To promote its MSN toolbar -- "Jet fuel for procrastinators!" -- Microsoft launched Start Procrastinating. You can either upload videos of yourself, flicking rubber bands around while putting off your creative brief, or watch three really stupid videos of a couple of dudes surf balling, folding shirts and sharpshooting.
Actually, the surf balling video's all right.
Start Procrastinating's no Clearification, which was appealing but a promotional flop for Microsoft. And avid procrastinators download StumbleUpon, not MSN. Sorry, champs.
Speaking of StumbleUpon, look what it found me! Free range workers. Yum.
Oh look. You can do the virtual wave courtesy of Panasonic as if you were going to be at the Beijing Olympics this summer. Called the World Wide Wave, the site (accessed by clicking World Wide Wave on the lower left hand corner of the Panasonic site) lets people upload their image and become part of a virtual crowd wave.
It's consumer-generated media, you know, according to Hisato Tsugita from Panasonic's corporate communications department. Yea. CGM. It's sweeping the globe like an Al Gore-sensationalized ozone layer hole. Who knew?
The promise of the extraordinary. The surprise of something new. The power to bring change. It's... It's... It's... Life Changing Box, a Lowe-created site and Facebook game that involves a box, co-ordinated game play and prizes. Beginning today and running for a month, no one's saying who it's for right now so, if you care, you're just going to have to play the game and wait.
It's all fairly intricate but here are some overview points from the release: - There are 10 boxes total in the game
- To gain possession of a box, users use a currency called a Touch
- All players get 24 "Touches" per day
- Each Touch enters the player into a Round
- At the beginning of each Round, the box will randomly jump to one of the players who entered that Round
- The player given the box holds it for the entirety of the Round, which lasts between 30 minutes and 8 hours, randomly decided by the application
- If the box doesn't open in a Round for the player, a new Round will begin and everyone must Touch the box again to participate
- 20 prizes will be awarded with values ranging from $400 to $14,000
- If you invite a friend to the application and they win, you win a duplicate prize
Let's hope it is actually life changing and not some lame promotion for some lame brand. All the details are here, the box is here and the game is here.
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Take Back the Tour -- not to be confused with Take Back the Night, though it wishes to be taken just as seriously -- is a movement that aims to "champion [Tour de France] riders who compete clean, while giving a platform ... to [their] passionate fan base."
More to the point, it reminds bike junkies that VERSUS (the sponsor!) is "the exclusive cable television home of the Tour de France."
"Show me another sport that's as tough, as demanding and as epic in its grandeur, grit and beauty than the Tour de France, but it's a competition that has seemingly lost its way over the past few years," said SVP Bill Bergofin of Marketing and Promotions for VERSUS. "[This] campaign ... will provoke a dialogue ... which will hopefully help to restore the Tour to its glory."
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Apparently a thing called the Mac Monkey needs freeing. (He's "starved of creative stimulation." Guess he hasn't discovered his own poo yet. Also, why does he have people fingers?)
Intended to increase subscriptions to Creative Review Magazine, Free the Mac Monkey was conceived by London-based STEEL, which sought to distract us from calling foul ("SUBSERVIENT CHICKEN RIP-OFF!") with the tasteful inclusion of early Steve Jobs wall art. And they almost succeeded. Well ... no, not really.
- For client McDonald's, Leo Burnett/Chicago grew a lettuce garden spelling "FRESH SALADS" on a Wrigleyville billboard. Watch the garden grow. The effort won a Gold at New York Festivals' Innovative Advertising Awards. See other winners.
- Ritz-Carlton and AmEx caught the film bug. These three promotional movies "subtly weave exceptional and unique guest experiences into their story lines, demonstrating how The Ritz-Carlton has been able to elevate service to an art form." There's nothing subtle about the movies. But if PR were an art form, that sentence would be the template.
- It's a disappearing car door! Think De Lorean but without the retro wing action.
- Michelina's Mama gets a Facebook. Digging her profile photo. One commenter asks, "What would Mama think of 2 girls 1 cup?" Horrors.
Make the Logo Bigger sent us this ouch-inducing video of some woman falling facefirst off a Segway. It's sort of amazing.
Oh, and here's some help for those confused about the "faceplant" reference.
Showtime did it to promote Dexter. Now Universal Motown is doing it to promote Ashanti's new CD. Like the Dexter promotion, which allowed people to send customized messages that appeared to be news reports of the recipient's death by serial murder.
In the Ashanti promotion, a customized news report can be created and sent to a friend. In the report, it's noted recent murders are linked to Ashanti's new single, "The Way That I Love You," which is about how a woman gets revenge on a cheating boyfriend
Yawn. Oh, sorry. There's nothing to yawn about Ashanti. Sorry.
- FunAdvice mashed up top search engine and soft drink brands, under the premise that search engines today inspire us the way colas once did. Hrm.
- Hitler plays the fated Hillary in this emotional Nazi interpretation of the Clinton/Obama nominee race. The best part is when he shouts "The DNC has thwarted my destiny!" while the women tremble in his midst. It wasn't as funny as Hitler Gets Banned though.
- Legal Sea Foods' "Fresh Fish" ads piss off the easily-rattled Bostonians. The MBTA decided to pull the ads after Green Line workers took offense to them. (Some ads said things like "This conductor has a face like a halibut." Touchy much?)
- Penis advertising gets you everywhere. Especially if you're Dov "The Colonel" Charney. Horrors.
- Build-a-Bear Workshop is partnering with Sanrio to let kids build Tropical Hello Kittys. "Tropical Hello Kitty's sun-kissed look is perfect for summer and we're certain that she'll be a big hit," says Dave Marchi of Sanrio. But will that sun-kissed pelt betray her age?
"I didn't use my brain. I went straight to the financial aid office." That's the headline from the ad at left, which concludes with a tidy "thinking saves thousands at myrichuncle.com."
Wait a sec. Use your head, stick your hand out? I'm confused.
It turns out the ad is not referring to an exploitable loose-handed relative. My Rich Uncle is actually a national loan company. Visit the site and click on Engage Your Brain, which walks you through the process of applying for student aid.
That's useful and all, but come on. Sally's uncle gave her a trust fund; you're giving me a FAFSA sheet?
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