Just in case you were wondering.

You know that little song Imagine by John Lennon? Well, just in case you were wondering, the piano on which he composed it is sitting in the definition of suburbia: a mall.

Yes, as you stroll through the Northpark mall in Dallas, TX with your 15 year old boyfriend by your side, your eyes can feast upon this legend. It's on loan from Kenny Goss, George Michael's boyfriend.

The lyrics take on a new shade of irony. I'm sure John would be proud.

Here's a little more info by another blogger: HERE.

It'll bust your crank.

And leave skid-marks on your soul.

And that, my friends, is mighty fine copywriting circa 1984. A glorious year for Atari. Pole Position.

Handcuffed by media buys.

And maybe I like it.

I'm not sure how the rest of the world plays, but here in the USandA, we get our pick: :30 or :60. (Unless you're super lucky and land a :15) But maybe I like it that way. You have to be super smart and super quick with your wit. And I think that's a good thing.

Take this ad for instance. It's pretty entertaining, but I could think of about 8 ways to make it a :30 and about 15 ways to make it a :60. And I think it would be a better spot because of it. Not due to my amazingness, but due to simple editing that a chimpanzee could manage. How about you? Could you make it a :15?








Speaking of :15s, here's one that's pretty awesome. Subtle and quick. Nothing overtly stated like "When you drive a Chrysler, you want people to know it." You just figure it out. Nice.

found at advertising for peanuts

Post Secret

Frank Warren is a genius. He simply created a medium where people can anonymously and publicly disclose their fears, hopes, dreams, funny stories, and otherwise crazy secrets. I have the first book sitting on my desk here at work. It serves as inspiration.

It amazes me how some people are able to translate huge secrets with the fewest, yet most impactful (not a word...I know, but still) words and images. Take this one for example:



I find it so nice how the words and visual work so well together. Separate them and they make no sense on their own. You need both to make the whole story in your mind.

You have to think. Just a bit. And it feels good.

Maybe they're good because of Warren's simple instructions for submitting secrets:

Be brief - the fewer words used the better.
Be legible - use big, clear and bold lettering.
Be creative - let the postcard be your canvas.

Perhaps these would make for good guidance when creating things less voyeuristic and interesting. Things like, oh...I don't know...

A follow up to Flip-Wall, I present to you: Flip-Human.

The flip:



The making:

:30s catching you as you internet

So, there's a new place for :30s on the web: right before my CNN video news casts. Typically, they piss me off. Here I am - THIS close to hearing about how Clooney broke his face in a bike accident, and I'm told "hold on for :30s...enjoy this pre-selected, you-fit-the-target ad. Your call is important to us, so please stay on the line."

They usually offer up some sort of Nasonex allergy relief (which I don't need) or some "revolutionary" color printer (which I don't want). But this one hooked me.

It offered up insight and empathy (which I both want and need). Wonder if the writer (presumably from Goodby) was thinking of him/herself when writing this spot?

Truth in Advertising

This was aired at the 2001 Cannes. And from my short stint in the fantasy land of advertising, this is pretty dead on. It may seem a bit harsh, but the thing that makes it more entertaining than bitter is the fact that this is (sometimes) how ad people think and everyone knows it.

It's like how David Letterman is a pretty funny guy. But one thing that makes him real is his ability to make fun of himself. Advertising's personality is such that it can make fun of itself. And it's a better industry to work in because of it.

retro-Mac

A guy purchased an old Mac user manual off eBay and then scanned some pages in for your viewing pleasure.

My favorite? The handy Mac Carry-All. Only the size of a small human. Perfect for your Wizard of Oz, To-To-style bicycle basket.

Life Comes At You Fast - foreign style.

An insurance ad out of Netherlands.

How much is too much...

I saw this when it was just the two ads at the bottom. Someone was impressed that one company played off of the other's billboard and posted it to their blog.

Apparently, since then, there have been a few new comers. The funny thing is, the structures above the first two billboards didn't even exist. They had to build them in order to even post their ads.

It's out of India where (so I'm told) the online air industry is heating up. But really. How much is too much?

I think I was a fan until the one at the very top.

WWF

In keeping with my lazy posts, here's this from WWF. You may have seen it. Made me think of One Show...

Flip-wall animation.

the guy who does it here.

Time to learn some HTML

Or whatever it is those Google kids do.

As per Kelly's request,

some weight.

A picture I actually took while I was actually outside. Of course, this hasn't happened recently, but nonetheless.

Word(s) of the day.

On a recent visual thesaurus exploration of the word "make," this is what I was given. Take note of the upper-left corner entries. Nice.



And on a regular-style-thesaurus exploration for words related to "help," I was given "girl Friday." I had never heard of the term, but it intrigued me.

Curious as to the meaning of its antonym, "man Friday," I looked that up as well.

Try to use each of these in a sentence today. I dare you.

Have you ever been to Chipotle's web-site?

I hadn't until today.

It's pretty unique. And very simple.
Confusing at first. But after that, I liked it.

I liked it a lot.

Check it out.

Go outside.

In the wake of what seems to be a surge of work at 1313 East Main St., a note to all you AdCentarians. Don't o.d. on the computer. (ahem...art directors...)

Peter Wood is watching you. Always.

Man dies after 3-day gaming binge.

Capital One Mascot Challenge.

This is sad. We're only in the lead by a handful of votes. I don't care where you went to school. You can't possibly let an orange ball be the #1 mascot in this week's challenge. So vote. Vote now. Before the voting is over.

Ross.

Here's a guy I admire. He's so positive about his work, and so passionate about it, it's contagious. In a rut this afternoon, I watched the "Royal Majesty" series. It seems to be the only one posted online. This is one of 3 webisodes that complete the whole 30 minute segment.

After watching it, I was rut-free and excited. So many of the things he does are metaphoric for advertising. His finished product doesn't generally stand out to me as being solely a "Ross." In fact, they look like every other painting I've ever seen hanging in an IHOP, Hampton Inn, and early-nineties office building. Not having a unique product could be bad, I guess. But I could sit and watch his process all day.

Every mark he makes I find myself saying, "Oh, way to go Bob. You just ruined the painting you've been laboring over for the past 20 minutes by putting that huge blob in the middle." And then, he turns that huge blob into a beautiful mountain range. Somehow, he morphs it and everything is back on track.

Wish I could have the confidence to throw more blobs around in the hope that they'll morph into something greater than the whole. Rock it out, Bob. Make those trees happy. They sure make me happy.

Walken.

Enough of that advertising crap. Take a look at a different creative field.

This is probably the only music video to have ever made an impression on me. It's just fun to watch.

Well directed.

Well acted.

Well played.

(In my opinion.)

It begs the question, "Is there anything Christopher Walken can't do?"

Visual vs Verbiage

Emotions can be a tough thing to communicate in the space of a commercial. Here are two that I think did a good job of it. One makes you feel it with visuals. The other with a copy-heavy script (and a dash of thinking/humor).

Which is more effective? Who knows.






*and as a side note - Farmer's should really consider a new font. Every time I see this logo, it reads as "HellPoint" to me.

Curious.

Altoids gets a little Skittlesy.



I saw these at the checkout in a CVS. I was curious. But for some reason, I didn't buy them. Wonder what stopped me.

Next time, I'll grab a tin.

Good morning, Monday.

A large cup of liquid energy with 2 advils on the side. [insert breakfast of champions comment here.]

It's gross here. Pouring rain. Crashing thunder. A nice change from the monotony of sunshine and heat. I love storms, so long as they're storms. I can't handle long days of endless gray-skied nothingness.


The only thing that made today's storm horrible was my dog. When he can't hold his bladder any longer (say, after a 7-hour night's sleep) he'll lose all control at the front entrance to our apartment complex. Granted, he's outside...but he's still peeing where everyone walks.

The horrible part is that he runs ahead of me, so he beats me to the door, then there's no one to open it for him, so he squats. In an effort to thwart his urination this morning, I ran toward him to open the door/push him so he'd stop peeing. I put on the breaks as I approached and the rain on the sidewalk combined with my shoes lack of tread made for what appeared to be a slip n' slide. I fell on my ass. Hard.

So he relieved himself, I almost swam in it, and I had 5 minutes to leave for work. Awesome. So my breakfast of choice includes the above mentioned for good reason. Damn dog.

Skittles.

A little belated, but still nice.

American Idol - French style.

I'm always a sucker for a good beatboxer.

Chickens and Suits

It gets boring waiting for things to render. On one waiting-for-things-to-render-at-an-editing-studio-escapade, this turned up.

Yes. You can now get a camou suit for your chicken.

No Smoke. No mirrors.

Hold down the ctrl button, then scroll up with your 2 fingers on the track pad. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. So now you can be 85, relatively blind, and still use a 12 inch Powerbook.

(If you already knew about this...I hate you.)






























two screen shots of the entire screen after zooming.

Oh, Baby, Baby.

How can you tell what a baby doesn't like? They spit it out.

Adults should be allowed to play by the same rules.

QuickTrip

QuickTrip is a convenience store located primarily in the south central region of the US. Given that, I figured most would miss out on this wonderfully simple, somewhat intense spot from Richards:

Richmond.

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday night - and all those who would have if it weren't for their grandmother's 90th birthday (Slate). And sorry to anyone I forgot to call or forewarn.

It was both nice and strange seeing everyone again. I felt like I belonged and I was supposed to stay. Like this was the way I had expected things to be for the next couple of years. The way I had planned it.

It feels odd to think that I've got a whole other life now in Texas. And tomorrow I'll be going back to it. It's a life I didn't plan for. But at the same time, it's a life I look forward to. It's new and exciting and it wouldn't be if I had planned it.

So as I head back to The Lone Star, I want to thank you for making it feel like I never left. It made the drive well worth it.


And although I left my camera in the car while we were at Sine, I did catch this wall art on my way back to Virginia Beach. It says:

Richmond. The images of history shape, provoke, and inspire us. They help us to see who we have been and what we might become.

How appropriate. Interesting placement of the porta-potties.