Gatorthirst

In the spirit of the Gator videos below, and a classic fake ad that was actually once parodied for a real ad, I give you this:

Taking on an OG

My newest ESPN magazine arrived in the mail this afternoon and Iwas really impressed with the cover. At first glance I thought there was a printing error and half of the cover was missing but that's what the people at Pepsi and Powerade's agency-of-record, Ammirati, want you to think. It's actually an ad that plays on the fact that Gatorade's "G" drink is missing some essential electrolytes and Powerade should be your first choice for post-athletic endeavor hydration. According to this AdAge article it's the first time ESPN has done this and personally it's the first time I think I've seen something like this done. As a UF alumnus I can't help but be biased towards Gatorade (though I'm pissed with the whole removing the "atorade" from the name thing) but I do think this idea is really effective, is just plain cool as hell AND it covers Manny Ramirez's ulgy mug.






Also right as I was about to post this I happened to see a friend of mine put this video on facebook and I just had to add it:

Da na na na na.... Go Gators!

Shout-out to my good friend, super sister, and all around classy gal Deanna Lazzaroni (... and I guess while I'm at it - all my lovelies still at UF) for this:

Fletcher Martin has come up with a new and powerful campaign for the University of Florida. We all remember, and I'm sure love, the previous "Go Gator" campaign they did:




You won't find the current campaign on YouTube, but check out their Web site under the portfolio section to see the two new spots. In a word: amazing.

Also, to read more about the campaign and get some great insight, check out Deanna's blog: Satisfy the Craving. I'm so proud to call her little :)

Wait, what?

Since most of you don't have/watch TV, you don't get to see all of the lovely TV spots out there.... like this one:



Why would anyone make a commercial for a sub "sexy"? Why, I ask you, why? This does not make me want a Quizno's sub. In fact, it makes me want to throw up. And, it's not funny. If it was supposed to be a joke... I don't get it.

ew.

Smoking Smarties

Not sure if anyone has heard/seen this...



Apparantly this is pretty old, but it's making new waves on YouTube. There are sereval different version, all with a "how-to" smoke smarties, but this one featuring a 10-year-old boy named Titus is getting all the attention. It's been posted on BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor, the video-gamer destination G4tv.com's "Attack of the Show", and the "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" blog. Along with dozens of other vidoes, there a numerous MySpace metions and groups on Facebook as well as tons of posts to blogs. The video is also the 5th link when "smarties" is typed into Google

There are clearly two problems happening... it perpetuates the "coolness" of smoking and could be some really bad PR for Smarties's maker Ce De. Ce De is a 60-year-old family owned company that is [probably] never in the news on anyone's top of mind. I mean, how often does anyone really think of Smarties, aside from the occasional pinata and perhaps Halloween?

The company is distancing itself from the videos and denying any connection... Is any PR good PR??

Way to capture our... hearts?

Saw this Trojan spot after the gator game on ESPN. Kind of in shock from the audacity.

Twitter Video

Since I was having problems this week with posting my video (and the link to it) here it is on YouTube. Here's hoping this works *fingers crossed*

Baa

Now this is good viral marketing:



It reminds me of the brilliance behind the Bravia ads: take a simple idea, then blow it up as big as you can.

On another note, here is your pointless and frankly mystifying (even if you understand Japanese) commercial from Japan.
...but that song is quite catchy...

The periodic table of fonts

Sean I know you'll love this one...



Click the image for its full size glory (twss).

It was created by the artist Squidspot.

Dutch rap groups are funny... and catchy!

Take a listen and laugh.

The rest of the world is sooooo much more clever then us

So this SMS triggered billboard snows every time it's snowing at the advertised resort. When snow starts falling, a system triggers an SMS to the billboard ordering it to commence the snow and does the opposite (un-commence) when it stops snowing at the resort. Ahh technology, lets all take a moment to bask in it.

Urban hangover pants

I've been thinking that drinking all day and night every weekend (and some weekdays) is becoming bad for my health... (I was sick this weekend) which means on Sunday's I should adorn these pants and setup camp in the house (much like my sickly self this weekend). The world might be a better place if these pants were a part of everyones wardrobe, think of all the trees you could save by buying your whole family these pants instead of buying a dining room table (I suppose you'll need guest pants too).

CIA, FBI, NSA, BBDO, Y+R...

This is a banner for degree.info and it's the first time I've ever seen us referred to as agents. I might be wrong and that's the correct way to refer to our profession but it sounds weird to me...(I tried to think of witty stuff but I have a headache...so sue me):




P.S.: I'd like to give a shout-out to my friend Miranda's blog, Mirandom Selections. She was my Art Director for the second half of our account planning class and she's pretty much awesome in all ways possible, and best of all, she's a fan of our blog too, so give her's a peek.

P.S.S.: It might not be the Big Dance but we beat Miami and knocked them out of the NIT so that made my basketball season.

P.S.S.S.: Eric Roller won the Top Dog award for this past quarter and that makes it the second time he wins it since I've been in school. Here's what he won it for: Pigsy in Space

P.S.S.S.S.: This is awesome (which I stole from Miranda's twitter feed): Billy Mays makes me feel special

Hello Kitty

Thing #716523 I love about Japan: Commercials where Hello Kitty head-bangs to sell cars.

I Twatted

So Colbert claimed this morning that he has, in fact "Twatted" after Meredith Viera asked him if he has ever used Twitter. No one was sure if it was okay to laugh at first, but I was rolling. He's brilliant.

And now, if you don't already know what it is, or want to take a good look at Twitter, here's a video explaining it all...

Discovery Health's I Am My Own Twin

Lots of nights as I'm falling asleep, I put my TV on sleep timer and listen to Mystery Diagnosis. I love Discovery Health. Recently, I heard a preview for a documentary called "I am my own Twin"

"Babies are being born split right down the middle, half black and half white, a testicle on one side and a vagina on the other. Explore the extraordinary medical phenomena that causes two different babies to fuse together in the womb."

Wait. What?

So two fertilized eggs, which would eventually have been fraternal twins, sometimes fuse in the womb very early on and instead of two babies , just one baby is born who is also his/her own twin because this unusual baby carries two sets of DNA! Why this happens is a mystery.

This was discovered when a woman lost custody of her children because DNA tests showed that they were not actually hers. She was pregnant, and the court ordered someone to witness the birth of her next child. When they tested the DNA of that child, it also did not match the mother's DNA. This is because she was her own twin. Depending on where they sampled her DNA from (literally down to the exact strand of hair), the code was different.

Sometimes the babies in this situation look totally normal, but other times they exhibit really strange features, like a stomach that's half white and half black, or they are born with a cervix AND a teste. There are no pictures that I can find online--but I suggest that you watch the documentary. It's on YouTube. Here's part 1:

Dolphin Bubbles

If you've got three minutes and are even a fraction as fascinated with dolphins as I am, check out this video.



Some other fun-facts about the coolest kids in the animal planet:

• Dolphins have to be conscious to breath, so they cannot go into a full deep sleep because they would suffocate. So they are able to actually let just half of their brain sleep at a time.
• Dolphins are thought to have evolved from a land animal resembling a wolf.
• There's a dolphin called a narwhal that's known as the unicorn of the sea.
• Unlike other mammals (besides us of course), dolphins often engage in sex and foreplay just for fun and throughout the year, not just during mating season. They are also one of the only mammals to engage in homosexual sexual play.
  
• When dolphins give birth, another female dolphin acts as the "midwife" and is the only other pod member allowed near the calf.
• An albino dolphin was spotted once.
  

Dustin vs. Playstation

I do not watch baseball, and I do not have a Playstation. (Although I played Little Big Planet with my brother recently and it was AWESOME). But I do enjoy this campaign from Deutsch for MLB09 The Show called Dustin VS. Playstation:



On Playstation's site, you can view 6 more videos of the debate, 3 from Dustin and his backers and 3 from Playstation's side. The best one in my opinion is the one with Dustin and his coach in the kitchen. Couldn't find it on youtube, but visit the site and check them out.

More Nerdy raps

Just for you Karina

First- Bo Burnham, on of my all time fav YT videos



And of course, you can't go wrong with Weird Al - White and Nerdy (in Legos because the original won't embed)

Japanese Love Robot

Ever since Ruff has been in Japan, I keep an eye out for blogs/articles about anything Japanese. I have found that these articles are often highly interesting and extremely amusing. In fact, I think Lauren should start her own weekly post on Japanese culture. (Ps- MelDoug, what happened to 15 minutes of fame?)

Anyway, I usually keep the articles to myself. But this one I HAVE to share. It seems that some researchers in Kyoto who have created Kenji, a robot who can show emotions such as love, didn't know what they were getting themselves into.

Here's a quote from the article that I think will convince you to read the whole thing: "Each time Kenji is re-activated, he instantaneously bonds with the first technician to meet his gaze and rushes to embrace them with his two 100kg hydraulic arms. It doesn’t help that Kenji uses only pre-recorded dog and cat noises to communicate and is able to vocalize his love through a 20 watt speaker in his chest."

Mac or PC Rap

So I finally downloaded Firefox so I can embed videos! (Safari has issues with Blogger. And gmail, actually).

By the way, Google Chrome is not out for Macs yet. My Google/Mac love does not seem to be compatible.

Anyway, enjoy...



I'm a big fan of nerdy rap songs. (see below)

Carnival Aquarium = amazing

Saw this when I was walking on Park Avenue to my friend's restaurant from Grand Central... At first, I didn't know exactly what is was except that it's for Carnival Cruise lines and pretty cool. Upon further research, I found that it's a sweet campaign for Carnival which feature interactive computer-animated "aquariums" on the sides of buildings that get high pedestrian traffic in 6 cities (Baltimore, Dallas, Houston, LA, New York and D.C.).

Details:

"As pedestrians walk by, the vibrant undersea universe reacts with plant life swaying, water and bubbles moving and fish darting around in response to the human motion. Signage invites passersby to dial a number on their cell phones to create their own, personalized fish.

By making various sounds into their phones, consumers can customize their fish and then, using their keypad, swim them around the tank. By steering the fish to food, the custom creatures continue to morph in shape and size and do a variety of other fun and surprising things.

The aquariums also feature a mechanism that enables people to come back later and, using the same cell phone, retrieve their customized fish. Once finished with the interaction, consumers receive a text message inviting them to visit carnival.com/funville for additional fun activities and information."

All created by Arnonld, Boston.

One word- Gross.

Any idea who does their creative?

...Corwin?

Holy Shit!!! It happened! Oregon Trail comes to the iPhone.

I'm running home, downloading this and taking all of you on the trail! Julio, if we get into trouble, I'm killing you off first.

Walkthrough with pictures here

This fillet-o-fish commerical is better...

I'm lovin this ad!

Saw this a bunch this weekend while watching basketball. It really gets stuck in your head. I feel like the music is from another song (or very similar) but I can't place it. But I like the ad. I get excited every time I see it come on. And one commercial break I remember hoping it would be on and then it was - I was like "yes!"

Bogusky leaves Twitter

Alex Bogusky is over Twitter. Gosh, he's so much more advanced than the rest of us. 

Lately I have been explaining Twitter/micro-blogging to at least one person a day. Hasn't quite reached the mainstream here at UF for those who aren't communications majors.

On a creepy note, did you know they have commemorative plates with his face on them on ebay? Good gift idea for JFran?

Some sexy spots... (alliteration is cool)

You may have seen many of these but here is a short list of some scandalously sexy commercials, just for fun. (Don't watch these at work unless you have headphones)

Guinness

Durex

Greenepeace

Wellington Zoo

And here's one that's actually sweet:

Viagra

A good read

Just wanted to share this blog post about marketers using public support to stop their brands from being killed by the economy.

Interweb the Rainbow?

Yes, I'm going to talk about Skittles. Sorry to all of you who have read a gajillion blogs about it already.  

I just want to say that while they're new site is a cool idea (although unoriginal- see Modernista), I just don't think that will sell Skittles. And I wish you could move the widget.

Plus, Skittles are gross.  

Oh, look...Sean's tweet made it through

Stupid box is in the way a bit.

Slow Thursday

Been a pretty slow afternoon for once. So i decided to post some random spots I felt like sharing:

Found this guy the other day. Karina liked it so much she made it her status. Pretty cool spot.


Found this one while looking for a spot the other day. Cute.


Thought I was having a nightmare the other night. Then the spot ended and I woke up. Except I was never asleep. Even the Slowskys were better than this.


lol funny spot from castrol. better than the monkeys one from the super bowl (this actually ran pregame, but hardly anybody saw it)

College Days...

Beer pong gives you herpes? A breaking report by Stephen T. Colbert, D.F.A.*

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Beer Pong Herpes Outbreak

Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor

Rap Battle
Joke of the Day

*Yeah, he really is a D.F.A

This guy gets it... everything's amazing.

This is hilarious. Watch it.

Needs a passafire holster...

Clearly I'm on a song parody kick, or they just keep coming across my radar... Enjoy!

If you watch college hoops or need a good laugh...

Mircosoft's vision for the future... 2019

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-GB&playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:a517b260-bb6b-48b9-87ac-8e2743a28ec5&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Future Vision Montage">Video: Future Vision Montage</a>

Oh man, I can't wait for this. I want this or an old country depression with horses, bartering and gun fights (I think Sarah Palin shared this vision).

Everyone loves widgets right?

In order to advertise their mobile broadband network, Sprint has made a website with widgets...and only widgets. Sprint is trying to sell the speed of their service so all the widgets deal with what's happening at that moment.



I think it's a cool idea and some of the widgets are pretty entertaining, especially the one with the rolling eggs, but I question the truthfulness of most of them. Also, even though, it spouts some really cool facts the voice gets annoying really quickly.