FailWhale Has a Fan Club, AND He Gets the Girl

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If you can't fix what's broken, make it a golden calf.

In futile retaliation against users that are defecting in frustration, die-hard Twitter fans erected a site dedicated to FailWhale, the bird-borne character that appears whenever Twitter tanks.

Buy merch, add FailWhale on Twitter or join his Facebook group. Get this: the group is marked "consumer product."

When did failure become a commodity?

In response to the madness, Yiying Lu, the original designer of FailWhale, created Eve Whale. The dreamy FailWhale love interest blows little birds out of her air hole.

by Angela Natividad    Jul- 2-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Trends and Culture



The Denver Egotist Has Sure Got a Big Staff.

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"I am the Denver Egotist and I will be back on Monday ... maybe Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It depends on when I wanna kick yer ass."

In an email titled "We're coming out," the Denver Egotist sent us the above video, which reveals its identity, or at least the way it wants to be seen. Definitely less disappointing than that one time KISS removed its makeup.

AgencySpy, another site that does does the "we are everyone and everywhere and nowhere -- bwahahaa!" thing, dug it.

by Angela Natividad    Jul- 1-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Trends and Culture, Video



'Slap Me in the Face and Call Me HAD!'

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It's been confirmed: vibrating banners can kill. Because no man is safe where the banner ads dwell -- not even if he's the type of man who confuses J-Lo's lips with Angelina's.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-30-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Spoofs, Trends and Culture



Orange Brings Wind Power to Phones of Glastonbury Revelers

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For last weekend's Glastonbury Festival, GotWind.org partnered with mobile firm Orange to launch the REcharge Pod, a mobile phone recharging station powered entirely by wind.

The companies pitched a windmill-mounted tent where people could charge phones without using ordinary power sources. The pod recharges 100 mobile phones per hour; any unused energy is stored in its Manbat battery bank.

This was the REcharge Pod's second year at the Festival. Thanks to in:fluencia for the tip.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-30-08    
Topic: Events, Good, Mobile/Wireless, Trends and Culture



'American Dream' Documentary to Examine America's Consumer Culture

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Filmmaker Joel Christian McEwan is in the process of developing American Dream, a documentary film which will examine America's obsession with material possessions and the corporate culture that fuels and profits from that obsession. Featuring Danny Glover, Ed Begley Jr., Jean Kilbourne, Howard Zinn and many others, American Dream will try to make sense America's consumer culture, it's causes and its effects. And he needs our help.

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by Steve Hall    Jun-29-08    
Topic: Announcements, Trends and Culture



Baby, Your Touch Gives Me Melanoma. Oh, Wait. That's Just a Tattoo

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Earlier we explored messages that only appear in photographs. But hey, how about touch-sensitive tattoos or jewelry that interacts with your body?

All part and parcel of Philips' strange and suggestive Design Probes subsite, which experiments with new ways of wedding life to technology.

Though I agree with Thought Gadget when he argues this video doesn't really emphasize the many possibilities of touch-sensitive tats. Naked teens on a fondle-spree? There's a tired idea.

by Angela Natividad    Jun-26-08    
Topic: Online, Strange, Trends and Culture



Street Art Meets Foot Fetish in NIKE PHOTOiD

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Capitalizing on culture junkies accustomed to a world they can manipulate with ease, AKQA shot Street Canvas, a promotion for Nike PHOTOiD.

To a cool beat and without narration, the video describes the following process.

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It Ain't Police Academy, But the Hijinks Could Cost You Your Soul!

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The three consciously-casual males at left aren't new contenders for The Bachelorette.

They're competitors in Priest Academy, a French web-based reality show brought to you by the humble servants of the Besancon diocese.

A source in France said the premise behind Priest Academy is to encourage more men to become priests because there's apparently a shortage. Adrants reader Olivier Mermet, who sent us the link, exclaimed, "And do you want to know the worst about it? This is F***in' true stuff!!"

Indeed. The first episode, which debuted on June 12, generated 90,000 views.

For more social media fun and games with your immortal homeboy Jesus, check out the Pope blog. And hey, it's never too late to score one of those rad WWJD wristbands.



UK Stifles Sure Girl for Failing to Buckle Up

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Gotta love the UK. This Sure Girl deodorant spot was banned because it depicted girls dancing in a van without seatbelts on.

Parent company Unilever: "The van was stationary!"

The Ad Standards Authority: "We don't give a damn!"

But seatbelts aside, there are so many better reasons to ban it:

o The lack of a driver.
o Gratuitous use of Don't Cha and pigtails at the same time. McConnells Advertising, why?!
o All that sordid peer pressure. "The fun stops when the sweat starts!" You'd think Girl 1 and Girl 3 never had gigantor 'pit puddles before.
o Use of disembodied arms to apply deodorant spray. That scene merited a big hearty "WTF!"

by Angela Natividad    Jun-23-08    
Topic: Commercials, Television, Trends and Culture



McCain Changes Stripes, Vogue Blacks Out, Cannes Canned, Keyboard Dipped

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- John McCain souped up his logo. Bystanders are skeptical. UPDATE: McCain did not change his logo. The new one comes from a third-party vendor. The Under Consideration blog apologizes for the confusion.

- For its 50th anniversary, The Marketing Society launched 50 Golden Brands, which will celebrate 50 "hero brands" for the past 50 years. Contenders include eBay, Virgin, Perrier and some weird thing called Fairy Liquid.

- George Parker taught me a new word: Adverati. He also handpicked the ugliest pictures out of Advertising Age's Cannes party post and put the subjects in a more engaging light. And by "engaging," I mean "fluorescent."

- Rocawear and Boost Mobile launched a mobile campaign. Amobee is serving the ads. The campaign is about overcoming adversity. It's also about scoring discounts and disseminating unique and motivating Jay-Z lines like "I will not lose."

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