What up.
So it's a lovely snowy day, and I'm trying desperately to finish all my Christmas cards so that they'll be only slightly late this year. In that vein, I'm going to let Sarah Haskins do the heavy lifting for me today.
Ms. Haskins has a recurring segment on Infomania, Current.com's smart weekly culture shredder. Her bit's called Target Women, and investigates the way we as ladies are marketed to by the powers that be. This week she dissects the vampire phenomenon. I have to admit, I've always had a thing for vamps. I blame Buffy. Then I saw Twilight and wow. It almost ruined fangs for me. What an awful movie. Seriously. It was bad. And this is coming from someone who paid money to see BloodRayne. Anyhoo, take it away Sarah!
And here are a couple more of my favorite TW's.
Target Women: Cleaning
Target Women: Birth Control
And of course, Target Women: Number Two. Yeah, that Number Two.
I'm off for a nice festive holiday next week so I'll probably see you in the new year! Happy Chrismahanakwanzakah to you!
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
W is for WTF?
What is it with children's tv? Ever since Barney came along kids' programming has been on a permanent acid trip. I once watched Teletubbies for 10 minutes and all I saw was kids climbing a slide and going down it. Over and over. And then the creepy baby face in the sun laughed. WTF?
The latest hot thing is called "Yo Gabba Gabba" and consists of some guy in an orange body suit and fur hat dancing around with large monsters. Fair enough. But I watched some clips of it and I was freaking terrified.
Here's a sample of the YGG a with ascerbic wit via Joel McHale of The Soup.
I grew up watching Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, 3-2-1 Contact and Square One (yeah, I said Square One. Mathnet anyone?). Jim Henson knew what he was doing.
I'm not saying that the Muppets always made sense. They were silly and weird. But they were also smart, sarcastic, musical and funny. They hung out with grown-ups. They didn't talk down to kids, they expected them to understand. The same way "children's" movies like Toy Story and Shrek are smart enough to appeal to all ages. I have season 1 of the Muppet Show on DVD and it's still amazing. That's the way we should entertain our kids. IMHO.
Happy Monday!
The latest hot thing is called "Yo Gabba Gabba" and consists of some guy in an orange body suit and fur hat dancing around with large monsters. Fair enough. But I watched some clips of it and I was freaking terrified.
Here's a sample of the YGG a with ascerbic wit via Joel McHale of The Soup.
I grew up watching Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, 3-2-1 Contact and Square One (yeah, I said Square One. Mathnet anyone?). Jim Henson knew what he was doing.
I'm not saying that the Muppets always made sense. They were silly and weird. But they were also smart, sarcastic, musical and funny. They hung out with grown-ups. They didn't talk down to kids, they expected them to understand. The same way "children's" movies like Toy Story and Shrek are smart enough to appeal to all ages. I have season 1 of the Muppet Show on DVD and it's still amazing. That's the way we should entertain our kids. IMHO.
Happy Monday!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
I don't have much time today but I heard someone mention this ad and it reminded me that I wanted to talk about it.
No doubt you've seen the recent Subway campaign that inexplicably uses a monkey to illustrate I don't know what. There's "games" or "memory tests" or "puzzles", but they're all ridiculous, random, and in my opinion are not in any way cute or appealing. To me, anyway. It's insulting. I hate these ads.
I apologize, this is in French. But don't worry, it doesn't make much of a difference.
Now, if you're going to incorporate random animals and make ads that don't make sense, you might as well go all the way. Like Quizno's did with the Sponge Monkeys a couple of years ago. You'd be hard pressed to find a more random, disturbing image connected to food. And you know what? It was GOLD. In my humble opinion.
Just try to get that out of your head for the rest of the day. THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR!
As you were.
No doubt you've seen the recent Subway campaign that inexplicably uses a monkey to illustrate I don't know what. There's "games" or "memory tests" or "puzzles", but they're all ridiculous, random, and in my opinion are not in any way cute or appealing. To me, anyway. It's insulting. I hate these ads.
I apologize, this is in French. But don't worry, it doesn't make much of a difference.
Now, if you're going to incorporate random animals and make ads that don't make sense, you might as well go all the way. Like Quizno's did with the Sponge Monkeys a couple of years ago. You'd be hard pressed to find a more random, disturbing image connected to food. And you know what? It was GOLD. In my humble opinion.
Just try to get that out of your head for the rest of the day. THEY GOT A PEPPER BAR!
As you were.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Never gonna give you up...not that I have a choice...
Okay. Let me preface this by saying that I love Rick Astley as much as the next person. I think I still have his debut album "Whenever You Need Somebody" on cassette tape in a bankers box in my closet. Probably sandwiched somewhere between Taylor Dayne and INXS. Oh yes, I've spent my share of time on the Astley train.
That being said, I'm SICK of being "Rick-Rolled" on YouTube. We need to stop this madness. All I want to see is the trailer for the new Terminator or Transformer movie and there he is. Again. Trenchcoat n' all. I saw you on the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade, Rick. Haven't we suffered enough?
Oh and PS: Can someone please bring back Pop-Up Video? It was GOLD. Love it.
Random, I know. As you were.
That being said, I'm SICK of being "Rick-Rolled" on YouTube. We need to stop this madness. All I want to see is the trailer for the new Terminator or Transformer movie and there he is. Again. Trenchcoat n' all. I saw you on the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade, Rick. Haven't we suffered enough?
Oh and PS: Can someone please bring back Pop-Up Video? It was GOLD. Love it.
Random, I know. As you were.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Gooood morning.
So while watching football on TV yesterday (oh, Seahawks, why must you toy with my emotions?) I saw your typical mix of Christmas commercials. There were happy couples exchanging diamonds, "adorable" kids doing "adorable" things and lots of cars with big red ribbons. But the one spot that stood out to me wasn't a Christmas commercial at all. It was a Chanukah commercial.
That's right. For the first time I can remember, a large brand (Best Buy) made a holiday ad specifically targeted at Jewish people. It wasn't complicated; a Best Buy employee recounts how she helped a mom pick out gifts to give her daughter for each of the 8 nights of Chanukah. It started with earphones, then an iPod case, iTunes gift card, etc, finally leading up to an iPod on the last night. It was simple, friendly, and matter-of-fact.
I think this is fantastic. Too often we have to tiptoe around any religious undertones at all. Some clients don't even want you to mention Santa as that relates to Christmas. I once heard someone sued an airport because it had a holiday display with trees and lights and they found it offensive towards non-Christians. HUH? So good for Best Buy.
I can't find the Best Buy spot online, but keep an eye out for it. For now here's a Virgin Mobile spot from a couple years ago that also supports an equal opportunity holiday shopping experience.
Shalom!
So while watching football on TV yesterday (oh, Seahawks, why must you toy with my emotions?) I saw your typical mix of Christmas commercials. There were happy couples exchanging diamonds, "adorable" kids doing "adorable" things and lots of cars with big red ribbons. But the one spot that stood out to me wasn't a Christmas commercial at all. It was a Chanukah commercial.
That's right. For the first time I can remember, a large brand (Best Buy) made a holiday ad specifically targeted at Jewish people. It wasn't complicated; a Best Buy employee recounts how she helped a mom pick out gifts to give her daughter for each of the 8 nights of Chanukah. It started with earphones, then an iPod case, iTunes gift card, etc, finally leading up to an iPod on the last night. It was simple, friendly, and matter-of-fact.
I think this is fantastic. Too often we have to tiptoe around any religious undertones at all. Some clients don't even want you to mention Santa as that relates to Christmas. I once heard someone sued an airport because it had a holiday display with trees and lights and they found it offensive towards non-Christians. HUH? So good for Best Buy.
I can't find the Best Buy spot online, but keep an eye out for it. For now here's a Virgin Mobile spot from a couple years ago that also supports an equal opportunity holiday shopping experience.
Shalom!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Watchmen Wednesday
Hello hello,
The new trailer for Watchmen is out. It explains a little more of what the story is about. At least as much of the story they can explain in two minutes. It's a really complex book.
This is Trailer 1. Far superior to the second in my opinion, so watch this one first if you haven't seen it.
Here's the new teaser.
Did I mention the director Zack Snyder and his DP Larry Fong went to Art Center? : )
I'm off the grid Thursday and Friday, so I'll see you bright and early on Monday.
Word.
The new trailer for Watchmen is out. It explains a little more of what the story is about. At least as much of the story they can explain in two minutes. It's a really complex book.
This is Trailer 1. Far superior to the second in my opinion, so watch this one first if you haven't seen it.
Here's the new teaser.
Did I mention the director Zack Snyder and his DP Larry Fong went to Art Center? : )
I'm off the grid Thursday and Friday, so I'll see you bright and early on Monday.
Word.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Typography Tuesday
Yo yo.
Most of the other writers I've met don't really seem to get into the design side of things, but I'm a bit of an anomaly. I love to break out a pen tool or a golden section from time to time. I also love type. I blame Art Center.
As for typography, I fully admit I don't know all the technical stuff. But I do love looking at it. There's nothing like a beautifully designed wine label or bakery box.
Anyways, here's a couple of places to look at some nice stuff.
ilovetypography.com
TheDieLine.com
Oh, and if you haven't seen Helvetica yet, rent it. Like, today. I totally geeked out over it.
Happy Tuesday, y'all.
Most of the other writers I've met don't really seem to get into the design side of things, but I'm a bit of an anomaly. I love to break out a pen tool or a golden section from time to time. I also love type. I blame Art Center.
As for typography, I fully admit I don't know all the technical stuff. But I do love looking at it. There's nothing like a beautifully designed wine label or bakery box.
Anyways, here's a couple of places to look at some nice stuff.
ilovetypography.com
TheDieLine.com
Oh, and if you haven't seen Helvetica yet, rent it. Like, today. I totally geeked out over it.
Happy Tuesday, y'all.
Monday, December 1, 2008
(RED) Monday
Today, December 1st, is world AIDS day.
33 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS and that number rises every day. The worst part is that it is preventable. All it takes is education and resources. Unfortunately those things are hard to come by in places like Africa where people don't have the tools they need to control the spread of HIV.
We're not all Bono or Angelina Jolie with a million dollars to donate. But if you want a simple way to contribute to this cause whilst indulging in a delicious beverage, forgo the Timmy Ho's or SBC today and go to Starbucks. See you there.
For more information visit
WorldAIDSday.org
or
Starbucks.com/Red
33 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS and that number rises every day. The worst part is that it is preventable. All it takes is education and resources. Unfortunately those things are hard to come by in places like Africa where people don't have the tools they need to control the spread of HIV.
We're not all Bono or Angelina Jolie with a million dollars to donate. But if you want a simple way to contribute to this cause whilst indulging in a delicious beverage, forgo the Timmy Ho's or SBC today and go to Starbucks. See you there.
For more information visit
WorldAIDSday.org
or
Starbucks.com/Red
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