Nice.

A few months ago I worked on a project for The Travel Channel so this piece of work from New Zealand caught my eye. The idea is ordinary, but when applied with the latest in 3D technology the experience becomes dare I say it more than ordinary.

Now the purists, with every justification, will point to this being a classic example of how technology enables a mediocre concept. That said half a kudos to DDB New Zealand and stereographic technology for finding an engaging way to bring The Travel Channel to life.

Brain-teaser Monday.

Which brand is behind this carefully redacted newspaper ad?

1. Blue Cross Blue Shield.
2. Trojan Condoms.
3. Southwest Airlines.
4. Hallmark.
5. DeadBeatDad.com

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: Mad Dogs & Englishmen

Huffington Post headline of the now.

It doesn't quite have the brilliant wordsmithing of the New York Post's all-time classic, "Headless Body Found In Topless Bar", but it couldn't paint a clearer picture.

The "Make it Happen" Challenge.

Is it a bird? It is a plane? No silly it's "Make it Happen", the crowd-sourcing challenge to see if my big ideas can come to fruition thanks to the rich community of creatives, writers, artists, designers, inventors, scientists, architects, pharmacologists, techies, provocateurs, ethicists, military contractors, etc.

MIH Brief 013

OBJECTIVE:

Create a feature film that borrows from the real life incarceration of Lindsay Lohan. The movie can be fictitious or factual.

Today is Lindsey Lohan's forth day behind bars as she serves a 90 sentence for probation violations stemming from a drug incident way back in 2006. It's an all too familiar tale of a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright uber talent getting into serious trouble, but that's not our concern. The important thing is that one crazy starlet's misfortune is many a film-maker's opportunity of a lifetime.

The prison genre was once a vibrant staple of the American film goer's diet with such tasty classics as "Cool Hand Luke", "Papillon", "Midnight Express", "The Longest Yard", "The Shawshank Redemption", "Escape from Alcatraz", "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "Caged Heat". Okay maybe not "Caged Heat", but what an extraordinary sample.

Unfortunately the genre has inexplicably gotten stale, if it hasn't dropped off the menu altogether. Can you think of a decent prison movie from the last couple of years? Didn't think do.

But now thanks to Lohan's conviction and the media spotlight on prisons there may be a golden opportunity to breathe new life into this dying genre. 

THOUGHT STARTERS:

  -  Let's start with the obvious. How about the "The Lohan Redemption", a remake of Frank Darabont's classic? Instead of the smart, savvy banker convicted of killing his wife, we have a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet convicted of probation violations. Lindsay Lohan would play herself, hence the title. Like Andy Dufresne she would never lose hope, but instead of a real escape, hers would be more metaphorical, i.e. she finds a way to escape her demons. Queen Latifa could feminize Morgan Freeman's character, Red. We call her Dusty.

  -  A Tyler Perry written, directed and produced comedy might just rule the box office. Could we build a story around a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet who becomes a black Muslim, or rather a white black Muslim while serving jail time for probation violations. When she is released she returns home much to the horror of her family and friends. Hilarity ensues. Tyler Perry will play the cell-mate who introduces her to Islam.
  -  How about a brutal revenge drama, "The Rape of Locklear"? Alice Locklear is a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet who is convicted of probation violations. While serving time in jail she is brutally raped by other prisoners as well as the sadistic prison warden. The trauma is so severe that when she is released she embarks on a bloody journey of vengeance that doesn't stop until she has visited retribution on everyone who has raped her in her life. You see being raped in jail wasn't the first time. By the end her surprising victims include her agent, two producers, her parents, her therapist, her high-school guidance councillor and the probation officer who fitted the monitoring device on her ankle. This would be a N-17 release.
  -  John Walters style comedy anyone? In "Traveling panties of the Aryan Sisterhood", Rose Petals is an FBI agent who goes undercover as a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet convicted of probation violations. Her assignment is to infiltrate the Aryan Sisterhood while in jail and bust a major white slave ring that they are running from the inside.
  -  Is there an opportunity for a musical? "The Jailbirds" could be the inspiring story of how music brings together three lost souls from different walks of life. There is a black Muslim, an Aryan sister and a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet who is convicted of probation violations.
  -  Then there's this. When a spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet uber talented Hollywood starlet is convicted of probation violations she has to share a prison cell with the spoiled, self-destructive, less than bright yet no talent daughter of a financial tycoon. Imagine the possibilities!
 

MANDATORIES:

  -  There must be a lesbian shower scene between some of the prisoners.
  -  Any scenes of escape must be scored by Giorgio Moroder.
  -  The prison warden must have a thick southern accent.
  -  A prisoner only a few days from release must die.

Good luck and make it happen, people!

Not so fast Old Spice guy.

It's arguably the blockbuster of the early summer, the runaway viral hit that is Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign.

The litany of success is impressive. A film Grand Prix at Cannes. Mass hysteria on the ad blogosphere following its "184 personal response videos" initiative. And a recent appearance by its telegenic protagonist Isaiah Mustafa on "The Ellen Degeneres Show".

It even prompted a typically astute musing from uber commentator Andrew Sullivan that the Old Spice guy is in fact the second charming black man with a Muslim name to have successfully wooed America of late. Indeed so.

But hold on. Has he really? This is where I step in as the party pooper, reluctantly mind you, and do a number 2 all over Old Spice. For just as President Obama popularity is plummeting in the polls, so Old Spice's sales have been heading south.

According to marketing information service gurus WARC, the campaign for Old Spice Red Zone After Dark body wash, with its twelve million plus views on YouTube alone, has actually coincided with a drop of 7% in sales. Now I'm no financial expert, but that sure looks like a real negative return on investment.

This wouldn't be the first time a highly creative, award-winning campaign failed to move product, of course. In some circles it's actually a badge of honor. And no doubt there's a good reason for it. Writer Lindsay Robertson has a particularly interesting take.

My own personal view is that everyone was on Facebook watching and sharing the ads rather than going out and buying the product. Still it does raise an interesting dilemma for a brand in today's multi-media marketplace. Can virtual success be considered a real return on investment even if it does nothing for the bottom line?


(Sharing credit to Yahoo! and warc.com)

Happy image of the now..

No it's not a Ben & Jerry's stunt. Say hello to the K99, the world’s first ice cream truck for dogs.

It's actually a charitable ice cream truck based in London and all the proceeds go towards funding a volunteer group called the Berkshire Search & Rescue.

So far there are only two flavors for your pooches to choose from. "Dog eat hog world’" is a gammon and chicken sorbet topped with a doggy biscuit and wrapped in a cone, and my favorite, "Canine cookie crunch" is a creamy assortment of various dog biscuits.

I won't hold my breath for the cat version.

Ad song of the now.

There's a Cadillac CTS-V commercial that's been in circulation for a while now. Nothing inspired, unless you like gratuitous shots of a car. But the piece of music behind it sure is tasty.



The song is called "Lovesick" by Lindstrom & Christabelle. Not sure if this is the official video, but it's all I could find on YouTube.

And please do check out their whole album, "Real Life is No Cool", especially the Giorgio Moroder inspired track "Let's Practice". I don't think they're talking about mahjong.

The "Make it Happen" Challenge vs "The Impossible Brief".

When I started the "Make it Happen" Challenge all those weeks ago, I always suspected it might spawn its share of imitators. But with general enthusiasm I warmly greeted "The Impossible Brief", a crowd-sourcing initiative from BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Tel Aviv which asks the crowd to help solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

Talk about Chutzpa. Even I haven't dared to venture this big. I mean there's satire and there's absurdity.  But on closer reading and having failed to see the satire, humor or irony in their brief, I've come to the frightening realization that they are actually being serious. Are you fucking bleeping kidding me. I mean where does one begin with the thought starters, never mind the mandatories.

Only advertising people. Who else would have the self-centered gall to assume they can crack what the brightest minds have failed to do for thousands of years. It makes sense of course. I mean if you can solve the problem of selling an anti-hemorrhoid cream to a squeamish public why can't you solve the problems of the Arabs and Jews. My money's on a mobile idea.

Oh yes and then there's the prize. Apparently bringing peace and hope to peoples who for too long have been mired in despair and distrust isn't incentive enough. It needs a free trip to the Cannes Advertising Festival. See that's what the Nobel prize committee never understood. Who wants a one-million dollar peace prize when you can hob nob with the advinistas in the South of France.

Mind you if someone does come up with the solution, it does beg the question, where the fuck have you been all these years. Were you ever going to share? Or were you just waiting for that free trip to Cannes.

Zombie queen of the now.

Queen Mary 1 of England as a zombie. That's the thought behind this digital poster for the London Dungeon. It was part of a promotion for their "Bloody Mary" show about the infamous queen who reigned between 1553 until 1558 and apparently loved drinking Vodka and tomato juice with a dash of Worcester sauce. Okay that's a lie, but she did like burning religious heretics at the stake, which most definitely helped account for her pet name.

Now I say "was" because the poster, which was placed on escalators in various stations on the London Underground, has since been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. Apparently a few kids were spooked.

Let me get this straight. In an era of countless zombie movies and graphic video games featuring all kinds of flesh eating monsters, kids were frightened by this. Sounds like the ASA got things backwards here. Surely the kids were actually unnerved by the sinister, if passive looking old lady on the left.


(Sharing credit to adfreak)

Brain-teaser Monday.

I was started in 1991 in an apartment in New York City. My first two clients were The Village Voice and The Economist. Over the years I would work with a host of other clients including MovieFone, Yoo Hoo, Nickelodeon, Crunch Fitness and Atkins. 

In 1992 I sold a small part of me to the advertising agency formerly known as Kirshenbaum & Bond. 

By 1995 I was too big for the apartment and moved to bigger digs in the Flatiron district. I liked to share my space with dogs. 

In 2000 I bought back my independence from K&B. 

In 2002 I met Alison Smith.

I officially died in 2005.

Who was I?

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: 3. CSFB Direct

Okay this is the last reference to Paul, I promise.

Pre World Cup this Geico commercial would still be pretty underwhelming, especially for a brand that routinely surprises with stellar work.

But on the tentacles of a real, super-duper octopus whose worldly exploits arguably dominated the later stages of the World Cup it seems even more feeble, not to mention incredibly short-sighted. Wonder if advertisers can take out insurance against bad advertising.

Gin anyone?

I shouldn't be pushing this idea considering the folks behind it, but a good idea deserves its due.

Digital agency LBi may be lousy at responding to solicitations, but they sure know how to blend together an engaging online experience for Hendrick's gin.

The experience is wonderfully queer, in the old, non-gay sense. So a grudging kudos to LBi and a tipsy of the hat to Hendrick's gin.

"Dead Ideaville"

It's not just advertising ideas that die, of course. Television ideas suffer similar deaths, perhaps even more gruesome. Here's one I pitched a while back. The fact that I am here writing a blog rather than living it up in Malibu says it all.

"X-BAY"

It all starts in the office of John Thornton, assistant deputy director for the CIA. He is busy at work when he gets an email message. It reads:

"Greetings. Item #11. George and Barbara. Male and Female Martians in good condition. Bidding will commence 14:30est. www.xbay.com. Username: CIA. Password: Holy Shit."

And so begins X-BAY, a dark comedy/action series that takes the phenomenon of the online auction to an extreme and probably absurd level.

So what is X-BAY?

A very secretive, exclusive online auction site that facilitates the buying and selling of anything of extraordinarily extreme value.

What is “anything of extraordinarily extreme value”?  

Government secrets; multinational corporation secrets; celebrity secrets; patents; international fugitives; government witnesses; weapons of mass destruction; expensive art; historical treasures; first ladies; special services, e.g. assassinations; espionage; terrorist acts.

Who are the participants?
Anyone with an interest to sell or buy, as long as it is of extreme value. These include governments, corporations, private individuals as well as third party bounty raiders. A free market like X-BAY has encouraged savvy, international thieves who can penetrate any facility in the world to steal anything of value. Just to spice up the intrigue, these raiders may or may not be agents for various governments too. Naturally all participants are anonymous.

What is the currency?
Money. National Treasures. Weapons. Anything of extreme value. E.g., Bolivia is looking to buy nuclear weapons from the Chinese. It offers up cocaine, which the Chinese gladly accept.

Why can’t governments shut X-Bay down?
Because governments are their biggest clients.

The first episode will follow the US government as it bids to buy back the Martians from other bidders including world governments and the multinational media organizations that would dearly love to break the story. Who will win? What will be the bidding strategies? And what will be the consequences?

We will also be introduced to one of the bounty raiders, who steals the patent for the cure of cancer. In future episodes we will find out who will bid for the patent and why. Other future scenarios include:

  -  England wakes up to discover that Stonehenge is gone. Stolen by those pesky bounty raiders. When it ends up on X-BAY for auction a major bidding war breaks out. But who will dare buy the stones shrouded in mystery and the occult?
  -  Aztec Lopez, the baron of drug barons is kidnapped and put on X-BAY. Given that there is a multi- million-dollar reward for him in five different countries not to mention rival drug gangs that would like to eliminate him and the stage is set for some interesting and heated bidding.
  -  Nepal needs help in lowering its huge deficit. It puts up the rights to Mt Everest for auction. Why the hell are the Swiss bidding!
  -  Nuclear weapons are stolen in a Russian Republic and are up for bidding on X-BAY, causing major headaches across various capitals. Under no circumstances can they be outbid by a non-government entity.
  -  The first lady is kidnapped and put on X-BAY. But the White House receives unexpected competition to get her back. Who on earth would want to buy the first lady?

Half-flat Perrier.

I'm not really sure what to make of this interactive experience for Perrier.

Sure it's a little unexpected for a bottled water. But sans a discernible concept behind it, could it be dismissed as a tad gratuitous? Quite possibly.

Perhaps the core idea is to get the user all "fizzed" over the teasing by Dita Von Teese. In that case Perrier should have gone much, much further a la the medieval orgy scene in "Eyes Wide Shut". After all, what else is a mansion for.

That said a small kudos to Perrier and Ogilvy/Paris for at least trying to do something a little different. And notice I didn't use the word "refreshing" once.

Brain-teaser Monday.

This is a carefully redacted mock-up ad for a business pitch. What is the brand?

1. United Airlines.
2. Amtrak.
3. CSFB Direct.
4. Manchester United.

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: M&C Saatchi; Wieden & Kennedy; The Richards Group

World Cup security threat of the now.

I fear for Paul the Octopus's life. Never underestimate the passion insanity of the soccer fan. But, even worse I overheard a couple of creatives who work on NY Lottery talking about using him in a lotto campaign. Will not this poor octopus be left alone.

Charity goes interactive.

Interactive experiences usually require the user to give at least one thing of themselves. Their time. Yes their engagement, curiosity and imagination may be required to enrich the experience, but it's their time that will ultimately make the experience work.

Here's one that also needs your money. Of all the low down gall. Actually it's a charity drive, but with a clever, interactive twist.

A Girl Story is an interactive website fueled by donations. It centers  around Tarla, a young underprivileged Indian girl who dreams of an education. Her success, however, depends on the user, who must donate in order to help her continue her quest.

What a clever way to involve donors in the story of Tarla and in the process thousands of real girls like her. Figuratively and literally, her story can't progress without their emotional and financial support. It's almost like a philanthropic peep show. You have to pay to see more.

Kudos to Strawberry Frog and non-profit group Nanhi Kali for possibly changing the way we experience donation campaigns.


(Sharing credit to psfk.com)

What the FC Barcelona.

What the hell are F.C. Barcelona doing in this commercial for Turkish Airlines? It's wrong on two levels. First it violates the laudable principled stand against commercializing the Barcelona name. They remain the only major soccer power not to sully their famous shirt with corporate sponsorship.

And secondly it seems to betray a remarkably poor level of taste. This commercial is an absolute stinker, fronted by a particularly lamentable, un-catchy jingle, "We are Turkish Airlines". The vuvuzela has never sounded so good.

Mind you, following the recent revelations about Barcelona's unexpected financial woes, maybe this shouldn't come as a surprise or disappointment after all. Indeed we should brace ourselves for worse to come. Goodbye sponsorless "Blaugrana" shirt.

Guerilla ad of the now.

If you find yourself doing your laundry in a German laundromat, you might discover a single sock with the caption, "Also single?"

Don't be alarmed. You've just been guerillaed by Neu.de, a German dating site. Not a bad way to get some cheap attention. And you get a free sock.

Kudos to Heye & Partner GmbH of Hamburg.

(Sharing credit to psfk.com)

"Dead Ideaville"

Alive and kicking one minute. Dead as a dodo the next. It's tough being an advertising idea. Case in point, this recent pro-active branded-entertainment idea for Christian Dior.

Yes it was pro-active so it's chances of survival were less than North Korea's at the World Cup, but it was presented to people who knew people who knew the people at Christian Dior so......Okay it was dead on arrival.

Eau Noir (Dior) - "Lady Killer"

Christian Dior in 2009 began a major branded-entertainment push for its Lady Dior Brand. They commissioned high profile directors to create short films to showcase Lady Dior. David Lynch has just created the third in the series.

There is no similar initiative for the men’s brand. The idea was to take advantage of the opportunity and create branded films for some of the men’s products? Eau Noir cologne seemed like good place to start. 

The five-minute story (a film noir, obviously) is a literal play on the term, "Lady Killer." It follows the police investigation of a mythical man, dubbed the “Lady Killer” who is responsible for the “falling” of a number of beautiful women.

It should be pointed out right away that there is nothing violent about the fate of these women. Essentially, they have just “dropped dead”. So there will be no injuries or marks on their bodies. No hint of any violence whatsoever.

This will be the “Lady Killer’s” M.O. He leaves these women with happy, satisfied expressions on their beautiful faces and the strong scent of a man’s cologne on them. Who is the Lady Killer? And what is the mysterious scent on these women? All is revealed.

Well not yet, anyway.

Brain-teaser Monday.

Sure it isn't July 4th, but it's still part of the holiday weekend so today's brain-teaser is independence themed. Which of the following agencies are independently owned?

• Fallon
• Bartle Bogle Hegarty
• M&C Saatchi
• Crispin Porter Bogusky
• The Martin Agency
• Razorfish
• Wieden & Kennedy
• Berlin Cameron United
• Mullen
• The Richards Group

The "Make it Happen" Challenge.

Time to play another special World Cup edition of "Make it Happen", the crowd-sourcing challenge to see if my big ideas can come to fruition thanks to the rich community of creatives, writers, artists, designers, inventors, scientists, architects, pharmacologists, techies, provocateurs, ethicists, military contractors, etc.

MIH Brief 012

OBJECTIVE:

Create a television show that will allow the English public to help chose the next England football manager.

Another World Cup has passed by for the hapless "Three Lions". It's now 44 years since they brought home the cup. This campaign, though, may be the most dismal yet. And much of the blame lies with manager Fabio "Don" Capello. Indeed his days look to be numbered as the "gaffer". If he does get the boot, England will be looking for their 14th manager since Sir Alf Ramsey lifted the Jules Rimet trophy back in 1966.

During this barren spell the English Football Association has been responsible for selecting the manager. They've picked native coaches, sophisticated foreign coaches, ex-players, tacticians, introverts, shameless extroverts, tall coaches, short coaches. The result though has always been the same. Failure followed by an angry backlash from a frustrated public, who are completely shut out of the decision making process.

Perhaps a drastic shift in how the manager is selected is needed. Maybe it's time to take the choice from behind the closed doors of the English FA and into the living rooms of the English public. Let them chose the next manager. This way they can personally feel connected to him, as well as make him directly accountable to them.

We do this through a "talent" show called, "So you want to be the manager of England." Talent shows are very popular. They usually arouse more audience interest and induce more participation than a parliamentary election. If the English public can be trusted to pick the next singing superstar or Britain's entry into the Eurovision song contest, why can't they chose the next England manager.

And just maybe, by connecting the public to the team in such a direct and fun way we might be able to change the attitude of the manager and players enough so that they may finally bring glory back home.
  
THOUGHT STARTERS:

  -  What should the format for the show be? Maybe it should follow traditional models like "Pop Idol" and "Strictly Come Dancing". How will the initial screening process work? How many finalists will be selected? Eleven (number of players in a football team) would seem to make sense.
  -  Perhaps the show should be centered around certain challenges that each finalist will have to face. Points are awarded for their performance. For example, they score positive points for successfully dealing with a hostile media, or negative points for failing to control an unruly WAG.
  -  How can the show root out and penalize the "character flaws" of the perspective candidates. For instance certain coaches have an annoying tendency to make ridiculously bold predictions. Yes I'm talking about you Harry Redknapp. Similarly, many coaches reflexively resort to the most pathetic excuses to explain away a poor result. Sir Alex Ferguson once blamed his team's dismal performance on the wrong color of their shirts.
  -  Should style matter? Do we want the next manger to be a snappy dresser or a slob in a tracksuit?
  -  How important is it to have a coach with pleasing facial expressions and positive body language. Surely we don't need another Capello scowl or the stiffness of Steve McClaren. Then again do we really want the tourette's syndrome of Diego Maradona?
  -  Is there a way to integrate a social media component? For instance, perhaps the initial screening process can be executed on Facebook. All perspective candidates have to submit a three-minute video explaining why they should be manager. The video should outline their achievements in football, as well as their complete disdain for 4-4-2. The top eleven are then chosen for the final elimination series on TV. Viewing and voting takes place on Facebook.
  -  Who can apply? Should it be only open to those with football experience or can we go outside the pitch. Military personnel might provide a different kind of leadership. Or perhaps Team England needs to be treated like a failing corporation. A dynamic trouble-shooting CEO might just be the answer. Sir Richard Branson, anyone?
 

MANDATORIES:

  -  Judges must included Sven Goren Erickson, Victoria Beckham and Ozzy Osborne.
  -  Only residents of England can participate. It's pretty clear that Scots will just try to sabotage the process by voting for the weakest candidates.
  -  The show must be called, "So you want to be the manager of England".

Good luck and make it happen, people!

World Cup ad of the now now.

This ad, which laments Brazil's elimination from the World Cup, first appeared in a Brazilian newspaper a few days ago. Back then it seemed awfully premature as the cup favorites were still very much in the competition. Not so as of right this minute. So kudos to the folks behind the ad for their amazing prescience. Perhaps they consulted with Paul the octopus.

Still one of the best ever....

Circa 2006. Kudos to Brooklyn Brothers for a sharply funny campaign for travel site Kayak.com. Sure it's a map ad, but just maybe it's the greatest map ad ever! I do love the country of Not Sure and the islands of Dunno.