Honda plants seeds of change to boost their “green cred”
AdvertisingTo raise awareness of their eco-friendly, EPA-satisfying lawn and garden vehicles, Honda produced a direct mail piece that you can plant. Literally. When the seed-laden paper is soaked in water and planted in the garden, it grows into wildflowers. Well, according to the comment boards, it’s been done a few times already. Levi’s did the same thing with the tags for their Levi’s Eco line, and Timberland sent out millions of plantable postcards.
Even though Honda’s agency, Inferno London, recycled this green idea, they executed it in a different context — Honda is a manufacturer of carbon-dioxide-emitting machinery, and clearly is responsible for a larger portion of the hole in our ozone layer than Levi’s or Timberland. So, them saying “love the Earth” makes a much bigger statement. While the idea isn’t ground-shattering and new, the association of the idea and this particular brand is. Bravo. And to close with someone else’s words:
It’s been said there are no new ideas, only rearrangements. Picasso himself said, “All art is theft.” Historian Will Durant wrote, “Nothing is new except arrangement.”
Rock Hard Ads: Air Jordan: Become Legendary pt. 2 & 3
Advertising, SportsHoly freakin’ awesome. Wieden + Kennedy keeps churning out these unbelievable TV spots for their Air Jordan: Become Legendary campaign. I wrote about the first spot, “It’s not about the shoes,” a while back but the two most recent are unarguably the best. Check them out for yourself.
Rock Hard Ads: Volkswagen Polo
AdvertisingThis spot by DDB London is pretty hysterical, and really well done. The message: The Volkswagen Polo gives you confidence. Maybe even enough to sing at the top of your lungs (ya know, like when you’re taking a shower). In case you’re curious, the song in the spot is called “I’m a Man,” by The Spencer Davis Group.
Awesome.
Yes, we can change the world. Vote Obama ‘08.
Advertising, ArtI would love to take this opportunity to plaster my blog with the Obama camp’s marketing materials that I love so much. Yes, I’m voting for Barack Obama (assuming I get the opportunity to do so), but this isn’t a political blog so that’s not what I’m writing about. Screw that, yes it is, but I’m gonna slather some unbiased-banter over my political agenda to make this post taste a little sweeter.
Okay, first off I need to rectify the very first sentence I wrote because none of the pro-Obama work that I love is coming from the Obama camp (as far as I know). It’s coming from YOUNG voters. Artists, musicians. It’s all over social networking sites like YouTube, Myspace and Facebook and we’re all talking about it. Shepard Fairey of Obey created these awesome prints for the Obama campaign, and to promote voting in general. It’s interesting to see them in his gallery alongside his skater prints and propaganda-style posters. In fact, the Barack Obama and posters are propaganda themselves, depending on the receiver’s political beliefs.
It’s truly amazing how involved our generation has become and I hope that involvement keeps up come election day. Will.I.Am, from the Black Eyed Peas, created two music video to support the Obama campaign. The first simply, and lyrically, recites Barack Obama’s “Yes We Can” victory speech after the South Carolina primary. The second, just recently released, is titled “We are the ones.”
Another channel for young voters: Rock the Vote. Check it out and register.
From a marketing standpoint, I’m impressed. From a social-responsibility standpoint, I am equally as impressed. No matter who your choice is, vote. It’s so important, and this year especially will shape the future of this crazy world.
Turning art on its head.
ArtHere’s an awesome street performance video that I’m recycling from a February 3 post on Deborah’s blog. What happens when 207 plain-clothed living statues take the day off and head to Grand Central Station? Well, they turn art on its head and turn the audience into the act. At least, that’s how I see it. Check it out.
This reminds me of avant-garde composer John Cage’s piece titled “four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence,” a three movement composition that consists of the sounds of the environment, and utter silence from the instruments themselves. It was a wacky idea, but it worked. And it works with the performance above. Instead of actors acting, the crowd is reacting (pay attention to the suffix, -acting), and incidentally becomes the performance. I don’t mean to take credit away from the incredible job that the living statues did, but it really flip-flops the idea of performance art.
Here’s a modern rendition of John Cage’s 4′33.”
Rock Hard Ads: Matusalem Rum
AdvertisingLove these ads for Matusalem Rum.
Le Grande Content
IdeasHere’s a creatively produced stream of consciousness. A visually driven monologue that is narrated by a voice that’s sounds a lot like John Malkovich as Teddy KGB (watch this scene and listen for yourself) in the 1998 Matt Damon flick “Rounders.” Awesome movie, by the way.
This video is not so much inspiring as it is cool and witty. One thing it taught me: Saccharine, 471 cable TV channels and pop ballads provide us with an unlimited source of artificial sweetness. So where does the real sweetness come from? Classic rock ballads, man. Classic effin’ rock ballads. (see Whitesnake). Oh, and of course real sugar.
Nerds with a sense of humor are awesome.
Uncategorized
While I was cleaning out all the documents on my computer today, I came across this story that my friend Julie, from University of Washington, sent me nearly two years ago. Below is the actual response from an actual question that was asked on a UW chemistry class mid-term back in 2005, I believe. Apparently, the professor was so impressed that he posted it online for other students to see, hence why you’re reading it on my blog today. Enjoy.
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?
Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant. One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving.
I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number off souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.
This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my freshman year that, “It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,” and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my God.”
This student, according to rumor, received the only “A” in the class.
Air Jordan: Become Legendary
SportsWhile I was watching my NY Giants work their way into the first Super Bowl that I have ever been excited for (That’s not an exaggeration. The Super Bowl is always the most boring game of the year, but there’s nothing better than a NY v. Boston series, no matter what the sport), I spotted this new ad for Air Jordan. The idea behind the spot was “the shoes don’t matter, it’s what you do with them.” It showed footage of pros as young athletes, before their hardwork paid off. There has been a great departure from advertising of yesteryear where companies would make great claims about how their product will help you perform (i.e. PF-Flyers made you run faster, Reebok Pumps made you jump higher). Modern TV spots in the sport genre focus more on the athlete, the mindset, the hard work and all that other stuff that really does make a difference. They almost never have an obvious sales pitch. Of course, this is all an exercise in branding.
Sports are very emotional, and while there are some people buying products with explicit benefits that will boost their game (Clemens, Bonds, Little Jimmy down the street with the $300 Redline bat, et al), others are drawn to products and brands that inspire, that motivate, that represent… That’s why most of us wear Nike shoes and use Nike equipment. It’s the best, right? Well, none of their commercials say “We’re the best,” and it’s certainly not printed on any of the packaging. For many of us (I’d venture to say all of us), it’s an emotional attachment. It’s that epic, uplifting sports movie that makes you wish you were still playing high school ball. While Nike is a sports equipment company, it stands for everything but that. Nike is sports.
Well, Wieden + Kennedy’s branding efforts obviously sold me. Here’s the spot that I was talking about two paragraphs ago:
Oh, College football
SportsHere’s one of the most amazing game winning plays I have ever seen in a football game. Division III Trinity Tigers beat the Millsaps Majors on the road on this miracle play below. Here’s the situation: With only two seconds to go, the Tigers needed a touchdown to win the game and they had one play to do it. One short pass and 15 laterals later, they got that touchdown.
[Until this video posts on YouTube, i'm not gonna be able to post it on my blog. Until then, you can watch it here]
