some things hold up. others, not so much.

It's cool how you can still watch Star Wars today, and be entertained. Too bad you can't say the same thing for the original trailer. Mmmm. 1977. Thank goodness the Pistols were around.

video sharing tools continue to grow

In case you're keeping track, there's another great social video sharing site. Vimeo. The revolution continues. And I do mean revolution. Cuz, umm, you'll never see video of a girl lip syncing Carly Simon on a major network.

solo walkie connects bus shelters

There's a wonderful profile on ReThink in the new Communication Arts. One of the many brilliant pieces profiled is a campaign for Solo. The outdoor campaign features bus shelters with larger than life phones. Each phone contained an actual walkie talkie, that users could push and communicate. With other bus shelters. Sooo cool.

Although I have to admit that I wish the walkie feature on cell phones would just die, already.

shhh. the billboards are listening.

Advertising Lab reports that UK company ContextAds can serve virtual billboard ad space within Second Life, based on contextual data. So when avatars are talking about cars, a ContextAd billboard can serve up an ad for VW. Just like Google does in the "real" virtual world.

this week at via/plaid

Here's what happened this week at the world's most redriffic design and branding firm:

I got back from vacation, and learned how unimportant phones are. After I cleaned spam, there were several hundred emails in the inbox. And only ONE voice mail. Phones are so over.

Giuli dyed her hair red! Now she's joined the ranks of Lucille Ball, Carrot Top, Shirley Temple and Annie. We think she should go for the Annie perm. Try and identify which one's Giuli, above.

VIA crew went to the theater. Or the theatre.

Oh yeah - tons of work, too. Three microsites for a hospital, several advertising pieces for a theater, a ski mountain brochure, pharmaceutical brochure, and some other boring stuff.

On the Plaid side of things, our company's re-branding is crankin'. We've ordered business cards, collector buttons and made significant progress on the website. You can read all about it on the Plaid blog.

By accident, mother nature gave us sun for a couple of days. Back to good ole grey, rainy New England, today.

cbs 'rejects' john daly golf ad

Allegedly, CBS has rejected this "commercial" for Maxfli Golf Balls. The "spot" features a bunch of overgrown frat style rednecks singing, drinking and...playing golf.

I'm not sure I believe this was an actual spot (ninety seconds of this??), but instead they're making that claim in an attempt to get more YouTube traffic. "Banned from TV!" Which of course, I've just contributed to. ;)

Normally, I hate the stuffy stick-up-the-butt country club golf dudes. But if this is the alternative, I'll hang with Biff and Buffy any day. Better yet, I'll just stay away from the golf sport entirely.

vintage illustration collection

Bill Baker tells us about Plan59, an awesome collection of vintage illustration, art and photography. My favorites are the "decor" and "crate" collections. Even better - you can purchase prints of most of these images. At starving artist prices. Sweet.

copy tells the story

Mmmmm. Bacon. From Brandon Barr, via Twitter.

buildings inspired by man parts

Quatar has designed a building that looks just like a giant condom. Imagine telling clients - "just look for the giant condom...we're on the 10th floor." That's pretty embarrassing.

But not nearly as bad as the building that's down the street from our office. The sign is pictured above. It's for real.

via/plaid gets cultured

We just started working with the Westport Country Playhouse, as a client, so of course we needed to see what all the fuss was about.

Last night, most of the crew checked out "All About Us," starring Cady Huffman, Shuler Hensley and Eartha Kitt. Rowrrrr. She'd kick my ass if she knew I just said that.

Surprisingly:
+ None of our crew got kicked out of the theater
+ Everyone showed up sober
+ Nobody brought laptops

I was amazed that a theater packed full of people in Westport CT could actually turn off their Blackberries for two hours.

Oh yeah - the production was cool. Resulted in lots of deep discussion about the human spirit, life, and stuff we don't normally cover over morning coffee here.

a fine twitter use

Artist AFine Frenzy is Twittering. Not earth shattering, I know (you've been Twittering for months, now, right?) but just a great example of an artist that's using tools to break down barriers.

I've said from the get go that Twitter is a fantastic tool for anyone with fans. Fans want to know what an artist is up to. Well beyond their performance, or art. I know that I want to know what Johnny Rotten is doing right this very moment. At least I think I do. And Steven Colbert's Tweets are hilarious.

So I've added A Fine Frenzy to my list of 'friends' to 'follow.' (Disclosure: Virgin Records is a client of ours - but we haven't produced anything for AFine Frenzy) Tweet tweet.

banner campaign and landing page that work as a team

Casey points to a really sweet campaign for Wamu bank. He clicked on a banner ad (!) and was led to this landing page. The landing page addresses you, fully understanding that it's a landing page. Even better, as you mouse over items like "Why Apply?" landing page continues to address you, with cute little items like:

"Personally, I like my checks to have unicorns on them."

This is great on a few levels:

1. A bank with a sense of humor is a bank that feels human.
2. Acknowledging an ad campaign as an ad campaign takes the edge off the sell.
3. It's entertaining. Copywriting, creative and programming all singing together.

Nice job. Thanks Casey!

baseball in the real world

TBWA just completed two new spots for PlayStation. I really like Fish Market. If baseball were this exciting, I'd watch it AND buy the PS3 game. ;)

pageflakes includes brandflakes. let's all get flaky together.

Sticky Figure has produced an RSSelicious feed-a-mator that pulls together feeds from the best (I only say that cuz we're included) design, branding, and marketing blogs.

It's called Pageflakes. This is a great set of feeds. I know a lot of clients and marketers STILL haven't setup an RSS reader. (Try Google's...it's easy, and you'll love it.) Pageflakes (clearly, named after, and inspired by Brand Flakes) is a great place to visit daily, to quickly catch up on design and branding news - and to see the power of the RSS feed.

I use a few of these aggregators to keep up on things, and this is a good one. Check it out.

tech expo in second life: fun, problematic

Wired reports on a technology expo that took place this weekend, within Second Life. Perfect audience, excellent location.

While it appears there was lots of business done and many connections made, there's (still) the frustrations of Second Life's limitations - huge computing power required of users (which typically results in crashes); limited number of visitors to the expo (only 40 at a time); and of course, lag, lag, lag.

The good news: the show drew 6,270 visitors over the weekend. That's effective niche marketing.

LOL

Lovin' this new Cingular spot.

marketers still don't understand blogs

If you read BrandFlakes, you're already in the know. So, maybe you can forward this cute post from Media Orchard, about a brand that doesn't understand blogging, to someone who doesn't get it yet. If we all try and educate one clueless marketer, we'll be making the world a better place. Or something like that.

young hipsters like simplicity

A research firm asked 100 "most forward trendsetter panelists" in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami, which companies they most respected, and why. Then, they compiled a list. So here's the top 15 brands that urban hipsters aged 21 - 27 love:

Apple
Trader Joe's
Jet Blue
In-N-Out Burger
Ben & Jerry's
Whole Foods
Adidas
American Apparel
Target
H & M clothing stores
Levi's
Volkswagen
Converse
Vitamin Water
Red Stripe Jamaican beer

Analyst Holly Brickley says the winning brands "are known for keeping things as stripped-down and unadorned as possible - not just in terms of the product's visual appearance but also in the way they organize their offerings." Yep. And I have to admit, that Red Stripe is looking mighty tasty.

creative director sets himself on fire

Great post on common headline mistakes from Copyblogger. My headline above was just a test of the system.

how to make barcodes fun

Problem: You've got a product that's relatively boring. A barcode scanner. How do you make it fun?

Easy, says Tamba, an agency that produced Barcode Bedlam for their client, DataScan Systems. Proof that nearly anything can be fun. Even barcode scanners. And in an exciting industry like barcode scanning, you can be sure that work like this will stand out. So much better than the typical brochure-ware site that their competitors likely have.

This will be the talk of the barcode scanning industry conference, where the barcode scanning geeks get together and drink, and stay up late, and talk scanning. And that's the real game, right?

girls like sexy, too.

A girl or two around here occasionally gives me guff for pointing out an ad with boobs in it.

Well, Adland has found one for the ladies. Levi's just launched a promotional site, Levi's LadyStyle. So, if half naked men is your style - check it out. Consider it marketing research.

Sexy. It's for everyone.

uniqlo limited edition retail

My favorite store in the world, Uniqlo, is testing a new retail concept in their Harajuku store. They're selling limited edition t-shirts, packaged in plastic tubes.

The shirts are stocked through a system that apparently resembles vending machines. I love that you can buy a t-shirt at a worldwide clothing chain, and still not have to worry about running into some dork at Burger King with the same shirt. Not that I spend much time at Burger King, or anything. I'm just saying. It could happen.

And the promotional site is completely expected Uniqlo cool.

peroni beer's awesome outdoor

Saw this wonderful outdoor piece for Peroni, while in San Juan. On the first day, the space was outfitted just like an art gallery. Nothing but a lone Peroni, and a fridge. They even took the time to add nice signage to the outdoor of the retail space. By day two, they added a Ducati to the mix. This is an awesome campaign on so many levels:

1. Great positioning for Peroni. Associate the brand with other great Italian things.

2. It's outdoor advertising, but not obtrusive. And actually entertaining.

3. The piece helps local cityscapes. This is a retail space that I believe would otherwise be vacant. A landlord benefits, with short term rent revenue. A city benefits with the elimination of vacant retail. And of course, the brand gets wonderful placement in a busy, prominent neighborhood.

This could be a cool program that downtowns could offer to agencies. Coordinate with local landlords and vendors to handle the install - and fill Main Streets with entertaining installations. Put enough of them together, and they even become an attraction. Awesome.

darryl's back - wilson and eliza totally rock.

I'm back in action, from a week long vacation in the sun. First real vacation in many years, so I was stoked.

Wilson Cleveland held down the blogging fort in my absence, and Eliza added some yummy flavor with bonus posts. Thanks to both for giving BrandFlakes subscribers some awesome content this last week.

If you're looking to get rid of your crappy PR firm, and want to work with someone who gets emerging media and PR, CJP is the firm. And Wilson's your man. One of those very few people in the world who really gets it. And is on top of everything. I'm pretty sure he reads the internet more voraciously than I do, which means he has a problem.

Eliza's work you may already know, as she's the words behind the genius of nearly everything VIA/Plaid. Best copywriter in the nation, and really cool to work with too. Just don't get her started on politics. ;) I'd point you to her website, but it looks like it hasn't been updated since 1997. C'mon Eliza!!

Oh yeah - the crew at VIA apparently even did work while I was gone. Lots of it. Mondo thanks to Giuli, David, Leigh and new freelance guru Rob.

this week at via/plaid

Here's what happened this week at the world's furriest design and branding firm:

Riiiight - how much can really be expected with Darryl thousands of miles away?!

We should have had five lovely days of goofing off - instead we worked quite a bit, seriously. With plenty of dog toy throwing, dog walks, playing with dogs, and taking pictures of dogs. Some napping... some beer drinking. But we definitely did some work at some point. Probably.

Wilson Cleveland and Eliza Sweet became guest bloggers for BrandFlakes, filling in for Darryl while he sipped mojitos in San Juan.

David directed a photoshoot with super photo genius Derek Dudek, at the Westport Country Playhouse. He even got to shoot Eartha Kitt. Roooowr! And a very naughty actress from their current production, Cady Huffman.

Leigh started work on a website for Flambeau River Papers. Should be pretty cool. She'll be using a lot of killer photography from Chip Simons.

Darryl and Justus were both on vacation this week. Both in sunnier places, avoiding the lovely grey rainy weather of New England. The chance for sun looks good this weekend, but I'm sure the weatherman is just teasing us. (Rob, a new freelance friend of ours, helped fill in - thank goodness he likes dogs.)

On the Plaid side of things, we finalized our logo. We ordered business cards. We dug in deeper on the website. We also ordered some pretty cool linoleum block printed moleskine sketch pads for the House of Plaid.

Well, it's 2pm - time to call it a day. :)

(The dogs pictured above, who definitely didn't spend all week curled up on Darryl's chair are... the hounds Ashby and Cricket and Cooper the spaniel.)

Sao Paulo cleans up "ad pollution"

I guess Brazilians really hate billboards. A post courtesy of Billboardom and AdRants tells of a new law that will ban all outdoor advertising or what lawmakers call "visual pollution" from Sao Paulo, South America's most prosperous cities. Advertising always finds a way, so it will be interesting to see how creative advertisers will get. I think all of those people that have gotten paid to tattoo product logos on their foreheads should book a flight to Brazil NOW.

All the news that's fit to aggregate and re-brand

Big thumbs up from the PR guy on today's debut of MySpace News. It's MySpace meets Digg meets Google News...only cooler. All of the relevant news of the day from traditional media sites is included right along with punchy blog posts and news catergories that go beyond the traditional NEWS, SPORTS, BUSINESS. Great branding move for MySpace who was in dire need to provide something USEFUL to the world other than being Chris Hanson's cheese in the mousetrap on Dateline's To Catch a Predator. Consider it bookmarked!

For Rent: 1BR, modern pine cone

This month's Wired has a one-pager about a residential building in Rotterdam designed to look like a cactus. It should look perfect when the tumbleweeds of disinterest start rambling by. Maybe this pic doesn't do the design justice, but to me (he who is missing a design aesthetic) this building looks like Mr. Hanky wearing a mood-ring.

Nivea's got the spirit...of ass

Make the logo bigger has a post about this viral campaign from Nivea to promote its new cellulite cream. If I had ever said the word "ass" in church, I would have been forced to DRINK cellulite cream. Singing about embarrassing conditions could be a whole new trend in advertising: raps about bladder-control issues, a musical about male-pattern baldness...

But can it also be a solid and a gas?

I'm working a maize theme today with a quick nod to trendspotter Faith Popcorn's 2007 predictions. This one caught my eye:

Liquid Brands

Today’s consumers are capricious and non-committal. Brands will have to become more liquid to keep up with their constantly moving targets.

The Future: Chameleon-like brands focus less on communicating a static message and more on being the right thing for the right persona at the right time. Constantly morphing retailers carry products until they sell out and never restock.

Personally, I foresee an outcome that's a little less extreme, i.e., brands that are midway between a solid and a liquid; a brand slurry if you will. Brands will hang on to established traits and values, but the offering will be more fluid and customizable.

Internet TV for the Long Tail

At this week's MipTV show in Cannes (its like Burning Man for video producers), Internet TV companies like Joost, Babelgum (seen in this screenshot)and others were there to signal a sea change in the way we will all watch "TV" and even full-length feature films in the very near future thanks to AMAZING new P2P technology that streams DVD quality content to computer screens. Joost has been striking deals with the majors while Babelgum (full disclosure alert: one of my clients) has been positioning itself as Internet TV for The Long Tail due to its focus on acquiring more niche content and short films. Good news for filmmakers like Spike Lee who licensed his exclusive flick, Jesus Children of America to be shown exclusively on Babelgum. Look for both Joost and Babelgum to go into open beta in the VERY near future!

Two great tastes that taste great together!

Looking for inspiration? Open the fridge.

I'm a foodie, and to me one of the best things about cooking is the endless variety of dishes that can be created from a basic vocabulary of ingredients. Inventive food pairings, where two iconic tastes are brought together to create something totally original and delicious, is the highest form of this art. A perfect example is the chocolate and peanut butter combination we know and love. But today, I want to blow your mind with: bacon popcorn.

I recommend the folks at Slashfood for a daily dose of recipes and ideas that challenge our assumptions about what goes with what. Go for the inspiration, stay for the food porn!

the REAL power of the social Internet

Yesterday I wrote a post about Facebook, its founder Mark Zuckerberg and even included a funny pardody video I'd found on YouTube. That was yesterday morning. The tragedy in Virginia has led students around the globe to create hundreds of memorials and tribute groups on Facebook for those that lost their lives yesterday. These groups already boast hundreds of thousands of members according to reports, sharing condolences and encouragement. While much is written about social networks like Facebook and MySpace being critical platforms for marketing and branding (and they are) it can be easy to forget the real power these sites have, the REAL power of the social Internet to bring people together.

Math nerds, beware!

There's a cruel streak to public television fund raising. They present a marathon of all their best programming but make you suffer through overly-earnest appeals at maddeningly frequent intervals. But for you, I suffered, just to see a replay of a talk by Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and previously Free Agent Nation. If you're reading this blog he's got good news for you:

"The future—the near future, at that—belongs to the right-brained."

His theory is that right-brained strengths such as creativity, play, innovation, empathy—and design will be the dominant capabilities in the emerging economy. That whole left-brained thing is so ten synaptic impulses ago. He did an interview with Howdesign.com that lays out his premise nicely. You can also check out his blog. Don't you love hearing that you're poised to take over the world, just by being you?

Facebook and eHarmony's love child

Bear with me here. I wanted to post about a great article in this month's (May) Fast Company all about brand authenticity called Keeping it Real. As luck would have it, that is the ONE story not available on their Web site. WHAT IS on the site is another interesting story about Facebook CEO and rugrat millionaire Mark Zuckerberg and how much he enjoys wearing flip-flops and telling Yahoo to shove its billion bucks. Chock full of hubris-y goodness. In light of that, enjoy this hilarious Facebook parody.

now every pic can feel like real life

TechCrunch has a post up about FotoWoosh, a new service that can turn any 2D image into an animated 3D model. Very cool stuff. This image above is cooler-looking than all 90 minutes of Jaws 3-D and with about the same amount of effort!

I Love the 80's: Webby Edition

The Webby Award nominations are out. More random that those freaky shadow puppet contortionists at this year's Oscars are nominations for the Anderson Cooper and Pet Shop Boys fansites. Erasure, Thompson Twins and Yaz couldn't be reached for comment. The Webby noms come just as AdWeek reports on new Forrester Research saying the Web design business is heading for a revenue growth rate of about 20%. This bodes well for my buddy Darryl, Plaid and A Flock of Seagulls.

Google owns your eyes...and your soul

Last night The New York Times broke the story that Google has agreed to purchase Doubleclick for (gulp) $3.1 billion nearly double what they spent on lawsuit bait YouTube. Even more important, this purchase means that Google has once again soiled Microsoft’s Corn Flakes. The difference between the YouTube and Doubleclick acquisitions is, the second one is a smart move. In addition to a great branding boost, Google gets Doubleclick’s ad software, its network, its customers and rights to all first-born children. This deal will allow Google to compete in the growing display and video ad business, an area they were losing ground to Yahoo in. Guess they fixed THAT nagging little problem. Google-opoly anyone?

-Wilson

darryl takes vacation. replaced with smarter people.

I'm taking a vacation. The first one in many years, so I'm pretty psyched. My wife says that I won't be buried in my laptop the whole week. So she claims. (She has to sleep at some point.)

In the meantime, BrandFlakes will be graced with the presence of two wonderful guest bloggers:

Wilson Cleveland will be taking over my daily duties. Wilson is VP of New Media & Entertainment at CJP Communications. Big time NYC PR dude, who does whatever it is that PR people do. He also happens to be very, very funny. You'll want to hang with him by the end of the week.

Eliza Sweet, our copywriter of choice, will be delivering a couple of additional posts during the week. She's pretty good at putting words together in a sentence, since she writes for a living. Normally, she's generating loads of award-winning copy for our work. This week, she'll be writing the first ever grammatically correct posts on BrandFlakes. While we try to learn the difference between a verb and adverb.

I'd like to say that some of the VIA crew will also be filing a post or two - but in reality, they'll be too busy coming in late, taking two hour lunches, and leaving early. ;)

I'm off to be a judge at the Westchester Ad Club tomorrow, and then to Puerto Rico. See ya in a week.

this week at via/plaid

Here's what happened this week at the world's most 'wishing it was sunny' design and branding firm:

Wow. What a week.

Loads and loads of new business. And then some more. Totally awesome.

We just started working with the Westport Country Playhouse - and will be rocking the theater industry upside down. There's a really rich history here - many people know of the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward factor, but the playhouse actually dates back to 1930, and their stage has been graced by the likes of Liza Minelli, Kitty Carlisle, Henry Fonda, Eva Gabor, and Jane Fonda.

We also just received approval on a couple of internet projects for a Connecticut hospital. One of the first is a site for bariatrics. That surgery that helps obese people lose weight. We're stoked about this - it's a classic opportunity to connect with real humans and make a difference in their lives. Not often that we get to do that, in the design and branding world.

We won five Ad Club awards! I'm pretty sure that's the most we've ever won at any one show. Pretty stoked.

The rebranding of our agency to Plaid is in full swing. We've pretty much selected a logo, designed the new concept for the website, and involved the community in the process. You can read the play by play at our re-branding blog, ThinkPlaid.

I'm on vacation next week!! Some exciting and super smart bloggers will be filling my shoes while I'm away.

misery loves company

The latest trend: Misery clubs. People go to cry, whine, and be miserable. I suppose that sells a lot of alcohol. Sounds like a blast. Or like a typical day at a big agency. ;)

best use of twitter yet

On Sunday, Fox debuts some show called Drive. Greg Yaitanes, executive producer and director of the show will be Twittering throughout the program, providing Director's commentary.

Awesome, amazing, outstanding use of the technology. I don't watch television without my laptop in hand anymore. Teenagers watch television as a secondary device - with the computer being the primary. So what a genius move, Fox. Now there's a real live reason to watch both.

THIS is the way to use Twitter. Not "buying groceries for tonight's party," but providing real, entertaining value to those watching. And reading. And Twittering.

What can you be Twittering? Found on YesButNoButYes

where to buy slutty teen clothes

Funny animated video by Dan Meth to promote Live Natty. I can't stop singing the song. But then again, I'm famous for really liking teenage girl music. It's what I do.

drinking games rock

It's been a while since I've played a great drinking game. You know, now that I spend all of my time on the internet and don't go out of doors. Well our buddies over at SHS have created what I believe to be the perfect drinking game.

1. You can play with your friends who are on the other side of the country.
2. You don't need a designated driver (if you're playing from home.)
3. You can drink AND be on the internet. I think that's what it's like in heaven.

Anyway, at I Never, you answer a bunch of questions. If you answer "I never," then you have to take a drink. You can share details of your stories, too. Really great piece. My only complaint is that you can't change the music. I heard a song that sounded like Phish, and puked a little in my mouth. But then I realized that you can turn the sound off.

Oh yeah, the work is to promote Houlihans, which is a place you can go when you need to get away from the internet. Or when you need to put food in your belly.

Right now, I'm drinking alone. And it's the morning. Maybe that's an issue for some, but not for me.

funny business combos

Hal sent us this photo of a business he found on the way to his office, in Savannah, Georgia. It's a handy business, where you can get your taxes done while taking a portrait. You know, because it's so inconvenient when you have to visit two places to get those things done.

There are loads of businesses like this near our office. In fact, we've renamed the bodega on the corner "triple B," because of the odd sort of products they sell. (Everything from belts, to boots, to beans. Whatever. Made sense at the time, and now it's known as Triple B.)

What odd businesses are in your town?

social getting antisocial

MySpace just blocked all of their members from posting links to videos hosted on Photobucket.

Bad deal for Photobucket. And this will be mighty interesting to see how it impacts MySpace. If they continue to block third party applications, at what point will their users dump them? Many already have. Or they've grown into something else.

There's a lesson here, somewhere. A favorite client of ours likes to quote the abundance mentality. I wonder if this is a good example.

Why couldn't MySpace just make their video product better in some way? Or preferred because it's branded as the cooler product? Wouldn't it be better to have customers choose a product, rather than forcing it on them, by controlling the marketplace?

judging at the westchester ad club

I just volunteered as a judge for the Westchester Ad Club awards. I'm pretty stoked, as I haven't had the opportunity to see the behind the scenes of an award show in our industry.

It will be awesome to be locked in a room with a ton of fabulous work, and a handful of other creative people. Not that they lock us in. I'm pretty sure, anyway.

when outdoor is indoor

Cool billboard to raise money for the homeless, in New Dehli, India.

officially addicted to justin

You're probably familiar with Justin.tv. If not - he's the guy who has strapped a camera to his head, and streams video of his entire life to Justin.TV. Everything he does, streamed 24/7. Everything. He's a self proclaimed lifecaster.

Anyway, Geek Entertainment TV has a cool interview with him, live from his apartment. I've only been paying attention since yesterday, and I'm already addicted. I keep a tab on my browser open with Justin, and keep an eye on him. Yesterday, I left the office for some meetings, and my workmates got worried, because my computer started sneezing. Turns out, it was Justin, waking up on the west coast.

Sooo many possibilities to add Justin to your life. Or your brand campaign. Or your television show.

He's sleeping right now, in case you were wondering.

the art of the hand dryers

Photographer Doug Wilson has collected a beautiful gallery of hand dryer photographs. That's right - I used the word beautiful in the same sentence as hand dryer.

The wonderfullness of objects. Things we all take for granted, all around us, seen from a different perspective. And, you can't mess with full force of the Magnum. Found at Core77

coke. not so quick on new marketing.

First, they rejected the entire Mentos video palooza. Later they realized their mistake, and embraced it.

Now, Jesus is captured on film drinking Coke (or at least, someone who plays Jesus, in an indie film), and they're not liking it. They're asking that the film be re-shot. (with Pepsi?)

I can already see the "what would Jesus drink?" t-shirts. Would Coke be ok with Satan drinking their product, since he dresses in the company red?

mmmm. chipotle. art.

Artist Andrew Wilson has created a gallery of art on Chipotle menus. Art AND mexican fast food. That must be what it's like when you die, and go to the light.

must see tv

This is a weekly simultaneous post featured on Brand Flakes for Breakfast AND the SmartBiz SmartBlog. The posts are geared toward small business.

Maybe you've read about how iTunes is changing the way 20 somethings watch TV. Perhaps your geek friend is telling you about Joost - television for your computer. And you've even wasted otherwise productive time watching YouTube videos while at work.

Television is morphing into a new form as we speak. The viewer has become the programming exec. The days of "appointment" television are over. Media distribution outlets are growing exponentially and are hungry for content to distribute. All this adds up to an unprecedented opportunity for brands.

This is a potential boon for small businesses. Television has traditionally been out of reach for brands on tighter marketing budgets. New TV opens the doors of the television world to brands that could never afford a TV buy on NBC prime time. Branding opportunities are no longer reserved for brands like Coke and American Idol.

YOU are the television producer of the future. YOU can advertise and sponsor programming. Because of the countless new distribution channels, your programming can reach new audiences, without an ad budget that exceeds your annual sales revenues.

There's an awesome opportunity on the table for brands who recognize it as such, and get in early to become leaders within their niche markets. What programming is your audience interested in? What holes could be filled?

You've always wanted to be on TV? Now's your chance.

five ad club awards!

Just received a thick envelope in the mail, and found out that we've won FIVE awards in the upcoming Ad Club of CT awards show. Here's what's in:

Mohawk Mountain Ski Mountain outdoor
Santa Hunters website
Santa Hunters greeting card
Spherion Meeting Bingo
Flambeau River Papers swatchbook

We find out what gets a gold, silver or bronze pencil at the awards ceremony on May 23rd. Stay tuned for details and pics. Justus usually gets pretty liquored up, and starts a fight or two. Should be pretty entertaining.

another reason to live in ca

If you live in LA, please, please, please check out the Laura Levine photo exhibit going on now through May 5. Laura's photographed some of the most influential musicians over the last kabillion years, and this is her first show in over a decade. There's countless historic shots that you'll recognize, like shots of Joey Ramone, Siouxie Sioux, the Beastie Boys, the Clash, Gang of Four, and more. The show is only in LA. Go for all the fans on the east coast, who can't.

14 years till the beastie boys show at our office

Wieden + Kennedy staffers got treated to a private Beastie Boy concert to celebrate their 25th year anniversary. We're gonna start saving now for our 25 year celebration. We'll have to bring the Beasties out of retirement, in the year 2021.

this week at via/plaid

Here's what happened this week at the world's most tartan design and branding firm:

We sent an email blast to our clients and friends, announcing the fact that our agency will be changing its name, and rebranding as Plaid. Lots of fun and excitement.

We just noticed that Brand Flakes turned two years old last month. We forgot about it. We didn't even have cake! Meanwhile, I have a new post over at the SmartBiz blog about the importance of working with a pro, for everything web 2.0.

An article featuring some of our music industry work was featured in OMMA magazine (membership required). Look for the cover above, and you'll see screen shots for our Brooke Valentine and Janet Jackson projects. Cool stuff.

We've begun interviews for the design position that's open here. Awesome candidates, great portfolios, fun people. This is going to be hard.

Bill Green, from Make the Logo Bigger stopped by our offices to say hi, while traveling through CT. So cool to meet a favorite blogger in person. Because I've been reading his blog forever, it felt like we were already friends - but great to finally meet him in person. We should schedule a blogger blast somewhere in NYC for all of the regional bloggers. I'm tired of hearing about all of the midwestern creatives having fun get-togethers.

On the Plaid side of the fence, we announced a new partnership that will become PlaidTV, and allow us to produce film and TV quality work for the internet. And for the TV.

Nick pointed us to the House of Tartan, where you can make your own custom Plaid pattern, which is really cool.

We're in the midst of designing what will be our agency's new website and company identity, and blogging about all of the details at ThinkPlaid.

Geez, I think that's enough for a week. Have a great weekend/holiday everyone!

how copy can sell a tv

Brilliant copy concept that illustrates how a wide screen can show more of a story.

The ad copy is written so that the story is embellished if you read the 'wide screen' version, or more basic if you read the short version, in yellow.

cows fart. eat steak.

A meatylicious print ad convincing readers that eating beef will help the environment. You see, cows fart. And their farts aren't good for the ozone. So, by eating a cow, you're protecting the environment. The work is for Maredo's Steakhouse in Malaysia.

well designed church sites

Since it's a religious week for many, we bring you the top 10 church and religious sites, from Tutorial Blog. Think religion can't have good design? Think again.

desk sleepers coming to a city near you

To promote its new No More Allnighters campaign, FedEx Kinko's has produced a microsite that ties to the tv spots.

Even more fun - they've planted actors in key cities to sleep on desks. The pic above is an example of what they've setup in Atlanta, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago.

Next week - they're coming to New York. Oh, the poor, poor actors who will have to pretend to sleep in some public space like Times Square. What happens if you pour soda on him? Or poke him with a stick? Just wondering.