The Smartest Products of the Decade

Inc. posted a list of the 21 Smartest Products of the Decade.

Live Fat. Die Young.

Copenhagen Zoo

The Honest $10,000 SPAM Christmas Card

Tabasco Sauce Commercial

Burgar King: Eat Like A Snake

GREAT Australian Honda Commercial!

Awesome stop motion animation by Australian Honda. I can't even imagine how long it took to make this video....

Old Rejected Spec Ad for Miller Lite

It's been awhile, I apologize. Moving to Seattle has taken up ALL of my time!

An old Miller Lite commercial...it was rejected, but it's amazing.

ADDY Seattle

Deadline for signing up of ADDY Seattle is December 4!

Watch all the previous winners and sign up here!

Previous post is a lie...THIS is the FUNNIEST commercial ever!

2009 - Funniest Commercials

The first and last one are the best!

Pedigree - aka Awesomeness

It's a Bacon Day..

Bacon shoes. Why not.












WHAT IS WITH PEOPLE AND BACON!?!!

Toshiba - Armchair Viewing, Redefined.

Toshiba sent a Biodegradable Space Chair up 98,268 feet using balloons, 4 GPS systems and cameras. Great video =)



As seen on Adverblog

"Poo Explosion" or Number 3's

hahahaha Australian commercials are always hilarious

Drawing SUCCEED

GoranDA from Inspire Me Now

Inspire Me Now

OMSCO from Inspire Me Now

OMSCO ad


Inspire Me Now

Test Shoot Gallery

I found an inspiring blog today called Test Shoot Gallery. Some of the makeup and fashion is stuff I have never seen before, or anything anywhere near it. This was one of my favorite ones...kinda scary, kinda inspiring, kinda mesmerizing.

If you're lookin for something a little tasty....

Looks heavenly, doesn't it?

I am not usually a biscotti fan, but I could eat Rainy Days Kitchen Biscotti all day long. Not only are they amazing with coffee or tea, but they are melt-in-your-mouth-fabulous on their own, with wine, on ice cream...use your imagination.

Rainy Day Kitchen Biscotti is homemade in the smallest of batches on ensure quality taste, and believe me, you can tell. Organic flour and sugar, all natural ingredients...and best of all, made right here in good ol' Bellingham, Washington.

Check it out! They're PHENOMENAL!

Rainy Days Kitchen Biscotti

100 Good Advertising Headlines

A little bit of history, a little bit of awesomeness.

National Geographic Obsession....

One of my all time favorite magazines has to be National Geographic. One of the reasons for this is the unexplicably orgasmic photography.

Here's the top pics for this week:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/your-shot/daily-dozen?image=38

The black and white lion is particularly sexy.

WTFCostumes.com

WTFCostumes.com

Have to love photoshop...

If only we could really fly.

If you want to learn to speak alien....

Vodka Crisis in Moscow

Banned Pepsi vs. Coke

Sneezing Panda

hahahahaha it's just so cute!

Company Attaches Mini Arial Banners to Flies Legs!

This is so cool!! I love innovation!

http://www.gawkk.com/world-smallest-airplane-banners-company-attaches-mini-aerial-banners-to-the-legs-of-flies/discuss

Severed Foot Number 7 Show Up

7 random severed feet have shown up on the coast of British Columbia, all in running shoes.

No crime has been identified....

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/67066472.html#IDCThread

Chop Stick Bra

Just in case you ever need to bring a pair of chopsticks discretly....here's a new bra with collapsible chopstick in them....

Your logo makes me barf

www.YourLogoMakesMeBarf.com

Marge Simpson and Playboy

The People of Walmart

The People of Walmart

Talentzoo.com

Not only does it have an amazing listing of jobs pertaining solely to advertising, marketing and media, but it features great columnists, blogs and articles.

It's worth being your homepage.

www.TalentZoo.com

7 Lessons YouTube's Greatest Hits Teach Us About Advertising

It's been a little while...insanely ill for awhile and then insanely busy.

Awesome short article and video....

7 Lessons YouTube's Greatest Hits Teach Us About Advertising

Adland: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet

I have begun reading Adland: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet By James Othmer. I am only about 1/2 through the 300 some-odd page book, but it's been a great insight thus far. The reading is easy and comes with my sense of humor. That is, sarcasm and stating the obvious for people who can't see it for themselves. Othmer takes you through this 20 year journey in the advertising industry, beginning as a copywriter to becoming a creative director, and all the ups, downs, the idiotic, the hilarious, and just plain stupid. In between it all, it has given me some good angels and insights on the agency life, to which I will ponder on my own...

I would definitely recommend it to anyone in the industry that's looking for an easy, yet worthwhile read.

Power much?

I need a house like this...lol

What Work Would You Be Willing To Get Fired Over?

I am often intrigued by questions that make you think and that there's no real answer for...ones that make each person go back and forth on their decision because it's so controversial that they find it difficult to make a decision.

I ran across this article by James P. Othmer, former creative director and the author of ADLAND: Searching for the Meaning of Life on a Branded Planet (Doubleday), available today, and the novel THE FUTURIST.

It's called "What Work Would You Be Willing To Get Fired Over."

It's a very intriguing article...coaxed me to go get the book. It's a two minute read, check it out.

What Work Would You Be Willing To Get Fired Over?

Here is a link to a great video that describes the book in a nutshell...if you don't read the article, watch the video.

Loctite

A little bit goes a long way.

Ad 480 Recommended Ad Council movement 8 months ago...

In Jan/Feb 2009, the Spring 2009 Ad 480 class at Washington State University conducted a research campaign for the Ad Council. The objective of the project was to determine the effectiveness of the Ad Council campaigns to the 18-24 year old demographic. The results showed that the majority of the 18-24 year old demographic did not have a high recognition of the Ad Council television advertisiments, and of those that did recognize the campaigns, most found them uninteresting and "boring." Interestingly, the demographic did have a high recognition of Wongdoody PSAs "No Stank You," because they were fresh, original and caught the attention of the target audience. The recommendations made by the research group were to gear the Ad Council PSAs to the targeted demographic by using aspects from the demographic's lifestyle, like the "No Stank You" ads. One example was to use social media.

The following is an article from a CNN.com, published September 3, 2009, titled: "Ad Council gets creative to get your attention." This article states how the Ad Council is moving away from television advertising to social media.


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Go Ad 480. We rocked the Ad Council's socks off by researching and recommending exactly what they are doing now...eight months ago. =)

Atheists offer to care for Christians' pets after the Rapture

Christians with pets should look into "Eternal Earth-Bound Pets." For $110, they will take care of Christians' pets after the Rapture.

"Eternal Earth-Bound Pets" Article

Sing Your Cover Letter....

Amazing.

Gain: Your Clothes Were Never There

iRings

Samsung Wide Angle Lens

Meat and Livestock Australia

Inspire Me Now - Dog Breath

The Kid that Cries Blood

http://www.vosizneias.com/37607/2009/09/01/rockwood-tn-teen-crying-blood-baffle-doctors/

If anyone knows anyone that can help this kid, help!

Inspire Me Now

A co-worker introduced me to this blog today, and I am now obsessed with it. Everyone should check these out:

Ford Gambles with Social Networking

I read this article in The Seattle Times.

GREAT campaign, if you ask me!

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/04/how-the-fiesta/

Tweet Trends

Here is an excerpt from a the MinOnline article "Don't Bogart (or Hoffman) That Feature: More Ideas You Should Steal.

"Gartner analysts are suggesting this month that the hype cycle surrounding Twitter is peaking, but publishers have not let up on their attempts to leverage the year’s hottest platform. Twitters contest are taking several different novel forms. Fitness had a sponsored Tweet Up that awarded 40 “followers” with a workout session with Gunnar Peterson. All they had to do was be the first 40 to “re-Tweet” a specific message from Fitness to be directed to the secret location and time of the workout. The 40 “RTs” came in 10 minutes, and this is a smart way to engage users, involve a sponsor, and add to your brand’s viral reach."

Read the full article here.

Who Uses Social Media?

I borrowed this link from my big sis...it's the results of a study done by BIGresearch on who uses social media. For example, 8.8% of Facebook users also post to blogs.

Check it out, it's interesting!

Study

Cheers

Adidas

Online Ad Networks Useless?

According to a new OPA study, it is. Article released today on Adweek.com.

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i2e9044066d727a1a0238bc341728ebe0

99 Reason to Love the Fair

It's time for the Lynden Fair again!



Agency: Baron & Company - Bellingham, WA

Party Like the Original Rockstar

Smoke

Comcast Commercials

Wide Angle Lense

No fun in shopping anymore

My boyfriend and I were talking the other day about how he need to get an external hard drive. Simple enough...I referenced him to NewEgg.com as this is where I was referred to when I bought mine. The site is great: easy to navigate, consumer ratings and comments, variety of brands and options and best of all, great prices compared to any store he would find around here. Why NOT purchase his external online???

His response: There's no fun in shopping anymore...what's the point of going to a store when everything is cheaper online...I miss shopping when I can go to the store and LOOK at what I want to buy...it's taking out half the fun!

I was thinking about this, and it's totally true. Shopping online usually DOES have the best price. And like places such as NewEgg.com, the prices are significantly cheaper than any store we can find and usually there is no shipping. In addition, if you can be patient for 3-4 days, the shipping is pretty timely as well. But I do miss the days of spending too long driving around to stores to find the exact thing you want at the best price...but there is almost no point now. I'll go look because I can, but I usually end up buying them online anyways. Even Google has made it easier with their iPhone application: the Google Product Search. A person can literally stand in a store, enter the product they want and find all the prices and locations of where they can be found. Why would someone purchase the product in front of them when it's $50 cheaper on a website?

Cheap vs. Free

This article was found in the Bellingham Herald called "Selling stuff for free is a boom market, but at what cost?" By SCOTT CANON at McClatchy Newspapers.

It's about the notion of cheap and free.

Best quote from the article: "When things were the cheapest, men were the poorest," said future presidential candidate William McKinley 120 years ago. "Cheap merchandise means cheap men, and cheap men mean a cheap country."

Read this Article on the Bellingham Herald website.

Dan Weiden-Weiden + Kennedy

Dan Weiden on Weiden + Kennedy from Portland, OR. I find it worthwhile listening too....

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1329255401?bctid=24387615001

The 2nd Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Fesitval

Alright....everyone needs to check this out! It's the 2nd Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival...basically an 11 lb cheese roll is rolled down a hill and participants begin to chase it. The first to cross the finish line and get the cheese wins the cheese!!!! How great is that??? I am honestly considering joining...if not, I will def. be there to watch!!

http://www.canadiancheeserolling.ca/

Meat Cards

The new and upcoming business card....




www.meatcards.com

Come on Sprite

Really?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lp3JSnAcyI&feature=player_embedded

Sex sells...but this is a little much.

Mountain West Music Festivel

http://www.mountainwestmusicfest.com/

Check it outtttttttttt.

Radio and Newspaper Work

For the past year, all I have heard is "STAY AWAY FROM RADIO AND NEWSPAPER WHEN ADVERTISING, WHATEVER YOU DO!"

I call BS.

Yes, newspaper is dying out and probably won't be around after this next decade. And radio...you have to play the ad so many times it practically gets into the subconscious of the listener to have an effect...yes, they're limited avenues and very specific to their target audience, but they're not dead.

I for one, am the minority. I listen to the radio and read the newspaper everyday...and I am 21. Studies show my generation relies primarily on the Internet to retrieve all their information. I read The Seattle Times every afternoon when I get off work as it is delivered to my house. Convenient, but if the paper isn't there, I'll find one. The newspaper is the oldest source of information...what ever happened to enjoying 30 min of flipping through the newspaper while eating breakfast or a snack? People zone out when they watch the news...it's background noise. At least when a person READS the newspaper, they are reading the information pertinent to them as well as the headlines.

As for radio, my personal choice is the Kid Carson show from 8:35-9:00am Monday through Friday. The music is overly repetitive of the newest hits, though still alright music. I listen more for the characters for Kid Carson, Amy and Mira. They bring the news and some random topic of the day each morning in the most energetic and entertaining manner! It's great to listen too! At least I SMILE on my way to work. One of the major downfalls in radio is finding talent such as the BEAT 94.5 morning crew that keeps the listener engaged in the show.

Overall...I know this is short and maybe I am missing my point...so here it is. Newspaper and radio still work...people are still reading and listening in all generations. When professors and others tell me to steer clear from these, I don't feel like it's because of the lack of listeners so much as the cost. The cost of advertising on these is what astounds me...radio being upwards of $24,000 for a 3 month campaign and newspaper at almost $100,000 a DAY. Expensive as all get out...but I still maintain they are not a dead medium.

Dominos picks up on stencil advertising

Here's a follow up to the stencil advertising post a couple months ago...this article link from AdWeek.com shows a little bit of green advertising happening for Domino's. They've done stencils and added an incentive for consumer's walking by...the first 250 people to walk past the ad, take their picture with it and email it to Domino's receive a $15 voucher. Creative incentive...though we know this is not the first case of stencil advertising. KFC recently did stencil advertising as well...

here's the link to the short article:

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i42f2b2f43cf6c38041e2c6658a75022c

The Best Job in the World

I keep seeing and hearing news stories about this "best job in the world." It's the campaign to boost tourism in Queensland...this video shows a news broadcast about it and what the total value of exposure has been...talk about an innovative and cheap (when looking at the grand scheme of what company's normal advertising budget is) way to reach the entire world. The 6-month salary for this is AU$150,000...that's comparable to a 4 week billboard in downtown Seattle with 100GRPs. Seriously...amazing.

VIDEO

USA is Winning...

USA is winning!!!

...dangit. now they're tied.

Cheez-it Flavored Lip Balm

No Way!!! I need to find this in stores.

Controversial Advertising

DUREX Commercial

Article taken from Advertsing Age 6/20/09

Consumers Say They Want Healthy, but Aren't Buying It

Survey Finds Taste, Cost Prevail in Making Menu Choices

By Emily Bryson York
Published: June 22, 2009

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- A note to food marketers: Consumers who say they want healthy options are unlikely to actually order off the healthy menu.

Many restaurants are bending over backwards to offer lower-calorie options including KFC, which launched a grilled-chicken platform this spring.

"There's definitely a dichotomy between what people say they want and what they actually do when it comes to healthy restaurant eating," Maria Caranfa, a registered dietitian and director at Mintel Menu Insights, said in a statement. "Over eight in 10 adults told us it's very or somewhat important to them to eat healthy, but when it comes to dining out, most people are really looking for taste, texture and experience."

According to Mintel, price was also a deterrent in selecting better-for-you meals. As cash-strapped consumers tighten their belts, they're choosing cheap and tasty comfort food.

Mintel found that only one in five consumers rank a food's health attributes as an important factor when choosing dinner. But 77% of them thought about "taste," and 44% considered "hunger satisfaction." And a particular problem for restaurants: While roughly 75% of those surveyed said they would like to see more healthy options, only 51% order from those selections.

Making the effort
With increasing scrutiny from media, nutritionists and consumer groups, many restaurants appear to be bending over backwards to offer lower-calorie options. Kentucky Fried Chicken launched a grilled-chicken platform this spring. This is the second go-round for the chicken chain, which previously offered rotisserie items but pulled them for lack of demand. Even the most successful healthy food introductions stop short of being truly transformational. McDonald's salad relaunch brought many women back to the category, and its chicken sandwiches have spurred growth, but the Big Mac is still the chain's marquee menu item.

There's also a perceived affordability hurdle with healthy food. Most consumers -- 54% in Mintel's survey -- think of healthier options as being more expensive. "When it comes to healthy menu items, the prices are often higher and less promoted," Ms. Caranfa said.

To be sure, standard fare still dwarfs healthier options. Mintel, which tracks restaurant menus to identify flavor, preparation, and food and pricing trends, found that through March, only 5% of new items carried a nutritional claim, while one in five new items was fried.

But don't discount another sea change as more markets adopt calorie labeling on menus. New York City now posts calorie information, California is following suit, and other regions are considering similar measures. After all, even though consumers may choose a fatty food anyway, Mintel found that over three quarters of American diners want "more transparency on food health."

Please put out your cigarette butt.

Dad and I went to trusty old Target tonight to pick up a movie and as we walked out of the store, Dad noticed a cigarette butt someone had thrown into the top soil...it was starting a fire!! So of course we walked over and stomped it out and made sure it wasn't burning anymore, but seriously. If you're gonna smoke, I could care less. If you're going to throw your butt on the ground, albeit littering, at least stomp it out! I really start caring when it's things like fires that could potentially put everyone else in danger. THAT is not so cool.

So please, put out your cigarette butt...all the way.

Thank you.

Pressure Washing...Advertising?

I stumbled upon a website called gomobile.com about a week ago and discovered pressure wash advertising. Now I had never heard of this before, nor could I find any real examples of this online. But what an amazing idea!!! All it costs is cutting a stencil of your message from metal, and then the time to apply it. What an innovative, CHEAP and ecofriendly way to get your message across or create some buzz.

I love guerrilla advertising.

The Rat Whisperer

Two days ago I wrote of the best pasttime ever. That was totally true...until last night.

Best pasttime ever in Bellingham: The Horseshoe Cafe.

It's so great, I don't even know where to start.

First, the Shoe in a nutshell. It's on the corner of Railroad and Holly St. downtown, centrally next to all major bars and shops. This way, at night, when everything else is closed, it's the only place in the area for the drunks, night crawlers, or anyone else to go.

The place looks...well it's nothing fancy. It's called the Horseshoe for goodness sakes...oh, and the bar attached to it is called the Ranch Room. Neither are anything fancy, but they do the trick. The trick: greasy, i-can-feel-my-arteries-clogging food. Especially cheesy fries. They're comparable to the 2,100 calories a plate cheese fries appetizer from The Outback Steakhouse. 1 order with a side of ranch will put you out for a week, but oh are they so good! =)

Anyway, the Shoe is home to all the characters people would never think of. This night's Gold medal goes to:

The Rat Whisperer

That's right, the self-proclaimed Rat Whisperer. Now, how we came onto the topic of him talking to rats, I could not tell you. As some background information...he was a normal bellingham kid...tall, brown hair, glasses, flannel shirt, skinny jeans, All-Stars, just graduated from Western as an English major...

And he starts telling me that he has rats for pets...

Fair enough, I have known people with rats as pets before.

...and that rats are like the dogs of rodents; they are extremely smart and can be trained...

Fair enough, I can believe they're smart.

...and that he's a rat whisperer.

WHOAAAAAA HOLD UP! You're a what?? You talk to rats?

What do you say to that?? "Really? Me 2!" Honestly, I was taken aback. Oh it was great, beautiful even!

Now, whether he actually, seriously is a rat whisperer...i don't know. I left soon after cuz there was just too much to take in at the Shoe. But if I ever see him again, I will be sure to have a rat handy, cuz I really want to fully understand the concept.

Apparently the Shoe man is not the only rat whisperer, though...I just did a "rat whisperer" search in Google...quite a few results actually...have a look for yourself!

The Best Past Time Ever

The best past time ever:

********DRUM ROLL PLEASE************

People watching.

I could sit and watch people all day long, every day. Not to judge, not to make comments, but just to watch. People are so....interesting.

Take the bus for example. Riding the bus can either be your worst nightmare or the most entertaining thing in the world. Every character out there is on the bus. I challenge you one day on your way home from work or simply when you have time to waste, ride the bus for 10 blocks. See how many characters you can find. Here's some to look for...

The one on phone, but thinks if they yells loud enough, the person on the other end of the line and across town could hear him without the phone.

The one sitting in the back of the bus rocking out to headphones so loud the bus driver can clearly identify the song.

The one reading the newspaper at full spread so to take up two seats with their arms.

The one who stayed up all night so finds it okay to sleep on the bus...and the person next to them. (Ever have a sleeper roll their head onto your shoulder when the bus goes over a bump? So awkward. Even more awkward if you have been the sleeper. LOL)

The one that sits next to you and insists on telling you their life story.

The hippie.

The one who gets on the bus and you can immediately tell is actually on something else.

The one everyone keeps staring at because they are so hot/attractive/pretty/handsome, etc. and they know it...they're just pretending to not notice.

The one that makes awkward noises. We don't know what it is, but it's not normal.

The one that can't find money or their bus pass to get onto the bus, delaying it another two minutes.

The kid that stares at you. It's innocent, yes, but they always stare.

The one that brings their entire Thanksgiving dinner on the bus, smelling up the entire vehicle and making you either want to vomit, or run over to their seat and ask for a bite.

The one the world revolves around.

The inappropriate talker.

The one you are forced to cuddle with during rush hour who probably smelled okay at the beginning of the day, but has definitely been for a run since.

And don't forget the actual bus driver that likes to talk too...they usually have interesting stories though. I once rode the bus in Sydney with a bus driver that had been doing it for so long, he gave historical tours as we drove around. He was hilarious!

Sitting outside in a busy area of the city is just as great and has even more personality. There's always the above listed...and then the mother trying to manage her children, those playing music on buckets to make a buck or two (It always amazes me how good it ends up sounding), people running around late for meetings, the business couple that meets for 10 min for lunch and then rushes back to work, the person that drops mustard on their shirt from eating at the hot dog stand, people tripping, girls turning guys' heads and guys turning girls' heads...and then tripping or running into a wall/pole, seeing people get chased by the police is always entertaining...but then everyone's ears perk up and wants to know what's happening...

oh...and tourists. I have been one many of times, so I know I have looked just as hilarious, but tourists. Pictures pictures pictures pictures. Hey look, a Seattle rock, picture! Hey look, a Seattle person, picture!

It all cracks me up.

Thank goodness I am so easily entertained.

Wash Your Dog in a Vending Machine

I stumbled across this today on accident...it's a list of the world's 10 weirdest vending machines....including, but not limited to, a vending machine to wash your dog in and another to rent a Rolls Royce...oh, and don't forget the pot-dispenser.

Very interesting...a must read.

http://www.businesspundit.com/the-worlds-10-weirdest-vending-machines/

Please Bury Your Bugs After you Kill Them. Thanks.

Direct mail is effective...if it doesn't look like the run of the mill insert.

This would definitely catch my attention.

International Advertising

Throughout my travels and research, I always find advertising from countries other than America to be interesting...

Turkey

"Turns birdie into man's best friend."




































"If you pay a prostitute, you're financing human trade."

Luxembourg

Guerrila Marketing

I see this all the time online and it's fabulous.

2009 Effie Awards

The 2009 Effie Award winners are right here!!!

http://www.effie.org/downloads/2009_winners_list.pdf

Some of my favorites....

Burger King













Canadian Club


McDonalds



Wii Fit-I love this one!



Oreo

(I couldn't find the proper video, so here's a link from the Effie site)

It's really cute!

http://www.effie.org/winners/showcase/2009/3286

Cars.com

This one is great...the winner



This one is just hilarious as well...but didn't win. It'e the David Abernathy commercial.




watch em. love em. obsess over em.

2009 Logo Trends

An interesting article on the newest logo trends in 2009.

http://www.logolounge.com/logotrends/