Earlier in January, New York residents caught glimpse of what appeared to be three humans flying through the air. These flying figures were RC planes created to emulate the teenage superheroes featured in 20th Century Fox's new movie Chronicle -- due to be released in the US and UK this week.

Inspired in part by the movie's poster, this marketing effort was staged by Thinkmodo over several weeks in New York City, New Jersey and Long Island. As part of the campaign's outreach efforts, YouTube talent company Big Frame worked with several popular YouTube personalities to share and promote commentary around this stunt and the resulting clip (source). With the increasing number of American teenagers turning to video-share platforms such as YouTube to access cultural cues from their peers (notably in humor, beauty/lifestyle and sports), this piece of content reached its target audience quickly. Currently, the official YouTube clip is sitting at 3.5 million views after only two days.

Leading up to this online initiative, the Chronicle marketing efforts included a strong push on more traditional platforms such as TV and through theater trailers — which allowed younger fans of the YouTube video to understand the tie between this stunt and the film. Additionally, the quality and gadget-friendly video of the flying figures has now attracted the attention of a wider and older demographic who up until this point may not have seen trailers or media around Chronicle. Just in time for the big launch date.

This post was originally written for DDB Canada blog.

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CNN ECOSPHERE is a visualization tool that was created to illustrate real-time Twitter conversations taking place around global climate change during the COP17 Conference in Durban, South Africa. Every tweet that is tagged with #COP17 feeds into a virtual plant that represents relevant topics of discussion such as Sustainability, Climate, Durban, Climate Change and AGW.

Available on WebGL-enabled browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Safari, CNN ECOSPHERE then tracks these Twitter conversations by stimulating growth in the plants and trees as their respective conversations develop and increase.

This visualization reminds me of Jer Thorp's work for The New York Times (he's their Data Artist in Residence) -- in particular, Project Cascade. Anything that helps us interpret information in such a beautiful and visual manner is good by me.

On a related note, my brother Kentaro has written a three-part series on the private sector and climate change for RTCC:

• Analysis: The private sector and climate change
• Analysis: The accountability market and reputation-based legitimacy
• COP17 analysis: The importance of protecting and sharing innovation

This post is a personal take on a blog entry originally written for DDB Canada.

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The Tuesday Coffee Break posts were started a few weeks ago, in an effort to share findings that have caught my eye in the world of art, film, food and fun.

So it's Tuesday again -- and I'm thinking we deserve a little coffee break, hey?

Hard to believe that another Share DDB has come and gone. Our annual agency art auction / fundraiser was held last Thursday at Granville Island to raise money for the James Lee Foundation and Covenant House -- and I'm thrilled to say that I am now the proud owner of this Chairman Ting x Company Policy painting, which was created as part of a live exhibition at the event.

For more photos from Share DDB, visit the DDB Canada Flickr set. My colleague Sarah Chung also got some great shots.

Inside Job came out last year, but the documentary is still just as relevant today (if not more so). Selected for the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Inside Job addresses the 2008 economic crisis, the resulting global financial meltdown and how it unfolded. It features an impressive list of interviewees who provide behind-the-scenes insight -- and while Inside Job takes a very top-level approach, it's a compelling film regardless of how familiar the viewer is with the US financial sector.

For those who have not been following the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and Boston, I highly recommend watching this film.

Here in Vancouver, night falls much earlier now. The skies are grayer and we're required to bundle up more so than a week ago. In other words, it's ramen season.

Ramen (ラーメン) is a Japanese noodle dish, and it's my favorite form of comfort food. This past weekend, Matt and I went out to Motomachi Shokudo in the West End to fight off the rainy weekend blues. It's been one of my go-to neighborhood restaurants since our friend Maurice told us about it.

Other great ramen places in downtown Vancouver include the Benkei chain and Kintaro restaurant.

For fellow iPhone users who love snapping, editing, and sharing photos in real time, Phoster is a dream. It's Instagram's more design-savvy big sister -- and while it doesn't have the same built-in dashboard, internal community or open API, it's just as easy to share images to numerous social channels (including Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Instagram and Tumblr).

Phoster currently features 37 free design templates, and is also accesible on the iPad. In addition to the clean aesthetic and pop culture references, users may also add filters and various treatments to their final posters/images. Fantastic fun.

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I love the winter holidays. Hot chocolate, catching up with family, ugly sweater parties, and the smell of pine trees.

If you're like me, you may be trying to get a semi-early start on the Christmas shopping for your girlfriends. Should you be on the hunt for some inspiration, here are some of my favorite items and gift ideas.

MUJI's Touchscreen Gloves (Unisex): These winter gloves come in eight colors, and feature a special conductive material on the thumb and forefinger, allowing wearers access to touchscreen technology -- perfect for the tech-happy friend in your life who can't seem to let go of her mobile device or tablet. 

Small crystal encrusted oval cup pendant necklace by Alexis Bittar: If you're in Vancouver, you can find a number of Alexis Bittar's pieces at Blue Ruby. This one is my personal favorite - beautifully crafted and easily transferable from day to night.

Sugar Lip Treatment SPF 15 by Fresh: My best friend first introduced me to this lip treatment a few years ago, and I've been using it since. The antioxidant grape seed polyphenols and vitamins A, C & E provide extra protection and moisture - great for winter. I love giving these as stocking stuffers.

Night Food by Ego-Wrappin': As far as I'm concerned, this Japanese band can do no wrong. My brother Kentaro first gave me this particular album as a gift many years ago, and it's remained one of my all-time favorites. Night Food will make an especially great gift for friends who like jazz.

Michael Kors Quinn Clutch in Kiwi: I love the clean, modern lines of this clutch. The contrast of the soft vachetta leather goes well against the gold clasp, and the fresh color makes this easily wearable year-round.

Kate Spade Charm Magazine iPhone 4 Case: The Kate Spade line has done a fantastic job keeping up with tech accessories, and I am a huge fan of their hard iPhone cases. Not only are they durable for klutzes like me, they also come in an array of charming patterns and hand-drawn illustrations.

Tonari No Totoro (My Neighbor Totoro): Written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, this 1988 antimated film is a beautifully illustrated, fantastical story about a family in postwar rural Japan. This will make a wonderful gift for your friends who have children -- or any film buff, really.

Acqua Di Giò eau de toilette: Gifting perfume can be tricky, but this Giorgio Armani fragerance is wonderful if you're shopping for a beauty minimalist. Acqua Di Giò blends fresh notes of melon, pear, hyacinth and sandalwood - perfect for summer, but great year-round.

Happy Shopping!

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Let's talk about Share DDB.

Share DDB is DDB Canada's annual art crawl and auction. It is a private event that was created by Zara Thomas and our former colleague Blaine Pearson six years ago.

2011 marks the second year that Zara and I will be co-chairing this function. It will be held at Granville Island, with proceeds going to the James Lee Foundation and Covenant House. The James Lee Foundation is a scholarship fund created in memory of a very special DDB-er who continues to inspire countless people in our industry, and Covenant House provides much-needed shelter, food, clothing, counseling and outreach to street youth in Vancouver.

Every individual at the DDB Canada office in Vancouver is encouraged to create an auction item -- with the emphasis on art and creative pursuits. Over the years, we've been extremely fortunate to also receive donated auction items from friends, partners, clients and vendors (this year, I've got my eye on this photo from New York by Maurice Li Photography).

We also have a special set of framed canvases that will be auctioned off as part of the collaborative ART ALL OVER ME series. These canvases were set up in various spots around Vancouver this week -- and any art that was created on them will be included in our auction items.

Curious about where these canvases were set up? Here's a hint. And here's another.

Someone has 'borrowed' our canvas at 1000 Parker Street 2. I'm convinced it's a kind Samaritan who's decided to deliver it to us in person.. right?

I never had the opportunity to meet James Lee. He passed away shortly before I started at DDB, but he left an amazing legacy -- and after watching this video, how can you not fall in in love with that laugh?

Learn more about James, his creative footprint, and the scholarship foundation set up in his name at jamesleefoundation.com.

Randy Stein also wrote a beautiful tribute to James earlier this year.

We'll be donating half of this year's Share DDB proceeds to Covenant House. Zara and I were fortunate enough to visit this incredible organization earlier this year.

They have an amazing team -- but there are lots of ways we can still help.

One the largest category of accepted donation items is food:

Beans & sauce, pork & beans
Beans, tinned or dried
Canned meals (i.e. Chef Boyardee/stew/ravioli)
Cereal
Cheese whiz
Cookies/Crackers
Fish (canned)
Fruit (canned)
Hamburger Helper
Jams/Peanut butter
Ketchup
Kraft dinner
Meat (canned - Ham, Turkey)
Milk (in tetra packs or powder)
Oatmeal
Pasta (especially macaroni)
Rice
Tomatoes (canned)
Pasta sauces
Tuna
Veggies (canned‚ mushrooms, carrots, peas, potato)
Ice tea mix
Juice (mix/canned/tetra)

Read full list here.

Our interactive designer Antonio Alarcon Roman created this video using his footage from last year's Share DDB (which was held at the Vancouver Art Gallery). I'm a huge fan of Antonio's work, and I love the charming look and feel of this clip -- inspired in part by Instagram's Earlybird aesthetic.

The Tuesday Coffee Break posts were started a few weeks ago, in an effort to share all that I love in the world of art, film, food and fun.

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Filmmaker Danfung Dennis made his mark at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival with Hell and Back Again — a documentary which attempts to confront one man's physical and emotional turmoil after serving on the frontline of war.

After directing this film and spending time in Iraq and Afghanistan as a war photojournalist, Dennis teamed with Karol Martesko-Fenster to create Condition ONE — an immersive video application for the iPad which was introduced to the Apple Store earlier this month. It will be available on Android tablets in 2012.

Condition ONE technology was inspired by Dennis' desire to increase awareness around the realities of war, and to provide media outlets with a more sophisticated tool for sharing on-the-ground news coverage. Once the technology is licensed, media companies may embed firsthand viewing experiences to their respective online channels. Condition ONE serves as a unique camera system that allows users to engage and control access to video footage either by moving their tablet or scrolling through footage manually.

I'm quite fascinated with the technology, despite the Hollywood trailer-esque soundtrack used in the clips below. I feel the implementation and technology speak enough for itself.

This post is a personal take on a blog entry originally written for DDB Canada.

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The Tuesday Coffee Break series was created a month ago in my nerdy attempt to celebrate things outside of the digital realm -- where I spend my working hours. I'm two days late for our weekly date, but I hope you'll enjoy these picks here as they include some of my favorite items in the world of art, film, food and fun.

Erica Kirkpatrick is a painter based out of the UK, whose Impressionist inspired work focuses heavily on landscape pieces. I first stumbled upon her paintings online (ah, the joys of Tumblr).

I quite enjoy how Erica's work is mood-driven; even with the consistently limited color palettes, her landscape pieces are quite varied. Some paintings are cleaner and relaxed, while others feature more aggressive brush strokes and less inhibition. Having said that, there's still a very distinct style that she's developed over the past seven years -- which makes her work easily recognizable.

I highly recommend browsing through Erica's website and Flickr gallery, which is where these three images are from.

This past weekend, I attended TEDxVancouver -- where I found myself terribly inspired by Christopher Gaze's talk. Gaze currently serves as Artistic Director for Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival, which he founded in 1990.

As Gaze reminded the audience of how Shakespeare surrounds us both in our approach to storytelling and modern-day use of the English language, I was in turn reminded of Al Pacino's 1996 directorial debut, Looking for Richard.

This rugged documentary overlaps Pacino's efforts to direct Richard III while exploring Shakespeare's relevance to contemporary audiences in the United States. It's a fascinating and informal look into the challenges that American actors face when performing Shakespeare's work -- and includes some great candid moments behind the scenes with popular actors and literary intellectuals alike.

Crazy, but true. The holidays are almost upon us. This means that your window of opportunity to sneak in a relaxing brunch with friends is shrinking by the day. No, #imnotmelodramatic at all.

If you have the chance, I recommend dropping by Acme Cafe before the holiday madness kicks in. Just imagine yourself in a cozy diner booth with friends, enjoying the European Breakfast (pictured below). It's the best way to indulge in some quality catch-up time.

P.S. If brunch isn't your thing, you can't go wrong with Acme's lemon meringue pie -- day or night.

Last year, a shell named Marcel charmed his way into our hearts with tales of grand adventures.

Created by Dean Fleischer-Camp and Jenny Slate, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On is an animated short film that uses stop-motion to share the story of our world's most adorable anthropomorphic shell. It originally premiered at the AFI FEST in 2010, and was also featured at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.

As a response to its overwhelming popularity, the creators recently introduced a children's book around Marcel. And as if that wasn't wonderful enough, there's now a sequel video where we learn more about what Marcel's been up to. That's the sound of my heart melting.

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It's been one of those weeks. It's only 8am on Tuesday and I am already counting down the minutes til the weekend. </Negative Nancy>

Let's take a breather, shall we? Nothing like a quick coffee break to find our bearings again.

Last week, I raved about Takao Tanabe -- who once opened at the Vancouver Art Gallery with Brian Jungen.

Brian Jungen is a Canadian artist who studied at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in the early 90s. I was first introduced to his Prototypes of New Understanding collection in 2006, and have followed his career since.

Jungen's artwork is heavily influenced by the readymade style, and frequently modifies existing objects. However, unlike earlier artists such as Marcel Duchamp, Jungen's final pieces are designed to mirror identifiable objects such as totem poles (made with golf bags), and First Nations mask sculptures (assembled using Nike sneakers).

Often reflecting on his personal heritage (he shares Swiss and Dunne-za First Nations ancestry), these pieces incorporate traditional First Nations design elements -- and in many cases, attempt to provide commentary around what he identifies as "a paradoxical relationship between a consumerist artifact and an 'authentic' native artifact." (source)

Images: Catriona Jeffries Gallery

When I have the rare luxury of going into hibernation mode for a weekend, I love crashing on the couch and watching movies. And if When Harry Met Sally is on, forget it -- I’m not turning off that television.

Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan lead the cast as the film’s title pair. From their early scenes (driving together from Chicago to New York as fresh university graduates) to their numerous run-ins throughout the course of several years, there are so many memorable touch points that I now watch the movie with the same familiarity as I wear my father’s old sweater.

Really, what’s not to love? There’s Harry’s cynicism and his inability to finish a book without reading the ending first, Sally's days-of-the-week underwear and the way she orders apple pie, the cringe-worthy moment as they're belting out to Oklahoma!, that horrible wagon wheel coffee table.. and Baby Fish Mouth (yes, I love Bruno Kirby). These moments are effortlessly woven together by smart writing, a fabulous soundtrack, and an equally amazing supporting cast -- all of which celebrate the joys of a getting to know another’s idiosyncrasies and quirks when sharing a relationship.

Nicli Antica Pizzeria is a casual Vancouver restaurant that serves authentic Neapolitan pizzas. They doesn’t take reservations, but their food is certainly well worth the wait; if you work in Gastown, my friend Michelle also suggests going for lunch as the line is much shorter.

Every pizza I’ve enjoyed at Nicli in the past few months has been delicious -- light, fluffy and flavorful, straight from the wood-fire oven. My personal favorite is the Capricciosa.

While the restaurant is perfect for dates or smaller groups, I do encourage going with friends who like to share dishes (camera-happy tendencies optional). The pizzas are quite large, and there’s also a wonderful selection of antipasto and salads to choose from.

In 2007, Jonathan Harris started Balloons of Bhutan -- a fascinating new project that measures Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness. This official tracking system is based around the spiritual values of Buddhism, and was established in 1972 by then King Jigme Singye Wangchuck.

Harris met with and photographed 117 people in Bhutan, asking them to share their wishes and own personal level of happiness (represented visually with color-coded balloons). An art installation featuring the balloons was then created at Dochula -- a sacred mountain pass at 10,000 feet.

Beyond the beauty of each individual’s resulting interactive story, Harris’ site also features a collection of visual statistics.

I’ve been a fan of Harris’ work for many years now, and he is by far one of the most interesting multimedia storytellers of our generation. I love how accessible and collaborative his work is, and look forward to seeing more from him in the many years to come.

Big thanks to BJ for sharing this link on Twitter, where I first discovered Balloons of Bhutan.

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Inspired by the tremendous response to their creative endeavour, Christine and Justin also created Needs for Sale - a sister site that went live only months after Wants for Sale had. This site has more of a philanthropic edge, with all proceeds from the paintings and limited edition prints directed to various charitable organizations.

After a slight dry spell, the pair has redesigned both of these sites and recently introduced GOOD SHIRTS - a creative and fundraising initiative that partners with UNICEF and Threadless (a community-based T-shirt printing company). Instead of prints or paintings, the artists have created twelve designs for a new T-shirt line -- all focusing on relief effort items that will serve in the famine and drought-affected Horn of Africa. Similar to their earlier paintings, each of these T-shirts will be sold for the same price as the image that is depicted on it (e.g. Insecticide Treated Mosquito Nets for $18.57, Measles Vaccines for $24.24 -- all the way up to A Cargo Flight for $300,000).

Because GOOD SHIRTS is hosted on a social-friendly site, users are able to participate in voting challenges, share their purchases, comment, rate, and engage directly with the designers should they wish. Unicef, Threadless and the artists themselves have also made an active effort to promote the project across their respective social channels -- further increasing awareness, and hopefully resulting in funds.

Purchase your own GOOD SHIRTS

This blog post was originally written for DDB Canada.

Updated January 28, 2012: I was pretty thrilled to see Chris wearing a GOOD SHIRT at the office earlier this month.

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On Monday, Liz Heron (Social Media Editor for The New York Times) will be part of a free, two-hour panel on how social media is changing the face of journalism. She will be joined by the following experts:

• Alfred Hermida - Associate Professor, UBC Graduate School of Journalism
• Karen Pinchin - Writer/Editor (formerly of Maclean's)
• Steve Pratt - Director of CBC Radio 3 and CBC Radio Digital Programming

Date: Monday - November 7, 2011
Time: 7pm (doors open at 6.30pm and reserved spaces will be released at 6.50pm)
Location: UBC Robson Square - Vancouver, British Columbia

This event is hosted by UBC Continuing Studies, UBC Graduate School of Journalism and The Laurier Institution (a client). Seating is limited, so you are encouraged to register here.

Please feel free to extend this invitation to any contacts who may be interested in attending.

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I started my Tuesday Coffee Break series last week, with the hope that you'll enjoy taking an afternoon break with me to talk about things that don't involve summary reports and statistics. Given the fact that it's now past 8pm, I'm thinking we might have to trade that latte in for a drink instead.

So grab that bottle of wine, cozy up.. and let's chat about some art, film, food and fun.

Takao Tanabe is a Japanese-Canadian artist born in British Columbia. To this day, his 2006 exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery is one of my favorite shows.

Tanabe received his earlier education in Canada, but it was in New York where he really hit Abstract Expressionism in stride -- working under the influence of artists such as Hans Hofmann and Franz Kline.

He is most celebrated for his landscape paintings -- which capture the province's beauty and sometimes haunting vastness. I am certainly taken with these landscape pieces, but I also enjoy his earlier more abstract work a great deal.

For those of us in the Lower Mainland, the Burnaby Art Gallery will soon be featuring a retrospective exhibition of Tanabe's drawings and watercolors dating as far back as 1945.

If you don't have immediate access to Tanabe's work, I highly recommend this book about the artist by Ian Thom. It features insights from Canadian writers, and a rich selection of his work.

Win Win follows the story of small-time attorney and high school wrestling coach Mike Flaherty (Paul Giamatti). When the film opens, we see Flaherty struggling to keep his modest practice afloat -- juggling time with his business, the kids he coaches, and his tight-knit family alongside Amy Ryan (there's another actor I can't get enough of). Bobby Cannavale plays Terry, his best friend and confidant.

The unexpectedly poignant film features a fabulous cast that includes Alex Shaffer as the role of Kyle, a newcomer to town who joins Flaherty's wrestlng team.

Somewhere between the comical "that could happen in real life" moments and the painfully human relationships surrounding Flaherty is where I still find myself rooting for him -- even in his most despicable moment(s). I will watch this movie over and over again.

I love having friends over for dinner, but my Martha Stewart badge isn't in the mail quite yet. It is for this reason that I frequently turn to Giada De Laurentiis' panna cotta recipe as my foolproof, year-round dessert of choice. Because it requires a minimum of six hours to sit, I usually prepare it the night before and focus my energy (stress!) on the rest of the meal during the day of.

I hope that you'll enjoy this recipe as much as I have.

Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3 cups whipping cream
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch salt
2 cups assorted fresh berries

Directions
Place the milk in a small bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over. Let stand for 3 to 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Pour milk mixture into a heavy saucepan and stir over medium heat just until the gelatin dissolves but the milk does not boil, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, honey, sugar, and salt. Stir until the sugar dissolves, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat. Pour into 6 wine glasses so that they are 1/2 full. Cool slightly. Refrigerate until set, at least 6 hours.

Spoon the berries atop the panna cotta and serve. 

Source: Giada De Laurentiis for the Food Network

Note: My photos were snapped at Alfresco Night Vancouver, in August 2009.

The Reckoners are a Vancouver-based indie folk duo consisting of vocalist Christina Simpson and guitarist/vocalist Ricardo Khayatte. Their song Follow Me Into the Sun is one of my personal favorites, and I can not get enough of their EP And the Sky Opened Up - which has received rave reviews across the board.

I first met Christina through mutual friends, and it meant the world to me when her and Ricardo performed at my birthday/fundraiser back in March. If you haven't already, I highly recommend giving their music a try (or better yet, check them out live).

P.S. They're also on Facebook.

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Here is what I love: art, film, food and fun.

Starting this week, I will aim to share a weekly list of items that I enjoy in each category. It's time I stopped hogging all of these great finds and share the love.

Look out for new posts every Tuesday; my hope is that you'll join me here for a quick coffee break every week.

Switcheroo is an ongoing photography project started by Hana Pesut in 2010. The whimsical series features subjects wearing swapped clothes in two near-identical images.

While a large number of those partaking in the project are young Vancouver couples, Hana has recently expanded the collection to include a broader range of age groups and relationships. I've known Hana for almost ten years, but I first stumbled upon her project through our fellow Vancouverite Jeff Hamada's site. I've been smitten since.

Find more of Hana's beautiful work at sincerelyhana.com

I started watching The Trip on the plane home to Vancouver earlier this month, and the grim-looking man in the seat next to me didn't seem quite as amused with my frequent (and loud) bursts of laughter. This is one of those movies you'll want to share with someone.

Reunited with director Michael Winterbottom, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play fictionalized versions of themselves -- embarking on a roadtrip through Northern England to dine at fine restaurants under the premise that Coogan is a food writer for The Observer.

Because the film is largely improv-based, the ridiculous and brotherly banter shared by Coogan and Brydon contrasts well against the beauty of the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales (not to mention, the mouth-watering food shots!). The Michael Caine impersonations and impromptu ABBA performances are just icing on the cake.

My boyfriend moved to Boston recently, to attend business school. One the great things about visiting him regularly is getting to try lots of the wonderful restaurants and culinary offerings that New England has to offer.

High on our list is Central Kitchen -- a fabulously relaxed and unpretentious restaurant/bar located in Central Square. I originally found it while using Foursquare and Lonely Planet's Boston app to scour restaurants close to Matt's new residence on the Harvard campus.

You can't go wrong with their cocktail list. And the steak tartare is a must.

When it first came out in July 2011, The New York Times called Flip Flop Fly Ball 'a beautiful, number-crunched combination of statistical and graphic-design geekery'. I couldn't agree more.

Filled with intricate infographics, colorful drawings and personal commentary around his love of baseball, Craig Robinson's book is one of my favorite purchases of the year (you can't fake this sort of giddiness, people).

Order your own copy and join Craig as he goes Flip Flop Flyin'.

Fun fact: I first stumbled onto Craig's work back in the late 90s. Yes, he's always been this cool.

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Take This Lollipop is a vivid and disturbing interactive website which uses Facebook Connect and Google Maps to pull user data such as photos, relationship details and location.

The story follows a man in an undisclosed location, as he slowly browses through the user's personal Facebook account - caressing the screen when their photos appear, and scrolling through their real friends' status updates. He then proceeds to look up the user's city of residence - and hops into a car, presumably to take the online stalking offline. The attention to detail and numerous touch points which incorporate the user's personal data can be seen as jarring.

This website launches just in time for Halloween -- but does not appear to be tied in with any specific campaign or brand initiative. According to The International Business Times, director Jason Zada has confirmed that the site was a personal creative collaboration.

Me, personally? I love this.

Earlier this year, we saw equally compelling microsites incorporate Facebook Connect to pull data from individual profile accounts -- most notably, Intel's Museum of Me. In both cases, the users who have active and populated personal profiles are more likely to access the most engaging online experience.

This blog post was originally written for DDB Canada.

Updated November 20, 2011: According to Mashable, Take This Lollipop is now the world’s fastest-growing Facebook app (read more..).

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In 2008, Justin Dillon directed Call+Response, a documentary about human trafficking and modern day slaves. The film's featured participants include former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright. Following this documentary, Dillon received funding and support from the US State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons to create The Slavery Footprint project -- which launched last month.

The Slavery Footprint project is accessible online, iOS and with Android devices. With the use of infographics, the interactive site raises awareness around how a startling number of daily items and luxuries contribute to ongoing human trafficking and forced labor around the world. Users are encouraged to calculate their own slavery footprint by assessing personal purchases and lifestyle choices such as cosmetics, food consumption, number of electronic devices and even number of bathrooms in their home.

In addition to the site's survey, the associated Free World mobile apps take the initiative one step further -- allowing users to check in on brands and hold them accountable for various points at which their products may have been created, shipped or sourced through slaves in their supply chain. Users may check in on brands similar to the way they would for existing location based apps such as Foursquare.

The tone of the Slavery Footprint project focuses on serving as a wake-up call. Each platform (online, iOS and Android) provides many opportunities for participants to share their findings, reach out to decision-makers and encourage friends to learn more. The organization has also partnered with several offline initiatives such as mtvU's Slavery Footprint Campus Challenge, which highlights and supports university students raising awareness about human trafficking.

This is a smart and eye-opening initiative which I look forward to following in the coming months. Learn more at slaveryfootprint.org.

This post is a personal take on an entry that was originally written for the DDB Canada blog.

Updated January 6, 2012: This video below provides some great updates around how the project has been received.

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Paris fashion house Lanvin is celebrating its new 2011-12 Fall/Winter collection with an ad campaign that cleverly weaves between traditional print and online video content.

The fun-filled video component (resulting in content for popular platforms - including YouTube and Facebook) features notable models such as Raquel Zimmerman and Karen Elson dancing. Stills from their choreographed routine were then pulled to create print ads in fashion-centric publications such as Vogue for the highly popular September issue.

The quirky and memorable content translates easily from the glossy pages of an editorial straight to the sites of popular fashion bloggers, where the video has been featured and shared excessively. For many fashion enthusiasts, the online/offline tie-in creates a unique storytelling experience -- the video provides context to why the models in the print ads are posed somewhat awkwardly. Fans are even more thrilled when creative director Alber Elbaz makes a cameo towards the end of the video.

With video playing such an integral role in both editorial and advertising, this campaign has been very well-received by fashion enthusiasts in the social realm -- and because both the image and video content has been provided to them in easily accessible formats, fans have been sharing them across multiple platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr (which in recent years has made an extra effort to increase its role as the platform of choice for fashion and lifestyle bloggers). Shoppers at the upcoming Fashion's Night Out event in New York will even have the opportunity to take part in the Lanvin dance challenge, as well.

The campaign has also attracted attention outside of the targeted niche audience; the video is currently available on the digital-focused site Mashable as the featured YouTube video pick of the day.

This post was originally written for the DDB Canada blog.

Updated September 1, 2011: Think this uncredited choreography for I Know You Want Me by Pitbull looks oddly familiar? It might be, if you've ever played Dance Central. This new tidbit of information makes me love the campaign even more (thanks for sharing, Parker).

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With the iPad leading the way, opportunities for creative, interesting, relevant (and fun!) tablet publishing continues to excite both our agency's creative and digital teams.

Friskies launched its Games for Cats initiative this month -- allowing fans to access interactive iPad games created specifically for their feline friends.

On a similar note, Tramontina recently introduced an interactive iPad ad to promote its line of non-stick pans. The user is now able to test out Tramontina's line of cookware products, frying up digital pancakes, bacon and eggs - even receiving tips on how to cook the foods better "for next time".

This post was originally written for the DDB Canada blog.

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Crazy beautiful and lots of fun. Go ro.me for yourself.

This post was originally featured on the DDB Canada blog.

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Fashion retailer Express has launched an e-commerce initiative through Facebook -- allowing fans to browse merchandise and purchase items within a custom Facebook tab. Express is one of the first major American retailers to execute an online effort of this magnitude. Not only can users recommend items to their friends, post comments and Like items, the back-end inventory, pricing, wishlists and comments are all tied together with Express' existing web and mobile e-commerce efforts.

Apparel retailers out of the UK are also exploring this territory -- ASOS features over 150,000 products for Facebook users to choose from, even incorporating search features within their custom tab.

I'm not an Express shopper personally, but with over 550 stores across the United States and annual sales generating $1.8 billion, it it great to see this company explore its online opportunities further. It speaks volumes to the targeted younger demographic - and pulls them in on a channel that they're already frequenting. However, the introduction of Facebook Open Graph last year has allowed brands to incorporate many of the same capabilities (e.g. the Like feature) on their existing e-commerce channels outside of Facebook as well.

Browse Express' Facebook shopping initiative here.

This is a personal take on a blog post I originally wrote for DDB Canada.

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Since popular photo-sharing mobile app Instagram opened its API earlier this year, we have seen several new tools and creative efforts from external programmers that leverage its technology and existing community base. Everything from Stickygram's Instagram magnets to Instaprint - a location-based photo booth that curates and prints Instagram content in real time.

On a similar note, Postagram now allows users to print and send physical copies of their Instagram photos to friends and loved ones -- pulling the experience of sharing out of the iPhone. Taking into consideration the large number of brands that now populate Instagram users' feeds (as well as the heightened search capacities now available through hashtags), this creates opportunities for groups and organizations to create strong content that will entice users to print and share their materials offline as well.

Some of my favorite Instagram users are brands. Since it's an iPhone-specific platform, I'm unable to link to their feeds directly -- but for those who may be interested, here's a quick list of my favorite brands and individuals using Instagram. Their usernames are in brackets:

- Kate Spade (katespadeNY)
- Aritzia (aritzia)
- Tiphanie Brooke (antigirl .com)
- Erika Bearman, for Oscar de la Renta (oscarPRgirl) - she tilts her head through some of the most amazing outfits and experiences (read more..)
- Lark (larkshop)
- Levi's Brazil (levisbrasil) - the original. First brand to join Instagram.
- Jenna Wortham (jennydeluxe)

Some of my recent Instagram pics can be found here at flavors.me.

This is a personal take on a blog post I originally wrote for DDB Canada.

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Victor Petit is looking for an internship in a creative environment. To add a unique spin to his resume and showcase an understanding of multimedia, he included a QR code over an image of his face (on the back of the resume). This QR code pulls up a video of his mouth -- which in turn fits right on to his photograph like a missing puzzle piece. It allows the reader to get a glimpse into Victor's personality beyond the printed word.

Depending on how the QR code was set up, it is also possible that the video can be edited or altered down the line. This would allow recruiters and potential employers to see what he is up to in several months, by simply re-engaging in the QR code at that time.

The creative execution reminds me of Cassius' I <3 U So music video (which features several different people and objects lip synching to the song, behind pre-filmed content running off of an iPhone). It is equally as compelling -- and certainly memorable.

It's been a few months since the Cassius video came out, but it's certainly worth taking a look through if you haven't yet. Fans are able to replicate the music video with their social circle, by downloading the app and filming their own version. The free iPhone app contains eight different mouths singing along to the track -- and there are direct links to share the app on Facebook and/or download the track from iTunes. This interactive component allows users to access a piece of the original video, and encourages the spread of additional video content outside of Cassius' own.

Updated April 11, 2011: I knew there was something missing from this post. Here's how Cameron Reed looked when I first met him (as photographed by Leah Benetti).

This is a personal take on a blog post I originally wrote for DDB Canada.

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