On Friday the masses arrived in Austin for SXSW. As is always the case, it was a meet and greet fest of epic social media proportion. Even Robert Scobel is here if anyone actually cares. The panels began at 2PM but most of the afternoon was spent hanging in the hallways meeting people as they arrived.
By the time all that meet and greet was over and lunch was had - at which we waited an hour and a half for our burgers (which were very good) - it was time to start drinking. After all, this is SXSW. Laura Fitton held a gathering at Champions. Jason Falls had a party. There was the TechSet party. The Mix at Six. And a late night, flash mob-style gathering at the Driskill. And that's just what we made it to. There were at least 20 other events going on throughout the city. We're sure the Pastries and Pasties party was good but we went last year.
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Did you know if you check in (on Foursquare, that is) to two hotels in one night you earn the Hookup badge? Well, yes you do. Even if you didn't actually hook up. And that's what's so representative of Foursquare's stupidity.
Now, don't get us wrong. We love Foursquare. We're obsessed with it. We check in everywhere we go. It's a game. It's fun. And at SXSW it helps you find out where the people are and where the action's at. So no complaint's from that front. But when you can add your own venues, such as "Missy Ward's Cleavage" (this is true), and have it stay in the system for weeks, it goes beyond being funny. And you really have to wonder about those people with thousands of points. If you do the math, they'd have to traverse the country and check into hundreds of places each week to attain their position in the rankings. You just have to wonder.
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Yes, it's exactly what you think. Well, not really. That would be gross. Or not. Depending on your propensity to appreciate certain smells. OK, we're just grossing our selves out here. Just go watch this twisted new Axe commercial and wallow in the stench.
An organization, I Am Not Ashamed, aims to create the world's first video bible. With a campiagn supported by print, online, outdoor and social networking, the organization is asking people to submit video of themselves reading passages from the bible. The goal will be to cobble together all the submissions into one searchable video compendium of the Bible.
So if you see random people citing bible verse on a street corner, don't immediately assume they are homeless kooks or religious freak with nothing better to do than shove their views down other's throats.
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Recently, AgencySpy railed against the ad industry for its propensity copy other's work. Today, AdFreak addresses a similar issue, the propensity for the ad industry to latch onto a particular song and use it over and over again in different brand's commercials to the point where "advertisers [should] find a new favorite song before this one attains sentience and enslaves humanity."
Temper Trap's "Sweet Disposition" is the "it" song now and is making apperances in Chrysler, Rhapsody and Dient Coke ads. Not to mention the movie 500 Days of Summer, 90210, Greek, The Good Wife and The Deep End.
Here at Adrants we've beat this one like a dead horse over the years and have nothing left to say about the issue.
OK, maybe we do. And it's simple. Be original. We know that's not easy to accomplish. After all, there are no new ideas left. Everything's been done. Done to death. Over and over and fucking over. But, every once in a while, a tiny little piece of originality slips through and it's beautiful. Sublime. Enjoyable. And brilliant.
So strive for brilliance. Strive for beauty. Strive for something you've never seen before. Because you know what? If you do and you succeed, you'll be able to call the work your own and be proud of it. And you can feel good your original creation will find a place in the industry's pantheon of creativity. And you won't have angry bloggers calling you a copycat.
This new UK-based Bing campaign is ridiculous. It tries to paint the rest of the search portals (ahem, Google) as idiotic dunderheads that can't understand what your searching for. In one commercial, a woman is looking for the Euston tube station in London. A dunderhead answers her by prattling on about the eustation tube connects which connects the ears to the back of the throat as if no other search engine could possibly offer the right result.
But the most ridiculous thing about this campaign is the real world version of the scenario painted in the commercial. Do a search for Euston tube station on Google and it's the first result. Do the same search on Bing and its also the first result. Not exactly a product differentiation there.
Hey, it's better than a naked Chuck Liddell working out. Yes, Reebok has discovered the wonders of viral video booty. It's so easy, we wonder why every marketer doesn't do it. It's a simple, three step recipe. Find hot girls with nice asses. Dress them in bikinis or thongs (or hot pants if you're not daring enough). And film them shaking their asses.
Oh yea, there's a fourth step. Don't forget to slap your logo on their ass.
We get strange emails here at Adrants all the time but we've never received one asking if the creation of a "viral" video was out own doing. That's what one reader asked this morning about this Master Kong video which describes a form of meditation which is supposed to increase creativity.
We politely responded to the inquiry writing, "If it is for Adrants, it's news to us. And if we were to release a "viral," it'd be filled with big breasted women in tiny little bikinis jumping on a trampoline. Or something equally stupid and befitting our less than respectable position in this industry:)"
Somehow a reality TV star who recently had ten plastic surgeries in one day including the addition of ginormous breasts is qualified to appear in a Ron Howard-directed PSA for credit card reform. It's stupid. It's funny. It's dumb. But it's impossible not to watch. If only to see whether or not those ginormous breasts will fall out of that tiny dress.
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Apparently, Gothamist editor Jake Dobkin has no love for the New York Times and he made that very clear with scathing post on his Facebook page last month. That didn't seem to dissuade the Times from tossing a bunch of money Gothamist's way for a site-swallowing wallpaper ad. Nor did Dobkin's hatred of the Times stop his organization from accepting the Time's money.
You see? There really is a separation of church and state. That or, as Gawker posits, "Bitch, we OWN you."
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