Fart Goes the Weasel

Who doesn’t love a good fart gag? These guys take it to the next level and turn it into a social cause.

It’s just something silly and fun. That’s what makes others want to do it. Too bad its release parallels with the whole ALS ice bucket thing. Overshadowed.

What I also like about this campaign is that it implements a feature I’ve been trying to explain to all my team partners for forever now. One day I’ll be able to sell it by using this as a case study. Much like YoutubeRepeat.com. I don’t understand why people aren’t using this feature more. Hopefully this will spark the inspiration.

Mathematical Prints

Clever print ads in the form of something we can all relate to. An example of long copy emulating something so familiar but spinning it in a direction that makes us wanting to read more. That’s how you lure people into long copy. I think that’s a life lesson I’ll take to make sure my future self gets stuff produced. Thanks to ZOO Australia for the inspiration.

Madden Spot from Heat

Shoutout and self-bragging to me for having taken classes at Heat from two teachers. Both of whom were not involved in any way with the production of this spot haha. I’ve been researching a lot of sports advertising lately. This just happened to be something recent and also very very hilarious. I’d love to be able to write up ridiculous lyrics like this one day.

Geek Out to Assassins

I’ve always been a video game fan, and as I’ve grown into this industry, I’ve come to love and appreciate the advertising around them. Films in particular are really epic and inspiring. Again, fun content is great content. Why watch something dull and advertisey, when you can just create something you want to create? That’s how I’d feel if I were to work on the latest Assassin’s Creed parkour video.

It thrilled me enough to want to look up the actual game trailer. Which is here:

When watching stuff like this, I wonder to myself if maybe looking for agencies with a video game focus could be a good niche for me. Who knows. Doors are opening.

Entertainment Over Advertising

This new spot from Old Navy has been making the rounds on the interweb.

It’s strange, but extremely catchy. When I first loaded the video, I thought to myself, “4 minutes?! Wtf. Who would ever watch this.” Then this the girl starts singing, and it’s like omg how am I not going to watch the whole damn thing. Damn you, YouTube! It’s pretty much a music video about self-confidence. Barely any branding at all. Still, 4 million views later, and I’m sure Old Navy is very happy.

It reminds me of Virgin America’s in-flight safety video. It’s just reimagined content remixed to pop culture and catchy music. We want to watch it because we’re entertained. We aren’t bashed over the face with ‘buy me, buy me.’ Just make enjoyable content and people will come. Just knowing that this video exists makes me want to really fly with Virgin America. They’ve done their job well.

Journal Writing Exercise

Kinda ironic I’m posting my journal writing exercise from class into my actual journal. Well…it sounded more dramatic in my head. At any rate, I wrote this in the span of an hour, and it stirred a lot of reaction in class. Thought I’d share it here as well.

The exercise was to write four journal entries at different points in your life. I turned those four into a single narrative. To preface, it’s a hybrid between fact and fiction. However, all the events I mention have happened.

=================================================

8 years old
Today was sunny and not that hot. Mom said we could go to Meadows Mall and buy one toy from the store because I was a good boy. I asked if Will could come too. Will’s mom said it was okay, so I was excited he came with me to buy Jurassic Park Legos. I always wanted that. Dinosaurs are my favorite. We went back home, and Mom said me and Will could play until dinner time.

14 years old
They ditched me. Fannie, Will, Andrew, and Yong. They ditched me. I thought we were best friends. They lied to me and left on a road trip to California without telling me. They’re even posting pictures on Xanga. Screw them seriously. Vegas is so boring. Everyone wants to get out. Especially me! Damn, I wish I had a car.

But I guess the more I think about it, I’m really only mad at Will. No. I’m more disappointed. I don’t care about the others, but Will and I grew up together. Why does he think he can treat me that way? We’ve always been neighbors. We’ve always been best friends. It’s like after meeting these other people, he’s changed. Why do you have to be such an asshole when we’re around others, dude? C’mon. What a poser.

18 years old
Just got back from the Key Club Convention in Sacramento, and it was an amazing experience. Not only did I win Bulletin Editor of the Year, I won Second Place website too. It felt awesome going up on stage and accepting the award in front of a screaming crowd. Not to mention, kicking my heels on stage got me in the recap video at the end of the convention. Wah ha ahaha!

Also good news, Will won Key Club Treasurer of the Year. The dynamic duo strikes again. That night we both went back to the hotel room with the rest of the group, and got drunk off our asses. It was insane. We managed to pack almost the entire floor into our room. So many people cramped in one sweaty space, but regardless, this was probably one of the most memorable nights of my life.

I may have felt like shit the next day, but I by no means regret it. Why not go balls to the wall? Senior year is a time for celebration and prom is just around the corner. I already got into UW, so I wanna enjoy high school while it lasts.

I’m on this emotional high, but I can’t help but be a little sad about moving away. Say goodbye to familiar family and friends. Especially Will. I just learned he got into Columbia. That means he’s off to New York City at the end of the summer. That’s on the freakin’ other side of the planet as far as I’m concerned. But I know he’s got great things in store for his future, and hopefully one day his successful ass can get me a job in whatever corporation he’s running.

23 years old
Will committed suicide today.

I got the call literally a minute after I saw Lucy posting about it on Facebook. It tears me up inside that I had to find out about this through some fucking social media. No. I’m really torn up about the fact this could even happen in the first place. Why wasn’t I there? Why did we allow ourselves to drift so far apart? What could have compelled him to take a fucking gun to his skull in front of his own family? What the fuck is wrong with this world? It doesn’t make any damn sense.

My mind is racing a mile a minute, and I don’t know whether I should cry, be angry, or talk to someone about it. I don’t understand how someone can be in this world one minute and be completely gone the next. It’s surreal. I feel as if I could just grab my cellphone, scroll down to his name, and give him a call right now. He’ll pick up and this whole thing would just have been a horrible dream.

But of course that’s impossible. I’m sad. Not delusional. He’s gone for no reason at all, and he’s left us here in this fucked up reality to lament and be confused over something we had no control. I hate him for being so selfish, but I miss him so much more. There’s nothing more I regret than never being able to tell him these feelings in person.

Under Armor Making the Rounds

This commercial has been making the rounds. Simply shot. Beautifully shot. But the thing I’m most impressed about is the tagline, “I will what I want.”

Quick. Direct. Inspirational. Hallmarks of good writing, and all the things I aspire when I think up good lines. Also, I find taglines are some of the most difficult things to write. I’m envious when people just find something that flows as well as this.

Simple and profound

Found this bit on Creativity Online. It wasn’t a huge campaign done for a large client with massive reach, but I liked the execution a lot. It could be a point of inspiration for my future work.

Enemy Front is a first-person shooter where you play through the battlefield of Warsaw during WWII. They’re fighting to fend off the Nazis, but ultimately, they lose. As you play through, your game inexplicably pauses for one minute. You’re prompted to go to ItWasntAGame.com.

There, you watch a short film about the history of the game. In Poland, there’s a town that pauses in its place for a single minute each year in remembrance of its violent history. Gamers are able to pay respect to those fallen through this way. The game itself is paused during that exact moment in Poland when they are also observing this tradition.

Super simple. Great message. I love this piece of advertising because it melds education and videogames. If I were playing Enemy Front and this suddenly happened, I would absolutely geek out and spread the word. McCann Warsaw, the agency who is responsible for this, did a great job in my opinion.

Original Article Here

Computer Crash

Nothing ad related today. Just more of a rant.

My computer crashed yesterday with all of my important files. Lovely. I was pretty upset in the moment, but now in retrospect, I’m really not that mad about it. I backed up all my files in Las Vegas, so I’m really only a month behind. All the group projects I was working on were also uploaded in the cloud. The only real work I’m missing is my writing for a copywriting class. That can be rewritten over a few annoying hours.

But as I sit here restoring my freshly wiped computer back to familiar settings, I notice that I really don’t have much essential applications on here at all. A few things here and there are for utilitarian purposes, but other than that, nothing too fancy.

Wiping the computer was kinda nice. I feel like I’m starting with a clean slate. Much like life, every now and then you need a detox. I feel like living light and starting anew makes you feel more relieved and less burdened. I’m equating that to my data loss right now. It all really isn’t so bad after all.

les fruits & légumes Moches

A great campaign against food waste. I’ve been told this is a huge topic, and a flurry of student portfolios have sought to fix it. This actual French campaign actually executed something, and did it very well. I like everything in terms of design, simplicity of the idea, and presentation of the material.

Would I buy one of these grotesque fruits myself? Here in New York City, absolutely. I need to save the moneys. However in other cities, I might just pay more for the regular shape due to being able to cook it evenly when sauteing. I think that’s a pretty legitimate concern.

Again, observing this campaign teaches me to keep things simple and convince people to engage in the truth I am presenting.