trampling the fine line of stereotypes and archetypes

TV spots and website for MTV's new maturity is over-rated campaign.
The African-American booty, the hispanic urinal, and the jewish booger are all particularly overt. But then again, I suppose even decorum is overrated.
Funny? Sure.

kneel, ye with sights on snark

Clearly this guy owns the real estate I can only rent. A true Hate-ah. Teach me, George.

Tattoo

Former creative directors with a brand new bag.
Great concept. (Maybe I'm biased because I'm listed among their contributors.)

Advertising without AEs. Boy. There are days...

Every time I talk to them, they're up to their neck in something cool.
Whether it's Second Life, Skypecasting, CBS radio, or a host of new media, social media and never-fucking-heard-of-it media, one thing is for sure: Every time I get a job from these guys, I have to download new software.

Keep it bookmarked: they're always thinking.

The results are in

If you trust my judgement, you can safely cross Dave, from ...Jetpack off your "possible axe-murderer" list. Although his business partner may or may not be some sort of convicted felon. (It's hard to tell where the jokes end. ) But fear not, because he (Anthony, not Dave) lives in Aubrey, TX literally ten feet from the Oklahoma border.

Conversation ranged from measuring the ROI of internet marketing to useless blogs like the one you're reading right now. Seriously, go find something worthwhile to waste your Thursday with.

I like Beer Wednesday more than Coffee Friday.

moving Target

An excercise in frustration. This is EXACTLY what I do every day. Only different.

Watch the movie to understand.

Isn't this great?

The Dallas Museum of Art has an exhibition of contemporary art right now that looks pretty compelling. I was poking around on dm-art.org (irritating url) and found the piece at right.

I love it.

I love that it's nearly impossible to not put yourself in that chair, which makes you (or me, atleast) surprisingly uncomfortable with how close your face would be to that first little square. Not that you would ever sit there, but SOMEONE is intended to.

I think good art shares something with really good advertising: Somehow both provide you with a context to reexamine your own life and make decisions based on that revised assessment. In the case of advertising, that reassessment may or may not require you to buy Tivo or free-range eggs or a subscription to Fast Company. Art may require you to change the way you consider new experiences, or the way you consider the world around you. Or it may force you to reconsider who you are, or who we are.

Not that advertising is art. I don't believe that for a minute. In fact, by most defintions they are sort of mutually exclusive. But on some levels, art and advertising share common ground.

Image: Guilio Paolini, Never seen (Jamais vu), 2004–05, prepared canvases and chair, The Rose Collection and the Rachofsky Collection, © Guilio Paolini - image from www.dm-art.org

I take it back

Wow.
Okay - never mind..
I have such envy for agencies that can call the shots in a era where so few are in a position to do so.
Good for you, Alex. Way to look that client in the eye and make the hard decision that the opportunity is no longer there, even if the $($$$$$) still is.

On the flip side: you have one month to create advertising that will A) please a bunch of beer distributors and B) actually sell beer.

Hear that sound? It's thousands of pitch consultants rubbing their greedy little hands together.

Creativity. Not just for creatives.

The advertising industry has been listening to, and contributing to the debate over creativity for decades - since the DDB era. Some would argue the Ogilvy ear. Whatever.

In the era of CGC and Tivo, one thing has become apparent: the opinions of the lowest common denominator can no longer be ignored. Ad Age warns that commercial ratings will soon restructure the way networks prioritize commercials.

Lord, let it happen before we get too far into the 2008 presidential season. Please. Political advertising is one of those bastardized artforms, like politics itself, that seems to breathe its own air - after all politicians are in the business of politicking, not marketing (although they sure TRY to cross that line, they are absolutely out of touch. Visit John Edwards' Second life campaign headquarters for agonizing evidence of this.)

The status quo will not fly if, everytime one of the candidates opens their yaps, they get the big red dot from 5 million DVR subscribers. Ditto for media tactics like the "This is our country" Chevy TV buy. Conversely, it'll be interesting if single-run spots get pleas for a second airing.

A magazine with tiny distribution recently stuck my ad on the back cover because the magazine liked the ad so much. (It was not particularly good - it just wasn't particularly bad.) This kind of motivation, in an era of voting for advertising with your clicker-thumbs, may finally force car dealers, drug manufacturers and financial institutions to catch up with the rest of the world (read: Nike, Macintosh, Geico and Budweiser, etc.) and create truly compelling commercial content.

The implications, especially for clients whose products are not compelling to begin with (think of the last women's hygeine product that didn't make you hate television advertising on priciple) are truly scary. Commercial-as-entertainment just doesn't work for a lot of products. Where will those ads end up? On truly unwatchable cable, is my guess.