They have been thought leaders, digital innovators and downright funny people since I was a kid. It wasn't till I attended a forum with Jeff Goodby and he presented their reel that I realized that they were responsible for almost every ad campaign I have ever been floored by, and that GS&P were probably why I got into the Biz in the first place.
Advertising gets a bad rap. Like lobbyists and lawyers, we are a hated people, until we're needed. The reason being there is noone better at creating buzz, informing, educating, selling and maintaining loyalty than us.
The argument is made that we manipulate people and products so that people are persuaded to buy products they don't need or that aren't any good. And, I won't lie, this happens, but is rarely sustainable. It applies to fads (in a broad sense). I might be able to convince a ton of people to do something once (watch a movie, buy a soda, wear a shoe), but if the product didn't work, I and the company may have lost you for life.
There's a quote I learned while in Ad School. I can't remember if it was a Steve Kopcha original or from the David Ogilvy's of the ad world, but it goes something like, "You can't advertise a shitty product." It falls into the fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me category. Especially in this Facebook/Twitter era, where if something sucks everyone knows.
So, in our truest, purest and least invasive form, Advertising helps people's decision to open their wallet a little or a lot easier. By definition... serving capitalism. We have a place in a capitalist society. And it's not a small place either.
The iPhone has a fairly standard function that allows a new text message to be previewed on top of its sleep screen. This is über convenient, because I don't have to go in and check my texts, I can just read them really quick.
This function presented a problem yesterday that is epic on the scale of workplace awkwardness.
I have a friend, for the purposes of this post we'll call him Dustin Kaminsky. Dustin noticed yesterday I posted I had been listening to the song, "The Giant of Illinois" by Andrew Bird off the Dark Was the Night compilation album, on repeat for like an hour. I posted a link to the song along with the message. He downloaded it. Liked it. And was compelled to text me about it.
Now to his defense, I was working late, I am usually alone in my office and his texts provide some of the best laughs I get in life. But, for this text, it just so happens that my boss David Johnson and I were discussing proper technique for an After Effect project I'm working on. He was literally right over my shoulder helping me for like an hour. So when Dustin's text came through, he was the first to glance down. I was only alerted to check it when I noticed that he was just staring and pointing in silence.
This is what it said:
Again. The song is called "The Giant of Illinois".
Calm down ladies.
It wasn't a big deal in the slightest. In fact, it was hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a while, and Dave got a good one too.
But, it leads me to wonder just how frequently this kind of thing happens, and what the best story is. Comment to this post if you can and tell me yours. If Blogger won't allow you to comment find me on Facebook or Twitter and comment there.
I was sent this article today from Ad Freak by Scott Lichtenauer. He and I tend to really appreciate the life that insanity breeds. The erratic behavior, crazy antics and complete lack of remorse for one's actions often result in the most amazing life experiences.
Under those guidelines, Scott has done a lot more "living" than I have, but the St. Louis doctor that this article, and its source from The Riverfront Times, discusses has most people beat.
Apparently when this Dr. Kalk cracked he went by the book. Total loss of hygiene, delusions of grandeur, destructive behavior and a complete disregard for financial restraint. In his case, he spent a reported $50,000 on advertising (In RFT primarily). This is during a time when his practice was losing $90,000 a year, according to the article.
But, like a phoenix, out of the ashes comes some of the most amazing things. Check out the ads he was running.
Good for him.
I hope Dr. Kalk is getting better. The article reports he has recently been arrested for crimes he may have commited while bat shit crazy, but more than likely they won't hold up in court.
You really should read the entire article though. It's an incredible story of the fall of what appeared to be a promising life of a normal and friendly individual.
My favorite quote has got to be this, said of Dr. Kalk by a burned friend, business partner and the son of a mafia hit man,
"I don't have much of a social life. The friends I got I can count on one hand and with fingers left over ... I really liked Alex. If it had been anyone else, they'd be dead."
Saw this on Ffffound, which saw it on Threadless, which got it from someone who either took an amazing photo, or had a clever idea for a photoshop project.
Volkswagon has had a storied advertising past, from their iconic "Think Small" from DDB in the 50's, through the cultural phenomena that was the VW microbus in the 60's. They were early venturers in product placement in the 70's with the Herbie the Lovebug films, and through the 80's and 90's expanded their Jetta, Rabbit, Golf and Passat lineups with advertising that was way above par. In the Early 2000's, Arnold Worldwide was doing extremely interactive and fun things with the brand, starting with the launch of the New Beetle and extending that buzz across their entire brand. I remember the "There's a yellow one." ads off the top of my head.
But in 2005, something that happens quite frequently, but isn't talked about much, happened. A marketing executive from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, left to change jobs. As a matter of happenstance, she went to work for a "small" car company called Volkswagon. And when it was time for an agency review, guess what agency she favored. Goodbye Arnold, hello CP+B and more personally, goodbye to my College plan to work for Arnold here in STL.
Anyway, you may remember the "My Fast" campaign, featuring a little humming creature sitting in the passenger seat of thos drivers that find it hard to control their fast. That was one of the earliest CP+B VW campaigns. Subsequent campaigns have featured extremely realistic and often unexpected car crashes, a lot of lame but funny usage of "Germa-nglish" like "Unpimp Mein Auto", and recently a talk show-esque set of spots, featuring a pristine vintage Bug as the host.
No more. C'est la vie.
VW is looking to become more mainstream, and they don't feel that Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the right agency to get them there. I can't help but agree with them. Look, people love to hate CP+B, or at least root against them, but they have done a good job, especially with VW. Adage.com sites that VW's market share climbed:
"to 2% from 1.6% through July, according to Automotive News figures, the result of a 13.5% sales decline as the decimated auto market as a whole fell 32%"
But, I describe Crispin as a "Underdog" shop. Their style and marketing sensibilities cater to clients that have nothing to lose in gaining ground in the consumer conscious and pocket book. Look at Burger King, Dominos and Sprite as examples of that. All of which are chasing giants.
Even their Microsoft Vista stuff screams, "We're not as good, but...
So, for VW, if they want to become a more mainstream choice, and yet maintain their immaculate brand, I don't think that CP+B is the right agency for them.
Many VW lovers are worried about their beloved brand trying for the mainstream, especially as so many mainstream automakers are failing. But, I don't see how wanting a larger market share does not require cannibalizing your niche brand or charm. There is no reason why when someone is shopping for a Honda or Toyota (which are a lot of people), they shouldn't also be thinking VW (which is not as many people). And Honda and Toyota's public perception, brand and quaity hasn't been compromised. At least not as I see it.
VW will find an agency that will do them right. And now is the time when market share is up for grabs as we come out of the recession. I don't fear that they will go the Krispy Kreme route, and toss their brand and let quality suffer for short term profitability. Plus every ad man and woman has dreamed about this "holy grail" of accounts. Anyone who gets their hands on it will handle it with the respect and creativity it deserves.
I guess they wanted to film some B-Roll before the real deal went down. We didn't know. Shaq and Pujols both came out to great fanfare. Shaq had a round, then Albert was up. First ball off the bat came two rows behind me.
Bounce.
Bounce.
Snag.
There it was, under the bleachers behind me. It was my years of Spoons playing finally realized. I have very fast hands.
But then after Albert had done the deed. 11 times. They announced that those didn't count and they were going to re-do the entrance, the fanfare and the whole first round.
So, like I said I caught a homerun from José Alberto, but it didn't count.
Who cares.
Here's the promo from ABC about the show:
That was a fun experience last night. Free. Saw two genuine sport superstars. Was literally in Homerun ally, with balls right over my head at least 22 times. Shack took off his shoes and batting gloves and handed them out to people right next to me. Albert, Shaq and AJ Pujols all, as they say in Field of Dreams, "had a catch," about 20 yards away from us.
By the way this is probably no surprise, but AJ Pujols is incredible. Better arm, hand eye coordination and composure in front of cameras than any ~seven year old I have ever seen. Trust me, I worked for 6 years at a little league concession stand, and I've seen a lot of seven year olds playing ball. This kid is awesome.
The whole event was set up so that Shaq had a fighting chance. So while Albert had to hit over the regulation fence, Shaq only had to hit over a fence about 100 to 150 yards out. Round 1 Pujols had the standard 10 outs, while Shaq had 15, Round two was a 7 to 10 out matchup and the final round was a 3 to 5 out split.
Anyone who knows me, knows two things about me. I am extremely limber and I love secret passages. I mentioned in my post from earlier today that I would have a passage or a trap door in my uniquely designed house, and I meant every word of it.
At the same time, I have been gaining an affinity for wine lately. I don't really like the drink that much. I certainly appreciate it, especially a good Shiraz or a Port, but I am more fond of the culture. I very much like the look of a wine bottle on my counter or table. It's a classy drink, and I aspire to be classy. The epitome of class however is not merely having "a" bottle or "a few" bottles, if you want to be in the big leagues of classocity you need a cellar. That's right I wine cellar.
There are few things better than the ability to say phrases like,
Are we out of wine? Let me go grab another bottle from the cellar.
Or,
The wine cellar is looking a little bare, we better buy another case of that Cabernet you like so much.
Or even better,
We just had sex in the wine cellar.
Awesome, right?
Well, what if we could combine secret passage with wine cellar? Check this out.
Thank you FFFFound.com for showing me a picture of it, and thank you SpiralCellars for digging a whole in any room of my house and installing classiness and jealous friends into my life. Now expand to the US, so I can utilize your services.
Shows like Cribs and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous are great shows. Letting the poor and downtrodden scum of the earth designers like me venture into the homes of celebrated personalities like pornstars and gangsta' rappers is not only thoughful, but downright American.
But when I think back through those shows, I seem to remember a lot of "houses". You know what I mean? Sure they were big houses, sure they had big pools, custom crown molding, marble tubs w/TV built in, king size beds for infants, and typically a really stocked fridge. Awesome. But they were Houses, like mine. Probably like yours. Pointy roof, shingles, windows, front door, garage, brick, carpeting or hard wood. Same basic design principal.
I guarantee you right now, if Ol' Rob ever wins the lottery or finally execute my grand jewel heist, my house will be unlike any home as I know it. And why not? If I have the financial opportunity to be imaginative, work with amazing designers and architects, and live uniquely, I say again, why not? I guess I'm a quality over quantity kind of guy.
But, I saw this "Shell" home today and it inspired me. Take a look.
"The 'shell house' by architect kotaro ide, is a sculptural shell-like structure which has been built in the woods of karuizawa, located in the nagano prefecture of japan. the house is meant to function as a vacation home, which is able to withstand the humid summers and cold winters of the region. to accomplish this, ide opted not to use the typical wood structure of villas in the area because of their susceptibility to decay easily. instead, he used reinforced concrete to construct two elliptical shell forms which are supposed to represent a conch."
If Johnny Knoxville, Rev. Run, Dion Sanders and Kelly Clarkson want to spend their money on monstrous houses that all look generally the same, that's fine, but for me, I would go in a different direction. Or at least have a vacation home that did. The only problem would be that there wouldn't be enough closet space for all my guns, shoes and mistresses.
So two years ago, the music producer/artist know as Timbaland released what was both critically and popularly considered to be "the shit". I think that's an industry term. However it holds a special meaning in Timbaland's case because literally he had the equivalent of an Indian food induced bowl-movement of genius work and success. Every song/album/artist he touched was instantly dominating. Case in point: One Republic. They aren't great. But Timba, as I like to call him, handed them a hit song in Apologize (By the way , if you haven't heard the original un-timba'd version of the song off the bands first album, you should, It is not 1/3 as good).
Anyway, I 've been thinking about my ears and what they have been hearing lately, and I have decided that it's time for more Timbaland. A new album.
Go. Timba, go.
I heard this song arranged and produced by him a while back, for Chris Cornell album of the same name, "Scream". I like it. It's a good start.
But, that song came out in 2008. What else.
Maybe that Keri Hilson song? Ok, another 2008, but later, better:
In 2008, Timbaland helped produce many albums for various artists that include Sean Paul's Imperial Blaze, Madonna's Hard Candy, Brandy's Human[37], Omarion's cd,Menudo's upcoming album, Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World, Keri Hilson's In A Perfect World, Flo Rida's Mail On Sunday, Letoya Luckett's Lady Love, Lindsay Lohan's Spirit in the Dark, Chris Cornell's Scream, JoJo's All I Want Is Everything, Nicole Scherzinger's Her Name is Nicole, Missy Elliott's Block Party, Matt Pokora's MP3, Keithian's Dirrty Pop, The Pussycat Dolls's Doll Domination, Busta Rhymes's B.O.M.B, Lisa Maffia's Miss Boss, Teairra Mari's Pressed For Time[38], Jennifer Hudson's debut album, Dima Bilan's Believe , Samantha Jade's, My Name Is Samantha Jade, New Kids on the Block's The Block and Keshia Chanté's new Album.
that line up, sans a few, bodes very well for some quality tunes in the upcoming months. But what about a new album from the Man himself. Apparently Shock Value 2 (Clever name) is on its way. Wikipedia (which doesn't lie) says...
In 2008, Timbaland began working on his third studio album, Shock Value 2, the follow-up to his 2007 platinum album Shock Value.[43] In January 2009, Timbaland clarified rumors about the recording process of the album but acknowledged that he would release the album within the year.[44] In March 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his label, Blackground Records, alleging that they attempted to blackball him after he decided to move from music performance into production.[45]
Doesn't sound good, but we'll see. Come on Timbaland, I need me some new cuts to get me through the upcoming cold, cold winter.
By daily I mean I did it yesterday, and I'm doing it today. That might be as long as my scattered brain will take this. Let me know what you think of my monkey.
Original:
ChuckStyle:
Alright.
Now as for commenting on my blog. It has once again been brought to my attention that people are having trouble commenting. That makes me sad because I love reading comments. I'll try to fix it, the only advice/request I can give you is to keep trying to post you coments. Multiple times. Maybe even copy and paste before you submit, then if it doesn't go through, you can just paste it again as opposed to retyping.
It's not ideal, but I'm working on it. You can also post on my Facebook page.
