If you can't fix what's broken, make it a golden calf.
In futile retaliation against users that are defecting in frustration, die-hard Twitter fans erected a site dedicated to FailWhale, the bird-borne character that appears whenever Twitter tanks.
Buy merch, add FailWhale on Twitter or join his Facebook group. Get this: the group is marked "consumer product."
When did failure become a commodity?
In response to the madness, Yiying Lu, the original designer of FailWhale, created Eve Whale. The dreamy FailWhale love interest blows little birds out of her air hole.
- Microsoft bought Powerset, which is single-handedly trying to bring "natural search" back into vogue. (Frankly, it shoulda died with Jeeves.)
- Oronjo makes funny with McCain. Meh.
- Guess free wi-fi isn't so popular after all -- or maybe it was just too little too late. Starbucks is cutting 12,000 jobs and closing 600 stores. "At this point, management has decided that 2008 is a wash and to throw in everything but the kitchen sink to get ready for growth in 2009 and beyond," said one analyst. 2008 IS A WASH? We're only HALFWAY THROUGH.
- On Fuzzwich, I found a one-eyed hot-dog shaped man. He grew hair right before my eyes. He had very small pants.
- Riffing off the success of its last macro veggie-message, McDonald's launched a wholesome Happy Meal ad depicting kids working the fields to a cheerful whistle. Then the camera pans out to reveal gardens in the shape of chickens and cows. By Leo Burnett.
- Facebook Ads launched a newsletter. Remember, folks: use keywords, stand out, optimize. Uh, thanks.
Philly's doing this "single-stream recycling" thing, a convenience ploy to make urbanites more earth-friendly.
Single-stream recycling is when you take all recyclable goods and put them in one bin. We've been doing that in Walnut Creek for years. Here's what ends up happening: everyone disregards the rules and starts putting damn-well whatever they please into those bins.
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Nothing rawks the blog world like a scandale. Here's one for the hour: Boing Boing has been removing posts written by, or in reference to, Violet Blue, a sex columnist for the SF Chronicle.
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The polar bear was recently added to the Department of the Interiors' list of endangered species. In response to this tragedy, National Grid tapped Mullen, who apparently plans to save them by encouraging children to adopt them as pets.
I'm sure Grizzly Man would weep with (either indignation or) longing. Bear envy? Get your own.
Firstborn assisted with the digital components of the campaign.
- Th1ng was chosen to whore "London's outstanding cultural and business successes" and "its film industry and talent" for the London 2012 Olympic Games. Sounds like hard times in the Mother Country.
- With the launch of Facecard, edo teaches Millennials how to confuse money with plastic. I wish I'd had a self-interested big brother who cared enough to teach me how to charge. Oh wait, I did: Wells Fargo.
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Earlier today I happened across this testosterone-tacular Bowflex Revolution pop-up.
I can't believe Bowflex is still around! There are so few women that would actually go for Mr. Oily Abs -- but the sight of a perennial Bowflex man turns any guy I'm with into a socially inept troglodyte.
My dad, once a self-proclaimed man of steel, used to watch Bowflex infomercials late at night and go, "When I'm old and retired, you will bring me that machine as a gift."
And because I was five and had no idea how dangerous a delusion could be, I would assent. He's still waiting for one.
"I am the Denver Egotist and I will be back on Monday ... maybe Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It depends on when I wanna kick yer ass."
In an email titled "We're coming out," the Denver Egotist sent us the above video, which reveals its identity, or at least the way it wants to be seen. Definitely less disappointing than that one time KISS removed its makeup.
AgencySpy, another site that does does the "we are everyone and everywhere and nowhere -- bwahahaa!" thing, dug it.
After reviewing the campaign launch earlier this year, we haven't heard much from the chatty portraits of Coldwell and Banker.
But it looks like the dead founders have been busy. 10 videos aired since February?!
See Deja Vu, which launched a little over a week ago. It playfully ties the real estate slump to Coldwell Banker's century-long past. Kind of a Cartoon Network feel.
That spot is reinforced by Prediction, which I don't quite get, but which is also kinda Cartoon Networky. Anyway, nice stick-to-itiveness by McKinney/Durham on what I originally thought was a one-hit wonder.
It's been confirmed: vibrating banners can kill. Because no man is safe where the banner ads dwell -- not even if he's the type of man who confuses J-Lo's lips with Angelina's.
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