In a recent study, Forrester Research named Critical Mass the best web design firm. Not that there's anything wrong with Critical Mass but Forrester deemed the pool from which this winner would be chosen to be 17. Yes, out of the hundreds of web design firms in the country, just 17 were deemed worthy of consideration. While we understand it's impossible to examine every firm in the country, for the sake of research, we hope this group of 17 was culled from a larger pool.
To be released this week, A study by LA-based research firm OTX found among young men 13-25, 24 percent saw fewer movies than they did in 2003 and have shifted that leisure time to IMing and playing video games. Of course, unsurprisingly, it's also due to only 35 percent saying there's an "excellent selection" of movies as opposed to 60 percent two years ago. Cost was also cited as a factor as well with 68 percent claiming movies have become too expensive. Many prefer to wait for the DVD and view movies in the comfort of their own home, away from popcorn-chomping, incessantly-chattering idiots. Not to mention those families who, for some mind-boggling reason, feel it's acceptable to bring a screaming baby and roaming toddlers into the theater. The National Amusements theater in Lowell we attend allows this and pisses off movie-goers who audibly groan when these families stroll in.
The fact is, there's dramatically increased choice when it comes to entertainment. Most people would rather play a game online, have a friend over to play on the console or have a few more friends over to watch a DVD in the comfort of their own home. When given these increased options, it's no surprise movie theater attendance is plummeting.
This campaign gets the stamp of brilliance from Adrants. For a North Carolina, high-end fitness club, McKinney created a series of posters showing balloons bulging out of clothing along with a pin that says "Deflate." Commenting on the campaign, a McKinney creative said, "We thought people would steal the tacks but a little hot glue and some heavy duty gatorboard took care of that problem. Now people just steal the whole poster." Advertising that gets noticed - a very good thing. See the campaign here.
Not that there's anything new about bathroom advertising but this handwritten note, which reads, "Website Designer Needed 310-270-3636," placed inside a plastic sleeve and attached to the wall above the sinks is a bit different and unique. Obviously, the number leads to an answering machine because who wants to listen to thousands of people calling just to see if the gig is real. In any event, someone is in need of a website designer.
In a manner appropriately befitting Howard Stern and his crew, the silence on his soon to be occupied Sirius was broken with, you guessed it, farting. At 6:30 yesterday morning, Junior the Farter farted, kicking off a day-long fart-fest in what will surely be history's most revered broadcast launch. Stern wasn't on hand for the event and Infinity barred him from airing the event on his terrestrial broadcast. As of next year, all the fighting Stern has had with the broadcast establishment will be moot as he moves to Sirius. Oddly, there was a charm to the censorship that forced the team to invent hilariously creative means for discussing raunchy topics with substitute topics. Somehow openly saying fuck, shit, piss, tits just isn't going to feel the same.
Ogilvy PR has a page on their site called BlogFeeds where they list, by category, blogs they feel are important reading for the agency and for their clients. Apparently, there's something wrong with Adrants because we didn't make the list. Perhaps Ogilvy doesn't want to expose their clients to our continual kvetching, cutting through the crap and shedding some common sense on the advertising industry. Oops, that sounded bitter. Sorry. We love Ogilvy.
Promoting a the Australian men's magazine Explode, Soap Creative has launched a "customize your ride" game, called Bling My Bomb, in which visitors choose their vehicle and customize it selecting color, wheels, graphics, engine, plates, horn, your street scene and yes, the hottie that will ride with you. Sorry, ladies, this one's for the guys. Besides, you probably don't want to visit a site that treats women like hood ornaments. Oh please. After all, it's all just fun and fantasy for single-minded guys. That said, Explode will be happy to know we actually spent a significant amount of time on the site crafting our ride.
Here's a fun little time-waster from McDonald's. Pick a character, listen to the beat, whack a few numbers keys on your keyboard and, homey, you're breakdancin'. After practicing, visitors can log in and compare their dance move scores with others. That's it. Simple. No overbearing marketing crap. Just plain fun.
Desperate Housewives star Nicollette Sheridan just completed a commercial for Australian lingerie brand Hestia. Sheridan is pleased with her new role saying, "It's great being Hestia ambassador, with all these simply gorgeous Aussie housewives." We'll be watching for the Desperate Housewives Hestia product placement.
Jumping on the celebu-fragrance ride, singer Ashanti has launched a fragrance line, Precious Jewel, which will debut this week in Wal-Mart. Acknowledging the already overcrowded celebu-fragrance space, Ashanti said, "I always said that
the perfume field was getting kind of flooded. A lot of people were doing a lot of the same thing. But I also said that if I ever got a wonderful opportunity, of course I'd take advantage of it." Now there's a girl who's enjoying the spoils of fame.
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