Hasta La Creative!

There are just some ads that will never get old because they’re fun to watch, like this ad for Renault. Finally- a commercial that successfully incorporates the use of the high jump into the auto industry! At first, you don’t know what the heck this guy is doing- perhaps contemplating suicide by running out into the middle of traffic (it’s a wonder he didn’t get hit by a car), but then he gracefully jumps into his vehicle. I didn’t notice a “do not try this at home” disclaimer, but I still wouldn’t attempt it.

I know this isn’t anything earth-shatteringly new, but this outdoor from London a pretty cool installation piece in my mind, particularly given the timeliness of Earth Day.

While real plants (instead of plastic) would have been awesome (and more “green”), the faux plants probably make it leagues easier to actually put up. Interesting, visual, and simple. Seems appropriate as we wrap up Earth-centric festivities.

[via 30gms]

Sure, big chain stores get plenty of advertising. When was the last time your Sunday paper didn’t have the latest flyer for Best Buy? And how often do you catch their commercials on TV? Unfortunately, powerhouse companies like those are causing several small record stores throughout the country to close. In efforts to increase awareness of these independently owned shops, tomorrow is Record Store Day. A “holiday” designed to celebrate boutiques filled with all those music geeks that know more about your favorite album than you ever cared to. So just for tomorrow, go grab that CD you’ve been jonesing for at your closest local store. Click the logo below to find a mom & pop near you.

Less than two years ago, people began to see cars equipped with strange video equipment driving all over the U.S. Google apparently commissioned a fleet of cars for their street view project, which is now live. I decided to give it “test drive” to see what the hype was all about. It turns out that street view gives you just that. A view of the streets from a drivers perspective. I tested it on my street and found it cool, yet creepy. I’m not suggesting in any way that Google has voyeuristic tendencies, but they can get pretty detailed. I was able to see my roommate’s Marilyn Monroe poster on his window. Then I started thinking; there must be hundreds of little surprises waiting to be discovered in the Google street view video universe. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or the desire to look for them, but if you do find something, let me know.

Voyeurs are not the only who may find this tool useful. This is another great way to explore your city or town without having to put on your shoes. Street view has the potential to revolutionize the real estate industry. I remember a when virtual tours of homes were new and exciting. Now you can check out the neighborhood before you make a formal visit. The technology is still in the early stages but as it develops, I could see existing virtual stores being linked into the equation. I wrote a paper a few years ago about a concept called “Google Maps Retail.” This concept allows people find businesses on Google maps, get directions and then get efficient directions inside the store (using a 3-D planogram) based on a shopping list. This is more than possible now. Who wants to go halves with me on the venture. I’ll put in the first 20 bucks.

As if Rick Astley wasn’t getting enough inexplicable renewed popularity, here’s a bit more. A brilliant digg user decided to solicit the help of fellow dig users on a level of epic proportion when he discovered that the New York Mets are holding a contest to vote for the 8th inning sing-a-long song. Potential to be quite possibly the largest Rickrolling of all time.

And for those not too familiar with the concept of Rick Rolling, here’s an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Around the year 2003, an Internet prank known as “rickrolling” appeared involving misleading links redirecting to the music video. It increased in popularity as a 2008 April Fool’s Day joke through various media, including YouTube rickrolling all of its featured videos on that day, and a website allowing people to Rickroll their friends phones.

In ‘a couple of weeks’, about 13 million people had been ‘rickrolled’ into watching Astley’s video, the BBC reported on 1 April, 2008.”I think it’s just one of those odd things where something gets picked up and people run with it,” Astley told the Los Angeles Times in late March 2008, adding: “That’s what’s brilliant about the internet.”

So now the link has been dugg over 8000 times, and it’s spreading on fark and 4chan as well. Tomorrow is the final day to vote. It’s certainly a very real possibility that the NY Mets (and fans) may have just been Rickrolled like never before. Which says a good deal for internet memes and the significance of internet users (like those on digg) in swaying public polls – and who knows what else. Just something to think about while you try to imagine a packed Shae Stadium sinning “never gonna give you up…”

The following Taco Bell commercial from last fall has had a recent inexplicable resurgence on broadcast TV over the past few weeks, and it’s got me thinking a bit about tv spots and the music chosen to accompany them.

Aside from the bizarre appearance of the grim reaper and a few other oddities, the most bizarre (or at least thought provoking) thing about the commercial is the use of Modern English’s “I melt with you.” While the song has a special place in my heart, I’m not sure that the connection with Taco Bell really works for me. New Wave and Cheesy Beefy Melt don’t really go hand in hand in my mind, and I’m left thinking about Modern English – not ye old Bell.

It’s really no different than a few other fast food commercials over the past year, most notably the Wendy’s spot that used the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun” on TV and radio. There was also the Nintendo DS commercial with all the kids singing “Santeria” by Sublime. Not necessarily horrible, but peculiar choices, and ones that I don’t think i would have consciously made.

Does dumping a cult classic or one-hit wonder song into a commercial always make sense? Is it always the best idea? Does the grim reaper really eat at Taco Bell? Just a few questions that have been mulling around in my head lately.

New, trendy, and flashy products are often ripe targets for competitive ads. I always secretly enjoy when one company directly targets another via their advertising, despite knowing that a more creative (and ultimately more effective) solution most likely exists.

Lenovo seems to have had enough of the ever-so-popular Macbook Air, and takes a shot at it with the release of their new ThinkPad X300. Not only do they say “everything else is hot air,” but they even go as far as to loosely reference the Apple typefaces, gradients, and button styles of apple (below). It kind of takes the whole Mac vs. PC thing to a whole different level.

SXSW Interactive. And that’s where you should be too.

If not physically, then at least checking out the website, talking to people who were there, etc.SXSW (South by SouthWest) is perhaps the most important showcase for new media and new technologies out there. (There’s also film and music parts of the festival which are pretty important in and of themselves, but we’ll focus on the interactive part.)

A good place to start is this list of finalists for the Web awards. You’ll find inspiration from a variety of sites– everything from individual portfolio sites to corporate sites to media sites to random cool websites. Since the awards don’t just focus on things ad agencies have done, you get a more complete vision of what’s noteworthy on the web right now.

Two other place sto get a great overview of SWSX are (a) Deep Focus’ Ian Schafer’s blog. Schafer’s been assiduously documenting the conference and his insights are (as the line goes) the next best thing to being there.  (b) Adpulp’s David Burn’s coverage on his agency’s blog, where you get a different, but equally in-depth account.

Right on the front page. And in an obituary no less. The title of the obit “William F. Buckley Jr., 82, Dies; Sesquipedalian Spark of Right” is (for those of you not in the U.S. and/or old enough to remember him) a play on the fact that Buckley was fond of using words like “sesquipedalian” in his speeches and his columns. He definitely kept Webster’s in business.

I mean I don’t know about you, but I had no idea what ”sesquipedalian” meant – my basic knowledge of Latin got me to “150 footed” (sesqui=150 + pedalian = feet or footed) which clearly was wrong.Dictionary.com to the rescue: Sesquipedalian means “given to using long words” and is derived from some term meaning “words of a foot and a half long” (so I was on the right track. Sort of.)

Regardless, it’s nice to see the Times loosen up a little bit and employ some intellectual humor when appropriate. It’s a lesson many corporate and B2B advertisers should heed, because as an old mentor of mine once said: “Just because people are reading about work, doesn’t mean they want to be bored.” 

And besides, we all just learned a new insult today. 

I love buying a round of virtual drinks for my friends. What better way to show them I care without having to deal with all the drunken aftermath (I did what?! I made out with who?!). But as I pass out the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blasters and Tiki Revenges to my new BFFs, I often find myself asking “How are these people/companies making money off this?” Well, when it comes to more conventional ad forms, it turns out they’re not. With click-through rates around .04%, advertisers have been less than excited about the returns. As it turns out, people really are there to interact with each other. Who knew?! Applications, though, are another story. At first blush the numbers are impressive: 874,742,856 installs across 17,263 applications on Facebook with these applications being used 34,175,797 times in the last 24 hours generating numbers like $300 per active user. But then you come across articles like this where the value of a Facebook application user is valuated at somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.40. Hmmmm That’s a big discrepancy. Digging a little deeper we discover that the bulk of application usage is spread out over a handful of applications — only around 87 according to this article. Doh! Looks like Facebook isn’t a quick path to riches and that advertisers will actually have to put effort into developing messaging, applications, etc. that have true value for their audience. Bartender? Can you make that next Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster a double?

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