Trueblood Promo Fortifies Citizens Against Vamps

Clever Trueblood promotion straight outta Auckland, New Zealand. I like the idea of having stakes close at hand ... but won't these armaments undermine the benign vampires' ongoing battle for suffrage?

Mixed messages, man.

Wow. We've Come a Long Way from the FanFic* Days.

The other day we came across this banner ad for IMVU. The story should be easy enough to figure out: two hot avatars meet, and hey, one thing leads to another. "Live the lifestyle you've always dreamed of," the piece concludes, followed by IMVU's standard CTA: "Meet new people."

We were pretty incredulous about this "lifestyle you've always dreamed of" crap, but then we thought, hey, being sexy and promiscuous in a virtual world is probably infinitely safer than doing it in the Ritz bathroom. Anyway, since then we've seen a couple of other IMVU ads that better illustrate what IMVU means when it says dreamed of.

Fall in love like the first time, engage in girl-on-girl recreation -- or, hell, play Twilight without all the chaste overtones. That shit's creepy though.

It probably bears mentioning, however, that when it comes time for all the meat-rubbing, you still won't actually be your avatar. And you'll still be all alone.

more »

On Heels of Nike, Waking Life

Shots Mag draws our attention to Wieden + Kennedy's "The Light" for Nike. It's one of those soul-of-the-run spots: all about the breath, the pace, the solitude of the sport and the community it simultaneously sparks.

You get the sense that runners inhabit a part of space/time that the rest of Suburbia's completely unaware of.

More intense and less playful than 72andSunny's "Men vs. Women." Classic Nike though.

more »

Delirium Brings the Mother Out in Nature

Timberland's "Delirium" compares buying nature-friendly shoes to a scenario in which a dire-straits castaway is rescued by nature herself. It's stirring material, particularly if you found a certain film, involving Tom Hanks and a volleyball, emotionally resonant.

Maybe a little heavy for a shoe label, but hey: if we can take a sentimental education from Coke, no harm in getting emo-schooled by Timbo.

By Leagas Delaney.

more »

Brand Equity in the Age of UGC: "Hey Dude, Don't Be a Dick"

In the SXSW 2009 session "How to Protect Your Brand Without Being a Jerk," panelists cautioned brands to police trademark violation while still protecting PR by practicing flexibility and communication when it comes to new media law.

In the age of user-generated content, sharing, remixing, mashing-up, and even simply referring to copyrighted content has landed both brands and users in a world of hurt.

What panelists called a "folk understanding" of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act and traditional media law have given rise to large-corporate paranoia in the gray areas of new media content publication. Misunderstandings of Internet culture as well as trademark infringement have lead to heavy-handed policing of content and trademark use, often leading to online PR debacles.

"You become known as the brand that sues," said panelist Oren Bitan of HIQI Media.

more »