It's almost Advertising Week, and if you're going, you'll be doing a whole lotta hand shaking. To make sure your handshake game is on-point, Minneapolis agency Colle+McVoy created HandshakerTester.com that lets your test your handshake strength by pretending your smartphone is another person's hand. I got The Nun. No idea what that actually means, but it can't be bad right? I mean, they do shake hands with "the man" himself right?
Let's face it, the overall awesomeness of a phone is directly correlated to the quality of the photos it takes. Sure, speed, memory, battery and all that crap matters, but all those matter because of all the damn pics we take and share online. So how much better, then, is the iPhone 6s camera than prior versions? Photographer Lisa Bettany shows you . . . in fact, she shows you the quality of every iPhone version in this super cool interactive comparison.
There's been hundreds of years of philosophical debate on form vs. function in design. . . but what if you could have both? As the crew at Visual News points out with their redesign of everyday things (inspired by LA's new parking signs), sometimes good design does more than makes things LOOK better, it makes them work better too. Think about how clearer the world could be with better, more intuitive design.
Love those wacky, sometimes odd, example dictionary sentences? Well you're in luck, because Jez Burrows just used lots of them. In this great new series of shorts we're treated to some clever and surprisingly entertaining stories. Who knew the dictionary could be so fun?
Danny Trejo delivers a magnificent performance in his role of the prison dog, in this new Friends of Animals PSA. While the spot is a bit fun and quirky, the main message gets driven home at the end: spay and neuter your pets. I guess this is what happens when Bob Barker retires.
Pushing product or pushing sex? You be the judge. Check out this video from Business Insider that calls out some well known brands for including subliminal messages. Clearly Disney isn't alone.
George Castanza had it right all along - creating the perfect napping place at work is totally where it's at...and the world has just now caught on.
A company in Koropi, Greece has designed a desk that easily converts into a comfortable area to take a power nap. We know what you're thinking - the habit of taking naps in the office is seen as weak or unprofessional. Oh contraire mon cheri! According to Web MD, a power nap improves alertness and motor learning skills AND it helps boost memory and enhance creativity. BOOM!
Ricky Gervais - need we say more? We know you're already leaning in.
The actor known for his dry witted comedy has partnered with Australian telecommunications provider, Optus in a series of brilliantly hilarious ads that touch upon the realities of celebrity endorsement deals.
Remember when people would say that you were sexually frustrated if you scratched at the label of your favorite beer? Well apparently that's most of the country because Becks Beer (with the help of BBDO Berlin) delivered on this insight with a new label that encourages such artwork. The label has a broad soft aluminum covering that can easily be scratched for personalization.
So get your Van Gogh on and worry not about the appearance of being sexually frustrated.
You are sitting at home after a long day at work watching the season premiere of Scandal and you notice that your tv has some dead pixels. This will not stand, you just bought that tv. Surely it is still under warrantee. So you go through all of the hassle of unhooking all of the cables and taking back to where you bought it so they can fix or replace it since it is still under warrantee. Flash forward a few day to where you get a call from the store letting you know that they weren't going to fix it because the damage was due to an 'Act of God'. A fly flew in to your tv and broke it. This actually happened to a real person.
Remember all those ads and clever campaigns you came up with for your client last year. Man, some of those were killer. Did you get your $50,000 bonus as a result? What, no!?! Well, Walter Arnett of Lexington, KY just did. Snickers picked his ad to win $50,000. Take a look and see if you could do better. If so, go ahead an put in your resignation. What could go wrong?
Do you hate ads so much that you don't want to support any sites that use them? Since your reading a blog about marketing, the answer is probably no. But you still use an ad blockers, right? Of course. Well, if you want to see the real impact blocking ads you may want to download The Ethical Ad Blocker. Not only does it block ads, it also blocks ad supported content. So, forget all that free content you get to see on the internets due to the support of those annoying ads and ensure that you never see any of that content that is also trying to sell you stuff again!
Sure, you might actually be many, many years away from retirement, but the thing about age is, it just sneaks up on you. One minute you're thrilled to be rocking out at a concert at 1AM and the next you're happy to be in bed by 10PM. Yep, life moves fast, so UBS and Publicis Switzerland created this sad but true, and yet somehow still funny campaign to make sure you're planning for it.
eBay has everything you could ever want. So much you could find an item for any word or, say . . . song lyric, ever, as these fun new ads from Goodby Silverstein and Partners illustrate. Kind of hypnotizing if you need a mental break.
Speaking of age sneaking up on you, you're going to die some day. Wha wha, hows that does of reality for your Wednesday morning? Thing is, you have to be ready for the day when it comes, which is why Mount Pleasant Group Cemeteries created this campaign for a fake wearable called Quitbit that tracks your vitals and activity and gives you a count down based on how much time you have left to life. Sure, it's creepy as all hell, but I'd be willing to bet a chunk of change someone makes it for real some day. Either way, super clever.
This is a fun series of illustrations from artist Alex Solis exposing some of the most iconic pop-culture characters. We finally get to see who they really are.
In an effort to further brand personalization, Snickers has created new packaging featuring 21 common hunger symptoms. The idea aligns with their “You’re not you when you’re hungry” campaign, so now you can call out a friend for being too grouchy (or sleepy, snippy, confused etc.) simply by purchasing one of these bars and handing it to them.
Century 21 is capitalizing on the weakness of Facebook’s autoplay video units in their new campaign. With the use of subtle messaging they’re able to intrigue viewers to actually turn on the sound. How you might ask? Well in one instance, bacon. Boom, check out the rest here.
The days of poor production porn are over. This booming industry is setting its sights on the final frontier - and they may just get there!
Porn Hub is crowd sourcing funds to produce the very first sex tape in space! They have already received $236 thousand of their $3.4 million goal to do it. Funds will go to space training, production equipment and futuristic lingerie (obviously)!
Can you think of a cause more worthy of your cash? We can't!
Brands have learned to take advantage of just about every social platform there is - except for one, Linkedin. Why wouldn't brands try to reach the 380 million members that frequent this professional network website? Well Virgin Atlantic is the first to capitalize on these engaged networkers with a creative promotion that solicits job applications for the promise of a free flight to London in VA's new Premium Economy Cabin. So far there have been 200 applicants.
With the pot officially stirred, we're sure that VA is the first of many brands to take advantage of this huge network of professionals.
Let's face it - just about everyone you know lives a life of rainbows, butterflies and hearts. No, seriously - just look at their social media pages. The truth is, what you see in social media isn't always exactly the truth.
A photographer out of Bangkok has a pretty good sense of humor about how we live in a world of stretched truths. Check out some of his latest work.
Moe's Southwest Grill has arguably one of the best quick service chain queso dips out there. In order to celebrate, and potentially drum up some business, Moe's has dubbed today "Quesopalooza." In order to pump up the volume on promoting the cheesy celebration Moe's constructed an electric guitar out of a giant tortilla chip who's sole purpose was to be smashed.
Pinterest finally let us all know just how big they actually are to the tune of 100MM Monthly Active Users. Yes, that is no where near the other big names in social, but it does show that the slow burn of Pinterest has some serious roots in a community of crafters and wedding dreamers. Does this mean that they will be looking for a public IPO, or just that they want to start actually making some real money? Who knows, but at least they know where to go to find a couple of cake pop and party decor ideas.
It's September, and that means that it is time to start your holiday shopping. Wait, no... it isn't. There was a time in a distant past where layaway was a very popular program. This was also a time where you didn't get enough credit card offers in the mail every day to kill a reindeer under the weight of it all (not to mention the emotional weight of crippling debt). But, none the less, Kmart is promoting layaway in their 'ridiculous' ad celebrating the holidays.
So you're sitting around in your hotel room, you've checked your email, social media, and everything else you can check. There's nothing good on TV. What do you do?
If you're staying at select Marriotts across the world, you call VRoomService and have them send up a Samsung VR headset so you can take a virtual trip to some of the other awesome places you'd like to visit someday.
The opportunities this presents for the hotel industry are endless. Imagine taking virtual tours of the city you're in, sneak peaks at nearby shows and restaurants, tours of other hotels within that chain, and . . . well . . . ordering porn. Yes! Let's get these in every hotel!
If you're an Oregon Ducks fan, you'll love it for its ode to Nike's ties to the University of Oregon, its debut at Saturday's football game, the appearance of the Duck mascot, and its use of the Duck's game song, Shout.
If you're an Animal House lover, you'll love it for its recreation of the iconic toga party scene, which took place in Eugene, home of the University of Oregon.
If you're a celebrity follower, you'll love it for all the special appearances by famous alumni, including Ty Burrell, Neil Everett, and Marcus Mariota to name a few.
If you love all of the above, you'll love it for the appearance of Otis Day and the Knights performing of Shout.
And, of course, if you love Nike, you'll love it for the appearance of the brand co-founders, Bill Bowerman, former coach at the University of Oregon and former student, Phil Knight.
Photographer Michael Dyrland tried to surf one day in LA after a pretty hard rain, when he was stopped by beachgoers imploring him not to risk his health. See, it rains so rarely in LA, that when it does all the garbage, sewage, oil, and human waste (yes, you read that correctly) runs down the streets and right into the ocean.
Michael was so appalled by this notion he decided to partner with another photographer (Mike Marshall) to shoot surfers in hazmat suits to raise awareness for this problem and motivate people, companies, and organizations to take action.
Dying to get to that one website that has that one thing you’ve always wanted, but when you get there it is under construction? Well, that's okay, because these under construction page designs will make you happy on the inside and probably make you come back again soon.
Remember the good ol’ days when paper and pencil were the only tools you needed to create something wonderful? IKEA does. In response to the latest Apple announcement of their new pencil (which is nothing like the original) - IKEA decided to have a little fun and remind people that they have a pencil too. Hopefully there are more goodies to come from IKEA the next time Apple comes out with a new product. Bring out the popcorn.
Leave it to Japan - a country with an incredible love for cats - to give owners and non-owners alike a chance to see things from the perspective of our feline friends. The tourism board for Hiroshima created a website that features a cats perspective (6" off the ground) of the city of Onomichi. You can visit stores and restaurants all from the ground up. The website and app comes complete with a feline guide (Lala) and plenty of meowing as you virtually walk the city streets.
Normal by our standards? No. Strangely interesting? Yes. Enjoy!
Move over Dr. Brown, there's a new wacky inventor in town!
Just in time for back to school, this fun inventor, commissioned by Kelloggs is reinventing the way kids eat breakfast to cheer up the most dreaded part of the day - waking up!
From a crane that quite literally shovels cereal into your mouth to an amplifier that amplifies the sound of your SNAP, CRACKLE, POP - this guy has the breakfast edge down! You can check out all of his wacky contraptions here.
We thought we'd start your Friday with being grossed out. Cool?
McDonalds has gone through many changes since they first opened in the 50's - but the most notable change is in their food. Food serving sizes have increased dramatically as have the options that McDonalds offers.
Have you ever been planning your next vacation to low Earth orbit and thought, "This is going to be great, but how am I going to get my bottle of whiskey from the duty free inside of me once I am in microgravity?" Well, you now have a solution to go along with you in to space, a whisky tumbler specifically made for use without the assistance of gravity by Ballantine. Hopefully you'll make it back safe to enjoy your mansions and whatever else people who go on vacation to outer space have.
Product placement is noting new, just watch any cable tv program and you are bound to see a few products shoved in to the plot in an awkward way so that all of your focus is on it. But, how about a product that is the official sponsor of a fictional space program. Yep, Under Armor is the 'Official Training Partner' of the theatrical mission to Mars for Matt Damon. This doesn't feel as absurd when you don't think about it too much, and may actually add a sense of realism. And, as we all know, you need some good moisture control under that space suit.
You are aware that ad blocking is going to be hitting mobile in a very big way in the very near future, right? So, does that make apps the new digital gold mine for ads? Well, it seems that Instagram is thinking that it may be, so they have created an additional ad product to help TV and movies promote through their app, Marquee. They are longer, come in more formats, and are probably more entertaining than your friends.
According to these new ads from Wrangler Europe, if you live life awesomely, you can rock Wranglers. And, if you live life lamely, you're just plain Wrong . . . ler. These fun juxtaposed ads are a teaser for their new brand platform which is sure to be entertaining when it launches with their fall/winter line.
With all this technology it's easy to get a false sense of security. You think, I probably shouldn't walk through this park alone at night, or hmm, this parking garage is a little creepy, but don't worry, I have my phone if anything happens. The thing is, bad things can happen fast and it's likely you won't have time to dial 911. That's where this potentially life-saving app comes in.
Companion lets you connect with friends using the app so they can virtually escort you wherever you're going. GPS tracks where you are and built-in sensors detect if the user dropped their phone, starts running, removes their headphones and so on. This then prompts the escort to check if they're ok and allows them to connect with 911 on their behalf.
Mattresses are a big investment, so you can imagine people's resistance to replacing them every eight years per the recommendation of pretty much every mattress maker and retailer out there. It's understandable, eight years doesn't seem like very long . . . until you think about all that happens in your life in eight years.
Dreams, a mattress retailer out of the UK, created this really sweet and touching video ad illustrating exactly that as part of their "Replace Every Eight" campaign. Clear and effective without coming off too earnest, which is not easy to pull off.
What a world we live in. If you thought Tinder was a great app to ummm uhhh find your soul mate with minimal effort, then you're going to love this new app that basically does that, but for jobs. Just fill out some basics, start swiping right or left, then poof, your hired. Or something like that. What are you waiting for? Go snap a duck face and find your dream job.
