Things We Like And Things We Don't

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- We like the new Miller Lite commercial with Sopranos start Frank Vincent but, it seems, Italian cause groups are all a flutter (twitter?) over the supposedly stereotypical portrayal of Italians in the commercial.

- We don't like the "screaming" ad from Volkswagen. Not at all. Not one bit? Why? Because we know a little bit about being a dad and we've heard our fair share of screaming. We don't need a commercial to add to our stress level.

- We like Southwest's new commercial which, in effect, holds its middle finger up to the recession and says, "fuck off." Yea, we like that dark sort of optimism.

- We don't like Microsoft's new Bing commercial which, while it claims to reduce search result overload, piles on more overload than anyone should have to sit through inside of a minute. But that's typical Microsoft. Just like they're packaging on which every last conceivable speed, feed and spec visually assault you to the point you're like, "where's the Apple store?"

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 4-09    
Topic: Commercials, Opinion



iJustine Tells Us How to Eat A Carl's Jr. Burger

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Working with YouTube, Justine Ezarik (iJustine) created a video for Carl's Jr. in which she plays the duel role of Carl's Jr. employee and customer. She perfectly epitomizes the valley girl of yesteryear and, at the same time, the confused customer of today.

Entitled How to Eat a Burger, the video - following the employee/customer exchange - tells us how to eat a burger iJustine style. Yea, she likes to eat her burger with a fork, knife and lots of ketchup. LOTS and LOTS of ketchup. Never quite understood that method but hey, to each their own.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 4-09    
Topic: Celebrity, Opinion, Social, Video



Because Why Get All Huffy About Oven Cleaner?

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AdFreak takes vocal issue with this spot for Oven Pride, which got the clear in the UK after riotous accusations that it was sexist.* (Okay, maybe "riotous" is overstating.)

The ad's not sexist, our buddy blog says; it's just idiotic. And yeah, we're inclined to agree. Even taking into account that British humour is different from the American variety, everything from the man's chimpanzee behaviour to the narrator's forced "mm-hm-hm!" at the end gives us the ad-willies.

It's just a low-budget piece, screenwritten, no doubt, by housewives that produce skits for the local Pentecost. Speaking of housewives, know what yours needs? A shiny new set of Madison Avenue cookware.

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by Angela Natividad    Jun- 3-09    
Topic: Commercials, Opinion, Television, Trends and Culture



iGRP: Square Peg in Round Hole or Online Metrics Savior

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Ed.There are those who believe applying old media metrics to new media is like trying to measure water volume with a ruler. Others, such as Adrants guest contributor Lisa Marino, Sr. Director of Sales at RockYou, think standardization across all media is the way to go.

MindShare got it right: GRP is the way to go

Last month, Mindshare announced a move toward measuring online video under a Gross Ratings Points system. Upon reading the announcement, the clear benefits of such a practice resonated, however the concept repeated itself in my mind for the next several days and I couldn't shake it. When this happens there is a more subtle and meaningful "aha" moment coming - it just hadn't hit me yet. Then, the light went on and I realized why this is such an important move - and why I'm such a fan of the decision.

As someone who lives breathes and dies social video distribution, I frequently consume myself with how we as an industry can make the notion of 3 screen convergence a reality. It's is a step in that direction for both obvious and not so obvious reasons.

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by Steve Hall    Jun- 1-09    
Topic: Opinion



Deconstructing Album Mugs, Twitter on Paper, Gay Marriage Rage Crosses Coasts

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- Personality traits ... of album covers.

- Bring your tweets vintage. (Via.)

- Hope, delivered on the spin cycle.

- Facebook vanity URLs.

- Hulu desktop.

- Porn on Bing.

- Anti-gay-marriage ads hit NYC.

- Boone Oakley has fun trashing agency holding companies on its new website.

by Angela Natividad    Jun- 1-09    
Topic: Online, Opinion, Outdoor, Political, Poster, Social



Susan Boyle Gets Love From EA, Slaps Down Cynicism

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So the whole Susan Boyle Britain's Got Talent thing has been peripheral to us and for good reason. We already have American Idol fever right? And besides, the whole thing was yet another indication all we care about is what people look like and not what's inside them or what sort of talent they may have.

This frumpy looking woman walks on stage and she's instantly judged some sort of loser because she's not beautiful and young and perfect. But as soon as she opened her mouth, everyone had to eat their cynicism and come to the realization we place way too much importance on exterior appearances.

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by Steve Hall    May-29-09    
Topic: Celebrity, Commercials, Good, Opinion, Trends and Culture, Video



Psycho Killer SocMedia, Twee-ality, in:fluencia Bounces Back

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- Real housewives of intervention. =P

- What "Psycho Killer" can teach you (yes, YOU!) about social media.

- in:fluencia, a French ad/media/trends rag that used to send us awesome overseas campaigns (1, 2, 3), returns from a long hiatus with a snappy redesign. Even if you can't read French, the thumbnails alone are click-candy.

- Twitter reality show.

- Getty + Flickr: a match made in ... (Via y via.)

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Gawker Bleeds, Oxfam Goes to Cannes, FarFar Lion Found

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- Chicago's O'Hare airport has a new website! (Some people think this sort of thing is important. Who are we to judge? Oh wait, that's our job)

- Yawn. Men dress up as women in Danica Patrick's new Boost Mobile Unwronged commercial.

- Soft drink\ company, The Feel Good Drinks Company, commissioned Loose Moose to turn a stop-frame animation created for them by one of their consumers into a national TV
campaign.

- smashLAB's Eric Karjaluoto thinks design has become commoditized but he has a solution

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by Steve Hall    May-26-09    
Topic: Agencies, Industry Events, Online, Opinion, Video



Denver Egotist Takes Stand Against Brand Molestation.

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"The big, fat, silver torpedo that is the Chipotle burrito is as iconic (in this city, anyway) as an Absolut bottle or a Converse shoe," lauds the Denver Egotist, bringing to mind billboards that have taken us by surprise more than once.

"So what better way to start off a brand new campaign than to ditch the thing you're most famous for in favor of a bland, new Taco Bell-styled menu and some insipid value statements that are saturating the market in this shitty economy. Oh, and how about a new logo, too? Something that could sit nicely on the shelf at Target with the other Archer Farms produce?"

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Nebraska Punk'd Into Ugly License Plate Design

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So the Nebraska design community is up in arms over the state's new license plate design calling it "boring, uninspired and ugly." A site, Get Ready For Action, has been launched telling "The Story of How Gov. Dave Heineman Got Punk'd and an Entire State Was Shamed."

You see, four submissions were made to the Governor's office. College Humor saw then and told their vast audience to all vote for the ugliest of the four designs. That design won and is now destined to become the state's plate. That is unless this group of disgruntled creatives can mount enough support to get the thing changed.

In addition to the website, there's videos, images and a blog.

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by Steve Hall    May-20-09    
Topic: Opinion, Outdoor, Strange