Message from paradise...

Schweddy Balls: is sophomoric humor a sign of desperation?

I love Ben & Jerry's, and have always grinned at their occassional pop culture flavor intros.

And I love the SNL Pete Schweddy skit. t's one of my all-time faves. In fact, I think you could point to that skit one of the reasons why Alec Baldwin has hosted 17(!) times.

But 1 + 1 isn't equalling 3 these days.

I'm actually really confused why Ben & Jerry's felt the need to go sophomoric. I always think back to Bill Cosby who consistently kept things clean, and enjoyed a long career as both a comedian and a commervcial pitchman.

 

Heck, even George Carlin, the creator of "Seven Dirty Words," figured out that cleaning up his act could be a smart move. He's now the voiceover to popular children's show "Thomas and Friends."

 

My prediction? Scheddy Balls will ultimately be a best seller in 7-Eleven's around the country with peak sales coming after midnight when college kids and stoners are stumbling in with late-night munchies.

Oh, and Alec Baldwin, Molly Shannon and Ana Gasteyer will reprise the original in a reunion appearance this December. May as well capitalize on the furor, right??

 

first time I've ever realized "Apple commercials are kinda boring, aren't they?"

Back in 2005, I worked on Dell Computers. They were my primary client. I had an annual budget to buy a Dell laptop for personal use.

I bought a Macbook surreptitiously.

For the last 15 or so, I've been a rediculously loyal evangelist of Apple because I felt like Apple was progressive, innovative, upbeat...an extension of me.

That is, until Google blew me away during the Super Bowl. And now, tonight......Amazon spoke to me and let me know that they - not Apple - are active (not passive), sassy and confident. 

Damn. $200 cheaper, too.

 

 

 

Compared to work like that, Apple's kinda .....boring(!), isn't it?

tight ass? dumb ass.

 

 

 

Not a huge surprise that the FTC came down hard on Reebok today. Explain to me exactly how a SHOE can make your ass 28% tighter...?

 

 

Chalk it up to a long, revered list of hair-brained weight loss quick fixes.

 

 

Be it abb belts, those crazy-ass aluminum sauna suits or "oops, I crapped my pants" diet pills, wake up, America. There are no quick fixes.

 

 

it's an A.D.D. kinda morning.....

It's mildly amusing to see misprints, especially in an invitation to hear a US SENATOR speak. But, when is Adobe going to incorporate spell check into their software, for christsakes?! Heck, they could acquire Words with Friends, couldn't they?

Completely unrelated, what makes this a Titanium edition Focus? Is it stronger, safer, lighter? And why do I care anyway?

great moments in fatherhood

Absolutely LOVE "Up All Night." It is about as realistic a show about raising a kid as I've ever seen....sadly, amusingly, tragically...

If he's seen it, this father should feel a little better about his parenting skills.

 

I am curious, though, why dads continue to be portrayed as clueless and inattentive in television commercials. I take offense....well, no. Not really. Just irritated that agencies are so freakin' accurate.

attention: failure back en vogue

I love that taking risks and failing are back en vogue.

But, if you work in a marketing agency of any kind, why'd innovation and calculated risk taking ever go OUT of style?

WSJ article here.

NYTimes article here.

Fastcompany article here.

Whew....that many leading pubs. It must be a trend!

would you advertise in an in-flight magazine?

Probably not, right? There's absolutely no way to qualify or measure the audience. That's why most in-flight mags are chock full of crap like "discreet dating services" and lame advertorials like "America's Best Steakhouses." Yet.....

I flipped down the tray table and voila.

But I'm kinda torn. Is this a brilliant media placement or an overly cliched media placement? Didn't make me watch the premiere last night, but $5 says somebody picks up an award for the campaign.

 

Affleck....ownin' it

So I'm sitting here watching "The Town" and remembering how much I love Affleck's VO on Madden 2012.

Best copywriting line of the year?

"You're adopted. And from France."

Solid.

Oh, and the Dropkick Murphys drop track....perfect.

This. Is. Football.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 2-minute opus: sports' mental, emotional and physical benefits according to Nike

Wow. So that's what 30+ years of consistently amazing work gets you.

 

I can't wait to see this billboard

Guess what product is rolling out a new campaign with this headline?

"Sometimes a burning sensation is good news."

Roger that. Tabasco-infused SoCo.

They had to do something to make SoCo drinkable, right??

Love the back story, in all seriousness. According to AdAge, the SoCo brand managers noticed a trend in N'Orleans bars - people ordering shots of SoCo with drops of Tabasco called "Cajun Thunder." Which led to a broader brand extension based on the positioning:

Experiencing something that is a little uncomfortable can also come with pleasure.

Uh.....ok.