It’s been a few days since I posted… I’ve been relatively removed from my computer. After a bout of severe flu-like symptoms, a battle with a woodpecker (seriously…), and a ferocious deathmatch with plain old laziness, I’m back at the computer for a moment. Long enough to wish a happy holidays and seasons greetings and all that jazz to all my friends and regular readers (and I suppose those who just happened to drop by, as well).
Blog posting may be on hold for a bit, as I’m headed down to the Bay area for a few days, and may or may not have enough time to share my thoughts. But given the holiday season, the festive mood, and the two-hour-long-holiday-traffic-jam I just sat through, allow me to share two things with you that you may or may not be familiar with.
First, NEWS – Definitely my favorite news story from the past few weeks:
Second, MUSIC – A CD review on Questioning Reality?
Christmas Remixed: Holiday Classics Re-Grooved
While I have a vast array of musical tastes and a great appreciation for a wide variety of music (hell, I have a Didjeridoo and a Ukelele), I rarely (if ever) promote albums themselves, but part of what helps me keep my sanity during the holiday season is the Six Degrees compilation, Christmas Remixed. Seriously… how can you go wrong with BeefWellington remixing Crosby’s Happy Holidays and Dan the Automator reworking Dean Martin’s Jingle Bells? If you’re looking for some Christmas Music that’s a bit beyond the normal fare, give it a shot. It’s a pleasant blend of traditional Christmas and electronica-remixes. And incidentally, I’ve been hearing a few of the tracks on the compilation while standing in lines at various department stores. which is surprising, yet somewhat reassuring. There’s hope out there.
Those who know me and whom I’ve worked with in the past may be familiar with my fondness for turning the product name into an active verb. Grolsching, Duracelling, etc. (yeah, I know it doesn’t make much sense… but it always did in my mind).
Well, it looks like someone stole my idea. In looking through all the holiday issues of food, wine, & cooking magazines, I’ve discovered a frequently re-occurring advertisement for Hershey’s Cocoa Reserve, inviting me to Truffle Myself.
Maybe it’s just me, but truffling myself (or truffling yourself) just seems a bit odd to me. maybe it’s the grammatical structure of “go truffle yourself” maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the photography with the overbearing instructive tag. or maybe it’s that “Go ahead, Truffle yourself” just doesn’t sound right. I’m not entirely sure I want to Truffle Myself… I’ll give you some time to contemplate that. I’m going to go do some holiday shopping – but I probably won’t be buying any truffles.
These past few days, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time behind the wheel, which got me thinking about auto advertising in today’s environment, and then I recalled some ads I’ve seen recently for Volkswagen’s “BlueMotion,” their new “low emissions” system. The print ad is clever, simple, and effective. And I think it speaks to “car people” and the not-so-automotively-inclined equally. and the jumper cables made me laugh.
The television spots, by DDB London, are beautifully simple. The soundtracks are spot-on and the art direction is impressive. (full credits on the YouTube pages)
I know the “eco” branding and greenification of the automotive industry is a hot topic for many at the moment, which is why I’m going to circumvent that discussion at the moment. And as unfortunate as it is, advertising and marketing here in the US is significantly different than on the other side of the Atlantic. Here, the closest to green eco marketing is Kermit the Frog singing about being green [commercial here via youtube]. Regardless of my opinion on the matter, I can’t really imagine mainstream advertising in the US discussing carbonfootprints right now. The GE Ecomagination campaign I mentioned back during the Super Bowl comes close and is similarly beautifully executed, but consumer reception and the ads’ impact have been less than optimal. It’s a sad position to be in, but there’s a glimmer of hope in these. I’m not saying BlueMotion is the solution, or even a good way to attack the problem. I’m just saying that seeing the problem discussed is a good thing. Better than anything else happening (or not) at the moment.
It’s amazing how far we’ve come in the past few years. YouTube and internet video have become the new tools of environmental scientists attempting to save an endangered species.
The first known film of the long-eared jerboa, an endangered Mongolian rodent with legs like a kangaroo, was released today by the owners of London Zoo.
The gerbil-sized mammal with outsize ears was filmed hopping about in the Gobi desert by scientists from the Edge programme, run by the Zoological Society of London, which highlights the plight of animals which are “evolutionarily distinct and globally endangered”.
The scientists took the video with hopes of it spreading, and actually accomplishing something. I saw it across the internet this afternoon, and on the evening national news tonight. So I figured I’d do my part, and help spread the word. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of animals. More info and links at Edge of Existence.
On a side-but-related-note, It’s great to see the Guardian’s revised typeface (I wrote about here) appearing everywhere. It instills confidence and authority. I love it.
Nothing of much substance today – my brain is a bit mushy. However I have run across two equally strange but significantly different videos while surfing the world wide web today… much more mind-numbing and confusing (in my opinion, of course) then the traditional YouTube fare. I could rant for a bit about the whole phenomenon of YouTube and what it’s done for on-demand entertainment of a wide variety, but instead, I’ll just post the videos so you can make your own analysis of The Tube.
Liberia is an interesting place, to say the least.
I know many YouTube aficionados are probably already familiar with manualistGerry Phillips, but somehow I hadn’t seen this particular video, which seems even more bizarre and ephemeral to me. maybe A-Ha always has that effect on me.
I feel like every time I turn the television on, I see some random commercial with some random object inexplicably hitting another object, spurring a chain reaction leading to some anti-climactic ending. which makes little sense to me. Especially when they’re relatively nice/expensive/easily scratched objects like mp3 players and phones.
So my question: when did people become so fascinated with dominoes and Rube Goldberg? I thought that past time was long since put away in a cardboard box in the coat closet. Was it Honda’s Cog spot? Or something else that happened that I missed? I’m just not really clear how objects falling into other objects really communicates much of a message… in fact, I’m not really sure what the message is at all. or how it sells cell phones.
It’s not to say spots like Cog and the new Guinness spot (after the jump) aren’t amazing, or even epic… but I’m not sure I get the whole proliferation and application toward every good being hocked. It can work in some cases (i.e. the Accord). that doesn’t mean it will.
More domino/Rube Goldberg/chain reaction spots for your viewing pleasure after the jump
(just incase you can’t read that big orange sticker, it reads: “FREE* *Buy This SPAM Twin Pack & Get Two FREE Hand Warmers)
Seriously. There’s nothing I like more than opening a pre-sliced slab of Spam “classic,” except for opening one after using Hand Warmers. I really don’t get it. Not that I’m all that up on my market research regarding Spam’s target consumer (or hand warmers, for that matter) but I’m having trouble making the connection. I know it’s sealed and all, but it doesn’t seem all that healthy/safe either. Oh wait… It’s Spam… nevermind.
It’s days like this when I wonder how some people make it as far as they do in marketing
(and in case you have issues, you can click on the photo above or click here to view the photo in all it’s high-res-spamirific glory.)
I’m consistently perplexed by the way things go down in the internet popularity world. One minute, it’s Miss Teen South Carolina (which is incidentally just shy of 19 million views… yes, 19 million), the next, it’s something completely and utterly different, although there’s a 50/50 chance that law enforcement is involved.
As an artist, a former bike mechanic, and a little kid who used to want to be a cop (mostly so I could play with the sirens and run over people without getting in trouble), this clip really catches my interest. But apparently I’m not the only one… On top of the several people have e-mailed the link to me, and I’ve seen it posted & discussed on several cycling forums, on blogto, and now it’s on boing-boing.
The work of art by Michel de Broin actually looks quite fun, and in the video, the “participants” certainly seem to be enjoying themselves, even whilst being pulled over and questioned by the police who call into question both their safety (?) and their sanity. I find it interesting the number and variety of people who have taken interest in the clip, based on it’s automotive nature, the bicycle/public transportation aspect, the art piece itself, and of course, the harassing police. What’s not to love?!? A sign of our shorter attention spans and burning desire for more content? probably.
