Hasta La Creative!

(TrendHunter.com) This Nokia concept phone is creating quite a stir, yet nobody seems to know much more than what can be seen from the design. The sports phone has been featured and speculated about in several leading tech and gadget ezines, so there must be something buzz-worthy about the mobile.

What is known is …

(TrendHunter.com) These shoes were designed with hand-painted leather and were recently showcased at Neon’s winter fashion show.

“The Brazilian label’s co-designer Dudu Bertholini has been collecting leftover painted cow skin—some of them rare—from his trips abroad to New York and throughout his home country, …

(TrendHunter.com) I’m liking this wood casing for the iPod. There is no real information available on the product, but I like the wood casing because it offers protection for the gadget in case of accidental dropping.

“Wanxinda Enterprise Group showcased its various cases for iPod products during China Sourcing…

The smiling face above is Mick Cornett, the Mayor of Oklahoma City, who has teamed with Taco Bell to challenge his city’s residents to lose 1 million pounds this year.

According to the AP:

Taco Bell’s new Fresco Menu, which debuted in December and includes nine items with less than nine grams of fat, has been dubbed the “Official Menu of the Mayor’s Challenge.” Life-size cardboard cutouts of the mayor, which began appearing Thursday in Oklahoma City-area Taco Bell stores, feature the slug, “Because you can’t lose 1 million lbs. by yourself.”

…

The idea for the campaign began shortly after officials with Irvine, Calif.-based Taco Bell learned of Cornett’s initiative and contacted the mayor, telling him about the new menu items being launched in their stores, including 42 in the Oklahoma City metro area.

From a marketing standpoint, it’s both genius and dangerous, and a natural fit for a fast food company with resources. You have a built-in focus group, the problem is they a) have free will and aren’t required to buy Taco Bell every day and b) they aren’t required to get items off the Fresco menu, which isn’t price equivalent even if it may or may not be taste equivalent, which seems to be the major problem concerning fast food and obesity.

Do people care that they’re eating a bean burrito with 6 grams of fat versus the kind with a regular tortilla and nacho cheese that may be “less healthy?” Do they realize that a Fresco taco doesn’t mean you should get a regular soda? Does this new campaign mean the employees of Taco Bell have an obligation to the people of OKC to keep them on a healthy regiment or to plug the healthy menu when an obese person orders the Nachos Bell Grande?

I’m more skeptical. When it comes down to it, on your way home from work, it matters more if you’re paying $2.29 for the healthy menu item or $.99 for the regular one from the value menu. If you want to really be effective, you either have to make the price comparable or get rid of the unhealthy items and replace them entirely, thus taking the choice factor out.

But let’s hope for the best and expect the worst. Maybe the advertising blitz in OKC will educate and change behavior, which is part of the point.

Technorati Tags: Taco Bell, Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett, politics, fast food,

(TrendHunter.com) With the multitude of USB gadgets we have these days, and the limited USB ports on some PCs (hello Macbook Air and your lonely port); USB hubs have become an essential part of our tech life. And while most hubs give you a few more ports, the USB Rotary 7 Hub gives you SEVEN!

The 90 degree rotatabl…

Advertising Agency: Bounce, Greenville, USA
Creative Director: John McDermott
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Stephen Childress
Senior Art Directors: Jeff Gandy, Stephen Brown, Barry Godfrey, Jim Reel
Art Director: Jason Barry
Senior Graphic Designer: Melissa Nocks
Graphic Designer: Ashley Bailey
Released: February 2008

Advertising Agency: Bounce, Greenville, USA
Creative Director: John McDermott
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Stephen Childress
Senior Art Directors: Jeff Gandy, Stephen Brown, Barry Godfrey, Jim Reel
Art Director: Jason Barry
Senior Graphic Designer: Melissa Nocks
Graphic Designer: Ashley Bailey
Released: February 2008

Advertising Agency: Bounce, Greenville, USA
Creative Director: John McDermott
Associate Creative Director / Copywriter: Stephen Childress
Senior Art Directors: Jeff Gandy, Stephen Brown, Barry Godfrey, Jim Reel
Art Director: Jason Barry
Senior Graphic Designer: Melissa Nocks
Graphic Designer: Ashley Bailey
Released: February 2008

Advertising Agency: Duval Guillaume Antwerp, Belgium
Account: Patrick Clymans
Creative Directors: Geoffrey Hantson, Dirk Domen
Copywriter: Kristof Snels
Art Director: Sebastien De Valck
Photographer: Koen Demuynck

With just 200 dong per message, your thumb better be ready.

Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Vietnam
Published: Published 2007