Happy St. Patrick's Day

This makes my second St. Patrick's Day/weekend in Dallas. But really my first time actually experiencing it. Dallas does St. Patrick's Day pretty well. In fact, Dallas does most things well when they involve copious amounts of drinking.

Greenville is a "main drag" of sorts. Laid out in view of the downtown skyline, Greenville Avenue is located in East Dallas. It's a trendy part of town, I guess. It's got a lot of open-air restaurants and a bunch of bars. And on the Saturday before St. Patrick's day, it has a lot of drunk people dressed in green.

The beginning of Greenville Avenue.

Instead of dealing with the traffic which would include a parade at some point, the Boy and I decided to hike it to an Irish pub bike-style. It was a pub way off the main road. But it was still packed. I mean, it would almost be cliched for an Irish pub NOT to be packed on St. Patrick's Day/weekend....right?


It was a beautiful day and on the way we saw many things. Including a Weimaraner rescue tent with a bunch of Weims up for adoption. As some of you might know, we own one of these monsters and love him a lot. Too bad he was at home.


We finally made it to Trinity Hall. One of the primary reasons we went is because the Boy is really into soccer...or, er, ...football. And this particular pub plays some games that Fox Soccer Channel does not. We only have FSC, so hence the delima. His favorite team was playing on the OTHER soccer channel, so we had to go to the pub. Fine with me.





What better way to welcome the Irish holiday than with a basket of Fish and Chips and a cold Guinness to wash it down? Well, I think of none. So that's what I did. It was good bike-pedaling-fuel, but it was definitely pub food. So were the Bangers and Mash that the Boy ate only half of.



So here's to being eco-friendly by riding a bike, here's to the Irish blood in me somewhere (even if it's only 1/100th), and here's to the only excuse on the planet to drink green beer.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

An idea, or song, can usually be made better.

Even if it's just in the way it's presented. What's the difference between just doing something and putting your heart into it?
I would say it'd be the difference between just singing a song and this:





This is Halllelujah. A song first done by Leonard Cohen, then made more popular by Jeff Buckley (here's his recorded version). Here's Leonard's version. Watch and see if you get an idea why Jeff's made it more popular.




My thought? If you're really into something. If you convince yourself it's amazing. If you make it give you goose bumps. It'll be a lot easier to convince someone else it's awesome too.

Nice use of insight: Kia

Burger Review: What-a-burger

#1 Whataburger with cheese
Regular size
Fries
Dr. Pepper

So this makes the 2nd in my series of burger tests around Dallas. I'm heading to burger joints that I've never been to. Many of them only found in the southwest.

Today I found myself at What-a-burger. And if there was one thing prevalent at this place, it was branding. Big, bright, orange and blue branding. Can you think of any other company that uses orange and blue? Me either.


It's hard to miss these guys with the standard collection of fast-food signage that collages the sky. So up I drove and a burger I ate.


Maybe I should've belted it?

This one cost me a couple of bucks more than the Jack In The Box meal. I can only attribute that to the burger's larger size. But there was also a drawback to its size - the bun was equally large, if not larger than the burger itself. Most of my bites were more bread than burger. Bad news.

This burger was decent. It reminded me a lot of a Sonic burger. A large, round, thin pattie.

One thing I did like about this sandwich was that they only use mustard. No mayo. Made it kind of signature and cut down on the fat/calories. They also used chopped onions instead of rings. And there were three whole slices of tomatoes on there. Three! That may have also contributed to the higher cost.


The unfortunate thing was that one of the tomatoes escaped and made love to my dog-hair-covered floor. So, sadly, it was relegated to the trash along with a few onions. The remainder of my meal, I ate directly over the table.

The fries were good. They were the typical American-style thin strings. They reminded me of crispier version of Mccy D's fries.

What-a-burger also seems to be rolling with a "made to order" theme. Their bag asks "What don't you want on that?" It took a while as I waited at the window for my meal to arrive. Perhaps they were busy making it fresh. Or maybe they were just making me wait to think that.

Overall rating: B+

Up next: Carl's Jr., Hardee's southwestern sister

The Rubik's Magic that taunted my childhood

Just in case the pictures didn't do it for ya.

Burger Review: Jack In The Box

#8 Jumbo Jack with cheese
Small
Regular Fries
Dr. Pepper



This burger was good. But nothing spectacular. It was like a smaller version of the Whopper. (As I remember the Whopper from the last time I had it - about 8 years ago.) And a decent overall drive-thru experience for my first trip to the establishment.


The condiments were kept to a minimum. There was just one turd of mayo that squirted out the whole time. The buns were toasted which was nice. And I guess it tasted like it wasn't made until I ordered it. A theme JITB seems to be rolling with.


The fries were cool. They looked like real steak fries. With a little potato skin on them and everything. But some were flimsy and felt like fast food style fries. Which I guess is what they are.


I guess I'll go back here. But probably not in the near future. Unless I find myself starving at 4am some random Friday evening. (They're opened 24 hours then.)

Overall Rating: B+

Up next: What-a-burger

And PS

It's spring break so I expect all you brandcenter fools to update your blogs.

All of you!

(And although Buker has gross misspellings and misuse of words, she at least maintains her blog with some interesting stuff. We should all be so diligent (or so ADD). Nice work.)

Did you have one of these as a kid?

For the longest time I've had this recurring flash-back to a toy from my childhood. Sometimes certain colors would trigger it. Or a shape that I saw would bring it back to memory. But I could only remember that there was some thing from my childhood that these images were reminding me of. But I could never be sure exactly what it was.

It was like a vivid dream that you try to remember the next morning and you just can't. You know the feel of the dream, but you just can't remember what exactly happened in it.

I felt like it had to be a toy of some sort. Because for some reason, any time I had this flash-back, it would feel like Christmas. So I can remember that this mystery toy was a Christmas gift, but I can't remember what the thing itself is.

It was maddening. Like a thought that pops into your head. A good thought. And then not a second later, you've forgotten it.

Well, I finally figured it out. After probably 4 or so years of these flash-backs, I've remembered what it was that I was trying to remember: A Rubik's Magic Rings toy.

After getting into this Rubik's cube phase a few months ago, I stumbled onto a website that sold various and sundry products of the Rubik's brand. And lo-and-behold. As soon as I saw it, I knew that's what I had been trying to recall. But I had to be certain. So I ordered one.


Sure enough, it's the one. It twists and folds into all sorts of shapes. It's kind of like a plastic brochure or map. You're supposed to mess up the ring formation and then try to solve it as if it were a puzzle, but I just like to move it around into different shapes. It's what I did as a kid and there's something nostalgic about those shapes I would make.

This particular part of the rings is what I remembered most - the red part.


Nostalgia is a powerful thing. I paid about $20 to ship this thing over here from China because it was nowhere to be found State-side. $20 bucks! For shipping! That's ridiculous. But it was lure of nostalgia that got me. (And that nagging flash-back thing.)

Wow. That was a pointless post.

And another of the niece

As requested

A puppy post. And his full range of tricks.

Dear Global Warming,

Thanks for the snow yesterday.

It was fun.

Especially when it canceled my flights to Miami.

Love,

Dallas

Should've known better.

I just got dinged for making a war reference in a radio spot for a rather large retailer of home improvement goods.

Should've known better.

Sing it, Irving

No truer words have been spoken.

(Ok, maybe they have.)

Back, Jack

Sooo, work got busy. Oops.
Then I got sick. Ooops.

So my apologies to the loyal legions of readers who have been disappointed by my lack of posting.

Wait. What am I saying?

Here's something mildly amusing to stimulate you on this Thursday afternoon:

The recession has hit my brain

more posts to come.

Banksy Revealed. Sort of.

Cuber Culture

The more I delve into this crazy world of "cubing" the more I'm simultaneously scared and allured.

Like the flush of the toilet, I'm being sucked in.

But I still find solace that I have a ways to go before this:

Let me borrow that top

Another in a series from Liam Sullivan's comedic surge. "Let me Borrow That Top" follows "Shoes" - one of his first posts that made it to YouTube's top 10 most viewed of 2007 with over 18 million views.

The notable difference in this video is the appearance of celebrities. Seems like his wave of success is gaining momentum.

So, any 'viral' tips/tricks/formulas to be learned by Liam? Probably. But I wouldn't want to ruin the after-glow.

You can find all his songs on iTunes. And thanks to David Southerland for showing me "Shoes" last year and helping co-write "Let's make some ads". It changed my life.

(* many of Liam's music videos are prefaced by a little sketch comedy that sets it up. This one, I think, is worth watching.)

Jay-Z is dilluting his brand

by getting into branding.

Someone should start a campaign, slogan: "Jay-Z for Everything"

I haven't really weighed all the options, but I'm pretty sure this idea stinks.

Brands and things

So AdAge posted these brands as the top 50, indicating that in the world of branding, they did something right.

Take a look. If nothing else, it's a good place to find brands to do spec work for. Clearly, they've already got a great product.

(I would add farecast.com to that list.)

The 6th dimension: an ad ranting about ads

Craigslist, Antique Pianos, and Treadmills

Too bad I don't own a treadmill or that piano would be sitting in my bedroom.

A post for Jason

Visit

$1 Book Project

This site was set up to bring to life the dependence currency has on time and location.

Visitors are encouraged to submit pictures of items that they purchased for $1 US dollar. No more, no less.

It's a simple project that captures how the worth of items vary across the globe. Hopefully it'll capture some perspective along the way.

Here are some cool examples:





If you have an interesting one, submit.

Personal (Rubik's Cube) Jesus and Animation

Firebrand, the answer to TiVo?

I've been watching a good deal of Cops and Ninja Warrior (haven't seen it? you're missing out) on G4 lately. And in between the car chases, pavement tackles, and 'ninja killers' there's been this spot running that's promoting Super Bowl advertising brands. (Which is funny because many of the icons they show don't run Super Bowl spots).




So what is it?

This might help to explain:





The answer to TiVo? I don't know.






If you think about it, TiVo has created quite a conundrum for itself. On the one hand, it has been charged responsible for the demise of the traditional :30 spot, but on the other hand, it needs to advertise itself. Tricky trick.

I say, they aren't responsible for advertising's demise, but simply responsible for being a catalyst for change. And I don't think that's such a bad thing.

As long as there are brands, there will be demand for a means to promote it. It might not be called advertising anymore, but it's definitely something. Brandvertising?

On Focus Groups

Meant to post this a while back.
oops.

Tag. You're it.

Movie Trailer Makers

In many ways face the same issues we do as advertisers. When I was at AdCenter/BrandCenter/the VCU Ad Grad School thing, we even had a few very interesting speakers on the subject.

They have to condense what should be a longer story
into an unnatural :30 or :60.

They can't give too much away,
but have to give enough away to pique interest.

And they have to stand out in a sea of other options movie-goers might have.

Here are a few of my favorites-


Let the pictures tell the story:




Let the words tell the story:




Let the guy tell the story (in a different way):





I was just thinking the other day about the "movie-guy" voice over. The pros and the cons of him.

On the one hand, as soon as you hear his voice your brain automatically realizes (without much thinking) that you're probably listening to a movie trailer. That's good, right? It's a quasi-brand association. It distinguishes them from the Swiffer spot that just came on and subversively tells the listener "hey! you wanted to see that new movie, right? here it is. check it out."

But on the other hand, every other movie trailer uses that VO.

So it distinguishes you and makes you the same all in one VO. So good or bad? I don't know.

Thoughts?

Rubik's Cube Art

There's something about the Rubik's cube. Maybe it's the symmetry of it all. Or the bright, basic colors. Whatever it is, I've come to appreciated it for some reason these past few weeks.

I had one growing up but never really learned to solve it. I could usually get a side or two before it infuriated me and I moved on to something else. Who knows what happened to that cube. But just before Christmas a few weeks ago I got a brand new shiny one.

I was at a Walgreens in Plano buying a star for my Christmas tree when it caught my eye. It was hanging by the register - one of those last-ditch attempts to get you to buy something on your way out. I was feeling nostalgic so I grabbed it and added it to my tab. This time, I was bent on learning how to solve it.

I knew there were formulas to get cubes to move around the way you wanted them to, so I checked the ever-so-handy resource, YouTube and found this. (And a bunch of links to 3 year olds solving the cube in about 30 seconds - made me feel good.)



A few days later, I got it. It's a great time pass and makes you look smart in front of those who can't solve it. Which is dumb because really, anyone can solve it.

I began wishing I had hundreds of them so they could be stacked side by side and made into an image or some sort of art installation. So I used the other-ever-so-handy resource, Google and found this.



And I'm sure there's hundreds like it. So many interesting things can be done with this cube. For me, it was interesting even before I knew how to solve it.

It has a certain intrigue I don't know how to define. And it seems to have created a whole culture that's just as unique.

(And all this without any advertising of note, and THIS is their website. Man. Good thing they have a good product.)

Though it did appear in this Monster.com Flash on their home page. This guy must work in advertising.

New Six Sided Obsession

Chipmunks are fun

Especially when they do covers for over-played-on-the-radio songs.

Go to the iTunes store and check out #95 on the "top songs" for a laugh.

Congratulations, Slingshot

You just hired one of the few remaining creatives in the industry.

It's hard to keep thinking there are such things as unicorns when so many times you're told "no." It's easy enough to settle for a real and tangible horse after such rejection. But here's a guy who turns a deaf ear to the No-ers and the Shushers and anyone else who doesn't want to hear his off-the-wall theories on modern-day branding.

He's the one who, despite everything and everyone, will continue to believe that unicorns exist and the ad industry will be better because of it. He's the one who refuses to become another cynic-casualty of the advertising industry. The one who just won't settle for a horse when he knows there are unicorns to be had.

It's high time we all took a walk in a field.

Welcome to Dallas, Mr. Wood.

Godolution.

A church on Greenville Avenue in Dallas, TX with a quick wit.

Response: Amen.

Every State is in a Sad State.

So there's 12 days till February 3. The day my little experiment in blogging is over. It marks the 31st, and last day hits will be counted from this site. It's all in an effort to get at least 1 person from each of our wonderous 50 states to hit everystate.blogspot.com before time has expired.

So, if you could, click on any of the links I've subversively placed throughout this post. There's no time requirement, so if you simply click on any of the links herein and X out of the window, it still counts! Amazing? I know.

Then maybe you could forward it using Super Wall or MySpace or an old fashioned email with threats of "something bad will happen to you if you don't send this to 50 people in the next 5 minutes." Or if you're into sending "positive messages," you can simply say "you will find your true love within 5 minutes of sending this to 5,000 people."

And if nothing else, you'll benefit from the recently added feature: a-poem-a-day.

Good luck, and thanks for playing.

Love,
The Management

What's in a (last) name?

A lot. Always. But especially if your father is a religious zealot who's out to teach the world a lesson.

Exhibit A: Omar bin Laden. Osama's baby boy who now resides in Egypt and is having a hard time finding sponsors for a multi-month horse race in the name of peace because his last name seems to conjure up everything BUT the thought of peace.

Uh oh. Sounds like a rebranding assignment. Or at least this article from CNN seems to think:



But I'm not sure it's that complicated. Imagine if someone whose last name represents pure-evil wanted to change things for the better. In my mind, the best person to champion the opposite of what some brand/name/thing stands for, is the brand/name/thing itself.

It's like The Grinch. Perhaps his father's heart is 2 sizes too small, but maybe Omar will find the strength of 10 bin Laden's times 2.





*on a slightly unrelated note, I'm a tad disappointed in CNN's recent decision to become Star magazine. Since when does "UFO images, stories swapped by Texans" constitute a real story?

It may be a new year

But these spots never get old.








For fear that it might crash my site, here's the link instead of the embedded MacWorld 2008 Keynote Presentation.

Concepts, box set

In case you're running out of concepts, don't worry. Frank Sinatra is selling them on itunes.

Phew.

Dallas comes with pre-photoshopped skies.

I like alcoholic beverages.

And sometimes, I like ads for them.

I'm a pretty big, to moderately huge fan of The Most Interesting Man in the World campaign. It's possibly the most irrelevant, relevant ad of modern times. Nice work Dos Equis. XX.






And although I'd never drink it because hard liquor now conjures up bad memories of Prom night, Ketel One ads are another favorite of mine. The simple one-liners are thought provoking and reek of that pungent fragrance, "Brand Essence." If only your product were as delicious as your advertising.

Good ads like these generally don't need explanations, but since it's out of context, here's a little background: This Kettle One ad is a 1page magazine ad. It's completely white, except for the type. So it's intuitive that you'd be on "this page" as you read the double entendre "seems like we're on the same page..." get it? eh?

Paint Semantics

Just in case you'd like the soothing effects of a smog-ridden city in your very own home, you can throw a little "Mexico City Yellow" on the walls and call it a day.

Who let this one slip? Or better yet, who got this one approved? I want him/her on my account team.

Way to go Ralph Lauren. Naming a paint color after a polluted city suffering severely from the effects of a depleting o-zone can now be crossed of the world's to-do list.

[the Indian version of] Super Man and Spider Woman are at it again.

ever.

R.I.P. VCU AdCenter

They say change is coming. Change is certain, they say. And I guess they're right.

Bye-bye, farewell, adieu VCU AdCenter. I'm glad I got to know you. If only for a short time.

Vote

As the '08 campaigns roll out in the northeast, take a moment to remember how it were.

A brief, drunken, history:

iDead

Apparently there's been a large number of iPod related pedestrian deaths in Australia. People listening to iPods (or any other head-phone-utilizing devices) are less likely to pay attention to or hear on-coming traffic. It's what prompted the NSW Police to launch a campaign to increase awareness of the issue.

Driving to work, I see a lot of people on bikes with headphones on. That seems to be an even bigger risk. So whether you're walking, biking, or sitting idly at your desk, be careful when you iPod.

Not sure of the agency, but pretty clever (and morbid and would never been done in the US. Thank God for Aussies).

Agency Sites.

You may have noticed in the right side-bar of this site that a few agencies have been noted for their exceptional efforts in creating top notch websites. For themselves.

Often times it seems agencies forget that they have to pimp themselves. Not just the fascinating array of brands that they represent.

Here's how an up and coming British agency called Nonsense is doing it - People's choice style.


They started-up in January '07 and by Fall '07 still didn't have a website. So in October of '07, they briefed themselves, came up with 3 concepts and posted them to the web, asking those who visited hightimewehadawebsite.co.uk to vote which idea they liked best.

Voting ended on Nov. 1, 2007 but I think it's still worth paying the site a visit. You can still view short video presentations of each of the 3 concepts (narrated by a fast-talking British accent) and you can track the site's progress by linking to their blog.

And besides, it'll give you a chance to practice your Cockney accent.

Shop by color.

That's right. If you're hard pressed on deciding what to buy, base your decision on color. It seems kitchens have become so colorful that shopping by color is now a viable option.

Need a pink mixer? No prob. A red microwave? Done.

The boring kitchen of yesteryear with it's white fridge, black coffee-maker, and chrome toaster has just expired.

Thank you, Target.

Pun

Donald Duck: "Well what do ya know? Square roots!"

I know, I know. A pun. Boooo, hiisssssssss. But I laughed.

Damn it.

At the risk of sounding completely moronic (which is how I preface most of my thoughts), I think this pun is ok. Why? Because it is a completely unique way of visually and literally representing the mathematical terminology we've all come to love: the "square root."

It' funny when Donald Duck says it, but I'm not sure it'd be the same if Texas Instruments said it. I don't know.

*thanks for the link to the video for other purposes from Makin' Ads.

Human Tetris

Hit That.

A few months ago I added code to this website to track my visitors. Don't be afraid. That first sentence makes it sound like I know more than I actually do. But as a copywriter, that's my job - it's an illooosion.

I have no idea what html stands for, but Google made it simple enough to attach a few scrambled words of nonsense to the end of my blogger template so I could see how many people visit my site each day and where they're from. That's about the extent of it.

I've had a few hits from crazy places like Pakistan and even crazier places like New Jersey. And there's something exciting about seeing all those little states fill up like patchy grass in a sun-scorched lawn.

That gave me an idea to start a new site, Every State. It's got the simple goal of trying to get at least one person from each state in the US to hit the site within one month's time. A screen shot of the hit map will be posted each day and hopefully the patchy grass will become a lush lawn in 31 days.

With many of my friends on break from ad grad school all across the country (and one even heading to Hawaii - ca-ching) I figured this was an opportune time to solicit participation.

So I guess this constitutes shameless self promotion on my own site. Nice.