Apparently Greenpeace attended Macworld for no better reason than to throw a wrench in Apple's game, projecting green backgrounds across large company logos as well as shots of Asian scrap yards.
Better still, they have a video of Steve Jobs crooning the sweet nothings they really want to hear in '07. There's even a website dedicated to getting Apple greener.
Hm. Greenpeace is a lot like that scary ex who insists you were wrong but keeps lurking around long after you've moved on in order to spread the word. We feel greener just thinking about it.
Owning an iPhone is the equivalent of an out-of-body experience which is the only way to justify the 7% leap in Apple share post-unveiling and the $499-$599 price tag that out-hurrahs both iPod and BlackBerry.
ZDNet talks pros and cons, foreseeing death and suffering for many companies left vulnerable in the storm of common interest. With Apple's cultlike status they could have released this to the exact same jizz-in-the-pants fanfare.
There's a vibe in the air like people are down to give Apple their credit cards for safe-keeping until June, when the first iPhones will slide off conveyor belts and into warm laps. That is, if WOM is anything to go by as the topic's received a whoppin' 1,684 mentions on Google news alone per Adfreak's last count. Obviously iPhone is already more popular than the Beatles, a sweet irony because it's really only a platform for the Beatles and because Apple recently exercised total ownage over the Beatles.
Apple also changed its official title from Apple Computers to Apple Inc, better suited to accommodate its menagerie of soon-to-be-successful non-computer products, including iPhone and the iTV which will marry the 'net to the tube. That's definitely a pairing we've seen attempted before but with Apple's blessing (and the fact that the original WebTV is now owned by MSN, adding the critical pwnage component) we're sure it will fly this time around.
Of the 1,700 body paint-stained videos dropped off at the NFL's doorstep, Gino Bona's idea was chosen for the coveted 30-sec spot on Feb 4's Super Bowl. The Bills fan claims he tapped into his own "pathetic emotions" to illustrate how bummed fans get when football season ends.
Bona's also the biz-dev director for up-and-coming marketing firm Garrand. (To be fair, this is his first attempt at a TV spot.) And an Adrants insider would bet his life or at least $5 that his agency troop helped at least a little for the consumer-generated ad contest.
Commercial Director Joe Pytka will assist in turning the tear-strewn "fan" idea into a bonafide ad. Pytka's done a slew of Super Bowl slots in the past so from beginning to polished end the spot will have been invented by ad people and completed by ad people. After all that begging, way to go consumer-gen, guys.
It shocked us a little that for 2006 somebody will actually get credit for doing more than being you or spending money. But instead of dicking around like its counterparts, AdWeek stays on track by asking vital questions like, "What's more important, growth or creativity?" which they say contained the big answer for which agencies deserve the gold stars for blood, sweat and tears.
And that's why they've awarded Global Agency of the Year to TBWA, which orchestrated the oft-spoofed but beloved Mac v. PC campaign.
AdWeek also gave Goodby, Silverstein & Partners the coveted US Agency of the Year Award for their "Got Milk?" campaign, featuring an odd alien twist and even some scandal in '05.
Hats off to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, to TBWA and to AdWeek. They deserve an award for not shirking the responsibility of doling out much-earned credit in favour of that consumer-as-marketer hype. But we can't just blame Ad Age and Time for slacking when lately even major brands prefer to beg for ads instead of creating something themselves.
But hey, it's a fine line between generating legit consumer interactivity and generating yourself out of a job, yeah?
To honor the titans who paint their chests, dye their hair and live by the free throw during March Madness, Coke bestows a chance to take part in their human bracket or hit the Final Four in Atlanta with their Most Devoted Campaign.
Demonstrate your own love of the hoop by telling a story about college basketball or March Madness in general. It might help to paint your chest and scream. For our part we find the idea of being in a human bracket unappetizing and would rather sit in the way-way-back, act surly and throw shit in peace.
So somebody emails us and goes, "Holiday time is more than just stupid f'in holiday cards, isn't it?" and we sigh with relief and go, hell yeah it is. And then we realize this is actually a plug for what they think holiday time is all about.
The cause is KCA Rebels, a liaison between Keep a Child Alive and Blender and the usual college hipsters who all want to be in bands and get famous. The winning band gets a record contract and a feature in Blender, but mainly this is to "promote awareness" (we love that phrase) about ... hm. Something related to keeping children alive. We're almost sure of it.
And because we were asked to, we'll link to this FLiP article too. Upon closer inspection it occurred to us the article has little or nothing to do with KCA Rebels and more to do with giving for the holidays with a web 2.0 tie-in to Facebook. And since this is completely fucking all over the place anyway, guess what? We're listening to Madonna's "Lucky Star" right now. And to give this an appropriate philanthropic tie-in, we're thinking of donating something to the kids at St. Jude. And for the requisite hipster 2.0 tie-in, lookie lookie - we're blogging about it.
To get down with plush-ass Gen Y four major resorts bundle up to host The Ski Tour, a hyper-trendy echo boomer orgy. As no youth-poaching Woodstock is complete without fashion shows, nods to smoking chronic and concerts by obscure artists like the ever-more-irrelevant Tommy Lee, The Ski Tour includes all these delights and more.
The site was created by Wirestone and sponsors include Spyder, Ice Breaker and Paul Mitchell, who continues to grasp for this demo even if most think Paul faded into the ether hand-in-hand with Molly Ringwald. Here's some advice: tear away from your beloved '80's aesthetic and maybe you'll vibe more relevant. In the meantime though, expect the smell of aerosol to intermingle with the stinging-fresh air on the piste. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
- The Word of Mouth Marketing Association is hosting the Wommie Awards, an annual case study competition. The deadline for entry has been extended beyond the original Nov. 17 cut off.
- While the site suffers from long load times, EatBetterAmerica lets you submit fat-filled recipes for a allow-cal "recipe makeover." Just in time for Turkey Day. It's from General Mills.
- Like no one else can, George Parker wreaks havoc on Sony and all the other gamer idiots out there who think the PS3 is the second coming of Christ.
- If you liked Subservient Chicken but were angry the Chicken would never take his clothes off, here's yet another Subservient Stripper.
- Product placement in books continues to get more and more pervasive.
- Not everyone loves the new Sony PS3.
Kevin Smith, better known as Silent Bob, hosts Virgin Mobile's premier Bleepin Awesome Awards. Would-be winners enter their videos on Youtube for a chance to get aired on Times Square at New Years.
Videos must showcase a person or thing getting transformed into a more "bleepin awesome" version of itself. We neither know nor care what that means but after a perusal of entries we decided we really want this guy to win. Because come on, how many people can deduce that gratuitous use of smileys, LOLs and exclamation points is directly proportionate to your worship of cats?
But we digress. Um, check out a video of Kevin Smith bleepin a lot here. - Contributed by Angela Natividad
- The Midnight Gaming Championship final, title sponsored by McDonald's, is taking place this Saturday, Nov. 18. The event will feature 24 of the best gamers from around Dallas/Fort Worth and the country, including Crow, the number one Tekken player in the world, and Jenmaster, one of the top five most dangerous gamers.
- Here's a video by Owen Plotkin that features Art Directors Club Yong Guns winner Jayson Atienza talking about his sneaker art show opening. We know it's supposed to be "arty" but it seems Owen had great difficulty focusing on people's faces in the video. Not to mention the poor lighting.
- One of the Geico Cavemen, John Lehr will appear in two new spots and a new TBS series 10 Items Or Less premiering November 27.
- Marketing and creative staffing firm Aquent has partnered with celumsolutions to offer up digital asset management software to marketing firms.
- Copyranter says "there's pee in your butt" and points to an element of the latest Truth campaign which, though sticker on ads, informs us cigarettes contain animal pee. Fun.
VH1 and IFILM, today, is bringing back Show Us Your Junk, a collection of the best viral videos
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