When future archaeologists unearth the cities of what was once the great empire called America, and they sift through the remains of our civilization looking for the causes of our collapse, this commercial will tell them all they need to know… We had lots of opportunities to save ourselves, but we preferred to party.
Tag: advertising
The Web is a tough place to do business
The economy is in rough shape these days. Nobody’s job seems secure, and no industry is safe, but the Web is an especially hard place to make a living. Startups are scrambling with greater urgency than ever to find the cash to keep going – either in the form of investment (despite the fact that […]
The Republican Ticket
I’ve been off the grid for a couple weeks, backpacking with my brothers. We embarked a day or two after McCain announced his surprising (and IMHO almost surreal) choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate. This, and she, dominated the headlines as we headed into the mountains, and I was hoping the shock and […]
Clever Target Circular
Why do they call these things “circulars?” The word makes me think of my mom, clipping coupons from the Sunday paper for the weekly trip to the Shop-N-Bag. Anyway, this one came in the mail from Target. I usually toss these things right into the recycling bin, but I thought it was pretty clever. I […]
In An Athlete’s Shoes
The big athletic footwear companies have built their marketing campaigns around aspirational themes and creating connections between regular sports hobbyists and elite athletes. If you work hard, if you show character and passion – the message goes – then you are like them. I saw this clip from Nike today, and I think it does […]
Give it up
Back in my agency life, clients were always asking us to create “viral” campaigns that would get the attention of the digital youth. Our inside joke was that there was a simple three part formula… Create a MySpace profile Enlist the Black Eyed Peas (they were especially hot at that time) Put some videos on […]
Stupid product of the week: American (big brand) beer
Have you ever noticed the way American beer commercials emphasize packaging gimmicks? The wide-mouth can. The label that turns blue when it’s cold. The easy-pour vent. The shelf pack that fits better in your fridge. Are there people who peruse the beer aisle thinking, “hmm… you know I really enjoy [favorite microbrew/import], but it pours […]
Measuring the Value of Good Will
In this week’s installment of his ‘Circuits’ column, David Pogue asks, “Are you taking advantage of Web 2.0?” By ‘you’ he means your company, and he describes the response this question got from the attendees at a recent PR conference: “…within seconds, there were 132 responses on the screen in a huge, scrolling list. ‘Not […]
My Favorite Marketing Blogs
I read a lot of blogs, which I organize into a number of categories. One of those categories is marketing, which is a fruitful domain for bloggers. I thought I’d share the list of marketing blogs I find myself reading every day… Blog Maverick – The usually long-winded, sometimes incoherent, but always colorful musings and […]
Stupid product of the week: OJ Insanity
From the image above, you know I’m not talking about the notorious former football great. In case you’re counting, yes, that’s twelve varieties of Tropicana orange juice. Twelve! And that’s not including the orange juice blends (orange-tangerine, orange-pineapple and orange-strawberry-banana). There are varieties to suit various pulp-tolerances of course, but also tastes (low acid) and […]