Bob Garfield has never had kind words for what we do here at Adrants. And we've rarely had kind words for what the man does over at Advertising Age. But, he's been around forever and he deserves our respect. And he's going to get.
We're going to kindly mention he's out with his long-awaited new book, The Chaos Scenario. It's an expanded version of several essays he wrote a few decades ago (OK, years) about how the drastic changes in the media landscape are killing advertising as we know it. Or at least that's what everyone says it's about. We haven't read the thing yet.
The book will be out on Kindle in July and will release August 3 as a paperback. What, Bob, no hard cover?
Like Howard Stern used to intone "permanent record" as part of a shtick, Garfield, on the promotional site, intones, "The Powers That Be" as he refers to the shifting changes occurring with mass media.
So, like a dutiful advertising media outlet, we urge you to check out Bob's book and his website. We're sure you'll hurry back and let us know what you think.
Described as a "brilliant riposte to the current financial climate and the champagne fueled jungle," a debut novel from James Palumbo is getting some promotion with a dark, noire-style video complete with old school gangster-style slayings, gallons of champagne, freaky pig-headed people and breasts so big they need a wheeled cart to support them.
The book, available July 1, is about a society gone wrong. A society in which reality channel Shit TV (yes, that's what it's called) has overtaken the small screen and filled it with "homicidal dwarfs on rollerblades and obese mamas in tutus." Title character, Tomas, has had enough and with the help of his tommy gun, he hopes to eradicate the world of this filth.
An additional two promotion videos will be added to the site on July 3 and July 10.
The votes are rolling in for the Killed Ideas People's Choice Award. Following the selection of the top fifty Killed Ideas that appear in Killed Ideas Volume I, the fifty were put to the vote. While the voting won't be final until the end of the month, several Killed Ideas have risen to the top of the list.
Oddly, work done as a studio mark for a movie is looking good as is a wine label design for BFrank wine. Also looking good is a website design for a church and a pro-reading campaign. At the end of the month, the final tally will be released.
Now for the fun. I have six Killed Ideas books to give away. If you can answer the following question correctly, you'll be entered in a drawing to win one of the books. What color bikini is the girl sleeping on the couch at Cannes wearing? The answer is here on Adrants, You just have to find it. Send your answer to killedideas@adrants.com.
Former Y&R CD James Othmer will publish a new book in September entitled ADLAND: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet. Othmer describes the book as "a semi-memoir about the past present and future of advertising."
Since it's Cannes week, Othmer agreed to share a Cannes-related passage from the book. It's the first line from his chapter about Cannes 2008:
"The future of advertising is hunched over in the center of Boulevard de la Croisette outside a tiny yet unthinkably crowded cafe on the French Riviera at 4:18 AM, hands on tanned yet wobbly knees, uncertain whether she will succumb to the excesses her industry has bestowed upon her and puke, call it a night and stumble back to her overpriced, mega-agency-sponsored hotel room, or gather her wits, her stomach and her constitution and rally to take her skills to another, more exciting place where the party is just getting started."
Yup, things haven't changed much at all. The future of advertising is clear: awards, company-funded trips to exotic locales and lots and lots of alcohol.
Under the premise that a signed copy of Worth the Wait is the perfect gift for Father's Day, Pennsylvania-based retailer The Frame Game sent out an email blast inviting subscribers to a book signing for ESPN's Jayson Stark, who wrote the aforementioned title.
Any mention of being Worth the Wait brings to mind Christian promise rings and WWJD wristbands, but the book is actually a collection of stories about the 2008 Phillies, as illustrated by an image of Stark clutching a ball with a bronze batter, mid-swing, behind him.
We can appreciate the call to pause, but the illustration's about as bamboozling as the title: at first glance, it looks uncomfortably like Stark's about to get clocked from behind.
Yesterday, we mentioned Gawker Media announced the acquisition of the blog BloodCopy. We also mentioned it had to be a joke. Well, it is and it isn't. The long-running blog is part of a Campfire-created campaign for HBO's True Blood. Since it's inception, BloodCopy has kept in-story, increasing its fanbase of vampire culture lovers and show fans.
more »
- One man's curation is another man's scraping: more on the ongoing drama between pubs that report and 'net-based pubs that aggregate.
- Oprah over Twitter? Guess that means ... absolutely nothing, now that we think about it.
- Stats on motivations of Twitter users. Features graph intros like "A Large Following Doesn't Equate with Intelligence" and "Mixed Feelings about Reciprocity."
- Perspective on your perspectives on Swine Flu.
- Facebook has plen'y of cash, and expects interactive advertising rev to boost sales 70%, COO Sheryl Sandberg ballsily proclaims.
- Stolichnaya is the premier sponsor of Babelgum, which will air exclusive live concert footage from artists like Franz Ferdinand, Stereophonics and Kaiser Chefs; as well as "Bananaz," a film about the Gorillaz.
- Aerocles deconstructs Dominos' approach to social media.
- Saw the Loud n' Clear infomercial on TV last night. This is why we love America. Hold 'til 1:27 for when Enthusiastic Geriatric shouts, "Bingo!" It don't get any better than that.
- Amsterdam's Pink & Poodle takes women on for Heineken cider brand Jillz.
- Sayonara to Enfatico (and about bloody time).
- LA Times positions Southland ad as news story. (Via).
- D*Face gives The Queen a facelift.
- Seeking greener pastures on the down-low? One headhunter's business card is edible.
- One prepaid mobile's bailout plan.
- Reason #4320984309384 why we can't visit mom and dad after Cannes.
- Visa Debit does Superfreak. We don't know why, but Morgan Freeman doesn't sound sold either.
The intrepid and ever-present Jolie O'Dell discovers how Blurb allows designers, with or without design software expertise, to create stunning books of all shapes and sizes. Watch and learn.
By the way, Adrants publisher Steve Hall is involved with Blurb and Ammo Marketing on a project called Killed Ideas. We seek the best creative which, sadly, didn't get to see the light of day for various reasons.
It's round five. ATTIK, as it did four times before, is out with the fifth version of its "experimental design book," NoiseFive. The book chronicles the history of the agency from its humble beginnings in Huddersfield England to its expansion across multiple continents, the previous four Noise books and, the purpose of the books, an explosive orgasm of design.
Coca-Cola VP of Design David Butler described the book saying, "NoiseFive makes you think. What would happen if the world's biggest brands were all design-driven? The scale of impact on business and culture could be incredible. With NoiseFive, I am reminded of ATTIK's relentless focus on innovation and look forward to the future we're designing together."
more »
|
