Friday, June 29, 2007

Sweet Ambivilance


I'm not sure how I feel about copyranter. Some days I'm in awe of his bitter, snarky genius. On other days, I'm sure he's a hardcore cuteoverload fan posing as a douche-bag.

Also, I sometimes suspect that he is not a copywriter at all, but a basement-dwelling computer hacker with Second Life avatar named Arathorn.

And that, my fiends, is the magic of the Internets.

Friday, June 15, 2007

In which Our Faithful Heroine is Disturbed by a PSA

I almost couldn't write about these ads for the One Milwaukee campaign. The images of pregnant teenage boys (for a PSA about teen pregnancy) are so disturbing that I had a hard time (well, harder than usual) articulating my reaction.

When I started writing this post, my first thought was: "Do I want to subject my loyal reader to these freakish visions? Why don't I just post clips from Caligula or Brazil and be done with it?"

Besides the obvious, something bothers me about these ads that I just can't put my finger on. It's not quite that they feel a little like a creepy CK ad. And it's not quite that they almost imply pregnancy itself is repulsive. Maybe it's a combination of those things?

Reader, you want to help me out?

Advertising Age via Copyranter

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

I See London, I See France, I See Smart Guerilla Marketing

This morning while I was tiptoeing through the land of ad, I saw this campaign from Braun for their new pull-your-hair-out-by-
the-roots-to-look-pretty product.


You'd never suspect this, but I have a some deeply rooted resentment about the fact that women are expected to shave (or otherwise smooth-ify) their legs. I have come within a hair's-breadth of killing myself in the shower, teetering on one leg, covered with shave gel (which is, in essence, a lubricant and highly unsuited to application in a boxy, watery environment), holding a razor in one hand and the window sill with the other.


However, this campaign for the Braun Silk-epil is so smart, I couldn't let my politics and lack of balance get in the way of my appreciation. I love the simplicity of the execution.


Monday, June 11, 2007

Can Someone Please Create a Mashup for This?



Apparently, this was a TV show in 1976*. I think it is a prime candidate for a YouTube mashup (though it is pretty hilarious in its original, unedited state).

Here are some suggestions for what to pair with it:

1) Michael Jackson's video "Bad"
Too obvious? How 'bout:
2) Any Viagra ad
Still too obvious?
3) What do you think of this
No? Sorry. That's all I got.

*Yes. That is Cousin Oliver.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Poop

I just wrote the most scintillating post of my blogging "career" and then my beloved Firefox froze and I lost it all.

I don't have the heart to try and recreate it. Suffice it to say that it included this, this and this.

Nope. That's all I'm going to say. If that leaves you a little empty inside, just think how I feel.

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Apple is Bobbing for Blame

I'm sure you've read it by now. Faced with criticism, Apple guru Steve Jobs weighs in on music, piracy and (don't kid yourself) the Apple Brand in general with an open letter. Before I go any further, I want to let you know that I am a devoted Mac owner at home and a worshiper of the Apple Brand at work. But after reading Jobs's comments, I have a few thoughts. Ahem. Here I go:

While Jobs's comments are commendably forthright, he does commit two rhetorical "sins of omission."


First, No DRM was ever developed to protect CD's because by the time electronic piracy became a problem, it was too late. In Jobs's word: "The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system." Non-DRM-supporting CD players are simply too widespread -- the big four would be shooting themselves in the foot if they tried to protect CD's this late in the game. However, CD's will soon be obsolete as the Internet becomes the most popular place to acquire music. As the landscape of the music industry changes, so must the ways the big four protect themselves and their artists.


This brings me to the second omission: it is not only the interests of four giant music companies at stake here, but also the interests of the musicians these companies represent. The big four certainly benefit HUGELY from protecting their music. They are big, bad corporations. I agree. But they are big, bad corporations that help artists make a living by being artists. Musicians are already at the very end of the long profit-making food chain. They are the last to get paid and will be the first to suffer from rampant piracy.

Does this mean that I think the big four should continue to get their way? Certainly not. The Internet is changing the world in profound ways, and companies need to find solutions to the resulting issues that benefit consumers and enrich the marketplace. These solutions won't result from pushing blame around (I mean you, Steve), but by working together to "think outside the jewel case." At the risk of going all purple prose on your ass, human potential has never been so vast. Our children will inherit a world that is unimaginably different from the world my generation inherited. So...let's think big, people. Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose.

Here endith the lesson.