Top of the World’s Weirdest Tower

Focus sur le recensement des tours les plus étranges et loufoques du monde, sorties de l’imaginaire des architectes. Entre le Klimwand Climbing Tower, les tours San Gimignano ou encore l’Hôtel Ryugyong en Corée du Nord, voici une sélection en images à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.

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Klimwand Climbing Tower, Wunderland Kalkar, Allemagne.

Un château d’eau en maïs, Rochester, Minnesota.

L’Hôtel Ryugyong, Pyongyang, Corée du Nord.

Puffer Fish Tower, Chine.

La maison de Nikolai Sutyagin, Arkhangelsk, Russie.

Les tours Pigeon, Libye, Iran et Egypte.

La tour de Zizkov Télévision, Prague.

La tour Genex, Belgrade, Serbie.

La tour de Pise, Italie.

Les tours San Gimignano, Italie.

Weirdest Towers 9
Weirdest Towers 8
Weirdest Towers 7
Weirdest Towers 6
Weirdest Towers 5
Weirdest Towers 4
Weirdest Towers 3
Weirdest Towers 2
Weirdest Towers 1
Weirdest Towers 10

Does Weird Work?

Cadbury Eyebrow DanceIf you’re anything like me, you love YouTube. Maybe “love” isn’t a strong enough word. Alright, I admit it. I’m obsessed with YouTube – I could watch it all day long. Why? Aside from the astounding variety of content, I’m fascinated with the originality of the material – especially as it pertains to advertising.

My latest obsession is a relatively new spot from Cadbury, which is divinely awesome because of its sheer weirdness. A glass and a half full of joy, indeed. This spot makes absolutely no mention of the product, but I love it anyway and if loving the spot is wrong, I don’t want to be right.

Evian babiesI’m also intrigued by the “Live Young” campaign from Evian. This spot features onesie-clad babies grooving on skates and doing rail slides to “Rapper’s Delight.” Alright, Evian, I get the hint – drinking your product makes you feel young – but I still think those babies are kind of creepy.

So, what’s the deal? Are spots focused on the Internet being made purely for the creative joy of it? Are we trying to capture the imagination (and eventual cash flow) of the beaten-down consumer? Or have “the rules” completely gone out the window?

Sara Barton is a copywriter, social media strategist, and avid blogger who is in search of her next opportunity. Contact her via Twitter, LinkedIn, or her blog.


Microsoft Spots? So-So. Feeding the Hungry? Bravo!

Microsoft launched two “Hulu-esque” online TV spots this week ie8logothat star Dean Cain, the actor known as Superman from the TV series “Lois & Clark.” The spots are a bit surreal, much like the Hulu commercials that have were released earlier this year. The two spots, named F.O.M.S. (Fear Of Missing Something) and S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. (Sharing Heavily Yet Not Enough Sharing Still), are in support of Internet Explorer 8 (IE8), released in its final version on March 19th of 2009.

It’s unclear if Microsoft is experiencing low download rates for IE8, or are simply running the spots to support the new software in a more competitive environment. The IE8 browser is chock-full-o-features that include new malware protection, a discrete browsing mode (for those that need to hide their searches) and greater tab control. One of the best features is that when the browser crashes, it only restarts that particular tab, leaving the rest of the tabs operating normally. However, there are problems with IE8, such as it has to run in “compatibility mode” to read a majority of websites, and it is not as fast as the sparsely-featured Google Chrome browser.

The ads do nothing to dispel these irregularities, and instead are somewhat humorous takes on personal browsing habits. Both of the spots are featured on YouTube, as well as below. F.O.M.S features a woman frantic over missing a bid on EBay, while S.H.Y.N.E.S.S. enables people that send crap over the internet to send it faster using one of IE8’s accelerators. (great…)

The campaign, if it can be called such, is masquerading as a set of PSAs that are promoting BrowserfortheBetter.com, which is a landing page devoted to the new browsers. What’s great about downloading IE8 from this page is that for every download, Microsoft will donate eight meals to Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

feeding-america1Whether a humanitarian effort or a sales ploy to get the browsers downloaded, the result is the same: food for the hungry. And for this, Microsoft deserves recognition.

Jeff Louis: Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you, so leave a comment or follow the links:linkedin.com or twitter.com.

Don’t Miss This Press Release!

no-broken-heartAre you tired of dating games? Does developing a healthy partnership seem impossible? Are all the best ones already taken, or playing for the “wrong” team?
Do you find yourself awake in the middle of the night, alone with a cat you don’t remember buying and your favorite late night TV, with one question burning in your mind?

“If I’m so successful, good-looking and smart, why am I still and lonely?”

Your friends tell you that it’s just a “matter of time” before the “right one” comes along, but secretly you wonder if you’re flawed. Your “friends” are all hooking up while you look for that special guy everywhere, everyday. It’s starting to take a toll on your sanity, your work…
dating
Well, I am not a Relationship Coach, but I play one on BMA, and if there’s one thing missing in your dating life that you use daily in your professional life, it’s a plan…a chart to tell you where you’re going, and how to get there. If you’ve had thoughts of inadequacy, and “what’s wrong with me, I’m hot?” I’ve got fantastic news for you: There’s a new dating site that is going to change your life forever. It’s an interactive platform called YourDatingPlan.com, and although there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this economy, you can join for FREE for a time as part of this limited offer.

Announced today via PR Newswire, YourDatingPlan.com has heralded the launch of their site that will change the way that single people will end your dating drama for good. Might as well delete the loser names out of your iPhone…you won’t be going back there anymore!

Sound too good to be true? It’s not; this is the real thing. What’s their magic method? An individual blueprint written out, to lead you to the Nirvana relationship you’ve been missing. Go to your computer right now and login to www.YourDatingPlan.com and sign up now. Once on the site, you’ll answer a series of questions from which the site will create your customized, step-by-step dating program. The questions have been rigorously tested and, when answered honestly, will be optimized and “scientifically processed.” Once the numbers have been crunched, the result will be a detailed action plan that you’ll be able to follow. The plan is catered specifically for you, taking your needs, situation, and personality into consideration.

YourDatingPlan.com is perfect no matter what stage of your life you are in – beginners in the dating world, people taking another stab at love by re-entering the dating scene or if you are just not happy in your current dating life. No more depending on friends for the answers…

We all know that there’s no such thing as a “free lunch” anymore, but the great thing about love is that it’s always been free! Now love is free with a step-by-step methodical way to reel that love home to you.

Jeff Louis is a Strategic Media Planner, Project Manager, and New Business Coordinator. His passion is writing, contributing to BMA as well as freelancing. He’d love to hear from you: linkedin.com/in/jefflouis or twitter.com/jlo0312.