The most loved and hated socnet du moment is partnering with Crushpad, a company that lets amateurs make, sell, brand and market their own wines -- to produce a Twitter-branded Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
1/4 of the proceeds for the project, dubbed The Fledgling Initiative, go to a nonprofit called Room to Read, which promotes literacy for children in places like Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Zambia and Nepal.
According to Biz Stone and Ev Williams, the partnership's in keeping with their commitment to grow Twitter -- "because if you can't read you can't tweet!"
So there you have it. Ignite a future for the high-profile navel-gazers of tomorrow with your own bottle of Twitter wine, which goes for $20 a pop. Every case sold buys 60 local language books for Room to Read. You can also keep up with The Fledgling Initiative and find ways to get involved by following @fledgling.
With help from Crispin Porter + Bogusky (featuring built-in tweetage from @bogusky hisself!), two intrepid messengers from Brammo are on a mission to present President Obama with the most energy-efficient electric vehicle in America: the Brammo Enertia powercycle.
The pair adds a dash of bloggable epic to the quest by road-trippin' it from Detroit to Washington, DC: the route automotive CEOs took when they made their pilgrimages to beg for bailout aid.
"But instead of seeking aid, were going to present President Obama with a homegrown solution to the transportation crisis," the pair writes gleefully.
To succeed in their quest, dubbed ShockingBarack, they're depending on little more than "the kindness of everyday Americans." Visit the ShockingBarack website to offer them a place to crash, a source that'll help them get in touch with the President or an outlet to fuel their motorbikes. (They promise to reimburse you the $0.30 it takes to charge them.)
If you lack the inclination or the geographic convenience to do either, follow the journey. The latest video -- where they visit the Mayor of Adrian bearing a peace offering of donuts -- appears below.
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Say hello to "My Home is Like Hell," a campaign that encourages the intrepid to move if their current residence feels anything like eternal damnation.
The effort is for Vlanimmo.be, a Belgian firm that specializes in helping users find new homes either to buy or rent. Agency Cherry and Cake plans to produce four videos that feature an actual home in hell, and the unhappy protagonist Matt Demon, whose Facebook and Twitter you can follow if you don't have enough fictional friends.
See Episode 1 in English below; Episode 2 follows but is only available in French.
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"Okay dancers, show me 'crazy with happiness'!"
You gotta love whatever comes after a statement like that.
"Kinderkreis," a universe constructed for Gushers video "Danse Gooshers," is a fictional TV show where occasionally uncomfortable-looking German kids are offered a product. Then they tell the host how they feel about it -- think "crazy with happiness!" -- and a series of spandex-ensconced interpretive dancers pump out that sentiment to the best of their abilities.
Watch orange man go ballistic. He's feeling it! But for a real thrill, wait until the dancers are greenscreened in with the faces of inexplicably delighted children.
We ask you -- what on the internet is better than this? Curious work by Publicis Modem.
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We'd like to offer praise to Ralph Lauren. Recently they created an amazing ad featuring model Filippa Hamilton. She's really skinny and all...which is really cool cuz, ya know, that's who fashion brands design for. In Ralph Lauren's world, everyone's a size zero and all women have waists smaller than their heads.
Seriously. This is one of the best ads in the fashion space right now. We've never seen anything like it. It captures perfectly the Ralph Lauren brand and does a razor sharp job of targeting the brand's likely prospects. Sales will, no doubt, skyrocket as a result of this ad.
Kudos, Ralph Lauren. We really can't understand why anyone would actually complain about this ad. This approach is radical. This is cutting edge. This is award winning. You should be very proud of yourself, Ralph. And don't listen to those nasty detractors. They're just messing with the picture perfect world in which we marketing types love to live.
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Of Ford's new Drive One commercials, The Ford Story blog tells us "The comments are as real as the people who made them. They are not scripted. In fact, these people didn't know that it was Ford filming them, or that they would be used in commercials. That's the only way to get genuine opinions, and that's how these were produced."
The campaign, in which Ford owners tell the camera what they like so much about their vehicles, breaks October 12. You can view eight of the commercials here.
Ford does seem to be fairing much better than GM. Will these spots help?
- The Michelin Man is getting makeover. He's transforming into a "tire-chucking superhero." OK, then.
- WONGDOODY: The company, along with a few lucky staffers, will be featured on next week's Oct. 14 episode of "America's Next Top Model" as part of a "challenge" experienced by the season's petite models.
- Ooo. Ooo. Here's a good one from a reader: Bridge Worldwide, an ad agency in Ohio, is having employees spend the day selling the CMO's new book, Marketing With Meaning. They've sent my company four unsolicited emails about it, in addition to spamming social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter. Marketing With Meaning? I don't think these people understand what irony is.
- This is what those New York creatives who charge $750 per hour do with the money.
- Outside Magazine enters the world of Harry Potter moving media.
- Check out Milkquarious. It's about a rock idol, White Gold, who swears by the power of milk for strong bones, hair, teeth and nails.
- Yellow Pages guerrilla marketing campaign hits the target.
We're already over a week late on this but...Starbucks recently launched its new VIA product yesterday. For those of you living in a coffee vacuum VIA is Starbucks' answer to the one shot coffee pod trend in home brewing. The brand is touting the offering as being so good "you won't be able to tell the difference between Starbucks VIA and our brewed coffee."
Um what? Isn't this completely counter to the brand Starbucks? Hello? Starbucks? We visit your stores for the highest quality brewed coffee. We happily pay a little extra for your unique ability to make that great cup of coffee a cup we CAN'T get elsewhere. Your outstanding personal service (most of the time). And sometimes the ambiance. We WANT to taste the difference.
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Ford evangelist Scott Monty's sent us some stats on the progress of Ford's Fiesta Movement, whereby 100 social "agents" drive around the country in Euro-spec Fiestas and complete appealing monthly missions related to volunteerism, adventure, style and design.
The results of the missions are broadcast on YouTube, flickr, Facebook and Twitter.
According to Monty et al., brand awareness for the Fiesta has risen to the equivalent of models that have been on the market for two to three years.
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For client UPS, agency Doner and production firm Psyop imagine a helpless protagonist braving the challenges of a cardboard world to meet a deadline. The ability to print remotely liberates him in the end.
The imagery is inspired but the ad suffers from mediocrity of narrative and a weak message. Next!
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