Apparently the Apple TV nervous system isn't as resilient as their computers. Post first day of shipping, ZDNet spills the beans:
Non-Apple TV owners can enjoy the out of box experience by viewing the opening video which one crafty person ripped from the hard drive and posted in all of it's 720p glory. You can also download the Quartz Composer Screen Saver and the Now Playing Screen. And if you're truly hard-core you can download the entire Apple TV OS, and (conceivably) install it on another Mac.
And apparently that was just the easy stuff.
First generation Apple TV = FTL. Here's to hoping the almighty iPhone fares better.
Over the weekend in Times Square, the Kleenex Let It Out campaign in which people let their emotions out while Kleenex films them was infiltrated by Greenpeace which is irked Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark uses "ancient growth" forests in their tissue products. Greenpeace activists, posing as distraught individuals complained about Kimberly-Clark's apparent deforestation tactics while Kleenex PR people had nothing much to do except let it happen, even when some activists unfurled a banner for Kleercut, Greenpeace's tree hugger effort.
It's classic surprise marketing at its finest. After all, what could Kleenex people do? The entire promotion is all about providing people a platform to air their grievances. If you are concerned about a company's supposed less-that-nice use of foresting techniques tan what better place to air the grievances that on a couch to an understanding listener. Or at least one that's supposed to be understanding.
Remember that supposedly authentic authorized biography of Howard Hughes written by Clifford Irving that turned out to be a hoax? Neither did we until we visited Wikipedia but now the whole affair is a movie starring Richard Gere. Opening this weekend, the movie is getting some kitschy promotion from Deep Focus which created a site called People for the Advancement of White Lies on which various videos of people telling white lies can be viewed.
Even though the real Clifford Irving is still out there and wrote several successful books following his conviction for his Howard Hughes hoax, it's gotta suck knowing that one terrible part of your life is going to be up on the silver screen for all to see. The dude was probably happy with it remaining a distant...even forgotten, memory.
We are at a loss at coming up with an explanation as to what a beaver and a buffalo have to do with highlighting Alamo rental's new kiosks other than for pure "odd factor." In two Fallon-created, Moo-produced commercials, the two animals get all buddy-buddy-like with the beaver taking on the smart guy role and the buffalo the doofus role all to explain why Alamo's kiosks aren't being used as much as they should. See the spots here and here and tell us if we're right or full of...excrement.
In a departure from the usual approach to dinner entree advertising in which happy human faces are inter cut with perfectly staged close up shot of the food, Canadian boutique agency John St. with help from Curious Pictures has launched a new commercial for Maple Leaf Foods. In this commercial food still takes center stage but it also takes on a life of its own marching across the counter top in parade-like fashion.
The spot was created using the same approach Curious Pictures' Stefan Nadelman used to create his "Food Fight" short about the history of warfare. Nadelman explains, "I shot high resolution stills of all the food, props and environments at different angles and configurations, removed the backgrounds in Photoshop, and then brought them to life in After Effects." Looks good to us.
Honda just launched a new RPA-created commercial which began this past weekend on ESPN SportsCenter. The :30, called "Starting Up." features the many various Honda racing vehicles starting their engines to do their thing. RPA Associate Creative Director Rich Pass explains, saying, "We've seen so many racing spots in the past that were merely cars driving around the track. Commercials like that are pretty invisible; we wanted something more dramatic." We're not sure wuick cuts or vehicles staring their engines is more dramatic but it is different. We'll give him that.
Here's what a Wal-Mart ad would look like if it were to encompass all the Julie Roehm/Sean Womack drama which culminated last week during the endless legal wranglings that have transpired since Roehn was fired from Wal-Mart and it was revealed she was having an affair of sorts with Womack. It comes courtesy of the New York Post which published a column on the matter today.
Oh, and about that morning at Starbucks in their pajamas, check this.
On a local billboard, a St. Cloud, Minnesota radio station promises its morning show is so good it will crack you up...literally...with "Great Thongs All Day." We'll take the thongs. We're not to sure about that crack though. We're sure the Mothers Against Exposed Thongs cause group will be on this one in no time.
Because bodice-ripping is so last-century, Harlequin struggles to make the grade as the ages of readers increase slowly.
In addition to reworking the hot-sex-for-lonely-girls formula for today's woman under Red Dress, they're also trying to reinterpret the face of today's man candy, launching another cattle call in desperate pursuit of a man who's neither Fabio nor gangly model.
But what do you feed a woman all hopped up on Sex and the City steroids? A dumb but loyal cook? A mascara-sporting emo rocker? A Silicon Valley hipster? A vegan cowboy?
Always up for a good time, French lingerie purveyor Sloggi has gone Smoggi, launching a guerrilla and online campaign in Belgium relating to the government's recent lowering of the national speed limit due to the level of smog in the air. Coolzor reports four lingerie-clad women stood by the road side holding signs that pointed people to Smoggi.com where a countdown to a mysterious something is occurring. We're told Belgian agency Brand Activation is behind the work.
|
