Apr 18

Construction Machines Play Jenga With 600-Pound Blocks

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In this two-minute clip from Ogilvy & Mather in New York, five Caterpillar machines play a giant game of Jenga using 600-pound wooden blocks, as I'm sure they often do at real construction sites all over the world. (From what I've seen of hard-hat areas in commercials lately, it's clear that all kinds of amusing stuff goes on.)

The work, part of Cat's "Built For It" campaign, showcases the machines' precision handling, strength and agility in an engaging way, and it's proven quite popular on YouTube, tallying 1.1 million views since its posting last week.

Of course, Volvo's already driven a similar road, producing high-octane b-to-b videos, with Van Damme doing the splits and hamsters driving trucks.

Still, it's fun to watch Cat's shiny yellow telehandlers and excavators push, pull and lift the huge game pieces. Will the 8-ton tower topple? WILL IT?! Careful … CAREFUL …

Actually, this would be a lot more compelling if the vehicles transformed into futuristic robots that engaged in metal-mangling combat. Or if a cat drove one of the Cats. Sigh. Maybe next time.

Via Fast Company.




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Mar 31

Wu-Tang Clan Will Sell Only One, Hand-Crafted Copy of Its New Album

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For the past few years, the Wu-Tang Clan has been recording an album in secret. Now, in a first for modern music, they plan to sell only one copy of The Wu—Once Upon a Time in Shaolin.

It will be sold in an engraved silver and nickel box handcrafted by British-Moroccan artist Yahya, whose previous work has been commissioned by royal families. But before the band sells this ultimate collector's item for millions, the album will be taken on a grand tour where, for a price of about $50, the average pleb could attend a listening session of the 150-minute album—after undergoing an extensive check for audio recording devices.

More than a simple publicity stunt, it is a scream into the darkness of the marketplace for music to be respected as valuable, limited-edition art and yet another attempt, however extreme, in the decades-long search for a disruptive new recording industry business model.

Wu-Tang's unique attempt to stop the backslide in album revenues was announced last week as the music industry was collectively rejoicing over the first rise in sales since 1999. Since the rise was largely seen as the outcome of the music industry finally embracing digital distribution solutions, it will be interesting to see the success, or lack thereof, of the Wu's attempt to bring music's business model back to the actual dark ages by holding out for one wealthy patron. And hey, if it doesn’t work, the band's 20th anniversary album, A Better Tomorrow, will be out this summer … and available on iTunes.

Via Forbes.


    



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Aug 06

In CollegeHumor’s Panhandling Stunt, the Joke’s on Vitamin Water

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Not sure what the endgame for this Vitamin Water subway "prank" was, since it's basically a comedy video onto which the brand rivet-gunned its "Make Boring Brilliant" tagline. Still, two things immediately caught my eye. First, all the regular commuters gritting their teeth when they hear “may I have your attention please,” because homelessness on public transit is something of a medicine show these days. Second, the subway bragger's shtick went on way too long, and his audience figured out what he was doing well before he finished up and left them alone. Hard to call this a prank, really—it's more of a stunt. Plus, maybe a sugar-water brand's energy would be better spent actually helping the homeless than making fun of them.


    

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