Branded entertainment/education of the now.

I do love this. Inspired writing. And Jeremy Irons provides the right tone. A far cry from his evil voice as Scar in "The Lion King".

Kudos to director Jeremy Konner and environmental action group Heal the Bay, even if there is a dispute as to whether they lifted the idea from these guys.


(Sharing credit to creativity)

Brain-teaser Monday.

What can't they make?

• A bean that doesn't give you wind.
• A delicious cup of soup.
• A decent cup of instant coffee.
• A lite beer that really does taste like a premium beer.
• A bathroom cleaner that actually removes scum.
• A subway system that runs on time.
• A cat box that cleans itself.
• A printer that never jams.
• A credit card that doesn't try to fleece.
• A gin that doesn't make you violent.

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: 4. An animal shelter 

***The pet shelter in question is Animal Care & Control, a great place that is doing amazing work to help stray animals find new homes. Right now there are hundreds of beautiful cats and dogs and a few rabbits waiting to get adopted. 

Friday afternoon perspective.

The cynic in me says that Brian is an ad guy posing as a parts manufacturer. A very insecure ad guy threatened by crowd-sourcing. Regardless these are certainly words to heed. So kudos to Brian, ad guy.

Who is the evolved species again?

If Mrs. Kitten Dumper can't be put to death, what should her appropriate punishment be? How about being forced to live with this guy for a few weeks to learn how to treat a kitten properly.

Although I still like my death idea better.


(Sharing credit to Farhana Gani)

That starving child in Rwanda is now dead, but his next of kin are thrilled you won a gold lion.

I was talking with a creative director friend who shall remain nameless at an industry party the other day when a young creative bumbled up to him and said, "Great child abuse".

Now to be sure this creative director has been the subject of much speculation in ad circles regarding "deviant" activities in the past, but going all Catholic priest on us. I was shocked. Shocked I tell you. And appalled.

Of course I would instantly realize the young creative was in fact talking about an anti child abuse advertising campaign that my friend created which earned him a slue of awards. But the really disheartening thing was that he was praised for winning a ton of awards, not for effectively opening our eyes to an important issue.

Another friend, not content to have people come up to him to figuratively suck his dick shared his big Cannes win on Facebook. He even shared links to the pr buzz surrounding his win. No links to get more information about the cause though, rather his profit from it. It was the first major award he had ever won, so naturally he was cockahoop. The last I heard he got a better job at a better agency.

This has got me thinking about Public Service Advertising and how it appears to have become a profit motive, first and foremost for the creatives and agencies behind them. Especially now in the age of social media when pr has become the tool by which the agency and the creative can instantly and pervasively make a name for themselves. A little ironic too, since social media has also made it possible for more altruistic initiatives to become reality.

Recently the Cannnes Advertising Festival created a new category, the "Grand Prix for Good". Essentially this is an award for the best public service idea of the year and in large part it's a nod to this new era of doing good. Personally, in the interest of balance, I'd also like to see a "Grand Prix for Sin", a reward for creatively facilitating those habits that are now deemed socially unacceptable, i.e. tobacco advertising. But I digress.

The problem with the "Grand Prix for Good" is that it just ramps up the profit motive ten-fold. It's crack, heroin, pcp and weed all rolled into one.

But imagine if no credit was given to either the agency or creatives involved in the winning idea. Imagine if there wasn't even a piece of metal to hand out. Imagine all the people living life in peace.....sorry, I got carried away.

Seriously tough, how wonderful would it have been if the Cannes organizers had let the winning idea literally stand for nothing but the selfless act of doing good.

continue reading

Brain-teaser Monday.

What is this print ad for?

1. A travel site.
2. A dating site.
3. A credit card company.
4. An animal shelter.
5. The Central Intelligence Agency.

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: Burned at the stake

Kudos and Chatroulette in the same sentence..... Gasp.

A busy Friday for good stuff. Here's a very clever movie promotion for "The Last Exorcism". Not sure how many will actually experience it live. But you can bet your fat ass that tons will see it virally. And that's all that matters.

Kudos to Lionsgate and The Visionaire Group/Los Angeles, especially for finding a socially redeemable use for Chatroulette.


(Sharing credit to adfreak)

Fancy a slow pint.

Good stuff for Carlton Draught. It should fall into the "I can't believe no one did this sooner" category. Who needs to see bullets in super slow motion when you can see spittle shooting out of a fat bloke's mouth.

Kudos to Clemenger BBDO/Melbourne and director Paul Middleditch.

"Is it real?" viral of the now.

I'm not a big fan of the "Is it real?" viral genre, even though I've dabbled in it myself. Here's a good exception for Yellow Pages out of England. It's unexpected and actually communicates a new, real selling point. Dare I say it's really an ad posing as a viral.

Kudos to the creatives behind this, whoever they are. Especially since, and here comes the opportunistic self-promotion, I came up with a viral idea while working on a business pitch for R.H. Donnelley (one of the largest Yellow Pages publishers) a couple of years ago.

Their new books for Chicago and Tampa were much thicker than their competitors, which meant more listings. Our viral idea was to demonstrate just how fat these books were by having people use them as body armor while being shot at. The idea was shot down instantly.

Jonathan Wateridge.

It's been a while since I posted some art. I give you Jonathan Wateridge, a young British painter who recently caught my eye. 

 

 This is from his new exhibition called "Another Place".

Wateridge doesn't just paint, he creates. For these paintings he first created miniature sets and models.

For a previous collection, "On A Clear Day You Can See" he painted on glass instead of canvas, which he calls "obsolete". Although probably not nearly as obsolete as the Sandinistas he was painting.

Brain-teaser Monday.

In this banner comp for the Metropolitan Museum of Art suspected heretics were what?

• Boiled in oil.
• Waterboarded for 40 days.
• Tickled with features.
• Called rude names.
• Burned at the stake.
• Urinated on by the Pope.
• Eaten by rats, alive.
• Sawed in half.
• Whipped to death.
• Ripped from limb to limb.

The "Make it Happen" Challenge.

Once more straight from the top. "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 014

OBJECTIVE:

Chart a course of action for Jet Blue in the wake of the Stephen Slater affair. This can be a business proposal or a PR/marketing solution.

Check this out for more background, but to surmise Jet Blue flight attendant Stephen Slater has become the talk and toast of the town following his meltdown on a Jet Blue flight from Pittsburgh to New York.

We've certainly come along way since the dapper Captain Chesley Sullenberger. Back then our aviation heroes pulled out all the stops in the interests of the passenger. "Sully" cut the archetypal image of what a classic hero should be. Cool, calm and selfless. He was literally the last man off the plane.

Today's hero, not so much. It's a tubby gay guy who makes a profane laden premature exit with a can of beer. Classy! Yet Slater seems to have struck a cord with frustrated employees everywhere by jumping ship with a giant fuck you. Not so much a Howard Beale of the airwaves, rather a Howard Beale of the air.

But his popularity leaves Jet Blue with a dilemma. A company based on the service mantra that the customer is always right certainly can't allow one of its employee's, no matter how provoked, to lash out in such an unprofessional way, let alone slide out on the job.

On the other hand, part of Jet Blue's appeal is that it is the little upstart flying in the face of the cultural status quo. Slater is the embodiment of that, albeit a potty-mouthed, beer swilling version.

So what should Jet Blue do? How can it turn this bit of pr turbulence into a smooth landing?

THOUGHT STARTERS:
  -  What immediate lessons from the incident can be implemented on all Jet Blue flights? For example, in the safety talk before take-off Jet Blue flight attendants must point to the exits which they plan to escape from. Also, in the "unlikely event of a flight attendant escaping", passengers must be given instructions as to what to do, like which panic positions to assume.
  -  Let's be fearless. How about we make Steven Slater the face of a new Jet Blue campaign targeting terrorists? Try hijacking a Jet Blue plane and you'll have more than the Air Marshall's to worry about. Our bitchy flight attendants will meet jihad with a can of beer and a fuck you. Motherfuckers.

  -  Is there an opportunity for Jet Blue to turn this ugly incident into an act of good will? Perhaps every passenger on board Flight 1052 should be given a free can of beer, one minute to mouth off on the PA system and the chance to slide down an emergency shoot. Be "Steven Slater" for a day will not only allow everyone on board to have some fun at Jet Blue's expense, but it may also give them to welcome  a taste of what it feels like to have a "mad as hell and not going to take it moment". (There may be a lesson here for other companies!)
  -  Is there an opportunity for Jet Blue to make some structural changes to their planes to best deal with  these kinds of incidents in the future? For instance, how about separating the cabin sections into "Class" and "No Class". In "No Class" you can insult the flight attendants all you want. Of course, they also are allowed to insult you back.
  -  How can Jet Blue turn this into a financial boon? Perhaps it can create and offer "The Escape Clause". For an extra fee a passenger can jump off a Jet Blue flight. This is ONLY valid when the plane is on the ground, of course. As soon as the flight is airborne, the clause is rendered null and void.
  -  Is there an opportunity to incorporate this incident into Jet Blue's fabulous frequent flier miles programs? For instance, how about passengers who earn a certain number of miles, say one hundred thousand, get rewarded with a a free can of beer, one minute to mouth off on the PA system and the chance to slide down an emergency shoot.
  -  Should Jet Blue take a very hard line stand against such behavior in the interest of corporate responsibility and customer service? Perhaps they ought to issue a solemn promise that if any Jet Blue employee tries to walk or slide off the job in the future they will be shot by an Air Marshall. Much like an army in battle, desertion will not be tolerated.  
 

MANDATORIES:

  -  There are no mandatories for this challenge. Everything is up in the air.

Good luck and make it happen, people!

Make the call/Fuck it someone else can...

I never did give this Cannes Grand Prix winning interactive campaign for Britain's Metropolitan Police the full credit it deserved. Criminal really.

But like BP, I'm here to make things right. So here's the latest in the wonderful campaign. Given where interactivity is right now, the premise of the campaign seems awfully simple. But then that's what makes it great.



Kudos to AMV BBDO and the Met Police.

Starburst spot of the now.

I think I was on that bus last week. The zombie looks very familiar, anyway. Kudos to TBWA/Chiat/Day NY and director Tom Kuntz.

Ad critique of the now.

A lot of people have taken offense to this recent outdoor ad by the American Freedom Defense Initiative. And why not.

I mean it was created with a total disregard for the hallowed craft of art direction and copywriting. I've seen anal wart removal ads on the subway which exhibit more refinement and subtlety. All creatives should be horrified and demand a complete revision.

Here are a few of tips:

• Remove the crescent and star. Right now it looks like a building with a skewed one-eyed happy face. It had me smiling for a second until I realized the aim was to horrify/scare/anger.
• Lose the double arrow. Not sure what it means other than "neither here nor there". Rather have the arrow lead from left to right, which symbolizes "then and now".
• "Why There?" Really, is that the best way of capturing attention. How about something more New York, like "Are you fucking kidding me?"
• The color scheme is all over the place. If this message is to be direct and coherent, then so should the art direction. Also the colors need to be more threatening. I'm not getting Armageddon from this. Red could be particularly effective. Stay away from pink though.
• Make your logo bigger. Proudly own the ad.

(Sharing credit to adfreak)

Brain-teaser Monday.

In this commercial for American Airlines, a director asks, "why squirrel hate me?" Why does the squirrel hate him?

• The director ate the squirrel's nuts
• The director tickled the squirrel's nuts
• The squirrel is French and so hates everybody
• The director asked the squirrel to perform certain acts demeaning to a rodent of his stature
• The squirrel isn't used to working with c-list directors
• The squirrel left his happy pills at home
• The director is dating the squirrel's ex-fiancee
• The director doesn't understand that when squirrels love someone they act like assholes
• The director is a paranoid schizophrenic
• The director came all over his tail

Answer to last week's brain-teaser: BBDO 

And you thought 3D movies were cool.

I do love this story. While we're busy fighting two wars the Chinese have been figuring out a way to revolutionize travel through their traffic plagued cities.

I give you the 3D Express Coach, a bus that literally drives over cars. How cool is that. According to the folks behind the project it could ease congestion by up to 30%. Are you listening IBM, now here's the smarter planet in action.

Perhaps the second coolest thing will be working on the advertising campaign for the bus. Here are a few of thoughts.

• The "End of traffic as we know it" campaign. Imagine a sweet, little innocent girl turning to mom and asking, "Mommy, what's a traffic jam?"
• The big blockbuster movie analogy campaign - 'The Bus That Swallowed Cars", a 2011 release coming to a city near you.
• The "It renders red-neck monster truck drivers inadequate" campaign. I will never be in awe of monster trucks again.

My Shirley Sherrod moment.

It seems I may have gleefully rushed to judgement with my July 22nd post regarding the apparent failure of Old Spice's "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" campaign to gin up sales. I guess right wing news cable channels aren't the only ones who jump the gun.

So I stand corrected and the facts are these. Since the campaign launched, Old Spice Bodywash sales are up 27 percent. And in the last month they are up a whopping 107 percent.

Sorry Old Spice and Wieden & Kennedy. To make it up to you I just bought some deodorant. Not the bodywash though. That's so gay.


(Sharing credit to adfreak)

Wise words from George Parker.

Here's a useful Tuesday afternoon read from George Parker on customer service in the age of Facebook and twitter. It's actually less rant and more reason. But don't worry he still manages to say "wanker" and "fuck off".

Non-Format.

I have to confess that I'm not one who gets a warm, tingly feeling when I see graphic design. I mean I'd like to, but I feel nothing. Maybe there's a pill I can take.

That said I can't get enough of  Non-Format. Not sure how exactly you'd label them, hence the name, but they basically bring uber cool art direction, design, illustration and custom typography to music, fashion, advertising and the arts.

Now if only I can sell something worthy of their talents and vision.

Brain-teaser Monday.

John Smith was hired by BBDO in the fall of 1986. He was let go two years later after "rehabilitation issues", but soon after got a job at MVBMS. After winning a few awards he left MVBMS for TBWA, before returning to MVBMS less than six months later. Following merger and restructuring complications John was let go from MVBMS in 1996, but soon found a home at DMB&B. In 1998 John "voluntarily" left DMB&B for GDS&M, following unproven allegations of sexual misconduct. John was let go from GDS&M in 2002. He was hired by MFP, but after a series of "expenses irregularities" was let go. He found it hard to get another job after that and temporarily had to take a job with the NYSDMV. He finally got back into advertising in 2005 with a string of freelance gigs at JWT, MMA and BBH. He took a full time job with DDB in 2007. It didn't last long, but now John finds himself back where he started. Where is John now?