Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Early Summer Muzak blitz















All we need is music right? My friends and I certainly feel that way, and summer is the season to bleed your feelings out from your stereo on volume 12.

Save money, eat styrofoam.


I know times are tough, (okay - toughish - we're still all enjoying cable TV and ass-wipe with built-in lotion) but is it really call for turning to space food to feed our cheese-dependent youngsters?

I see the fine dietary bastions of society - Frito Lay - have unleashed their "stimulus plan" (my god, if I see one more campaign based around this concept, I'm heading straight to Washington to drown myself in that big ass lake thingy they've got down there) upon the awaiting mouths of North Americans. Said plan consists of this. Giant Cheetos.

Seriously? With all the talk of organic food stuffs, sustainability, child-obesity, and a new era of personal responsibility in the good 'ol USA, and we end up with golf-ball sized cheese snacks?

Doomed I say, dooooomed.




Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Txt to Rgers - plz stp. TTYL















Over-produced, not funny, pedantic dialogue ridden, oh-so hateabley casted, soft-focus lit, crappy feature/benefit focused piece of maggot-ridden turd.

Nothing personal, but it'd be better to simply show the damn hand-set sitting in a bowl of oatmeal.

Monday, April 20, 2009

A ripe chestnut.


Had a sweet little piece of info come my way the other  morning -  thought I'd share it.

I've always wondered how I'd get started on work that's really award winning in it's calibre. Panicky clients and tight budgets rarely allow for One Show level creative. More likely they allow for newsletters. A never ending slurry of newsletters. *Shudder

I know spec work is one option, but I always figured it was a waste of time. Something you might do fresh out of school. I thought that an idea was an idea, and that great creatives could see the evidence of good work on any scale. But nay. Naaaay. 

These days the competition is stiff. CDs want to not only see the flickering of great thinking, but the whole baked enchilada with salsa, guac, and refried beans falling off the mother-fucking plate.

So spec work it  is, and the quote that really made it hit home for me came from likely the most praised CD in town. I won't shout his name out though; those in the know can guess.

He said, "Spec work will show clients and agencies that you can really do this level of award-winning, international work. Soon enough, they'll not only allow you to do this kind of work for them, but demand it."

So simple. So sensible.

Cheers to Mr B.C.

Friday, April 10, 2009

F@cking with the stars.


Oh yes. Keep an eye out for Starfucker. A three-man day-glo dancerock outfit from Portland that sounds like a mix between Cutcopy and the best day you've ever had. On acid. Saw 'em last night at the Media Club, (Shitty sound BTW. Fuck you sound-guy.) and ended up buying a CD PLUS a T-shirt. I haven't been that much of a fanboy since, well, ever.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Knee jerk, or capitalizing on an opportunity?

Some say that brands and campaigns should shy away from "knee-jerk reactions", and on the whole, I'd agree. I've watched many a brand go chasing the hot target market of the day, only to find their previously loyal customers disillusioned with their behavior upon returning home. Kind of like cheating on a partner. 

Porsche owners to Porsche after the launch of the Cayenne: "You were with who? American families of four? Gross."

But, the above stated, I have to question the brand that simply follows the line no matter what the circumstances. For instance, if I run a chain of high-end bakeries, who's to say I shouldn't offer a 1/2 price tasting Tuesday during these crappy economic times? It keeps the cash-flow going, and doesn't hurt my product range. On the other hand, if the same bakery were to start scrimping on ingredients to make the overall product more affordable at the expense of quality - then I would agree, it's a shyte move.

I suppose what I'm saying is that branding should be more about a set of core values, and less about rigid, unbreakable, rules.  You want to raise sales or traffic during a recession? Fine. Just do it within the style of you brand. 

To end with my first Porsche analogy, I would have much rather seen a sport-wagon than an SUV.  At least it could have had that Legendary Porsche nimbleness - the kind that wouldn't destroy the erections of millions of 911 owners. 

Or at least offer Viagra with every Cayenne.

Building memes; brick by brick.






As a lad, I have fond memories of Lego. Building cars and dinosaurs, putting it up my nose, etc. At a time, I may have even made some kind of bow tie or something. A very manly bow tie.


That's why I was was so blown away when Lego accessories started showing up on Scenester Party-pic websites like Last Night's Party. Belt buckles, bow ties, hair clips, and god knows what else.

Does Lego know about this? Surely some intern has gone foaming at the mouth to their boss with some of these shots. Should they care? Is it a new market vertical they can expand to? Should Lego sell minimally designed kits of bricks at American Apparel? Run cross-promos with design houses? Hmmm, maybe I should dig out my old bucket of bricks, and make some modern art out of it while the trend's hot.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Phoenix rises like delicious bread. Free taste anyone?


Bonjour; check this out. 

My favourite pasty white Francophones are at it again; this time with a Radiohead-style free download of the first single from the new album. Not to mention, the additional offering of a free downloadable multi-track version. That means producers and DJs worldwide can go ahead and remix the track, then play the snot out of it at clubs. That's what I call user-generated-content. Much more so than those inane Doritos Superbowl spots.  Think about it, you give away 1 free track, and DJs all over the world turn it into 5000 different versions in every genre, played from Botswana to Belfast. In a few weeks, the full album will be available for paid download on iTunes. Ka-ching.

Is this the new recording industry model to follow? Maybe not forever, but I'd say it'll do well enough for my Froggy hipster buddies to buy a few hundred cartons of ciggies.

NABSronic


NABS is having their Shindig party again on April 21. Wanna get totally wasted to help out an organization that supports the treatment of alcoholics in our industry?

I'll have a Manhattan, twist of irony please. 

Kudos to Koodo.


In my days and nights spent contemplating how, when, and why I'd enter the already over-saturated "Loud-mouthed Copywriter" category of the Blogosphere, there was one thing I promised myself: The first post would be a positive one. 

Why? Because it's so damn easy to shred the work of others. Not because I'm superior in any way, but as a creative, one can always find a loose thread in a campaign, yank it out - and trample it. We've all done it, but really: where we in the concept meetings? Did we hear the client's griping that lead to his concept? Do we know the two-year strategy. Nope, nope, nope.

With that said, I give a slightly-balding head nod to Koodo. At the onset of the "Fat-free mobile" campaign, I applauded the fact that they had actually gone with a concept to illustrate their services' savings that was better that say... a certain other mobile provider that trots out HD animals in EVERY spot over the last 10 years. But people looooove animals. Barf.

As the campaign moved on, it became less a message about weight-loss-as-a-metaphor-for-savings, and more about cheesy 70's porno-stached characters - over punny headlines. This, I felt, was one step too far to the left. I get that they had a signature style and lingo in the spots, but it had lost all meaning. They had crossed into the "funny but totally devoid of connection to the product/service zone", or FBTDOCTTPSZ for short.

Finally though, some brave soul must have raised a Wii-thritic hand and uttered "why not lose the fromage fitness thing all together until we choose a new strategy?" 

So now, we are left with Koodo spots that contain totally wacked out Sesame St. style graphics with punny headlines. Wait... that sounds familiar. But, at least they're being honest. 

Koodo's ads now proclaim: Our campaign is fun, stands out, but really doesn't mean anything strategy-wise. So buy the damn phones; okay?