Angela Natividad is online.
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Thinker by nature, wordsmith by trade.
Podcast hostess, media writer, digital strategist + lover of science. Creator of life on the weekends, but strictly single-celled. (Nobody likes a mutiny.)
You may email if you like.
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Posts
- EVERY SUPER BOWL LOGO - EVER.
A crowd pleaser for the football freaks out there. While you suffer through this weekend’s Pro Bowl – the appendix of pro sports – take a look back through the Big Game’s logo history. Every one a winner! (Btw, the cost of preferred seats at the first Super bowl? $10.)
- Truckvertising on steroids.
Long way to go for a headline? Sure, but it’s what we do here. If you’re Starbucks and McDonald’s is creeping category share? YOU MOVE INTO TRAILERS! Check out a concept store for the venerable coffee brand haters love. Cue McDonald’s trailers soon enough? Prolly. (Via.)
- The way they were.
Been a little while since we heard anything from the oil giant BP. SO LET’S GO BACK TO 1996! Get you some corporate website look and feel! (Previously as well.)
Starring: your hotel.
Starwood Hotels Luxury Collection produces a branded content short film called “Here”. I’m too lazy to watch the whole thing because I need all entertainment to fit into 90 second capsules - but you’ll really enjoy taking a few minutes to sit back and enjoy this long form commercial.
Your bathroom break’s on FirstBank.
It is almost imperative to give props to a local Colorado bank that devotes its very first Super Bowl ad to sending people off to wizz in the second half of the game. Nicely in keeping with their “helpfulness” manifesto.
Don’t pauses feel longer when they cost $3.5 million?
Ballsy work, not just by FirstBank, but also by TDA_Boulder.
- Feel like hanging off a trellis today?
Now you can with Bâtiment, an interactive mirrored art installation by Leandro Erlich that lends the impression visitors are hanging off a building. If you’re in Paris, catch it at the In_Perceptions exhibit at 104 Le Centquatre, from now until March.
Hat-tip to Laughing Squid for the news. More photos at PSFK.
- Barbie as an icon.
You’re all like, “Wait. ‘Barbie as an icon’ isn’t news.” Right. I guess what I meant to say was, Barbie as other icons. Above, you see her as Chanel. Below, see her as Kiki of Montparnasse posing for Man Ray. More at Barbie M’Amuse.
Via.
- I know you are tired of infographics.
But don’t you kinda wanna do this with data from your own company? It tells its own little story. Plus, it helped us discover Warby Parker, WHICH HAS NANCY DREW GLASSES BY GOD.
Oh yes, their 5 pairs-5 days-100% free try-on policy is pretty nahce too, as long as we’re still living in a society where people still need to wear glass on their faces. (Who wants to do a pool on how long that’ll be the case?)
The medium is the messenger.
Like Auld Lang Syne, you likely don’t know all of the classic Marshall McLuhan quote. WE PROVIDE IT NOW:
“The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology.”
When We Build is worth your time as a deconstruction of that premise, especially if you’re a UX/IA fanboy. OR EVEN IF YOU’RE NOT. If you just think for a living then, check out this deep dive into how user experience from a creation standpoint is being altered daily. Stick with it kids, because former Apple interactive designer Wilson Miner’s quiet delivery takes you places, with some twists to longstanding MM conventions, namely > The medium is now a tool by which designers affect change exponentially. (Via.)
- Btw.
- Skechers pet line.
- The Inflativerse.
- What’s your blues name?
- This is why you shop Walmart.
- North Carolina takes a stab at distracted driving.
- Graf goes green.
- The women of David Lynch films. - And just like that, a new word was born.
Expect to start seeing this in PowerPoint decks in the near future. Thanks, Eliza!
- There are a lot of videos on YouTube
And even more are being uploaded as we speak. If you’ve ever wondered what that all looks like, here’s the YouTube video upload traffic, visualized. From @escalante
Look at Me Now, in MS Paint.
This may be the very best music video ever produced. And it only required MS Paint. Thanks, @alexislamster!
- Stop, pop and play dead.
I love this as much as this. There’s a nice twist here - ouch - in some FINE road safety messaging for the UK’s Think! campaign. (From Lynn Fox, via.)
- Tim Hortons coffee - Now more less for more.
Don’t change the price of your coffee – change the price of your cups. (Via Thought Gadgets.)
The smokey, glittery future of tomorrow’s yesterday!
Enjoy the Data Communication stylings of Muppet’s creator Jim Henson for The Bell System, from 1963. (Via Nerdcore.)
- For egocasters and word-lovers alike!
The American Heritage Dictionary gives us You Are Your Words, a nifty application that enables you to upload a picture, input text (400 character minimum) and see your likeness recreated with your very own words. It’s a deliciously pop and shareable way to portray a notion so intimate: that we are, in effect, the words we hold dear.
Very cool work.
The key to a million Megan Foxes is in your mouth.
How do you get young Brazilians interested in learning other languages? The CCAA language school figured it out: reward and punishment. Knowing somebody’s native tongue opens doors that weren’t there before; and not knowing, well…
- This is what it's like to be rich, in slow motion.
Take a time lapse peek into some of the most stunningly gorgeous homes in the tri-state area that you’ll never own.
(Just kidding, you can be anything you want to, and you’ll definitely be living in one of these someday.)
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Posts
- Jan 25, 12Gus gets Joe Sabia!Play the show now. Subscribe in iTunes.
(Previous episodes.)
This AdVerve 'cast has been waiting so long to get out that we were cup-runneth-over with catch-up riffs! We tear the crap out of bad community management cases and people who interrupt your well-paid public diversion with their cell phones. (Who still uses ringtones?)
There's also mad catch-up on movies we watched between shows. Angela finally saw Biutiful, and Bill reveals which Spanish director he prefers. (It's not Almodovar, bitches.) Also, because you liked it so much the first time, we do another profiles segment! Like shootin' fish in a barrel, you say? We got a fish profile for you. There’s also some crazy scrapbookers and at least one vampire TRUCK DRIVER (all caps).
Linktastic-shmastics:
- Boner BBQ client burn. (Article's in French but the screenies are in English.) Read her Yelp review here.
- Jay-Z and Beyoncé want to explore the final frontier. Also, read about the overview effect.
- The call that stopped the New York Philharmonic. (And another virtuoso eff-you.)
- Alamo Drafthouse angry voicemail.
- 3D Printer for chocolate cupcakes! ...and concrete.
- Giancarlo Esposito talks to Breaking Bad fans on Reddit.
- Gay parents - the best parents?
- Making way for more width on transit.
- Girl transforms herself into Drake. (And transforms Drake into her in our minds forever after.) - Dec 06, 11
We hit all the bases this week, folks -- from Twilight duvet covers to wince-worthy holiday ads to Occupy Wall Street. WE EVEN COVER TWITTER PROFILE TERRORISM! Kicking off with a quick 3 for 3, we roll into the holidays and wrap up with a long and glorious rant about bad Twitter profiles (examples included!). Sorry if you were one. (Not really. We still like you, just take a few exclamation points out of your elevator pitch.)
Play the show now. Subscribe in iTunes.
(Image.)
- Nov 15, 11
Play the show now.
Primal fears will always make great movies, and we hit all the points this ep: our favorite horror flicks and why, the best villains, and an opening tribute to the best villain-slash-hero of them all: Steve Jobs. All that angry action, coupled with Halloween ads, reflections on the ethics of stealing, the mindset of startups, race in costume, and when the world will be ready for an evil unicorn movie.
(Also, whatever happened to movies about sea monsters?)
Our movies of choice:
- The Exorcist
- The Shining
- Silence of the Lambs
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Countess
- I Am Legend
- Juon (English version: The Grudge)
- Paranormal Activity
- The Saw series
- The Friday the 13th series
- 30 Days of Night
- The Lovely Bones
- The Hunger
- The Addiction
Linkaphoria:
- The Method Method
- Apple iPadfomercial
- Joshua Hoffine's horror photography
- Bill's Instagrid
- Angela's Instagrid
- Halloween ads: Axe and Agent Provocateur - Sep 13, 11
Play the show now.
First, an announcement. LADIES AND GENTS, WE GIVE YOU ADVERVEBLOG.COM, a labour of love that incorporates the magic of Make the Logo Bigger, Live & Uncensored and Darryl Ohrt's Brandflakes for Breakfast. (Some math: Bill + Angela + Darryl = BAD. THAT'S DESTINY!)
Here's our launch article. Follow with great enthusiasm and mass. Also, expect more Darryl action on future podcasts.
This episode kicks off on a battle of the films, then drifts fast and loose into TV show territory. Breaking Bad plays a starring role and Angela demonstrates once again that she can work a Buffy reference into any conversation -- in this case, Bill's reflection on the heroization of white male criminals. (Jack the Ripper wiggles his way in somehow, too. Who do you think he was, by the way? This guy or this guy?)
Movies we're dying (not literally though) to see? Red State and This Must Be the Place. WATCH THAT SHIT!
You also find out what stars get us going and -- and! -- what our superpowers are. It's a show-stopper like no other.
Linksophrenia:
- Kevin Smith protests the protesters at his "Red State" Sundance - not mentioned on the show, still worth watching though
- The hyper-awesome OK Cupid blog
- Jetpacks' awesome AdVerve Blog post. Credit also goes to him for our Supergroup comic up top
- Caustic Soda's Jack the Ripper episode
- Dior's new Charlize Theron ad - Aug 29, 11
Play the show now.
Wait, that’s the end of the world, innit. WELL IT’S NOT. We have more AdVervial goodness for you people and that other stuff will just have to wait. Pick a topic because like a pot luck from hell, it’s in here. Movies to watch, commercials to avoid, and politicians to vote for. But wait, there’s more: Other podcasts of note and blog projects to read. Angela dishes on why Egypt is a swell place to visit and why the liraiswas an even sweller currency. But we digress. Which is why you listen.
The Linkage You Need:
- Vintage Palmolive ad: "Most man ask 'is she pretty?', not 'Is she clever?'"
- Mohr Stories
- This Week With Larry Miller
- Big Lebowski
- Sarah Palin’s Grizzly spot
- The 3six5 Project
- The 3six5 Project, Chicago edition
(Image.) - Aug 14, 11
Play the show now.
We breach hot social music solutions: Spotify, GrooveShark, Songify. Then it's a hard turn into licensing and piracy, dipping into the Netflix price hike, the true cost of content (if any) and Kevin Smith's latest (and last) directorial oeuvre (no more Chasing Amy for you). Angela squeezes in helpful facts about advertising to monkeys (sex and celebrity still sell) and lets loose on the unique qualities of ants. Bill wiggles in a vivid reflection on Tarantino and his Inglourious Basterds catharsis. It's an AdVerve ride like no other! Did we mention the hot eyepatch talk?
(Also, don't forget to ping Angela and force her to watch Big Lebowski.)
Link derbyshake:
- “When Advertising to Monkeys, Sex May Sell, Too”
- @WeArePrimates
- Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber (READ THIS SHIT)
- Kevin Smith and Wayne Gretsky
- Kevin Smith and Prince - Jul 11, 11
Play the show now.
Not just because it’s episode 76, but we were supposed to record over the Great American holiday that was the Fourth. Instead, work took over and we’re actually closer to celebrating Bastille Day as co-host Angela prepares to kick it live and uncensored, French style. So what’s new in this one? We actually cover a Wrap Of Cannes and her trip there on behalf of Yahoo! But wait, there’s more: Official French grammar watchdogs - yes they have them - why The Dude wears a bathrobe and why no guy outside of a Big LeBowski convention ever should. You will not believe the places we go. Or maybe you will. Listen you some.
Linky-loompas:
- Paris Syndrome strikes Japanese
- Yahoo Scene's Cannes Coverage
(Image.) - Jul 04, 11
Play the show now.
Aka, another ‘cation’ episode, aka, wherein your two cohorts in ad podcast deviancywaxrant poetic about social media hacks and posers, among other things. It’s been a few shows since we went off on those deserving of our... going off, so why not social freaks? What, you were expecting a cake for our 75th episode? Maybe next time.
(Image.) - Jun 05, 11
Play the show now.
Aka, that big, juicy badge in the sky. It was one mic/two guys as Bill took a roadtrip to Savannah to join one of his co-strategists in crime at BFG. The Frenchman Known As Cyril Guichard (@luxregina) went live and uncensored as we kicked back for a high-rolling adventure on the topic of gameification.* It’s probably a word you're sick of, but he takes us deep into the philosophy of gaming, and why sites that "gameify" – like Foursquare – aren't games, per se (but will need to be).
Want more? We also find a way to pose that age-old question: can social media sites like Twitter really be used to construct the governments of tomorrow? Learn all the nuanced answers to this riddle, and others, this week. WE EVEN TALK 3D. Of course we also take our trademark™ left into fun areas like politics and discuss how Gen My dealt with the end of Osama, if at all.
(Also, learn why you're becoming a symbiant.)
Linkfegnugen:
- Heineken Star Player
- Cyril's blog on Luxgames.net
*Gamification or Gameification. Spell it any way you want, we don’t judge.
(Image.) - May 30, 11Play the show now.
Alongside special guest Ken Wheaton (@kenwheaton), we cover stuff from book publishing and promoting, to the rise and further decline of American airline service, to whether advertising will protect us from the maniacal ambitions of Donald Trump. (Angela tries broaching the topic of The Royal Wedding, but ultimately fails to make it stick.)
There's also a smidge more Southern Comfort for those of you riding Bill’s ongoing fascination with his new homeland.
Linksomania:
- Ken Wheaton’s blog
- Ken's Book, The First Annual Grand Prairie Rabbit Festival - get it before Amazon runs out!
- Advertising May Be the Thing that Saves Us from Donald Trump
- TINY MINY MINUTE SUITES
(Image.) - May 20, 11To distract you, we give you electro.
It's been a few weeks since we've published a 'cast, and no, it's not because we've decided to screw all of you and call it quits. The honest-to-goodness goes something like this:- Managing the six-hour time difference thing is tough, especially now that your two hosts with the mosts have full-time agency jobs. When Bill finally leaves work, Angela's like, oh hell no, I am not conscious.
- Bill's family has just moved in! Yay! That means big transitions.
- Did we mention our jobs? Wow, agencies just eat you. They just eat all of you.
We love you guys, and we'll be back on air soon. Promise. For the time being, chill out and listen to Swingset Committee. - Apr 24, 11
Play the show now.
Michael McSunas (@adlawguy) of law firm CBS – the guy we'll call if things go awry – joins us to give perspective from the legal point of view. We cover everything from incest gameshows (they exist! ...don’t they?) to legal precedent in cases involving both source protection and blogger disclosure. Sprinkled in is an uncomfortable discourse about death and whether your online "assets" count as property; if so, who do they go to?
For those following Bill's southern evolution, Mike tosses in a swashbuckling funeral tale. And in case you were wondering how any of this comes together, Angela manages to string it all along with everything she learned at MIPTV, that scary place in Cannes where TV networks sell each other what they'll be selling you, all year long. (And if you're in Japan, yes, you may just get an incest game show.) It’s techno mind tricks & legalese and it’s not for the faint of heart.
Linksopolis:
- Official trailer for Tiffany Shlain's "Connected: An Autoblogography about Life, Death and Technology." Her keynote talk here.
- Piracy: a path to innovation? Matt Mason's full 30-minute talk at MIPTV.
- Cmp.ly: the new short-linky way of disclosing.
- Baroness Greenfield talks about how the brain is changing as a function of technology use. - Apr 11, 11*
Play the show now.
Where we get AT&T’s Director of Social Media Chris Baccus to join us for among other things, gas station taco talk, organic food, and why Detroit does deserve a second chance. So yeah, pretty much what you’d expect from a guy who works for a telecom. It is nothing short of pure aural delight the likes of which you haven’t heard... since the last episode. Yes, we even get him to work in an f-bomb and as we also discuss the general online disdain for mobile carriers.
Linkage:
- Chris on Twitter
- His Auto Marketing blog.
- Him on Dallas Food Nerd.
- The brilliantly named GAS STATION TACOS.
- Barfblog.com
*OF COURSE ADVERVE & CHRIS DO NOT SUPPORT DRIVING AND TALKING ON CELL PHONE TOUCHTRONIC DEVICES.
(Image.) - Mar 28, 11
Play the show now.
We run a solid flowing gamut from customer service on Twitter to what travel's lost post-9/11. We throw back to Vinny Warren a little, ruminate on the pros and cons of unexpected fame (is it ever unexpected?), and where the New York Times went horribly, horribly wrong with its payment wall.
Angela also rants heavy on the merits of Monocle, the little print publication that could - and could so, so good.
Linksomania:
- Edward Boches buys a shirt on Twitter
- @NordstromDave
- How Sharpie uses social media
- Monocle (read this shit!)
- Werner NCAA ladder fun
- BusinessWeek's profile on Monocle founder Tyler Brûlé
- Beer for textbooks
- AdVerve episode featuring Vinny Warren, the man behind the Wheat Thins
- @Chrismacho
- Bandwagon likeness
- Sheex - the bedsheets for the active bedtime man - Mar 21, 11
Play the show now.
We hit you with some old-school 5 for 5, running the gamut from natural disasters to sports marketing. Bill also wilds out on pet rights, and the whole thing basically devolves into a rumination on horror cinema. Vampires and zombies manifest heavily as usual, but no opportunities for a Twilight or Buffy joke are taken. (This means we’re maturing.)
Hell, there's even a little tangent on hot music streaming sites! We hope we lead you to something magic for your ears.
Super Linkamaroo:
- Supermoon (& on Flickr)
- Samsung Galaxy microchip art
- Grooveshark
- Soundcloud
- Hypemachine
- Daytrotter
- The Hood Internet
- Mad Decent
- Some Kind of Awesome
- Said The Gramophone
- RCRD LBL
- Super Mario live action
- FPS Mario
- “Undeveloped”
- DDB Blog featuring Angela's singularity manifesto
- BFG Comm Blog
- Bandwagon - Mar 14, 11
Play the show now.
It’s located somewhere between Utopia and SxSW. What are we on about this week? Things like... how pop culture is subtly changing as a result of technology, and even how changing technology has affected not only cartoon culture, but advertising and what we're being taught about human behaviour in entertainment. Take the animational revolution known as Pixar, which changed children's entertainment with Toy Story and as a result, entertainment itself. Cartoon life is now more intelligent than it ever was with complex values Buzz light years of your dad’s Acme anvil. The Incredibles, Megamind, Despicable Me and Up are cartoons that tell you that being a hero or villain means being fallible.
Of course at the other end of that spectrum, we also talk Jersey Shore.
Linkage:
- Chrysler tweet.
- FedEx tweet.
- Always remember: Cross at the green, and Aladdin before Toy Story.
- Speaking of: The Pixar Story doc.
- Sapient Nitro vending.
(Pic.) - Mar 09, 11
Play the show now.
Did we go off on a thematically classic – for us anyway – stream of consciousness sojourn? Bet. Our love for Franco-American political discourse was matched only by our love for Franco-American recycling schedules. We then became winners as we discussed the fall and further fall of Charlie Sheen, replete with fond tales of rehab glory. How else to complete this trifecta of gray matter than with a look at the Oscars. THIS SHOW HAS IT ALL... AND NOW YOU DO TOO.
Also, quick note: when Angela talks about "redistribution," she's referring to redistricting. >_Linkage:
- The book with no name shall be named: Strauss and Howe’s The Fourth Turning.
- Where winners live. - Mar 04, 11
Play the show now.
Dear friend and fellow podcaster Bob Knorpp of the notorious BeanCast (@TheBeanCast) joins us to get intimate about relationships in advertising:- How your personal life gets affected by your strange work, weird hours and random traveling
- How love can bloom in the damnedest ways
- How a combination of loneliness and drinking can make even the most stalwart ad soldier a slobbering mess of hold-me-closies
- How intimacy can bloom in many awesome, dangerous or dangerously awesome forms. We talk Father Figure Complex!
- Prioritising personal + professional time
- NEPOTISM <-- this is Bill's favourite
The whole thing wraps nahcely with our homegrown takeaway relationships-in-advertising advice. And there’s a few stories in there that as usual will probably get us all into trouble. We live dangerously in these here internets. - Feb 21, 11
Play the show now.
You've done it. And if you haven’t, God be with you because you’re gonna have to.
Bill and Angela do the straight talk on their experiences getting work in this business, specifically from the perspective of social media or those who claim to “do it all” in an environment where that's exactly what people seem to be wanting, but what nobody quite wants to hire. (Polyvalence is a bitch!)
In a shell of nut, we cover:
1) The Job hunt itself
2) What agencies are still getting wrong
3) Freelance vs. Staff (Pros/cons, etc.)
As a bonus yum-yum, we answer a question from listener/homie Chris Havranek:How do you explain the disconnect between memorable ads for "normal people" and ad folks? For example, people like my mom don't always recognize the Old Spice ads, but they’re quick to mention the Doritos ad—an ad that was slammed by most critics—in this last Superbowl.
Also, we explain the show’s sporadic airtime (in case you ever wondered. But if you didn’t, ’sall good, go about your business). - Feb 06, 11Egyptians hold shoes up high following Mubarak's speech on February 1. Showing the sole of your shoe is "a grave insult in Arab Muslim countries," sayeth MSNBC. Weird, no Kenneth Coles in sight.The revolution will be retweeted.* We’ve brought you a very special show this week. Renegade freedom blogger Mahmoud Salem (on Twitter as @sandmonkey), takes a good hour out of his revolution schedule to give us the skinny on what’s going on in Egypt (which is here, not here).Salem was thrown into prison last Thursday for carrying medical equipment to injured protesters at Tahrir Square in Egypt. That same morning, he'd published this incendiary piece of blogging magic, and his blog was consequently shut down most of that day. After a hefty beating and the destruction of his goods (including his car), he was released when the police failed to put two and two together identity-wise.As he says in the interview, “Every generation has a moment.” To that point, we dive deep, past Elliot Spitzer’s CNN segment on him to where this all started.
The skinny on the other things we covered:- An overview of what's happening in Egypt now (here's the latest, with decryption, as of Saturday)
- Social media's role in igniting the people (you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll Poke with pride)
- How people who are social by nature manipulate technology to meet ends unintended by authorities or enterprises
- How the internet becomes your outlet
- The regime’s “attack enemy communications” philosophy - and how that all went horribly wrong for them
- Communications between the people versus from the media, the regime and overseas
- Why a seething Egyptian secularist youth movement needs batteries (hint: it involves Dance Dance Revolution!)
- How Egyptians feel about ElBaradei (@Elbaradei) ... here's a glimpse
- What happens next? ...and at least one winning solution
- Why the Danish education system rocks better than yours, ours and everybody’s
...and that’s just the hot tip of the torch.More linkage:- Angela's manifesto on Egypt, technology and why this is our fight---
*Also, the revolution won’t be Skyped unless they get their act together and provide a more stable platform. ’Twas not the best of times in connecting with Mahmoud, as we have tried to minimize the drops in the conversation for you. - Jan 31, 11No answers yet to why this is not our reality. Or yours.
Play the show now.
Dave Wilkie of Where's My Jetpack? (@jetpacks) and Radio Free Babylon joins us for some good-natured ad blogger fun. And there's a lot of that to be had in this king-sized episode. We cover your questions, Old Spice Guy redux, revolution in Egypt, Taco Bell’s iffy meat situation, sexy robots ... and, hell, for the very last time, why we still don't have an even distribution of jetpacks in the world. (There may be in Japan. Can somebody check?)
We even squeeze in an outright Social Media State of the Union, as it were. (And yes, we know it’s the GEICO gecko, not lizard. Listen to see what THAT means.)
Linky do-dahs:
- The Community Maturity Model - the chart to which Angela refers when she talks about how corporations can benchmark where they are in terms of openness and how far they have to go.
- Old Spice Guy is back! Let's slip into his milky brown eyes together.
- Gitanes, the cigarettes of patriots. (French ones.)
- Don Marquis' Archy & Mehitabel. - Jan 24, 11
Play the show now.
We whip out an old standard: Five for Five, which takes us from life with two suns to Starbucks' fun-packed new iced drink size, Trenta (a whopping 16 ml bigger than the average capacity of the adult human stomach! Although nowhere near maximum capacity as this handy illustration shows).
Somewhere in there we manage to make (too much) time for bestselling author Snookie and her homies on The Jersey Shore. Is there hope for mankind? Ask again in 2012. If we're slathering on the sunblock at 10:30 PM, then the answer is no.
Clarification: On the show, Angela is uncertain whether it's melanin or melatonin that controls human sleeping and waking cycles. It is melatonin. Melanin is for skin and hair colour. (Albinos, for example, generally have none.)
Tinky-linkies:
- Will the Earth have two suns by 2012?
- True Grit (which Bill needs you to see on pain of death).
- Snookie joins ranks of Hemingway and Salinger (and she loves us all!) and parties.
- Wikileaks’ journalistic partners in crime.
- Trouble sleeping? Cue up Insomnia, One Hour Photo or The Fisher King.
- Starbucks’ Trentas Gigantus. - Jan 17, 11But will it protect them from pop-ups? Via.
Play the show now.
Theoretical artist Ben Kunz (@benkunz) of Thought Gadgets and Media Associates kicks off the year with us in a conversation about what the cool kids are after: Quora, curation, and a bigger TV in the basement.....?
We also squeeze in some ruminations on the future of the postal service, Netflix and Ben's suspect affinity to the youngest son of the 12 sons of Abraham. Trust us though, it all comes 360° and wraps nice-and-tidy into the title which drew you hither: users manifesting a profound subconscious need for a communications condom.
IF YOU MISS IT WE CAN'T PROTECT YOU.
*Note: On the story Bill recounts of Caron Butler's Mountain Dew addiction, we claimed he drank nine liters of the fizzy green juice a day. It was actually two liters (which is still a lot of Dew, but not as much as nine, which could probably kill you).
Linkporium:
- Borders vs Barnes & Nobles vs Amazon
- Consumer study on vehicle brand value
- Caron Butler's Mountain Dew addiction
- Whitney Tilson: Why We're Short Netflix
- Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Responds to Whitney Tilson
- The official sitch on the US Postal Service - Jan 06, 11
Play the show now.
Aka, our Holiday Bonanza ’Stravaganza. Wrappin’ up the year like no other. (Not really. For a proper year-end wrapup, GET YOU SOME BEANCAST! Bob's two-hour special features John Wall, Ken Wheaton and US TRULY.)
We do a quick run-through of holiday likes and gripes, including agency cards, holiday traditions, films, ads and music. There's also a brief but beefy manifesto on why we hate flashmobs more than anything else made by man. It's a lot, so we stretch it out to 45 whole minutes. (Dig 45 minutes better than 30? We're kinda likin' it, but tell us what YOU think.)
Also, Bill goes off on a tear about hateables on Twitter. It's a riot times 10, and all the better for sending you off on your way toward 2011.
Link sausages:
- Stupid Dell XPS laptop flashmob in apathetic café setting.
- Burberry's bohemian holiday folk track.
- Modea's Buzzword Bingo.
- Help Luckie decide where to give.
- Have a half-assed crowdsourced Ducati Christmas.
- BONUS: A Christmas Story gangsta remix.
- BONUS: Chinese dude claims having sexual tryst with alien. (In French, but Google Translate that bad-boy.)
Image credit: Culturemob, for A Christmas Story: the Musical. - Dec 23, 10
Play the show now.
Guillaume Decugis (@gdecugis) of Scoop.it joins us to talk about the curation age, what makes the HuffPo model “special,” protecting journalists while serving users’ desire to share, and Silicon Valley versus the French tech scene. (Email us for a Scoop.it invite: advervepodcast [at] gmail [dot] com.)
That’s a lot to cover in3025 minutes. Hold onto your hats, cowpokes.
(Image.)
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Posts
- Jan 25, 12You can follow it here if you're into that kind of thing. Or you can stay right here, because I'll go on updating this for, I don't know, other stuff.
- Jan 25, 12
Thanks, Klout, for keeping me abreast of all the previously-unimagined ways I can expand my sphere of Influence™. - Jan 20, 12
Let's go back to the way things were. Let's go back to when nobody complained, nobody could produce their own entertainment and nobody could appropriate your slogan, logo or message to reveal an intent different from the one your PR firm so painstakingly produced. Let's go back to a time before Rick-Rolling and a world in which Edward Khil was rediscovered in the magic of trololo.
Let's go back to suing kids and shutting down online enterprises, no matter where they're based, because they cause the MPAA harm -- the same MPAA whose leaders are systematically chosen for their high political connections. Let's go back to the Top 20 playlist defining our tastes.
Wasn't it better then?
"In the end, the real threat to PIPA and SOPA is our ability to share things with one another," Shirky says in the video above.
These laws place the burden of proof for demonstrating goodwill toward copyright holders onto us. Us. That's mashup makers. That's your kids, fooling around on their new computers and doing what they think is a creative sendup of their favourite cartoon. That's you embedding "Every cigarette smoked in 'Mad Men'" onto your blog. - Jan 20, 12
Publicité pour les Gateaux Bamboula par odilederey
One of the toughest things about getting along in a new country is trying to grasp the cultural references: that campy movie everyone's seen, the candy kids ate in the '80s, or the ads and the brands, whose context, though long forgotten, have become part of modern culture's quilt.
Today on Facebook, Osmany Barbosa shared this little spot for Bamboula cakes. It isn't a brand that exists anymore, but the biscuits were evidently so good that there are recipes seeking to replicate them across the French 'net. The ad's got a clear aesthetic that you can easily tie back to the '80s, but it also speaks to France's own colonialist history and efforts to come to grips with racism. Bamboula wasn't the only brand that reflected this struggle; Banania, which still exists today, is still the source of great argument about whether or not its logo and slogan had clear colonialist slants.
From there you can easily take the leap into our own advertising history. Uncle Ben's Rice and Mrs. Butterworth's have both been criticized for depicting African-Americans in a domestic service role, although that has largely changed (depending on who you ask). - Jan 20, 12Stargate's early take on grey goo. Greygoogreygoogreygoo.
My favourite quote from the internet today:The term grey goo was coined by nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation, stating that "we cannot afford certain types of accidents." In 2004 he stated "I wish I had never used the term 'grey goo'. Le sigh.*"
It's okay, Eric, I don't mind "grey goo." It sparks curiosity and curiosity sparks Google searches, which can lead to wondrous learning experiences followed by a love of science and speculative technology. (And as probably only five people in the world watched The Stuff, you don't even have to worry about inviting the comparison.)
In other news, this wikipedia article about grey goo makes me miss Stargate SG-1. Remember that crazy little sad girl who made the Replicators? The mere thought of them still gives me the chills!
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*"Le sigh" part added by me. But I could tell he wanted to. - Jan 12, 12
Him: ...so R said he saw you on the street the other day. He said he thinks you got skinnier.
Me: Good skinny or bad skinny?
Him: ...what?
Me: Like, "wow, she got skinny" or "my God, she's so skinny"?
Him: I don't know. I didn't ask. Do you think you lost weight?
Me: Why didn't you ask clarifying questions? What did he mean?
Him: I don't know! I don't think it was good or bad. His tone was just neutral. Like me, speaking now.
Me: THERE IS NO NEUTRAL.
Him: Should I ask...?
Me: No! It's too late.
Image: mugley. - Jan 03, 12
In the case of soap, he found that bathing was a ritual that afforded rare moments of personal indulgence, particularly before a romantic date (“You never can tell,” explained one woman). He discerned an erotic element to bathing, observing that “one of the few occasions when the puritanical American [is] allowed to caress himself or herself [is] while applying soap.” As for why customers picked a particular brand, Dichter concluded that it wasn’t exactly the smell or price or look or feel of the soap, but all that and something else besides—that is, the gestalt or “personality” of the soap.
This was a big idea. Dichter understood that every product has an image, even a “soul”, and is bought not merely for the purpose it serves but for the values it seems to embody. Our possessions are extensions of our own personalities, which serve as a “kind of mirror which reflects our own image”.
- Jan 02, 12
Israeli company Lumus has produced a pair of futuristic but otherwise totally wearable glasses that enable you to interact with the world via AR. They also display 1280 x 720 HD video -- also 3D-capable -- without anyone able to see what you're watching.
How they work:Light pumps in the earpieces send and refract light down the lens. This moves the electronics away from the eyes, offering a lighter, more streamlined experience. The lenses are transparent and display an apparent 87-inch screen about ten feet away. Because each eye display works independently, you can also view 3D video.
"But wait!" you say. "Why not contact lenses? Aren't those sexier and infinitely more discreet?"
Don't worry, those are coming. - Dec 24, 11
- Dec 19, 11
In April I wrote an article on how mind control technologies are worth keeping an eye on because they fall in line with how technology must become more intimate and less visually invasive. At Le Web, CEO Ariel Garten of Interaxon summed this up nicely and provided a roadmap to where "thought computing" is headed (included at the bottom of this article).
Thought computing is the process of eliciting responses with the power of your mind. It's still in its early stages, in the sense that the hardware can't yet detect words or specific commands, but basic interactions are now possible. We can also play with their possibilities via providers of low-cost headsets, like eMotiv.
These headsets work "by reading the electrical signals on our heads," Garten explained. "When you think, or engage in anything mental, your brainwaves change."
Among other things, Interaxon experiments with producing musical interactions and even levitation (example: as your alpha waves rise, so does a chair that's wired to respond to your brain signals). It also built a thought-controlled computing installation at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
"Once you have a system with a human and a computer in the loop, the computer starts to know something about you. And you can participate in the experience together … you can be inside the experience and it'll respond to you," said Garten.
She used Loic Le Meur's wife, Géraldine Le Meur, to give us a live demonstration. By projecting a screen reading signals from a small headset attached to Géraldine's head, she showed us how the signals changed when Géraldine did small things, like blink.
"These responses can be plugged into games," Garten said, and the screen changed to reflect an ambient game setting, which changed in small ways when Géraldine sent subtle signals into the system. She blinked, the clouds moved; she grinded her jaw, and a boat rocked.
Games like Zen Bound 2 are taking these capacities to another level. This iPhone/iPad game tracks your level of focus and meditation with a small, ever-changing ticker on the side of the screen. The more you focus, the faster an object of your choice rotates, for example.
In practical terms, this technology can help us do things like chart unwanted symptoms (like chronic fatigue) or alleviate stress. You can begin understanding how to be in an optimal state, how to avoid being chronically exhausted.
"We can begin to see the underlying narratives that propel us forward," said Garten, who explained that tracking when you're more focused, and less focused, helps you optimise your work and play time.
The Zeo Sleep Trainer, for example, tracks your brain waves while you sleep. You can review its data later to make educated choices about improving your sleep quality.
There are also huge implications for helping children with ADHD: showing them what happens in their own minds can empower them to optimize their abilities to focus -- without Ritalin. They can be encouraged to access and manipulate these states in a gaming environment.
Garten wrapped by providing a roadmap for how thought computing technology will evolve.
ROADMAP FOR THOUGHT COMPUTING TECHNOLOGY- Development of monitoring and performance tools
- Sharing and communication tools. Once critical mass hits, functionalities that enable sharing, emotional tagging, dating, and parental monitoring will develop.
- Responsive technology. Once mainstream, this technology will be as ubiquitous as smartphones are today. Your home, sensing you're cranky or stressed upon walking in, will be able to adjust the environment to relax you.
- Dec 16, 11
Last week at Le Web, I got to hear Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides talk about the commercialisation of space travel. Here's an interview I did with him, followed by video of his talk.
Among other things, we discuss where the program is now, its potential for facilitating sustainable development on Earth, and product partnership opportunities. Dig in!
Talk a little bit about where the Virgin Galactic program is now.
We are deep into the test flight program now, which is an exciting place to be. We expect to integrate the rocket motor in 2012 and plan to get to space during the year. We’ve taken deposits from 475 amazing individuals. The spaceport in southern New Mexico is getting close to completion, and the Spaceship Company – a joint venture with Scaled Composites – has begun building additional vehicles.
You spoke at length about the importance of dreaming, and indeed Virgin Galactic speaks to many people's dreams of space travel. Still, it's an ambitious effort that demands significant investment and a certain level of technological rigor before it can even expect to begin making money. How does Virgin strike a balance between dreams -- like that of visiting space -- and long-term business sense?
As with any Virgin venture, a rigorous business plan has been developed, and we are very encouraged by the underlying economics of the suborbital space launch market. What is exciting about Galactic is that we are creating a fundamentally new service while building a great business.
Virgin's said before that the commercialisation of space can facilitate development in sustainable efforts, like the beaming of natural energy to earth via satellite. Can you talk a little bit about that?
What is clear is that more frequent and lower cost access to space will enable a range of services and research activities of benefit to humanity. These may include revolutionary environmental monitoring systems, to systems that are much more in the future, like beamed energy from space. While it is hard to predict with absolute certainty which of these will be developed on what timescale, it is clear that there will be enormous benefits to life on earth.
What are your personal ambitions for Virgin Galactic?
Our team is unified in our ambition to create the world’s first spaceline. That means taking thousands of people into space over the coming years, as well as enabling breakthrough science by researchers. Someday we may be able to develop a point-to-point vehicle that would revolutionize the speed of transport around the planet, but for now we are focused on the first goal of safe and successful suborbital spaceflight.
Virgin Airlines has partnerships with companies that speak to Virgin's values -- like Method Home, whose products are used in airline bathrooms. Is this something you think about at all -- what kind of product or service partnerships to conduct to enrich the space experience? If so, what are you looking at?
This is an area that we are starting to spend real effort thinking about, and I think we’ll have some exciting announcements between now and the launch of commercial service.
Thanks for your time!
Absolutely!
Whitesides at Le Web: - Dec 16, 11
In high school, the books fell apart in my hands. Most of our instructional videos were probably made in the '70s -- with the possible exception of the drivers ed program, which profits from frequent updates of the unintentionally hilarious "Red Asphalt" series.
Anywho, YouTube is launching YouTube for Schools, an education program that'll avail access to safe video content for schools. Content providers include Stanford, PBS and TED.
Given the dearth of funding in our public school system, programs like this can be hugely beneficial for teachers hard-up for content.
Another great liberated education experiment is Stanford's online course program, which enables you to follow some of their best courses online. It's free, requires that you do the homework, and enables you to ask professors questions on Google Hangouts. If you pass the class, you get a badge à la Foursquare. I've registered for three starting next year.
None of these efforts are going to change the state of our education system overnight, but they're positive, enterprising steps in the right direction. As for easier access to updated books -- that's in the bag, the 'net and tablets are making quick work of that problem. - Dec 08, 11
Photo: TechCrunch EU
Karl Lagerfeld opened Le Web yesterday morning, in part to announce the launch of a new online fashion brand, Karl, which he's producing in partnership with founder Natalie Massenet of Net-A-Porter. It goes live in January.
According to Massenet, the collection will be about "accessibility". I gathered this referred to it being online (free of geographical limitations) and more cost-feasible for shoppers. (I wouldn't expect Isaac Mizrahi for Target prices though.) This is a nice manifestation of something Lagerfeld said about social networks just prior: being over-connected doesn't make you well-connected.
This is easy to forget when you consider how "accessible" everyone is today. But Lagerfeld is playing with the ways in which technology can draw global crowds, ignite creativity and facilitate work.
While paper remains his favourite creative tool, many of his designs are now produced on drawing apps for iPad. He demonstrated by using his iPad to sketch a portrait of Steve Jobs onstage:
The conversation didn't go into much detail about the impact of design on usability, or how today's simple and elegant interface aesthetics speak to how function informs timelessness. Some even wondered why Lagerfeld was there at all.
"He's the #1 design expert in the world right now," observed venture capitalist Michael Jackson at a cocktail party later that night. "Entrepreneurs should be soaking in everything he says. What Karl Lagerfeld understands is that fashion is the ultimate user experience."
- Dec 07, 11"It's important to remember that technology is just us. It's not this separate thing."
Tiffany Shlain gives an emotionally rich talk here about how connections are worth little unless they're deep, and deep connections require attention -- something we lose if we don't harness the technology in our lives. She wraps with her four-minute "Declaration of Interdependence", which I quite liked.
In April I was lucky enough to liveblog Shlain's keynote for MIPCOM, preceding a screening of her film Connected: An 'autoblogography' about Love, Death & Technology. I love her way of weaving seemingly-unrelated topics together and infusing them with (sometimes overwhelming) feeling. She also invests technology with an importance, and an optimism, rarely experienced -- even while admitting that her family takes a tech break one day a week. - Dec 05, 11
Nimble's produced this thought-worthy video on how augmented reality can be used to help people better navigate their way around libraries. It posits hypothetical solutions for finding books (even -- or ideally -- when the book you want is on a table somewhere), digitally interacting with what you're reading on paper, and sharing knowledge via social networks.
Sures Kumar, who built the concept and experience prototype, explains it thus:
Nimble shows what a mixed touch, digital, projection, and book-based library might look like. This is relevant because people still like the tactile feel of books and other printed media and they also like to browse.
It isn't immediately obvious to me how digital technology will be able to recognise and readily communicate with non-connected objects like books and newspapers, but I like the vision behind it: there will always be room for tactile objects, and we'll move between those and our digital "objects" with fluency. This also does a nice job of illustrating how important augmented spaces will be in the near future, as everyday and digital experiences build intimacy with one another.
Take the example of the new touchscreen-saturated Sephora store in New York. This screams "we're investing in experience", but I still think the integration is clumsy, simply because the screens themselves are so obvious.
What's cool about the Nimble video is its vision that interactive screens won't be obvious. In the next five years we will just expect banal everyday things to be able to engage us on an animate level, much like how, today, we increasingly expect to walk into a public space and have wifi.
(Via.)
- Dec 05, 11
Love this article on how theatre venues, including the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Raleigh's Carolina Ballet and Ohio's Dayton Opera, are beginning to incorporate seating for people dead-set on "livetweeting" highbrow cultural events. As PSFK mentions, this is a great way to introduce young, spendy techies to classical music, the opera and ballet. The only caveat: why stack them all in the back?
I'd pack these guys into boxed seats or give them front-row space, maybe at a relative distance from the audience, to ensure they get a stellar experience. That's how you properly earn your earned media.
Flash photography is a problem at these events, which is one reason why sites like Carnegie Hall or the Kennedy Center demand that patrons switch phones off (in addition to accidental ringing). Solution: make like the tech conferences and avail high-quality photos to people who have registered to the events as tweeters or bloggers.
- Dec 06, 11
...why advertising?
A few days ago Jeff Kwiatek sent me this screenshot of a conversation that took place on Twitter between Mark Wnek and Edward Boches. It's interesting because it poses, aloud, a question people must ask in their heads all the time:
Why write about advertising? Even if we all agree that advertising can serve noble purposes, or at the very least has a great responsibility in its ability to influence, why write about it?
A few years ago, holed up in Ithaca and pushing out 16, sometimes 20 articles a day for two ad and marketing publications, I shot up out of bed and had a horrible realisation: I've given my life to a banality, something that really doesn't matter to anybody -- something most people claim to hate.
I spent a few days freaked out and feeling demotivated. Then I realised something important: your time isn't wasted when it's put in the service of something you care about.
So why care about ads? Because they're with us all the time. They are so present in nearly every moment of our lives that we forget their impact, often convincing ourselves that, because many are ineffective, invasive, and poorly produced, the entire metier is invasive, ineffective and poverty-ridden.
This isn't true. We wed ourselves to brands, see ourselves in the things we purchase because they become personal objects that we invest time and care in. We give them as gifts, wear them on our bodies, use them to facilitate our lives. It makes sense to want them to reflect some quality we have, or aspire to have, from the get-go.
Advertising helps us make quick decisions -- and when I say "advertising" I'm not just talking about ads. I'm talking about packaging, the treatment of customers, referrals from friends, YouTube how-tos and product reviews. We can't give a significant portion of our lives to due diligence on the chemical contents or product development of a deodorant or shampoo. We need semantic shortcuts, but we also need to feel like we're making choices for the right reasons (be they status, environmental goodwill, a kickback to a charity). A brand we trust, a brand we feel we know and that respects us, helps make otherwise-paralysing choices easier.
Being that brand -- one who conveys a message properly, consistently and with verve! on an ever-diversifying landscape of media channels -- is getting harder. Being the agency helping it along is also hard, because agencies are facing their own crises: the coming freefall of TV ad prices (the bread and butter of so many!), and the need for ambidextrous minds who can be both creative, socially strategic and highly technical, to name just two.
So communications is undergoing an evolution -- a huge renegotiation of space that is anthropologically fascinating to watch and to try to help along. But as Wnek observed, if you're going to write, why not "expose corruption and injustice"?
"There are plenty of people writing about corruption and justice, too," Boches replied.
Simply put: we have the joy and luxury of being able to choose what to give our lives to. I think we all martyr ourselves this way, even while extracting great pleasure from our work, so it's important to choose wisely. You can make the argument that certain ways of serving people are more noble than others, but in the end we are at our most productive when we choose a service that impassions us, obsesses us, makes us feel alive and awake.
(Also, feeling this way about your work makes you more likely to do awesome and inventive shit.)
I have a lot of admiration for journalists that expose corruption and wrongdoing, or unearth beauty and innovation hidden in unexpected places. They maintain a yardstick of accountability whose limitations are constantly being pushed. But there's plenty of that to be done in communications, too. That cause also needs its devotees, unearthers of innovation, and scribes: the bench markers, best practice-sharers, pundits, critics, whistleblowers, sociologists -- the people setting down a painstaking history of what has happened, is happening and will happen soon.
This matters because as the world grows smaller and people become more dynamic, we'll need our semantic shortcuts more than ever. So the work and scrutiny behind all those shortcuts -- those brands who compose our quotidian constellations -- must be rigorous and dedicated.
I'm proud to be part of this, even if the big fights consist of constant small battles and will take years to iron out ... and even if I spend most of the day writing about car commercials. Sometimes you come across stuff like this ... and lo, all is well. - Nov 23, 11
- Nov 22, 11Please don't ask me where I found this. But isn't it amazing?
The older I get, the more stereotypically psychotic I become during my period. I didn't used to be this way. I used to be relatively normal and to pride myself on that anomalous sense of control. But last night, feeling that familiar pressure rise up in the general location of my ovaries, I was inconsolable, dragging my feet and slamming into walls and falling onto my bed in abject despair.
I also ate all the candies.
This is a trend that worries me. Every time it happens, I can't help but wonder if it's time doing its work, or if I'm behaving this way because of what TV taught me to do.* It is hard to know. I wish I had a team of scientists.
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*I also wondered this the first time I got drunk. - Nov 18, 11
Look how useful and not pointless it is! Look how good it makes people feel, how it provides value (giving to the less fortunate) while compounding that with a captivating experience (animation)! I even almost forgot this was eBay.
We should be thinking more about intuitive integrations between the real world and digital. And, because you can't say that kind of thing without an associated buzzword, industry people are calling this golden solution "SoLoMo" -- a contraction of social, local and mobile. This combo has great natural implications for tourism and hospitality, but also consider how intuitive executions can change our everyday experiences, too.
Like this eBay thing. This time of year, everyone's susceptible to holiday altruism and the spreading of cheer, qualities which extend themselves nicely to social sharing. Make it as easy as possible for users to cash in on emotional investments they're already looking to make, all day long as they traverse those chilly streets, clutching their peppermint lattés and passing fleeting smiles of hope at small children and the grizzled homeless.
Viiiiiiiia. - Nov 22, 11
Benetton loves itself some shock value, a superpower generally used for good but often too provocative for comfort. Its latest went live in Paris this morning under the campaign name "Unhate."
The film, which includes protesters against cops and hijabis in Sapphic passion, seizes eyeballs in its own right, but the print work will cause the real heat.
Each features two prominent world leaders mid-smooch: above, you'll find President Obama giving one to Hu Jintao of China. It appeared on the Piazza Duomo in front of the cathedral of Milan.
This one showed up on the Sant'Angelo bridge in Rome. It depicts Pope Benedict XVI cosy-facing Cairo's Imam Ahmed el Tayyeb.
Lastly, witness a kiss of dreams between Palestine and Israel:
Banners guide people to the Unhate Foundation website, where you'll also find a Kiss Wall. Upload kisses of your own to bring the controversial fun closer to home.
See? This is the kind of thing that could use a Facebook app. Otherwise, winning work by 72andSunny Amsterdam; photos courtesy of Claudio Gagliardini and SuchaBlog. - Nov 15, 11
Okay. You know how perfume and car ads are predictable, banal and basically always objectively suck? Beer ads have this magic way of being the opposite. Think Stella, think Heineken -- hell, think Budweiser for every last Super Bowl as far back as you can remember. What is it about the beer sector that takes a possibility and just stretches it beyond imaginable elasticity...? I have cream dreams about doing beer. (The ads. Not, like ... bottles.)
I'm late to the game in discovering "The Date" (Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam -- of course!), and probably wouldn't ever have seen it if I wasn't doing Epica Awards judging this year, but it has this fancy-free Shangri-La magic that makes you want to go back to the '70s and dance on a table or something.
The making-of is jam-packed with the same playful irony for double the time: - Nov 15, 11
Here's the requisite bittersweet holiday-countdown ad that yields inhuman cravings for tinsel and an advent calendar. (I have one already. It is sitting on the shelf and I twitch every time I look at it, because if you forget to start opening the little paper doors right on December 1, ALL IS LOST AND GOD HATES YOU.)
Anyway, this piece for UK-based John Lewis department store (now online and on mobile!) takes its sweet time building a nostalgic universe around an antsy boy in the days before Christmas. We can all relate to his impatience, even if his reasons turn out to be warmly opposite our expectations.
The ad is pensively punctuated by a delicate cover of The Smiths' "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" by Slow Moving Millie. Catch the making-of, plus a link to download the music on iTunes, on the John Lewis website.
This cosy fireside holiday ham is brought to you by Adam & Eve. - Nov 14, 11
Download the show now. Or subscribe through iTunes.
Better late than ever! Primal fears will always make great movies, and we hit all the points this ep: our favorite horror flicks and why, the best villains, and an opening tribute to the best villain-slash-hero of them all: Steve Jobs. All that angry action, coupled with Halloween ads, reflections on the ethics of stealing, the mindset of startups, race in costume, and when the world will be ready for an evil unicorn movie. (Also, whatever happened to movies about sea monsters?)
Our movies of choice:
- The Exorcist
- The Shining
- Silence of the Lambs
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- The Countess
- I Am Legend
- Juon (English version: The Grudge)
- Paranormal Activity
- The Saw series
- The Friday the 13th series
- 30 Days of Night
- The Lovely Bones
- The Hunger
- The Addiction
Linkaphoria:
- The Method Method
- Apple iPadfomercial
- Joshua Hoffine's horror photography
- Bill's Instagrid
- Angela's Instagrid
- Halloween ads: Axe and Agent Provocateur - Nov 10, 11
Not all digital ads are a flickering Technicolor ego-vomit. Amnesty International's slide-to-unlock "Prison Bars" effort doesn't just provoke, it's also elegantly done and message-relevant. Work by Garbergs Sweden.
Hat-tip, So Particular.
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Posts
- WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU ARE IN A BAD MOOD?
I guess the fact that you ask questions so we’ll feel better about nobody asking questions, TumblrBot.
Today I “Karlified” myself to celebrate the launch of Karl Lagerfeld’s new clothing line, in exclusivity with Net-a-Porter. (In case you don’t remember, or just don’t follow this kind of thing, he mentioned it very briefly at Le Web ‘11.) There was a big fancyface launch today in St. Germain des Près, which isn’t that far from me, but I didn’t go. He went, though, and evidently his hair was amazing.
I don’t think it really suits me. (His hair.) I kind of look like I’m wearing a cossack hat.
- Thinking
Since the Tumblr experiment is faring so well for AdVerveBlog.com, I’ve started thinking it might be kinda cool to use this space. I don’t know. Thoughts? No? Yes? We’ll see, I guess.
Thanks, Klout, for keeping me abreast of all the previously-unimagined ways I can expand my sphere of Influence™.
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Info
- Marketing and Advertising | Paris Area, France, FR
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Tweets
- Coding for success: great piece RT @davidbrier One of the best designed blogs on the Web, without question. http://t.co/QVax7PqLJan 27, 12 from web Reply, Retweet, Favorite
- @simon_staffans ...are we talking about the show or were these buddies of yours that happened to have Teletubbies uniforms?
- @simon_staffans The Finnish had teletubbies? Did they have Bananas in Pajamas? If so, what's finnish for "munchy honeycakes"?
- @ScottMonty This is a good time for a hug. *virtual hug*
- @ScottMonty Reading about your operations gives me great Christmas joy. They are strategic and flexible at once.
- "It really doesn't matter. Super Bowl doesn't matter." Jim Farley of Ford http://t.co/qWMT2zNL via @scottmonty
- In them, not globally... hmm. RT @mariejoelle Twitter May Restrict Tweets in Certain Countries if Required By Law. http://t.co/R8xKyIra
- @ScottMonty Slogan for the epic Super Bowl ad?
- @robertgorell I had to grab my head and squeeze the pain out.
- Ford is kicking ass right now! And I kind of want a Fiesta. http://t.co/d5Gl9Ea3 cc @scottmonty
- @marisacp51 Sigh. I would buy ALL his SaaS.
- This hurts to read. http://t.co/O27Hti0b via @copyranter
- Hey girl, Ryan Gosling wants to sell you platform-agnostic SaaS. http://t.co/MTOrIsfU
- @ChrisHavranek We miss you too. @mtlb
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Videos
