How to take a potentially negative brand attribute and make it a plus.

Tom Bodett (the familiar "voice of Motel 6") featured on AdAge. Not that exciting, but some how it works.

Reunion.

I'll be in:

Virginia Beach fridayAUG31 - tuesdaySEPT4*
*Richmond Saturday eve.

Don't be like this.

Hey, I know!

Let's drive out to The Middle of Nowhere, TX, wake up at 5am, and go for a 100 mile bike-ride in the dead of summer. Ok!

Actually, it was a lot of fun. It's called the "Hotter N' Hell Hundred." The 100 miles took us a little over 8 hours. The "race" started at 7:09am and you had to make it to 60 miles before 12:30pm. Otherwise this thing called "Hell's Gate" closes and you're escorted to the loser's circle. We, fortunately, made it with about 45 minutes to spare.

A bunch of quality experiences were had, including, but not limited to the following: a stay at a Motel 6 (the only hotel that wasn't booked in this rural town), over 10,000 bikers in a town with a population of 10,000, 3 solid meals at IHOP, and some killer sunburn lines.

Gphone. Uhm, what?

Sounds cool. But why must we continue putting single letters in front of real words? So played.

I <3 Kohler's advert-asments.

They tell stories.

Each as original as its predecessor.

These are not ads for toilets. And they're awesome because of it.

Go Team.

Fake.

I was perusing trendhunter.com and came across an article about fake things. The story was really about how people are buying fake sunroof stickers to adhere to the tops of their cars, adding a touch of, oh...I don't know, "class" to their otherwise formidable vehicles.


Pretty intense. The article also contained a few other interesting fakes. Here's a couple of them:

A Papa Johns guerrilla tactic. Pretty cool, I thought. But then again, this might not be practical. My current residence doesn't have a peep hole. The last few that I've lived in have had them, but I'm not sure I ever used them.






So if not practical, maybe just limiting. Your target becomes defined by peep-holes.






This gem was about how a regular guy tricked a national magazine to run his ad for a global fashion product with little effort. It begs the question, "do we really need media planners?"


From trendhunter.com:

So how do you go about ripping-off Gucci & a national magazine publication for $50,000? Number One: You call up a huge Swiss media magazine that is not too keen in the fact-checking department. Number two: You tell them you want your Gucci two page spread featured in their magazine. Number three: Once they agree to publish it, you direct them to send the bill to Gucci. Number four: After publication, sit back and enjoy the fall-out when both companies realize they’ve been had. Number five: Make sure to buy copies for everyone you know, because your 15 minutes of fame is already half over!

There's more Richmond in Dallas than Richmond in Richmond.

Some streets around my house/on my way to work.

There will be more people at your funeral because of FaceBook.

Mark my words.

With the rise of non-personal forms of communication, people became concerned about the potential of losing a human connection. I'm finding just the opposite. When a friend of mine from high school (who has found herself in Dublin) can keep in touch with me via Facebook, I think I've actually gained some human connection.

There's no way I'd be able to keep in touch with friends from high school if I were transported back in time. Letters? Who has time for that? And even if we did, how would we know where to send them. People move every half-second. I don't even own an address book anymore.

But at any given moment, anyone with an internet connection can not only find me, but can correspond with me. Because of Facebook (and blogs, etc.), people get to follow the story of my life and I get to follow theirs. It's like the common-man's media source.

I know more people and more people know me because of Facebook. And while at times I wish its trendyness and clicheness would subside, I can't help but thank it for making me a mini-celebrity in my own little world. More friends will remember my birthday, more friends will know when I've moved, more friends will know when I pop out kids, and more friends will know when I've died.

Feast on my ironies.

This goes out to all the art directors in the audience. I've been asked to concept ideas for a food product called "Funnelz" (formerly known as Twizterz). Hmmm. What might that entail? Any thoughts?

The Thing I Learned in College

I was sitting in the foyer of my Psychology building in undergrad just after my final exam. It was actually my final, final exam in Psychology. I'd have my degree in 2 weeks. My brain hurt.

I had studied and crammed all the Freudian crap I could bare. And finally, it was done. As I let my brain melt back to the original mush it was before, I watched people using the vending machines across from me.

I found it amusing because one of the machines was rejecting dollar bills left and right. What a picky machine. But it made for good entertainment. One after another, hungry snackers were shunned from this fickle keeper of treats. They'd try several times to get their dollar to gain acceptance, but no! No bill was good enough.

Three or four people had fought with the machine and walked away empty handed when another contender arrived. After inserting his bill, he soon realized the fate of those before him. But then, he had an idea. A simple one at that.

He went to the machine next to the fickle one, inserted his bill (this one was less OCD and took his bill on the first pass), then punched the "refund" button. Out billowed 4 premium quarters. Quarters which the fickle-bill machine gladly accepted in place of the wrinkled note. What a great idea.

Right there in front of everyone was a currency-converter. Only problem was, they saw it as just another vending machine.

The thing I learned in college: never underestimate the education you receive by simply observing. It was worth more than a degree in Psychology (or Marketing).

I met Texas today

And he was nice. Ruuul nice.

I love camera phones.

Texas looks better in the 70's

Old school, new school style

Cool product by Maped. You sharpen your pencil and once it's good and pointy, this button pops up to let you know, "stop sharpening me. I'm done."

Dear First Years,

No one will do it for you.

For some reason, us 2nd years are obligated to impart some token of knowledge on you before you cross the threshold of 1313 E. Main. For me, that's it. That's my one piece of advice; No one will do it for you.

And I guess that's not as much advice as it is a warning.

When I was younger, my favorite phrase was "I do it myself." Grammatical challenges aside (I was 3 at the time), this was my mantra. My mom would ask if she could help me tie my shoes and I would kindly retort, "I do it myself." My dad would ask if I needed help getting out of the car. "I do it myself!"

For some reason, my parents were constantly coming to my aid when, clearly, my 3-year-old-self didn't need it. It didn't matter that I had no idea how to tie my shoes or that the jump from our truck to the pavement was a bit risky. I was sure that I could do it myself.

20 years later and I can tie my shoes just fine. The jump out of the car has turned into a manageable hop. And I'm still learning to do things by doing them myself.

No one will take your place at 3am when you're preparing a presentation due in a few hours time. No one will provide you with those 20 extra ideas to post on the wall for Coz. No one will defend your ad for you. No one will make the ads for you.

And they shouldn't.

If there's a principal that this school is founded on, it's that of 'learning by doing.' So I say unto you, dear first years, no one will do it for you. So do it yourself.

Wholesome Culottes.

What ever happened to corsets? To under-skirts? To modesty?

Now, I have someone to turn to. Someone who meets my wholesome needs. Thank you wholesomewear.com!

Thank you for fulfilling my dream of having as much clothing on as possible, while still technically wearing a swim suit. You've made it easy to be a modern day, modest woman.

Childhood fantacies realized via the magic of Advertising.

So I go to this editing house on a weekly basis to edit stupid grocery store commercials. (Not the same editing house mentioned before, and not the same grocery store - yes, there are two grocery stores that I work for).

This one has a tricky name, and in fact, it may have had many of you confused and wondering if I had surgery this summer. It's called PostOp. And, no. I have not had a nose job (Buker).

On my first outing to PostOp, all I knew is that we'd be recording a voice over talent for these weekly specials for a grocery store chain in Texas. You know the lines, "This week at your _amazing g-store___, get NY strip steak, just $3.97/lb...etc, etc, etc..." Yes, someone actually writes that stuff.

I was in charge of shortening copy if it didn't meet the time restrictions, or re-wording on the fly if something didn't work. They call it "directing the talent." Though, I find that to be a lofty term. And a scary one. Especially considering I had never "directed talent" aside from maybe my dog in home videos.

So I pulled up to this rather unsuspecting shop in an upscale part of Downtown Dallas. But when I walked in, I was greeted by what appeared to be an ad agency. There were exposed ceilings, brightly colored walls, and there wasn't a flourescent bulb in sight. It was refreshing given the drab, bank-like surroundings of Richards.

As we were walking upstairs to start the recording session, my art director who had done this a few times before, told me that the voice talent we use is Kath Soucie.


me: "Ok, who's that?"

a.d.: "She's the voice of Phil and Lil from the Rugrats."

me (inside head): "Whaeoihfldkjeaaat? I am going to be directing the same voice that I listened to, googly-eyed, as a child? I'll be telling her what to say? That's the talent I'll be directing?"

me (for real): "Oh. Cool."

So the recording went on and was uneventful, as most of them are. I've been going for the past 3 or 4 weeks now and have directed the Voice Of My Childhood each time. What I've found out? She's a pretty laid back gal from Ohio and 4 of her past 5 most recent boyfriends were black belts in karate, just by coincidence. She didn't seek them out. Amazing.

More About PostOp:

The Frosted Sugar Cookie and Root Beer
one of the many free perks at editing houses
last week, it was a margarita and salsa
The Sweet Pad we hang out in / watch the final spots
on the tube in front of us for last-minute revisions
A few tables in the "Kitchenette" upstairs
Your choice of candy...
...or if you aren't into candy, have a power bar,
a beer, or a shot of Cointreau. Your call.
The Studio where we record Kath / play it back
Awesome fish tank
Oscar, the awesome fish in the awesome tank.
Check out the white stuff in his mouth - kind of like
teeth, but just a solid-jaw-like-row of chompers.
Perhaps a colorful game of chess while a creepy kid watches you...

Problem solved.

While I realize that Band-Aids are but a brand, I've always wondered what to call Band-Aids, except...well, Band-Aids. My life-long quandary was solved on a coffee run this morning. When what to my wondering eyes should appear, but "Plastic Strips."

So there it is. If you've ever wondered.

Plastic Strips.

This is why I'm hot.

Simple forecast.