowski edition!
- McDonald’s goes 1967!
- Pronounce the internet.

Rob Lowe wants to scare you.

Director Lowe? Okay, alright then! (Via.)

Runaways are Ludacris.

Look at me going for the lowhanging wordplay fruit. IT’S WHAT I DO.

Btw,

- Write the unfinished stuff.
- Fake logos in film.
- Brokers with hands on their faces. (Via.)
- F... ind another word to use mate.
- Terry Gilliam teaches animation from 1974.
- Hair package design!

MTLB For The Cure.

Jersey Mike’s has jumped on board the Susan G. Komen For The Cure cause blackmail partnership bandwagon. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE THE GIANT BAG TELLS THE WORLD. When I saw the sandwich sommelier bagging my tuna on wheat aircraft carrier, I couldn’t help but notice the logofest they were putting it into. When I went to eat later, I didn’t realize the logofest it was wrapped in also.

At this point I’m wondering where don’t they have a field of logos? (Cue sponsorship opportunity for Victoria’s Secret.) Soon as I walked out today, I felt like a jerk carrying a pink sub (literally).* Regular readers here know I’ve given the campaign big ups in the past for their infiltration of the public consciousness using this partnership strategy, but today it felt wrong, mostly because it assumed I support their cause.

Working. Flying. Editing.

Rather, rinse, repeat. That’s been my month(s) lately. Having signed up for editor duty on The 3six5 Project late last year, I knew two things would be true come this August: I’d either be freelancing with more free time on my hands than I knew what to do with, or I was going to be insanely busy.

Latter for $200 Alex.

Already a week in and the stories I see remind me that I’ve had zero time to write enough stuff here beyond posting some links and PR fodder, let alone stay on top of AdVerve. Well, shit happens and I’ll take being busy over being broke any day of the week. So as a kick start to getting back in the groove (and since previous contributors can’t submit again), here’s a story from a recent flight. For work, between edits and as the project requires, under 365 words. (After the jump.)

You ate them for the prize.

YOU JUST DID, OKAY? Creepy implications aside, how many spots now go without dialog? None I know.

The captain has fastened the no-snark light.

BUT I’M NOT PAYING ATTENTION BECAUSE I’M BUSY USING MY PHONDURING TAKEOFF. Trust me, this Delta model has not appeared in any of my sky milage so far.

The way they were.

Feet you some! Adidas from 1996.

The Twitter.

It’s an older clip from last year that I’m posting again, and still relevant. Penn Jillette talking about the way people talk. No media silos, channels or buzzwordatopia. It’s just people. Learn you some of that.

Btw,

- Yo, word to your g. (NSFW.)
- Make mine Bridge.
- Lingering gamification.
- And it’s only $3.50.
- Stoned ape theory.

(Damon via.)

Hollyweird and whine.

Yeah, yeah, I'm busy. IT HAPPENS. I've been on the road finding gems like this one for you on Melrose. Or Sunset. Or one of those other famous Hollywood-type streets. People, it’s not just the heartland where you find greatness like this. Meet gospel rapper and magician Geebo. He also does jungle stuff.

"And they threw a lot of money at me."

Reason No. 4 why Lonely Islander and Rökk creative director Andy Samberg is Chief Shark Officer this week on Discovery. Here, it’s Snark Week EVERY week. This is my pledge to you.

Btw,

- Smart people choose Safari. The rest can suck it.
- Terminator Technology!
- David Lynch’s state of the union address.
- Every nuclear explosion ever map.
- I’ll have a BLAT please.
- Fabio loses... and we all win.

3six5 time.

So for the month of August I will be editor for the 3six5 Project, Len Kendeal and Daniel Honiman's year-long collection of daily posts (365 words and under). Cool stories from a variety of people and walks of life. Read you some!